Nebraska football: A new Herbie Husker is officially on the way

On the same day when the new Nebraska football mascot was teased on social media, the new logo leaked thanks to a retailer jumping the gun a bit.

Since athletic director Trev Alberts’s arrival in Lincoln, there has already been one major tweak to the Herbie Husker mascot logo on official merchandise. Now it appears that the character, who is synonymous with Nebraska football and Nebraska athletics than the letter ‘N’ on the helmets, is going to get a new and more official upgrade.

This new update appears to be both to the official Herbie Husker logo that goes on everything from t-shirts to mugs, but also the life-size Herbie that appears on the sidelines of games. This news comes from a social media tease from the Nebraska football accounts as well as an eagle-eyed Twitter user who spotted advertisements for apparel with the new Herbie Husker emblazoned on the front.

The official announcement is planned for Monday and was teased with a post showing just the lower portion of Herbie from behind, walking towards a barn. The tweet had the caption “4/17” on it but no other explanation as to what it was supposed to be about. The Mad Hatter Omaha Twitter account then went to work and found an online Lawlor’s Sporting Goods ad showing off the new logo that Nebraska football fans will be sporting if they buy new gear this spring.

The logo itself is not a drastic change from the one made in January, which changed Herbie Husker’s left hand from doing the “ok” sign to “we’re number one.” The biggest swap out is that the mascot is no longer holding a football and is instead standing with his hand on his hip.

The new Nebraska football and Nebraska athletics logo also show a less chonky Herbie. The old illustrations showed someone who had a bit of a beer gut. This version is slimmed down. The corn cob in the man’s pocket also looks a tiny bit different but is still present.

Now the question is just what will the new Herbie who will be patrolling Nebraska football sidelines look like? Up until 2004, the live-action version of the character looked quite a bit more like the illustrated logo, complete with blonde hair. That changed under Steve Pederson in 2004. Pederson had the character slimmed down and given brown hair. He also got a red polo and jeans, rather than the bib overalls.

It seems likely that Nebraska football fans will get to see just what the new looks is all about on Monday and then watch him stroll the stadium during the spring game next Saturday.