Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell is a strong candidate to replace Mike Riley at Nebraska and would be a safer hire than Scott Frost.
Nebraska fired Mike Riley on Saturday morning, one day after the Cornhuskers season ended with a loss to Iowa to fall to 4-8 on the year. Riley was 19-19 in three seasons in Lincoln. Now, Nebraska is prepared to enter a competitive coaching market with other openings at Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas and at Texas A&M, where Kevin Sumlin is reportedly being fired after the Aggies season finale on Saturday night.
UCF head coach Scott Frost is the name mentioned most prominently when talking about the next Nebraska head coach. The former Nebraska quarterback who led the team to a co-national championship in 1997 has UCF undefeated and will play for the AAC championship weekend. Nebraska may have to wait to meet with Frost as a result. While they wait for a potential interview with Frost, Nebraska is reportedly keen on Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell, according to Football Scoop.
Campbell has turned around the Iowa State program in his second year in Ames and saw the Cyclones reach as high as No. 14 in the polls, their highest ranking in 15 years. This season was highlighted by wins over then-No. 3 Oklahoma and then-No. 4 TCU in October that launched Campbell into superstardom and was labeled as one of the next great young coaches in the sport.
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Campbell carries a $9.4 million buyout, which likely turned off some schools with openings from considering him for their vacancy. However, according to Football Scoop, if Nebraska athletic director Bill Moos is convinced Campbell is the man for the job, he’ll find a way to handle the prodigious buyout.
Iowa State awaits their opponent for their bowl game so Campbell will be free to meet for the job should he be interested and Football Scoop reports the search for the next head coach at Nebraska is not expected to take long.
Should Campbell be offered and accept the Nebraska job, it wouldn’t have the same emotional attachment as bringing back Frost to Lincoln, but Campbell’s has five more years of head coaching experience dating back to his five years at Toledo where he went 35-15 before he went 10-13 at Iowa State, including 7-4 in 2017.