Nebraska Football to Face Some All-World Coaches in 2026

The Huskers’ schedule includes the last two national championship coaches and in September, a Heisman Trophy winner

Bowling Green coach Eddie George won the Heisman Trophy in 1995 when he was a running back at Ohio State. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

First of three parts.

Nebraska will face an interesting mix of coaches on the other sideline in 2026, including the last two national champions, and a Heisman Trophy winner.

The Huskers face a difficult schedule and most of the coaches they will face — especially in Big Ten play — have been through the fiercest of fires. Most of these rival coaches have established their programs with proven results.

Nebraska coach Matt Rhule will face several of the nation's top coaches during the 2026 season. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

For Nebraska coach Matt Rhule, matching wits against this collection of coaches won’t be easy work. Rhule’s charge has been to bring back the Huskers to glory. He has made strides in establishing his program in Lincoln, where he is 19-19 in three seasons. There is work to do.

If Rhule wants real time examples of great success, they will be standing across the field most weeks.

Over the next three days, we’ll break down the Huskers' opposing coaches by month. Wednesday it will be September games; Thursday it will be October games; and Friday it will be November games.

(Earlier in the offseason, we looked at the quarterbacks Nebraska will face. Here are the September quarterbacks, October quarterbacks, and November quarterbacks.)

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti and Ohio State coach Ryan Day before their teams played at Ohio Stadium. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Indiana’s Curt Cignetti (Oct. 10) and Ohio State’s Ryan Day (Nov. 21) will come to Lincoln sporting bejeweled national championship rings. Heisman winner Eddie George will lead Bowling Green into Memorial Stadium on Sept. 19.

November will bring Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, who has 10 wins over Nebraska in their last 11 meetings. In October, it will be Dan Lanning, whose Oregon team led by returning quarterback Dante Moore, might be the favorite to win the national title in 2026.

Here are Nebraska’s September coaching opponents. September is the softest part of the Huskers’ schedule. They will need to dominate this month to have any season-long success.

Ohio Bobcats interim coach John Hauser celebrates with his team after win over UNLV and Anthony Colandrea in Frisco Bowl. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Ohio University, Sept. 5, 11 a.m. CT

Where: Memorial Stadium
Coach: John Hauser
Career record: 1-0
Bobcats' 2025 record: 9-4
Hauser’s record vs. Nebraska: 0-0
Rhule’s record vs. Ohio: 0-0

Hauser became Ohio coach in December after serving as interim head coach for the Frisco Bowl. The Bobcats defeated UNLV and quarterback Anthony Colandrea, 17-10, in the bowl game. This is Hauser’s first head-coaching opportunity after a long career as an assistant coach across the Midwest. Hauser’s background is on defense, something to keep in mind when the Bobcats visit Memorial Stadium to kick off the 2026 season.

Eddie George is introduced as Tennessee State's football coach, where he won a conference championship. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Bowling Green, Sept. 12, 6 p.m. CT

Where: Memorial Stadium
Coach: Eddie George
Career record: 28-30
Falcons' 2025 record: 4-8
George’s record vs. Nebraska: 0-0
Rhule’s record vs. Bowling Green: 0-0

George is in his second season as Bowling Green’s head coach. George is well known nationally and many Nebraska fans know him — the Ohio State running back won the 1995 Heisman Trophy, with Huskers quarterback Tommie Frazier finishing second.

George also was head coach at Tennessee State for four seasons. In his final season at Tennessee State, George won a share of the Big South-Ohio Valley Conference championship and had a No. 19 ranking.

North Dakota, Sept. 19, 6:15 p.m. CT

Where: Memorial Stadium
Coach: Eric Schmidt
Career record: 8-6
Fighting Hawks' 2025 record: 8-6
Schmidt’s record vs. Nebraska: 0-0
Rhule’s record vs. North Dakota: 0-0

Schmidt spent 2025 as Fresno State’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Four of his players were named to the All-Mountain West team. Before that, Schmidt spent two seasons at Washington as special teams coordinator and edge coach. In 2023, the Huskies won the Pac-12 title game over Oregon before losing to Michigan in the national title game.

Michigan State's new football coach Pat Fitzgerald appears at a Spartans-Iowa basketball game. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Michigan State, Sept. 26, Time TBA

Where: Spartan Stadium
Coach: Pat Fitzgerald
Career record: 110-101
Spartans' 2025 record: 4-8
Fitzgerald’s record vs. Nebraska: 3-4
Rhule’s record vs. Michigan State: 1-1

Fitzgerald has been out of coaching since 2022, after 17 seasons at Northwestern, his alma mater. Fitzgerald always had overachieving and hard-nosed teams at Northwestern, and that could be relevant as the Spartans try to rebuild their program.

Northwestern went to 10 bowl games in Fitzgerald’s tenure. It will be interesting to see how the Spartans fare once Fitzgerald gets the program back on its feet with, presumably, more talent than he had in Evanston.

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