Have the Nebraska ever had a number 1 pick?

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Cornhuskers play in the NCAA Division I FBS and are members of the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. In their 134-year-old history, the Cornhuskers have an all-time record of 917 wins, 424 defeats and 40 ties. Furthermore, they have five claimed and four unclaimed national titles, 10 division titles and 46 conference titles.

They have had 30 head coaches, with the 31st being Matt Rhule in his second season. Rhule, a coach for nearly 30 years, was named Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2019 while coaching the Baylor Bears.

The College Football Hall of Fame has inducted six Nebraska coaches: Fielding H. Yost, Biff Jones, Edward N. Robinson, Dana X. Bible, Bob Devaney, and Tom Osborne. The latter two, are the most decorated Nebraska coaches, with Osborne having a victory percentage of 0.836, which ranks fourth among all major college football schools. The Cornhuskers also won three national titles during Osborne's tenure and two more during Devaney's.

In the 2023 NFL draft, two Cornhuskers were drafted; defensive end Ochaun Mathis was picked by the Los Angeles Rams in the sixth round and 12th pick, while in the same round, wide receiver Trey Palmer was picked by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the 14th pick.

Nebraska Cornhuskers History

Among the most historic programs in college football history, Nebraska started playing collegiate football in 1890 and now holds the eighth-most all-time victories among FBS schools. The teams that won titles in 1971 and 1995 for NU are regarded as some of the greatest in college football history.

Heisman Trophy winners Eric Crouch, Mike Rozier, and Johnny Rodgers are notable Cornhuskers who are inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame alongside 22 other Cornhuskers.

Nebraska went on to win five straight seasons between 1900 and 1916, and they also set a school record by going 34 games in a row without losing. Even though the Cornhuskers won 21 conference titles in 33 seasons, they didn't have any significant national success until 1962, when Bob Devaney was hired.

Perhaps Devaney's most notable accomplishment during his eleven seasons as head coach was bringing Tom Osborne on board as offensive coordinator in 1969. After Devaney, Osborne took over in 1973 and became one of the greatest college football coaches in history over the course of the following 25 years, due to his strength, conditioning, and nutrition programs and signature I-formation offense.

Nebraska Cornhuskers No. 1 Draft Picks

Nebraska Cornhuskers had two No. 1 draft picks, first being Sam Francis 1937 and another one, 47 years later, Irving Fryar in 1984.

Prior to 2019, Nebraska had at least one player selected in the first round of the draft each year from 1962 to 2018. Besides having two first-overall picks, they also had "Mr. Irrelevant," or the last pick in the 1975 NFL draft, Stan Hegener.

Francis was an army officer and an Olympic shot putter too. As a professional, he played for the Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears, Pittsburgh Pirates and Broodlyn Dodgers until 1940. Upon gaining some coaching experience, he started his coaching career at Kansas State University, where he became the only Kansas State coach to lose every game under his coaching.

Fryar was the second wide receiver to be picked as a first-overall pick since 1964. He played for 17 NFL seasons with the New England Patriots, Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins until 2000.