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Nebraska fires head coach Mike Riley

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Nebraska has officially fired head coach Mike Riley, according to multiple reports.

Riley was fired on Saturday morning following a 56-14 loss to Iowa on Friday night. The entire Nebraska coaching staff was called into a meeting with athletic director Bill Moos around 10:00 a.m. ET, according to Bruce Feldman of Sports Illustrated.

The Huskers finished the 2017 season with a 4-8 record, one of the worst years in the history of the program. It was the second time in Riley’s three-year stint that Nebraska finished under .500. The Cornhuskers finished 6-7 in 2015, Riley’s first season.

This was expected to be a make-or-break year for Riley, following a pair of subpar years in Lincoln. Nebraska was never really able to gain any momentum in 2017, losing in blowout fashion to Wisconsin, Ohio State, Minnesota and Iowa.

But Riley had been on the hot seat since September, when the Huskers dropped a home game to MAC opponent Northern Illinois. Following that loss, then-athletic director Shawn Eichorst was fired, which immediately put Riley’s job at stake. From that point, it seemed like just a matter of time until Riley and Nebraska parted ways.

In three seasons, Riley posted a 19-19 record but was a paltry 12-14 in B1G play. He was also 1-1 in bowl games.

UCF head coach Scott Frost is expected to be Nebraska’s top candidate for the job. Lars Anderson of Bleacher Report even reported that Frost becoming the Huskers next head coach was a “done deal.”

Prior to coming to Nebraska, Riley coached for 14 seasons at Oregon State, posting a 93-80 record. In 17 seasons as a head coach, Riley is 112-99.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB