Dana Holgorsen
Football coach; former West Virginia and Houston head coach
- Entries
- 12
- On the record
- 0
- Stories
- 2
- Latest entry
- Nov 7, 2026
The record
Dana Holgorsen has been head coach at two schools, West Virginia and Houston, and most recently Nebraska's offensive coordinator. West Virginia hired him in December 2010 as offensive coordinator and eventual successor to Bill Stewart, and he took over in June 2011 when Stewart resigned. The month before, police escorted him from a casino in Cross Lanes, West Virginia; no charges were filed, and he called the episode a valuable lesson, the Associated Press reported.
His first West Virginia team beat Clemson 70-33 in the January 2012 Orange Bowl, 70 points the bowl lists as an all-time bowl record. He went 61-41 in eight seasons there before leaving for Houston on a reported five-year, $20 million contract, paying West Virginia a $1 million buyout. Houston went 12-2 in 2021 but fired him after its first Big 12 season in November 2023, and ESPN reported the school owed him nearly $14.8 million, subject to a mitigation clause.
He spent most of the 2024 season as an offensive consultant at TCU, then joined Nebraska and was named offensive coordinator and play-caller in November 2024. ESPN reported his two-year Nebraska contract paid $1.2 million a year. Coach Matt Rhule removed him on November 7, 2026, one day after a 24-13 loss at Illinois, saying the offensive plan and execution were not working.
Roles and honours on the record
Every entry, newest first
- Reported
Nebraska fired Holgorsen as offensive coordinator after a four-game Big Ten losing streak, ESPN reported. Biggest college football buyouts ranked: Jimbo Fisher $77M
- Reported
Fired as Nebraska offensive coordinator by Matt Rhule after a fourth straight loss, AP reports. Nebraska fires Dana Holgorsen as OC after fourth straight loss
- Reported
Houston relieved Holgorsen of his duties; ESPN reported nearly $14.8M owed, subject to a mitigation clause. Biggest college football buyouts ranked: Jimbo Fisher $77M
Stories in this file
Money · 💸 Biggest college football buyouts ranked: Jimbo Fisher $77M
Texas A&M owes Jimbo Fisher $77,562,500, USA Today reports, and his deal has no job-offset clause. Holgorsen's has one. 📌
FIREDPhoto: Yura Forrat · Pexels License🏈 Nebraska fires Dana Holgorsen as OC after fourth straight loss
Coach Matt Rhule made the change Saturday, saying the offense is 'simply not working.' No contract or buyout terms in the reports read. 🗣️
The record, entry by entry
- 2011-01-25 Reported His West Virginia contract paid $750,000 as offensive coordinator in 2011 and $1.4 million once he became head coach, rising to $2.4 million by 2016, with $10.75 million guaranteed through 2016, ESPN reported. ESPN report
- 2011-05-18 Reported Police escorted him from a casino in Cross Lanes, West Virginia. No charges were filed, and he issued a statement calling it a valuable lesson, the Associated Press reported. Associated Press via Fox News
- 2011-06-10 Reported Bill Stewart resigned as West Virginia head coach and a university spokesman said Holgorsen, hired the previous December as offensive coordinator and eventual successor, would take over. Associated Press via Fox News
- 2012-01-04 Official West Virginia beat Clemson 70-33 in the Orange Bowl; the bowl's history lists the Mountaineers' 70 points as an all-time bowl record. Orange Bowl, game history
- 2019-01-01 Reported He agreed to a five-year, $20 million contract with Houston, replacing Major Applewhite, after a buyout to West Virginia that had dropped to $1 million that day, Bleacher Report reported, citing The Athletic. Bleacher Report
- 2021 Reported Houston went 12-2, including a Birmingham Bowl win over Auburn, ESPN reported. ESPN report
- 2023-11-26 Reported Houston fired him after a 4-8 first season in the Big 12, ESPN reported, with the school owing nearly $14.8 million under a contract whose mitigation clause could reduce that if he took another job. ESPN report
- 2024-11-11 Reported Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said Holgorsen, hired as an offensive consultant about a week earlier, would replace Marcus Satterfield as offensive coordinator and play-caller for the season's last three games. ESPN report
- 2026-11-07 Reported Nebraska removed him as offensive coordinator a day after a 24-13 loss at Illinois, in his third season running the offense on a two-year contract paying $1.2 million a year, ESPN reported. ESPN report