Catching Up on Nebraska Football’s Offseason

With under six months to go until Nebraska kicks off their 2025 season, it's time to go through what you might have missed since December.

Dec 28, 2024; Bronx, NY, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule holds the championship trophy as Cornhuskers players celebrate after the game against the Boston College Eagles at Yankee Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Nebraska’s 2024 football season ended on Dec. 28, and in the time since, I have lamented to people how quiet things seem around here.

“Why isn’t anyone talking about Husker football?” I found myself asking Jack Mitchell on recent episodes of our I-80 Club podcasts. I’d ask it of guests on my radio show, Unsportsmanlike Conduct on 1620 the Zone. It would dovetail into other questions, in a similar vein.

“What’s interesting to people right now?”

“Why are things so quiet?”

And yet, as we get ready for Matt Rhule’s pre-spring press conference on Tuesday, I look back on the last three months and have to remind myself a ton has happened. So, consider this column – my first here for HuskerMax – as a refresher to you (and hell, me!) on what’s happened since* Nebraska won their first bowl game since December of 2015.

*Well, maybe not since. Just keep reading and you’ll see what I mean.

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December 2: Wait, Dec. 2, you say? Nebraska still had another game to play! Fair enough, but on Dec. 2, we learned Dana Holgorsen would be the offensive coordinator in 2025 (and 2026), officially. Many a debate was had the moment Matt Rhule announced Holgo the O-Co would be his play caller to end the season; Will he actually be back in 2025? The offseason kicked off in a big way on Dec. 2 with a resounding “yes.” 

December 3: It was reported that Daniel Kaelin, the former Bellevue West product, was heading into the transfer portal and wouldn’t return to Lincoln for another season. He ultimately ended up at Virginia. This left the QB room a little light, especially considering the news of the following day.

December 4: Heinrich Haarberg would be changing positions. Over the course of December, we’d learn he’d be taking on a role as tight end, which was the position he started the 2023 season, before injuries to Jeff Sims moved him back to QB.

Elsewhere on the fourth, reports from Dec. 3 were made official, when Nebraska announced new wide receivers coach Daikiel Shorts would head a unit that was up and down throughout the first two seasons of the Matt Rhule era. Three months later, I’m still most excited and intrigued by his addition. Can’t wait to see what his group looks like in six months.

National Signing Day also came and went without a headliner signing for Nebraska’s 2025 recruiting class, but a group of 20 was signed and delivered. Plenty of roster questions still remained, with the Huskers hoping to answer them with portal additions as December rolled on.

Matt Rhule and Tony White during the Huskers' 2023 win over Northwestern. / Kenny Larabee, KLIN

December 5: The same day Nebraska announced Holgorsen would be back in 2025, reports came out Nebraska would be looking for a new defensive coordinator. Three days later, it was official: Tony White wouldn’t be at Nebraska in 2025, leaving to take the role of Florida State DC.

If you would have told me before the 2024 opener vs. UTEP that this was White’s final season in Lincoln, I would have responded with a shrug and one word: “Obviously.” If you would have told me it was because he was leaving for the same job at another Power 4 school, I would have been quite surprised. Yet, by the time it happened, it made sense for both parties. Things seemed off, for a variety of reasons, with White and the Blackshirts throughout 2024. That said, still a tough loss for Nebraska.

Also leaving for Florida State? Terrance Knighton. If fans seemed lukewarm on the loss of White, they certainly were not with the loss of Knighton.

December 10: John Butler was promoted to defensive coordinator. Expected in most corners, this still surprised a few folks. If Butler was the obvious guy, why wasn’t he named earlier? What about the names of other potential coaches? Whatever the reason, it took a few extra days, but Butler will indeed lead Nebraska’s defense in 2025.

December 12: Phil Simpson was back in Lincoln. He was on Rhule’s first staff in 2023, before spending a season away in Tallahassee for the Florida State Seminoles in 2024.

Speaking of Dec. 12, Nebraska picked up one of the most intriguing players for the entire 2025 season on this day, when it was reported that former five-star defensive end Williams Nwaneri was coming into the fold. He spent one season in Missouri and didn’t make much of an impact, but his measurables and potential leave a lot of people excited for 2025.

December 14: You bet we’re talking about a long snapper addition! University of New Hampshire long snapper Kevin Gallic made his decision known and, in the process, filled a huge need for the program.

December 16: See what I mean about how busy it was? I’m not even to Nebraska’s bowl game yet! After one year in Lincoln, running back Dante Dowdell was on the move once again. He’d eventually end up at Kentucky.

