RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. -- Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen told ESPN on Wednesday that rebuilding one of the nation's most storied football programs hasn't happened as quickly as everyone had hoped, but he wanted to give coach Matt Rhule the time he needed to do it right.
Dannen gave Rhule a two-year contract extension last October when Rhule was reported to be a candidate for the head coaching job at Penn State, but Dannen said he made that decision "because it's moving in the right direction." For the first time since 2016, the Cornhuskers finished with a winning record during the regular season at 7-5.
"One of the things Nebraska has done that's harmed itself has been quick to react when things didn't 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 before the final day of Big Ten spring meetings. "That's different than inheriting a program that won 10 and then winning 11 the next year.
"It's hard. Especially when Matt walked into a program that hadn't been to a bowl game in 10 years. By definition, that's one of the bottom end of the Power 4 programs he walked into. I think he's done a great job getting us from A to B. The next hurdle is C."
Dannen has been part of larger Big Ten discussions this week in support of a 24-team College Football Playoff. Nebraska has won five national titles but has yet to compete in the CFP. When asked what being included in a 24-team field would do for Nebraska, Dannen said the larger field wouldn't devalue the significance of the opportunity to compete for a national championship again.
"That's the desperation of where Nebraska has been at for the better part of the 2000s," he said. "They're used to competing for national championships, and at the time that Nebraska competed for them, it was because they were 1 or 2 in the rankings and advanced. To be in a bracketed championship is something Nebraska hasn't experienced, but the goal, the objective is to get to the postseason. It's there for every sport, but football is such an animal at Nebraska. It certainly wouldn't diminish the idea that you were in the College Football Playoff because there was 12 or 24 or whatever the number was; it's get into the championship bracket."
Nebraska hired Rhule in November 2022 after five consecutive losing seasons under Scott Frost. He is 19-19 in three seasons with the Cornhuskers.
Rhule developed a reputation as a program builder at both Temple and Baylor. Dannen, who oversaw a rebuild of Tulane football under Willie Fritz, said Rhule has taken the necessary steps to do the same for Nebraska by building the roster, hiring the right assistants and recruiting the right players in a unique environment. Dannen stopped short, though, of predicting when the breakthrough would come.
"I think he's got the staff and the roster," he 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."
