Friday Five: Tournament pressures and earned recognition

Welcome to the first Friday of December. It’s already shaping up to be a busy month.

Photo courtesy Nebraska Athletics

Welcome to the first Friday of December. It’s already shaping up to be a busy month.

Nebraska volleyball heads into the NCAA Tournament looking to do something the program hasn’t done in nearly a decade. Nebraska football is balancing coaching turnover, bowl prep, signing day and injury management.

Let’s get straight into what’s shaping the weekend and the weeks ahead.

Nebraska volleyball isn’t changing who they are because what they are works

You don’t go 30-0 by being conservative. You don’t build the best offense Nebraska has ever had by “avoiding mistakes.” You do it by playing bold.

That’s been Dani Busboom Kelly’s identity from day one at Nebraska, and she hasn’t changed just because the NCAA Tournament arrived. That means the lineups could change, and the rotations too.

“What’s made us successful to this point? That’s part of it,” she said. “So I don’t think you’re going to see the same 7-8 players every single match.”

Busboom Kelly isn’t just saying that to say it. She has swapped liberos mid-match and she has rolled with the freshman opposite. She isn’t afraid to tinker.

Beyond that, the messaging to her hitters has never wavered: take the bo swing. Make the difficult set. Don’t default to safe volleyball just because it’s easy. Setter Bergen Reilly has internalized it to the point where she’s running one of the most dynamic offenses the sport has seen in years.

Nebraska knows this is a big week, of course, but still set aside some time for the team to reset. Monday became a pedicure day, not a practice day. A small way to release tension before intensity inevitably ramps.

“It was fulfilling for a lot of us,” Reilly said. “Just helped us recharge.”

Postseason volleyball is full of pressure, but Nebraska earned the right to feel a little joyful too. As for Busboom Kelly, she just wants the Huskers to keep doing what’s gotten them to this point.

“It’s an interesting team because this team is very humble, especially for the amount of success we have had,” Busboom Kelly said. “They don’t need to be pumped up.”

Everyone knows what’s at stake though. They’re embracing it, not running from it.

30-0, Player of the Year, Coach of the Year and a scouting report

Nebraska’s regular season ended as one of the best ever produced in Lincoln. Finishing 30-0 with only one set dropped in conference play is incredible precision over a three-month span.

Reilly became only the third player in Big Ten history to win Setter AND Player of the Year. She joined Wisconsin’s Sydney Hilley as a three-time Setter of the Year.

Busboom Kelly winning Coach of the Year in her first season in Lincoln is pretty incredible too. She took a program that was already elite and raised its ceiling, and did it while reshaping the roster, empowering youth and never letting veterans get comfortable.

Nebraska opens against Long Island Friday night, a team with its own momentum. Long Island comes into Friday’s matchup as regular season and conference tournament champions, revitalized by new leadership under Tony Trifonov.

The Sharks have NEC Player and Setter of the Year talent. They have an outside hitter who can score points in bunches. They block well. They dig relentlessly.

Nebraska should sweep, but no night in tournament play can be taken for granted. The Huskers know that. Getting to Kansas City will take that continued precision they’ve shown all season, and that all begins Friday night.

Emmett Johnson gets the Big Ten’s top individual honor

Emmett Johnson did something Thursday no Nebraska running back has done in over a decade. He was rewarded as the best running back in the Big Ten.

A 1,451-yard year. Eight 100-yard games. Five straight to finish the season. Originally projected as a rotational running back, Johnson became one of the most impactful offensive pieces in college football and somehow got better each week.

A semifinalist for the Doak Walker and Maxwell Awards, first-team All-Big Ten from both coaches and media and now the Ameche-Dayne award, awarded to the conference’s top running back.

Johnson’s 46 receptions, more than any FBS running back, show how he unlocked Nebraska’s offense as much through versatility as through the ground game.

His future may not be decided — whether he stays or tests the NFL waters — but his status as a high-level producer is beyond debate.

Rhule draws a line on the defensive side

Nebraska’s defensive downturn in 2025 was tangible enough that coach Matt Rhule decided not to wait to make a change.

“If we weren’t sure, we would have waited,” Rhule said on Wednesday. “We knew the direction we were going and it was best for everyone (to part ways).”

He praised John Butler’s work but made clear the problem was ultimately the fit.

“It just wasn’t exactly the right fit for me and the way I am,” Rhule said. “So, it’s probably more me than anything else.”

Then came honesty about November.

“The last two games, to give up 77 points — I was really, really encouraged throughout the whole year — to happen the way they did, was really disappointing,” Rhule said.

Nebraska wants a play style and not a clever scheme. That meant a change had to be made.

“I want someone who, it’s not scheme, it’s our play style and how hard we play,” Rhule said. “The reality is, the last two weeks, we didn’t play hard enough.”

He reaffirmed that Addison Williams isn’t going anywhere and that’s notable. Sure, Williams was a key factor in landing five-star Danny Odem, but Rhule also sees Williams as a core of Nebraska’s defensive future.

The timeline is tight too. Rhule wants a DC soon — ideally before the transfer window opens Jan. 2 — and acknowledges that whoever he hires may bring assistants with him. What Rhule wants is clear in his next hire.

“Don’t tell me the players aren’t good enough,” he said. “I want a coordinator who gets 11 guys to play as one.”

Signing Day lands 10 players and what happens next

Wednesday wrapped the early signing period for the 2026 class with 10 signed. Rhule said the smaller class was by design, shaped by roster math and portal expectations more than “missed opportunities.”

The real intrigue is around the quarterbacks, including Dylan Raiola.

“What I’ve encouraged him to do is to embrace it and attack it… Dylan’s a tremendous worker…But I want to see him make a jump,” Rhule said.

As for TJ Lateef, he isn’t practicing yet. His hamstring injury from Iowa makes Nebraska cautious, but the expectation is he’ll be available for the bowl game.

Rhule also revealed the bowl game will be missing one of its best linemen: Rocco Spindler, opting for surgery on the broken finger he played through since Minnesota.

“That was as gruesome as could be,” Rhule said. “I mean, he can’t even bench press right now.”

Elsewhere, the injury list extends further. Malcolm Hartzog won’t play, Tyson Terry and Malcolm Simpson remain out, Jamarion Parker is still in concussion protocol and Demitrius Bell is still working back.

And that’s the subtle reality of December after the grind of the regular season comes to an end.

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And so we’re here on the first Friday of December, heading into a busy month. That includes Nebraska men’s basketball’s matchup with Creighton on Sunday at 4 p.m. CT. We’ll have more on that next week.

For now, Nebraska volleyball gets things started in the NCAA Tournament and football prepares for its bowl landing spot.

Should be interesting. It always is.