The problem is UNL itself and the fan base. They cannot accept the fact that they are no longer one of the blue bloods of college football. They fired Solich and Pelini both for going 9-3. Delusional.
Pelini was a good coach but a bit of a psycho. The fact he was mired in mediocrity at Youngstown State the six years after NU fired him and never approached hard by even small IA programs for a head coaching job is telling.
The thing is......Nebraska massively overachieved for decades via the most advanced strength training program in the country (*cough* steroids *cough*), loading up on partial qualifiers and other academically borderline but talented prospects, and on very easy Big 8 schedules. When they could no longer take those partial qualifiers and others implemented strength training programs as advanced as theirs and they stepped up in competition, they discovered that they are a program in a relatively small, overwhelmingly White (when most players are Black) and cold state.
There’s no particular reason why any stud from New Jersey or California or Texas or Florida should want to go there. There isn’t enough homegrown talent to compete. There’s no particular reason why Nebraska should be any better at football than Kansas.