While the Nebraska football team expects to come out of July looking quite a bit better than it did when it entered June, the Huskers have suffered some recruiting setbacks in the last two days. On Thursday, 4-star DB Devin Jackson committed to Big Ten rival Oregon. On Friday afternoon, Omaha defensive back Darion Jones also joined a B1G rival of the Cornhuskers in the Iowa Hawkeyes.
While neither recruiting loss was totally unforeseen, that doesn't make the defeats sting any less. Especially Jones, whose brother Donovan was a freshman at Nebraska this past season and played in five games while keeping his redshirt intact.
The Nebraska football team knew it had a fight on its hands in landing the Omaha North prospect. His family is deeply divided along the lines of the Huskers and Hawkeyes. Jones previously said he grew up rooting for Iowa. When Kirk Ferentz and company made him a priority this spring, that was enough to convince him to leave his home state.
Nebraska football reels after Omaha DB Darion Jones commits to Iowa
Hawkeye Nation let’s ride!!! @HawkeyeFootball pic.twitter.com/s4ITFEmmCy
— Darion jones (@dar11on) July 4, 2025
Another of Jones' older brothers, Dallas, graduated from Iowa and had worked there as a student reporter covering various sports, including football. His dad's side of the family are big Iowa fans — his mom's side backs Nebraska — with multiple other relatives who are Hawkeyes alums.
Jones said that when he told Donovan he wouldn't be playing alongside him, there were no hard feelings. In fact, the younger player said he was surprised when his other brother told him he was happy for him.
The Nebraska football team has several other targets poised to make a decision later this month. However, Darion Jones is the first legitimate loss that will sting for a while. Especially if and when the Omaha standout becomes the returning Hawkeye, they see him at the next level.
Darion Jones' loss comes amid renewed concern from fans over how the Nebraska football team is working to lock down a state that used to have just a few FBS prospects a year. There are more than ever these days and that's making it harder for the Huskers to keep everyone home. More fights will be lost, but Matt Rhule and his staff need to find a way to bring the biggies to Lincoln.