A big step in the buildup to the 2025 season happens this week.
The Nebraska football team will practice for the first time this spring on Monday as it kicks off its spring camp with a flurry of action.
Nebraska will practice four times during the opening week of camp, including a Tuesday Pro Day in which former Huskers will work out in front of NFL scouts.
An intriguing five-week slate concluding with the inaugural Husker Games awaits. Let’s drop into coverage:
1\. Spring football begins
--------------------------
This spring camp will be like no other before it, and likely none which will follow.
Unlike the previous era of unlimited roster sizes, hard decisions will need to be made at the end of the spring.
Nebraska must only reach the 105-player roster limit in the fall, but the transfer portal also opens in the spring and players will have the option to move on. As such, a spring of competition awaits the entire Husker roster.
Roster spots, dollars and their livelihoods are on the line.
The looming need to trim the roster down is not the only source of intrigue during Nebraska’s spring camp.
For the first time in several seasons, there’s no overriding intrigue over NU’s starting quarterback.
The only question there is: how much can Dylan Raiola grow in 15 more practices directed by offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen? And how do Nebraska’s new transfer additions look?
The offense will be expected to grow, the defense to adjust and adapt, and special teams to show improvements in the fundamentals.
And when it’s all said and done, this spring will be defined by how NU’s returning young core and its high-potential group of winter additions mesh.
2\. Spring focus: offense
-------------------------
Opportunity knocks for the entire roster, but here are five specific Huskers with intriguing spring chances.
**Wide receiver Jacory Barney:** No longer an unproven freshman, Barney will hardly be sneaking up on opponents in his sophomore year. Getting better is the challenge this spring, especially with a new position coach to impress. Plus, Holgorsen may find a few new ways to utilize one of NU’s top offensive playmakers.
**Offensive lineman Justin Evans:** Nebraska’s new-look offensive line is difficult to project at this juncture, but where Evans lines up this spring will be telling. NU’s starting left guard left season, Evans is one of several options to play at center alongside Sam Sledge.
**Wide receiver Hardley Gilmore:** Gilmore’s position coach, Daikiel Shorts, brought the high-potential wideout with him from Kentucky. Having just turned 18 in December, Gilmore is a sophomore who may be untested but could add another big-play threat to the Husker offense.
**Wide receiver Nyziah Hunter:** Dane Key was the biggest offseason addition to NU’s pass-catching room, but don’t forget about the potential for Hunter to make some noise. After a breakout redshirt freshman season at Cal, can Hunter navigate a new environment, quarterback and offense? If he hits the ground running, Nebraska will feel that much better about its offensive potential.
**Running back Kwinten Ives:** While Emmett Johnson will lead the way in the Husker backfield, who will back him up remains to be seen. The time is now for Ives, a third-year Husker who position coach EJ Barthel hand-picked for his potential, to make good on it. He’ll have every opportunity to establish himself as Johnson’s top backup.
3\. Spring focus: defense
-------------------------
Here are five specific Huskers with intriguing spring chances on defense.
**Defensive back Donovan Jones:** There’s a case to be made that the entire Nebraska secondary will be in the spotlight this spring. The deep, versatile position room includes a player in Jones whose bowl game performance looked like a revelation. Was it a sign of things to come or just a one-off? The young cornerback can continue his momentum with a strong camp.
**Defensive lineman Cameron Lenhardt:** A steady contributor with 23 games played across his first two seasons at Nebraska, the challenge for Lenhardt is to make the jump to being a game-wrecker. A three-sack freshman season was followed just a half-sack in 2024; Lenhardt will expect more from himself as a junior.
**Defensive lineman Williams Nwaneri:** Just about every college in the nation wanted Nwaneri, a former five-star recruit, two years ago and several of them might’ve come calling this offseason too. However, the former Missouri Tiger wanted to be a Husker — and he’ll be given the chance to earn the playing time he didn’t get as a true freshman.
**Linebacker Vincent Shavers:** Nebraska’s transfer linebackers figure to take on starting roles, but how will Shavers look alongside them after a standout freshman campaign? Continuing his growth will imperative as Shavers faces competition for playing time.
**Defensive lineman Riley Van Poppel:** Former Nebraska coaches Tony White and Terrance Knighton saw Van Poppel as their Nash Hutmacher replacement, and the Huskers redshirted him last year to make sure of it. Making the jump from a rotational contributor to an impactful, every-down defensive tackle is a challenge — but Van Poppel has the physical gifts to thrive in that role.
4\. Spring game check-in
------------------------
Matt Rhule might’ve been one of the first coaches to speak about cancelling his program’s annual spring game, but he won’t be the last.
Programs across the country, especially those in the Big Ten and SEC, are quickly following suit and modifying their spring practice schedules to no longer include televised scrimmages at the end.
However, not all coaches agree with Rhule’s rationale that cancelling the spring game will help limit roster tampering.
“This thought of people recruiting off your roster or some of those things, I’m not buying some of that stuff,” Texas A&M coach Mike Elko said this week. “So, we’ll continue to have a spring game until we make it to the semifinals and then we’ll rediscover kind of what our offseason looks like.”
Programs which disagree with Elko and will no longer hold a public spring game include Arizona, Florida State, Illinois, Michigan State, Minnesota, Missouri, NC State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas and USC.
5\. Nebraska coaching staff
---------------------------
Nebraska has recently adjusted its coaching staff, making use of a 2024 rule change that allows for unlimited on-field coaches.
Former Husker and NFL kicker Brett Maher, who also assisted with NU’s special teams operations last fall, has officially been added to the coaching staff as a special teams analyst.
Also helping Mike Ekeler with Nebraska’s special teams unit will be Nick Humphrey, who was hired on as the program’s assistant special teams coach. A former linebacker at Tennessee, Humphrey also worked with Ekeler as a graduate assistant.
Former special teams coach Ed Foley is now listed in his new position as the program’s director of football relations, while assistants Ira Savage-Lewis and Mike Williams are now in new roles.
Graduate assistants on the NU staff in 2024, Savage-Lewis will work as the team’s assistant defensive line coach and Williams as its assistant running backs coach.
Get local news delivered to your inbox!