There is a lot of talk about who would even want to come to Nebraska to coach if Nebraska were to move on from Scott Frost and his staff. A lot of people think Nebraska would not be able to go out and make a good hire which begs the question:
Is Nebraska a sought after college football job?
Adam Rittenberg at ESPN was "told" that the TCU job that just opened up is a top 20 job in the country. So where does that put Nebraska?
Looking at Athletic Department Revenues through out the country:
Rank | Team | Conf | Revenue | Expense |
1 | Oregon | Pac-12 | $391,769,609 | $120,884,588 |
2 | Ohio State | Big Ten | $233,871,740 | $215,209,566 |
3 | Texas | Big 12 | $200,772,813 | $173,648,028 |
4 | Michigan | Big Ten | $192,403,168 | $180,841,523 |
5 | Alabama | SEC | $189,282,549 | $173,141,125 |
6 | Georgia | SEC | $179,295,904 | $138,757,891 |
7 | Florida | SEC | $174,950,823 | $139,935,182 |
8 | Texas A&M | SEC | $166,736,120 | $159,136,624 |
9 | Penn State | Big Ten | $165,077,390 | $157,908,311 |
10 | LSU | SEC | $160,433,475 | $155,591,015 |
11 | Oklahoma | Big 12 | $159,116,745 | $157,494,527 |
12 | Auburn | SEC | $153,703,749 | $135,816,431 |
13 | Wisconsin | Big Ten | $148,198,907 | $149,196,055 |
14 | Kentucky | SEC | $146,150,480 | $140,578,623 |
15 | Iowa | Big Ten | $145,636,544 | $149,161,886 |
16 | Louisville | ACC | $140,867,112 | $138,830,169 |
17 | Tennessee | SEC | $140,335,769 | $140,824,626 |
18 | Washington | Pac-12 | $137,573,939 | $128,976,495 |
19 | Nebraska | Big Ten | $133,629,080 | $120,582,125 |
20 | South Carolina | SEC | $133,011,012 | $133,776,318 |
21 | Michigan State | Big Ten | $130,636,629 | $148,453,353 |
22 | Clemson | ACC | $129,949,014 | $131,781,294 |
23 | Florida State | ACC | $129,481,351 | $155,656,855 |
24 | Arkansas | SEC | $123,357,572 | $123,857,351 |
25 | Illinois | Big Ten | $122,566,259 | $121,638,435 |
This says Nebraska has the resources to be a top 20 program in the country. (note: this list does not include private schools such as USC, Notre Dame, Miami, Duke, Baylor, etc...).
Looking at fan attendance throughout the country for the last 5 years:
1 | Michigan | 110,884 | Big 10 |
2 | Ohio State | 105,465 | Big 10 |
3 | Penn State | 103,585 | Big 10 |
4 | Alabama | 101,467 | SEC |
5 | Texas A&M | 100,329 | SEC |
6 | Tennessee | 95,636 | SEC |
7 | Texas | 94,943 | Big 12 |
8 | Georgia | 92,760 | SEC |
9 | Nebraska | 89,676 | Big 10 |
10 | Florida | 86,328 | SEC |
I only did the top 10 since that is what matters (25th avg attendance was <58k or 2/3s of Nebraska's average).
This says Nebraska is top 10 caliber fanbase even in a pretty rough past 5 years.
Looking at wins over the past 10 years:
Rank | Team | Total Games | Won | Lost | Pct. |
1 | Alabama | 139 | 124 | 15 | 89.2% |
2 | Ohio State | 123 | 105 | 18 | 85.4% |
3 | Clemson | 140 | 117 | 23 | 83.6% |
4 | Oklahoma | 134 | 109 | 25 | 81.3% |
5 | Boise State | 133 | 107 | 26 | 80.5% |
6 | LSU | 131 | 103 | 28 | 78.6% |
7 | Appalachian State | 78 | 61 | 17 | 78.2% |
8 | Oregon | 133 | 101 | 32 | 75.9% |
9 | Wisconsin | 136 | 102 | 34 | 75.0% |
10 | Stanford | 133 | 98 | 35 | 73.7% |
11 | Georgia | 136 | 100 | 36 | 73.5% |
12 | Florida State | 133 | 96 | 37 | 72.2% |
13 | Oklahoma State | 130 | 93 | 37 | 71.5% |
14 | Michigan State | 132 | 92 | 40 | 69.7% |
15 | San Diego State | 132 | 90 | 42 | 68.2% |
16 | UCF | 130 | 88 | 42 | 67.7% |
17 | Penn State | 129 | 87 | 42 | 67.4% |
18 | TCU | 129 | 87 | 42 | 67.4% |
19 | Northern Illinois | 135 | 91 | 44 | 67.4% |
20 | Toledo | 128 | 85 | 43 | 66.4% |
21 | Auburn | 132 | 87 | 45 | 65.9% |
22 | Michigan | 129 | 85 | 44 | 65.9% |
23 | Notre Dame | 108 | 71 | 37 | 65.7% |
24 | USC | 131 | 86 | 45 | 65.6% |
25 | Texas A&M | 130 | 84 | 46 | 64.6% |
26 | Washington | 133 | 85 | 48 | 63.9% |
27 | Baylor | 130 | 83 | 47 | 63.8% |
28 | Utah | 130 | 83 | 47 | 63.8% |
29 | Florida | 127 | 81 | 46 | 63.8% |
30 | Virginia Tech | 123 | 84 | 49 | 63.2% |
31 | Kansas State | 129 | 81 | 48 | 62.8% |
32 | Louisville | 129 | 81 | 48 | 62.8% |
33 | Houston | 128 | 80 | 48 | 62.5% |
34 | Iowa | 130 | 81 | 49 | 62.3% |
35 | Ohio | 131 | 81 | 50 | 61.8% |
36 | Arkansas State | 128 | 79 | 49 | 61.7% |
37 | Cincinnati | 128 | 79 | 49 | 61.7% |
38 | Navy | 130 | 80 | 50 | 61.5% |
39 | Mississippi State | 130 | 79 | 51 | 60.8% |
40 | Louisiana Tech | 129 | 78 | 51 | 60.5% |
41 | Marshall | 129 | 78 | 51 | 60.5% |
42 | South Carolina | 129 | 78 | 51 | 60.5% |
43 | Missouri | 128 | 76 | 52 | 59.4% |
44 | BYU | 130 | 77 | 53 | 59.2% |
45 | West Virginia | 127 | 75 | 52 | 59.1% |
46 | Miami (FL) | 128 | 75 | 53 | 58.6% |
47 | Nebraska | 129 | 75 | 54 | 58.1% |
48 | Air Force | 128 | 73 | 55 | 57.0% |
49 | Western Kentucky | 128 | 73 | 55 | 57.0% |
50 | Utah State | 130 | 74 | 56 | 56.9% |
This paints a pretty bleak outlook on the current state of affairs and has Nebraska barely in the top 50 of wins.
So what do all these cherry picked numbers mean?
I think it clearly shows that Nebraska has fallen out of the upper echelon of football HC jobs but how far is pretty subjective. I would still have Nebraska as a top 20 job. Currently LSU (top 10), USC (top 15), Texas Tech (top 40), TCU (top 50), Washington State, and Uconn have head coaching vacancies. I think Nebraska would shoot to #3 on that list of being able to pick and choose between the top 3 candidates. I also think a top 20 job would tempt any assistant in the country and most head coaches.
Where would you all put Nebraska?