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Nebraska coaching search already has 3 frontrunners, neither of whom are Urban Meyer

By Cody Williams

Oct 24, 2020; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Urban Meyer during game coverage for Fox Sports at the game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Ohio Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 24, 2020; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Urban Meyer during game coverage for Fox Sports at the game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Ohio Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Nebraska coaching search has thrown out a lot of big names already for the Cornhuskers but some frontrunners have emerged and Urban Meyer isn’t among them.

It turns out that Scott Frost might not have been the only problem with the Nebraska football program as the Cornhuskers’ first game since firing their head coach resulted in an incredibly lopsided loss to old rival Oklahoma in Week 3. But alas, the Nebraska coaching search is waging forward.

If there has been a name that could remotely be connected to the Nebraska coaching search since Frost’s firing, though, it has been. Yet, the most popular name — one that the Huskers fans were even chanting behind the FOX set prior to the matchup with the Sooners — it’s been Urban Meyer.

For those fans wanting Meyer so badly to come to Lincoln, though, the latest Nebraska coaching search rumors suggest that he’s not among the favorites, or at least for now.

Bruce Feldman of FOX Sports and The Athletic reported on Tuesday that there are three coaches who are “high on the Huskers list” after just more than a week since Frost was dismissed: Kansas head coach Lance Leipold, Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell, and Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien.

Nebraska coaching search rumors: Lance Leipold, Matt Campbell, Bill O’Brien among favorites

Two of those names, Leipold and Campbell, certainly stand out, though O’Brien has his own merits.

In the case of the Kansas head coach, Leipold is in the midst of a remarkably quick turnaround of the program in Lawrence as they’ve gone from “will the Jayhawks win a game” to now sitting at 3-0 with road wins over Houston and West Virginia to their credit. For a Cornhuskers program that needs a serious rebuild, he would be a phenomenal fit.

For Campbell, he has proven with the Cyclones that he can do more with less as he’s never been given elite recruiting assets but has still produced arguably the longest period of sustained success that Iowa State football has ever seen. Thus, with the resources Nebraska could offer, he could potentially do something special.

While O’Brien was immensely successful at Penn State, his stock has dropped quite a bit since his ill-fated stint in the NFL with the Houston Texans and even as the Alabama offensive coordinator as he’s been oft-criticized at that post, particularly by Crimson Tide fans. Even still, his time leading a program in the Big Ten would offer optimism in Lincoln.

All told, it’s going to be quite a while before we see the shoe drop on this matter and Nebraska football hires their next head coach. But even in the relatively immediate aftermath of Frost being fired, things are starting to take some shape.

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