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Is 2026 a Make-or-Break Season for Nebraska Coach Matt Rhule? Does Nebraska coach Matt Rhule face a make-or-break season in 2026, as some have suggested? Maybe the better question is this: Should he? Guess it depends on wh This situation is not unique to Nebraska.
After Ohio State lost its fourth consecutive matchup against Michigan in 2024, some called for Buckeyes coach Ryan Days head.
The Buckeyes went on to win the national championship that season so Day could breathe again.on Rhule and his future in Lincoln.
They believe Rhules 19-19 record in three seasons in Lincoln is the very definition of mediocre.
They say its time for Rhule to fulfill the promise Nebraska saw in him when he was hired.Others say no.
Others say that after seven consecutive losing seasons the seventh season was Rhules first in Lincoln what he has done is a damn good job.
They say he turned around a ship that had lost relevance in the college football world it once conquered.
They say he made the Huskers respectable and, yes, winning again with back-to-back 7-6 seasons that included bowl appearances.Nebraska athletic Troy Dannen, the person with the outsized opinion in this discussion one would think, fully endorsed Rhule at the Big Ten spring meetings in May.
Dannen, who did not hire Rhule at Nebraska, joined the Huskers in March 2024.
Rhule was hired by Trev Alberts in November 2022.
Rhule was extended during the 2025 season after his alma mater, Penn State, fired James Franklin during a season that was collapsing.Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen, football coach Matt Rhule and associate AD Matt Davidson chat before Huskers' basketball game.
| Steven Branscombe-Imagn ImagesDannens support for Rhule was clear and unambiguous.One of the things Nebraska has done thats harmed itself has been quick to react when things didnt happen soon enough instead of giving someone a chance who is by definition a program-builder the chance to actually build a program, Dannen said at the Big Ten spring meetings in May, as reported by ESPN.
Thats different than inheriting a program that won 10 and then winning 11 the next year.
Its hard.Especially when Matt walked into a program that hadnt been to a bowl game in 10 years.By definition, thats one of the bottom end of the Power 4 programs he walked into.
I think hes done a great job getting us from A to B.
The next hurdle is C.Both Nebraska and Rhule want this to work.
In any business, hiring people is one of the most difficult things, with long-lasting effects, a supervisor has to do.
Nebraska wants stability and wants that message to resonate everywhere.The Huskers also want a return to more winning and conference championships, along with every other program.
Make-or-break is in the eye of the beholder.
Does make-or-break mean another winning season even a 7-6 one? With theNebraska linebacker Michael Rose-Ivey tackles Oregon running back Taj Griffin in 2016 Huskers' win at Memorial Stadium.| Bruce Thorson-Imagn Images Does it mean a win, finally, over a ranked team? Again, that would be a start.
Nebraska hasnt defeated a ranked opponent since Sept.
17, 2016, when the Huskers beat No.
22 Oregon, 35-32, at Memorial Stadium.
Nebraska will get several chances in 2026 to knock off a ranked team.Defeating a ranked team should be happening every year schedule permitting according to those skeptical about Rhule.
Having a make-or-break season would seem to be more precarious for Rhule with a weak schedule, not a killer one.
More was expected in 2025 with a perceived weak schedule and the Huskers went 7-5 in the regular season.
Dannen seemed to set expectations for Rhule at the Big Ten spring meetings.He said Nebraska should be primed for success.
Nebraska AD Troy Dannen supported Matt Rhule at the Big Ten spring meetings in May.
| Joseph Cress/For the Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images I think hes got the staff and the roster, Dannen said.Everything around the program that needs to be there, from the board to the president and the donors, everybody being in alignment, we do have that, which gives us a head start.
Our view? Nebraska is doing everything it can to have a successful football program.
The ball is in Rhules court.Chuck Bausman is a writer for Nebraska on SI.
Chuck formerly was the Executive Sports Editor of the Philadelphia Daily News, Executive Sports Editor of the Courier-Post in South Jersey and Sports Copy Editor for the Detroit Free Press.
He has been a Big Ten enthusiast for nearly forever.
He learned how to cuss by watching Philly sports.
You can reach Chuck at: [email protected].