The same day, we also learned the location of Nebraska’s opener vs. Cincinnati was finally locked in; They’d be playing at Arrowhead in Kansas City. I’ll see you there!

December 17: Three days after Nebraska landed a long snapper, they filled another hole on special teams, landing Washington punter Jack McCallister. McCallister averaged 42.3 yards on his punts in 2024 for the Huskies. Flipping the field will be an absolute must for the Cornhuskers in 2025. This get will go a long way in helping that happen.

December 19: Three more additions were made official by Matt Rhule, as Terry Bradden (defensive line), Phil Snow (associate head coach), and Addison Williams (defensive backs coach) came aboard the program. Bradden would stay with the Chiefs until their Super Bowl loss to the Eagles, but the other two were ready to go.

Phil Snow’s addition is ultra fascinating to me, considering his time with Rhule and only a season of coordinating at this level of football for John Butler. Too many cooks in the defensive kitchen or just what the program needs? We’ll find out.

December 20: Marcos Davila, a former four-star QB from Purdue, transferred in. He didn’t play for the Boilermakers in 2024, but news of a QB coming into a program is always notable. It’ll make for an interesting room in 2025.

Nov 30, 2024; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats wide receiver Dane Key (6) runs onto the field during the game against the Louisville Cardinals at Kroger Field. / Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

December 24: While some were celebrating Christmas with their families, true Husker heads were celebrating the latest news surrounding Nebraska. Dane Key, a Kentucky wide receiver, would follow his position coach to Lincoln. Coming off a career-high 47 catches and 715 yards, he might be the biggest player acquisition Nebraska would make, joining Jacory Barney in Nebraska’s revamped wide receiver room.

December 28: Despite holding a 20-2 lead more than halfway through the fourth quarter, Nebraska ended up escaping Yankee Stadium with a one-score win, as the offense chewed up yards and clock – with some help from Boston College penalties – to pick up their seventh win of the season. Not only was it the first bowl win for the program in nine years, it also locked up their first season above .500 since 2016.

The big news to come out of the game? The way Matt Rhule spoke about special teams. “Special teams, we need a complete and total overhaul of that. We have to be better at that. I put those things on my shoulders to get it done. It has not been good this year.” I had no doubt this meant Ed Foley would not be in charge of special teams in 2025. It would be over a month until we got something definitive, however.

Nebraska wouldn’t play again for 243 days. The long, long offseason officially began.

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January 4: Marques Watson-Trent, the 2024 Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year, committed to Nebraska. A key addition to the linebacking core, the former Georgia Southern product wasn’t celebrated like some of the bigger portal names, but he might have a bigger impact than most.

Also on the fourth, Thomas Fidone posted on social media that his time in Lincoln was coming to an end. We’d eventually learn he was heading into the NFL Draft.

January 8: The portal news kept on rolling a week into the new year, as former Alabama offensive lineman Elijah Pritchett made his pledge known for the Huskers. A five-star out of high school, this is one I am not as bullish on as others. A glance around the internet showed Bama fans were happy to see him go. That’s not even mentioning his trouble with the law, including knowingly transmitting an STD. I’ll remain skeptical of his impact in the months to come.

Dylan Raiola during Nebraska football's 2024 Red-White spring game. / Nebraska Athletics

February 1: For the first time during the offseason, Matt Rhule made waves nationally when speaking about the spring game. “Last year we were one of the more televised spring games,” Rhule said. “And I dealt with a lot of people offering our players other opportunities after that. That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. The word tampering doesn’t exist anymore. It’s just an absolute common, open free market. I don’t necessarily want to open up our players to the whole world.”

It took until March for us to learn exactly what Nebraska would be doing – The Husker Games, featuring 7-on-7 and more – but the gauntlet was thrown. The spring game as we knew it was gone, at least for the foreseeable future.

Reaction was mostly positive, mainly because the spring game existed on a lesser plane in recent years. Long gone were the days of me being invested in the game all the way until the fourth quarter was finished. I don’t think I was alone.

February 2: The final transfer of Nebraska’s portal class might be Nebraska’s biggest. Former Notre Dame offensive lineman Rocco Spindler committed to Nebraska, choosing the Huskers over Indiana, Pitt, Virginia, and others. He started 23 games the last two seasons at right guard and played more than 1300 snaps for the Irish. A huge get for Donovan Raiola’s offensive line.

