Rhule Gets Time as Dannen Backs Nebraska's 19-19 Rebuild

Rhule is getting more runway at Nebraska after three seasons produced a 19-19 record. Athletic director Troy Dannen said the program will not rush another reset, a notable stance for a school still trying to climb out of years of middling results.

Dannen backs Rhule

Dannen told's Heather Dinich that Rhule will have time to put the rebuild right. He also said Nebraska has hurt itself in the past by reacting too quickly when results did not come soon enough.

That is the clearest sign yet that the Cornhuskers are choosing continuity over panic. Rhule arrived after a run at Carolina that went badly, but Nebraska hired him because it believed he could build a program, and Dannen's comments show that view still holds inside the athletic department.

Nebraska's slow climb

Rhule inherited a team that had not been to a bowl game in 10 years, and Dannen said the coach has already taken Nebraska from A to B. The next step, he said, is C.

That gap between progress and payoff is the friction point in Lincoln. Three seasons in, Rhule has not delivered a playoff appearance or any landmark victory over a high-profile opponent, leaving the record at 19-19 rather than something that clearly signals a finished rebuild.

What the 19-19 record says

The numbers explain why the patience matters. A 19-19 record is neither a collapse nor a breakthrough, and Nebraska's leadership is making a public bet that the middle ground is not the end state. Dannen called Rhule a program builder and said he should get the chance to actually build a program.

For Nebraska, that leaves the message simple for now: the coach is staying on the clock, but not on a short one. The school that once changed course fast is signaling that Rhule gets a longer view, and the pressure shifts to whether the next jump comes soon enough to turn A to B into something better than C.