Nebraska Football Extends First Female Athlete Power Four Flag Football Offer

Nebraska athletics remains in the driver's seat of innovation and leading by example in female athletics at the Division I Power Four conference level.

Nearly a week after announcing the addition of women's flag football as a women's intercollegiate varsity sport at Nebraska, the Huskers enlisted football coach Matt Rhule to create more history and begin building the new program for the Big Red. Rhule, on behalf of the Huskers, extended an offer to Makena Cook to join the Nebraska women's flag football program.

"I have been sent here to offer you the first-ever flag football female Division I Power (Four) scholarship," Rhule said to Cook in a social media video posted Saturday. "Go Big Red."

Cook, the captain of the USA Junior Flag National Team and current Georgia soccer commit, thanked the Huskers' head coach for the offer. The Class of 2027 recruit has impressed in leading the United States 15U Junior National Team to back-to-back gold medals in the Junior International Cup in 2023 and 2024, and sees the sport continuing to gain momentum for the future.

“By the time I graduate high school, I want to see flag football as a D1 sport everywhere,” Cook said to NBC Sports. “I want every college to have it. I want it to be all over the map —everyone’s talking about it, everyone’s watching it. It’s everywhere. That’s the goal.”

Cook comes from a football family, as her brother, Cooper, was a First-Team All-Delta League defensive lineman as a junior this past fall for Tustin High School. For Makena, the multi-sport athlete now has choices for her athletic future after ranking as one of the top prospects for soccer while completing nearly 74 percent of her passes for 13,694 passing yards, 209 passing touchdowns and 32 interceptions over the past two seasons for Orange Lutheran High School's flag football program. Cook added 110 carries for 719 rushing yards and six scores over 49 games played.

Cook was also featured in the NFL Kickoff commercial "This is Football Country" prior to the start of the 2024 season. The flag football star has aspirations of playing for the United States Olympic team when the sport joins the Summer Olympics in 2028.

"Every single Olympics was a big deal in our house. It was so much to watch. It’s a one-of-a-kind moment and something you always dream about," Cook said. "When I was little, I always dreamed about playing soccer in the Olympics, but now that it’s flag football, it’s a whole new world, and it’s amazing."

Nebraska football is looking to the future in the sport, announcing on Jan. 16 the addition of the varsity sport to Nebraska's women's athletics. The addition of women’s flag football to Nebraska’s list of sports offerings gives the Huskers 25 intercollegiate programs, including 15 women’s teams and 10 men’s teams. Flag football is the first sport Nebraska has added since beach volleyball began competition in the spring of 2013.

Nebraska athletics director Troy Dannen smiles during the Northwestern game. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Nebraska was the first Power Four Conference school to announce the addition of women’s flag football. The Huskers will play their inaugural competitive flag football season in the spring of 2028, with the season running from January to May. Nebraska immediately began the process of searching for a head coach and building a roster this spring, with plans to have a coach hired by summer and recruit a roster of approximately 15 players by the start of the fall 2026 semester.

"This is a banner day for Nebraska Athletics and for women's sports," Nebraska Director of Athletics Troy Dannen said in a statement. "In a time of uncertainty and change in college athletics, creating new participation opportunities continues Nebraska’s rich history of elevating women's athletics."

"The table is set for others to come on board," Dannen said during his Sports Nightly conversation on Jan. 22.

Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule comes out of the tunnel prior to the game against Akron. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Coach Matt Rhule has also championed the sport, hosting the state's first all-girls clinic, "She's Got Game" back in 2024, and added a flag football competition to Nebraska football's "Husker Games" in place of a Red-White Spring Game during the 2025 spring football season. Nebraska's intramural team was competing against Midland University's NAIA program, as the Warriors dominated the Huskers at Memorial Stadium.

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