Tennessee defensive back Theo Jackson (26) reacts with Tennessee outside linebackers/special teams coach Mike Ekeler during an SEC football game between Tennessee and Ole Miss at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. / Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

February 11: Mike Ekeler was tabbed as the man to lead Nebraska’s special teams. An assistant coach under Bo Pelini for three years, the seemingly mixed response to Ekeler’s addition surprised me a tad. A month later, I maintain that if he had no prior ties to Nebraska, we’d be celebrating this move like we did Dana Holgorsen in November and December. For some, seeing a former Husker come home brings back the feelings of Scott Frost’s failure. Me? I love this hire.

February 21: For a year, I wondered if Nebraska’s series with Tennessee was on the chopping block. Last February, Matt Rhule spoke with Tom Shatel of the Omaha World Herald about scheduling philosophies and it set off alarm bells for yours truly. “In a year where you hope to play 15 or 16 games, why would you elect to play a really tough game early?” Rhule said. “A couple years ago if I had told you we were going to play Oregon and Washington (as nonconference games), you’d say holy smokes. Well, now that’s the conference.”

One year later, it was made official. Nebraska wouldn’t be playing Tennessee in 2026 or 2027. The reason was obvious, at least to me; Nebraska would rather pick up easy wins vs. teams like Bowling Green (2026) and Miami of Ohio (2027). In the coming days we’d hear it’s about money – “they need to make up for NIL, the stadium project, and fewer seats in the coming years!” – before Matt Rhule went on the Triple Option Podcast and let people in on the real reason.

"Why would you ever play one of those games? I'm going to be completely honest. Coach Meyer, I'm at a lucky point in my life in my fourth job and after getting fired in the NFL I kind of say what I feel nowadays, I could[n’t] care less. Why in the world would a Big Ten team that's always playing nine conference games, why would you ever play one of those games?"

At least he was honest!

I still hate it.

February 26: The new world of college sports once again showed itself at Nebraska when we learned the football program would have a general manager moving forward. Former New England Patriots front office exec Pat Stewart will take over the gig for Nebraska. It's going to be interesting to see how this works at Nebraska under Matt Rhule.

March 6: The “Husker Games” would officially replace the spring game. Nebraska football will compete in events similar to what the NFL does with their Pro Bowl games, including 7-on-7 games and skills competitions. 

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And there’s still more to come! Nebraska’s 2025 season won’t kick off for another 5.5 months, so here are other things I’ll be paying attention to as we wait for the 136th season of Nebraska football.

TV times: No better way to mark the passage of time during an offseason than with announcements over game times. Whether it’s the number of games in primetime, at 11:00 a.m., or on a streaming service, the takes will be plentiful when we get the early word on matchups. In particular, I’ll be keeping an eye on three things:

• What time will Nebraska begin the 2025 season? This is an easy one as you can’t play the final eleven games of the regular season without playing the first.
• Will we see Nebraska on a non-Black Friday, Friday game? The odds say yes, as Nebraska has played on Friday night in each of the last three years. However, given Nebraska hosted one last year, it wouldn’t surprise me if Troy Dannen and co. tried to throw their weight around and get a year off. The best candidates if they do play one? Maryland or UCLA, both on the road.
• What time will the Iowa game kick off? Speaking of Black Friday, 2024 marked the first year of the new TV contract that featured two Big Ten games the day after Thanksgiving. Early in the day, Minnesota beat Wisconsin. Nebraska traveled to Iowa City that night, a game no one wants to revisit. Should we expect more of the same or will Iowa come to Lincoln for an early game?

The Huskers celebrated the 400th consecutive sellout at Memorial Stadium. / Amarillo Mullen

What’s the word on Memorial Stadium? After Trev Alberts’ plan was put on hold, details are limited on the changes coming to Nebraska’s (now) 100+ year old stadium. We should get an idea later this year. Let’s run through three things to watch for:

• What’s happening on the east and west sides? At the very least, we know this will be the first (main?) focus of things. What exactly does that look like? My radio partner John Bishop has theorized we could see field-level suites like some NFL stadiums have. Could this be on the docket?
• They’ve got to do something with south stadium, right? The answer is yes. How much will it differ from Alberts’ plan is where my curiosity really lies with this phase.
• What’s the price tag? A lot of people weren’t too keen on the cost of the stadium when the former AD made it known – $450 million. “Why not spend it on the roster?” I was asked, many, many times. With more renovations being made than originally planned, not to mention inflation, you figure the number should actually be higher this time around. If so, how will that land?

What’s Nebraska’s revenue sharing number look like for football? We save the best for last. This is one we’ll see every school answer and the ripples it will have on the sport will be quite something. How big of a piece of the $20.5 million pie will go to Husker football? And unlike a lot of other schools, Nebraska genuinely cares about their volleyball program. What’s that number look like and how will that impact the basketball programs and other sports? 

The future of college sports begins this summer. No pressure.

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