Nebraska Cornhuskers news: Legend returns, young stars rise, HOF hypocrisy, more

Nebraska Cornhuskers volleyball legend Jordan Larson has earned the right to decide when she calls it a career. She’s even earned the right to change her mind and go back to playing after first retiring. Having said that, there were obviously questions about her decision earlier this month to pull the ripcord on her retirement and instead decide she would play at least one more season with professional volleyball team LOVB Nebraska.

• “I felt so good as I kept playing, and then I just was like, ‘I get to do this at home. Like, why am I actually stopping?’ So I think it was just a lot of that back and forth most of the season, and even towards the end,” the Nebraska volleyball legend said in an interview with Nebraska Public Media News. “I think even having the confidence to say that I want to play again. I think that was also scary.”

Young Nebraska Cornhuskers stars ready to make a return and their impact in 2026

• Rex Guthrie had one of the best freshman seasons any Nebraska Cornhusker player has had at his position in 2025. Now he’s looking to come back from offseason surgery in 2026 and show that he’s learned from what mistakes he did make in his first year in Lincoln. “Trying to watch as much tape as I can,” Guthrie said about how he plans to improve in Year 2. “Get in the weight room, on the field and try to better myself every day.”Of course, he’ll also have to win a starting spot again with new defensive coordinator Rob Aurich changing up the defense and bringing in some of his own guys.

• On the other side of the ball, former heralded in-state offensive weapon Carter Nelson hasn’t panned out all that well yet. Last year, he moved from wide receiver to full-time tight end and struggled, catching two passes for 11 yards. However, he feels like he’s got the mentality that will translate to success in 2026: “The biggest thing for me has been trying to change my mindset. The (production) will come, but at the end of the day, if you put it in your mind you are going to go kill somebody, you are going to go kill them.”

More Nebraska Cornhuskers and national news

• Nick Saban built a career as one of the best coaches in the game. He’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer even if he could never beat Nebraska (0-2 all-time). However, as an announcer, he’s not been as impressive. In fact, he’s been a bit of a hypocrite, with his latest comments outlandishly “do as I say not as I do.” type hypocrisy: "I actually think we should play 12 games against the Power 5. That's it. Because it's a business & people want to see those games."

• In Saban’s last five years at Alabama (not counting 2020), his Crimson Tide teams played 18 non-conference games. ‘Bama’s opponents were three Power 4 teams, 10 Group of 6 teams, and five FCS teams. In other words, 17% of his non-con opponents were Power 4. That’s a far cry from his proclamation that 100% should be Power 4.

• Tom Osborne, who coached Nebraska to three national championships in the 1990s and ended his career with one of the highest winning percentages in college football history, on Wednesday became the first living person voted into the state historical society's Nebraska Hall of Fame. The state legislature cleared the path for this honor earlier in the spring when they passed a law changing the requirements for induction. Considering the impact he had on the entire state for decades, it’s hard to argue it wasn’t warranted.

• Poor UMASS. The perennial downtrodden football program is expected to be downtrodden again. Earlier this week, the MAC preseason coaches poll was released, and the Minutemen were predicted to finish dead last in the conference. That includes finishing one spot behind new FBS team Sacramento State, which posted just a 7-5 record in the FCS last year.

• ESPN’s FPI rating for every team was released earlier this week. That means the system could predict the records for the Nebraska Cornhuskers among many others. Officially, the Huskers are expected to win around 6 to 7 games, but the probability ratings do show the possibility of a very good season on the horizon if everything goes right.

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