Nebraska Edge Anthony Jones Talks Roy Manning, Path to NFL, and More

After Nebraska edge coach Roy Manning joined the staff, it wasn't hard to convince players to play for him in Lincoln.

In 2025, his position group excelled under Rob Aurich and his guidance, allowing players like Anthony Jones to sign with the Huskers out of the transfer portal with peace of mind. Now, as the former UCLA transfer enters his final season of college football, he'll look to turn in the best year of his career before he takes a shot at the NFL. As spring ball begins to ramp up with his new team, he met with the media earlier this week to discuss his path to doing so, the relationship he's built with Manning, and a former player of his new position coach, who helped him choose Lincoln to call home.

With that in mind, here's everything you need to know about what the will-be senior discussed in his first media availability as a Husker.

The 6-foot-5, 265-pounder wasn't hard to miss after getting a first-person look at him in the Hawks Championship center on Tuesday afternoon. But, after getting over the physical stature of the former Bruin, the conversation quickly turned towards what drew him to the Big Red. Of that, he said, the staff's pitch to him was relatively simple, and frankly, something too hard to ignore.

"Hearing the plan that they have for me," he said. "[and] seeing what they've done at San Diego State, they had a bunch of guys that got a bunch of sacks, so that stood out to me". If sacks are what you're looking for, Manning's 2025 position group obtained them in abundance as three different Aztecs totaled 6.5 or more sacks in the 13 games they played last fall. Now, they'll look to do it again with a group of players itching to get after the quarterback at a high level this year.

For Jones, though, he'll enter a room filled with competition, but one in which still isn't nearly as experienced as he is. Regardless of that, the athletic profile of the players on NU's roster this fall is inarguably more high-profile than Manning's previous stop. And with the will-be senior leading the charge, the unit will look to overhaul the Huskers' shortcomings from 2025.

Though NU has only practiced three times this year, Jones suggested his unit's leader is quickly becoming someone easy to learn from. Having played in the Big Ten himself before a three-year career in the NFL, Manning's coaching style is a direct reflection of the tangibles he learned in his playing career. Still, seeing someone closely removed from being a pro help him try to do the same is something Jones made evident he is taking full advantage of.

"He definitely gets out there at practice and shows us he's still an athlete," said Jones. "Being able to get coached by a guy that was at Michigan, played in the league, it helps a lot because he knows what it takes". With Manning having already experienced the path many of NU's players dream about taking, giving their coach their full focus and effort doesn't seem hard to do. For Rhule, that means one less position group to worry about getting acclimated to the new defensive scheme ahead of 2026, along with an assistant coach he doesn't need to micro-manage.

Coincidentally, the soon-to-be senior edge is not the only former Bruin who landed at Nebraska. In fact, his former teammate Kwazi Gilmer chose the Big Red out of the transfer portal as well. When asked about Jones' own acclimation process to Lincoln, he suggested he leaned on fellow transfers and Gilmer himself to create a bond at his new home.

"That's one of my brothers," he said. "Being able to go through things with him at UCLA- it wasn't the best, but how we were able to stay together as a team, I look at that and have respect for him. He's a guy who's going to compete regardless. He's going to be a guy that can make the big plays when we need him".

The former duo of Bruins played against Nebraska in 2025, and now, in their first season as Huskers, they'll look to continue building a bond with new teammates before the start of the year. But bonds were something Jones continued to talk about later on, even if he never played collegiately with his childhood friend.

Nebraska's newest addition to the edge room grew up in Las Vegas, where he played and built a relationship with former SDSU standout edge Ryan Henderson. Now, with Texas A&M, Henderson previously excelled under Aurich and Manning's guidance just a season ago. For Jones, the relationship he had built with his fellow Nevada prospect actually helped him choose Lincoln ahead of his final season in college. But he also shed light on his relationship with his new head coach and defensive coordinator as well.

"Coach Aurich has been trying to recruit me for a while," he said. "And I think I earned the respect of coach Rhule when we played them." He later discussed that Henderson's career path and ability to excel under Manning's watch were what moved the needle for him. "One of my best friends that I played with since youth football, he was over there at San Diego State," said Jones. "Ryan Henderson. He's now at [Texas] A&M. A bunch of those guys were able to transfer out to big-time schools".

While ultimately, Jones transferred within the conference, and Henderson went from SDSU to the SEC, he'll now look to find the same level of success that his childhood friend did under the same staff. Whether that happens remains to be seen, but as far as physical traits go, the former Bruin offers nearly everything you can imagine that would help him succeed.

2026 is a big year, not only for Jones but for the Nebraska football program as a whole. If transfer additions like him can take a leap, it'll drastically change the outlook of the upcoming season positively, while also showing future players that development has taken place. From the soon-to-be seniors' perspective, it sounds like things are off to a good start, but there's plenty of time from here until September to continue making that progress show.

If press conference comments offer any indication, the Huskers will look to take a step in affecting the quarterback this fall. Jones appears intent on keeping his head down and getting to work. If that does occur, NU will be the beneficiary of a veteran defender who took to his new staff's coaching and finished his career on a high note.

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