Friday Five: Updates, undertones and everything in between

From football perspective to volleyball logistics and wrestling momentum, this week in Nebraska Athletics had it all.

Photo by Erin Sorensen

There was just about a little of everything this week. Truly.

That’s to be expected on a week where the athletic director joins the Huskers Radio Network for his monthly show. Updates are always bound to come from that, and updates we received.

That, like always, was not all.

Let’s get into it.

Troy Dannen sees the long game in Nebraska’s rebuild

When it comes to rumors about coaching jobs, Troy Dannen has seen this play out too many times to get rattled. Every coach linked to another school—whether it’s serious or not—gives some version of the same non-answer. Matt Rhule did too when Penn State chatter surfaced last week.

“Matt did exactly and has addressed it really I think highly appropriately,” Dannen said earlier this week on Sports Nightly. “Matt and I talk 100 times a day… I feel like we’re in a really good place, but I’ve also been through this 100 times.

“And when you have good people they’re going to be attractive to other places.”

That’s the price of having someone worth keeping, he added.

“Part of our goal is to make this as attractive a place as possible so that when someone is maybe the apple of someone else’s eye, they’d rather stay with you,” he said.

The conversation quickly turned bigger than Penn State. Dannen acknowledged what fans feel and that is the fact that it’s been 15 years of waiting for Nebraska football to turn the corner. He sees progress but understands the fatigue.

“We’re three years into a rebuild here,” Dannen said. “The fans are 15 years into a rebuild. And so I understand the frustrations of things not turning.”

Still, he pointed to moments like the win at Michigan State and the late drive against Maryland as signs of growth. The loss at Minnesota? Part of the process.

“Those are things that are all natural in a rebuild,” Dannen said. “But where I have the most empathy… is our fan base – which is as loyal and as incredible as any fan base in the country, it is in Year 15 of this. And they’re tired of it. But that can’t detract from what we know has to happen.”

He also put emphasis on culture. You know, the kind that can’t be measured on a stat sheet.

“I go to practice every day, so I know where our program is at,” Dannen said. “When things don’t go right it is everyone’s responsibility. And we point fingers at each other inside. Here’s what you got to do better for me and here’s what I got to do better for you.”

Dannen’s bigger-picture focus is resources and infrastructure, everything from NIL strategy to Memorial Stadium’s future.

“We’re not going back out to our fan base and say, ‘Hey, you need to contribute to NIL.’ Those days are past us,” he said.

Nebraska’s facilities are top tier, its nutrition and academics near the top and now, he says, it’s about closing the loop on deals and opportunities that make Nebraska competitive in every conversation.

And, what about Memorial Stadium?

“In this new world your ability to generate revenue defines your ability to compete,” he said. “The stadium is a revenue stream that for the most part is untapped. So putting that into the system is only going to help our athletes, is only going to help our coaches have more resources… to recruit and retain talent.”

Nebraska volleyball may move postseason play to Pinnacle Bank Arena

The top-ranked Huskers could have a new home for the NCAA Tournament this December. Dannen said this week that Nebraska is exploring hosting early rounds or regionals at Pinnacle Bank Arena instead of the Devaney Center. The idea: double the crowd, deliver a Final Four atmosphere and still keep home advantage.

“If we can double our fans, I don’t know why we wouldn’t do it,” coach Dani Busboom Kelly said. “I do think Devaney is a more home court advantage but I don’t think it’s so significant (of) an advantage of keeping 8,000 people out from watching us play.”

Players are on board. Andi Jackson called Pinnacle Bank Arena a “really cool environment.” Laney Choboy agreed.

“I really loved PBA,” Choboy said. “Everyone there was amazing. Even the gym. Usually passing in bigger gyms is a lot harder but in PBA it felt super comfortable.”

Nebraska has already played two matches there this year, drawing over 15,000 fans each time. The move wouldn’t be permanent—just one weekend—but enough to welcome more fans into the fold.

The Huskers could add another non-traditional venue next season

From Memorial Stadium to PBA, Nebraska volleyball has redefined what’s possible for the sport. And according to Dannen, there’s another unique venue in the works for next year.

“We get invited to go do things because of that draw that other schools don’t get invited to,” he said. “John (Cook)’s been willing, obviously, with Volleyball Day in Nebraska, but Dani’s also willing to look at how do we take this show on the road, just to bring more attention to volleyball? Because we are the program that can do that.”

Fan theories are flying, of course, but Dannen said no to most. Wrigley Field in Chicago has been mentioned by both Cook and others in recent weeks though.

Busboom Kelly’s approach is measured: open to ideas, unwilling to let them distract from the main goal.

“Volleyball just continues to grow, and people want to put us on TV on major networks,” she said. “Sometimes that might take thinking out of the box to get more eyes.”

However it plays out, Nebraska’s capacity to fill any venue—literally anywhere—is its superpower. And Dannen sounds intent on using that to push the sport forward.

Weekend preview: Nebraska volleyball goes pink, keeps climbing

The No. 1 Huskers return home this weekend for a pair of Big Ten matches, starting Friday against Northwestern (6 p.m., Nebraska Public Media/B1G+) in the annual Pink Match for breast cancer awareness. Michigan State follows Saturday (7:30 p.m., BTN). John Baylor and Lauren Cook West will have the call for the Huskers Radio Network.

Nebraska enters at 18-0, its second-best start since joining the Big Ten. The Huskers have swept nine straight matches and won 28 consecutive sets since Sept. 16 at Creighton. They’re 50-0 in sets when hitting 20 points first.

Offensively, Nebraska leads the nation in hitting percentage at .332 and ranks second in opponent hitting percentage at .112. The .220 gap between the two is the largest in the country.

Harper Murray continues to lead the way with 3.71 kills per set, a .322 clip and 17 aces. Rebekah Allick (.412) and Andi Jackson (.417) anchor the middle, while Bergen Reilly paces the offense with 9.89 assists per set and a team-high 2.80 digs.

Northwestern (13-7, 3-5) has already surpassed last season’s win total, led by Rylen Reid and Ayah Elnady. Michigan State (15-3, 5-3) is guided by freshman setter—and Lincoln native—Malayah Long, already a two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week.

Friday’s match also carries weight for the inaugural Big Ten Discover Challenge. Nebraska and Purdue are both 3-0 in the standings, with the winner determined by total challenge wins and tiebreakers like head-to-head and sets won.

Nebraska wrestling leans into expectation and intensity

Mark Manning’s program is starting this season where it left off—near the top. After a national runner-up finish last year, the Huskers bring back elite talent and add AJ Ferrari, a 2021 national champion transferring from Oklahoma State. He’ll wrestle up at heavyweight.

“He’s big and strong,” Manning said. “He’s 240-something; whether he weighs 227 or 242, he’s a strong man. He wrestles with a lot of intensity, and that’s what people are going to see. He’s a competitor, and that’s why we brought him in.”

The transition has required some adjustment, both culturally and technically.

“It’s a work in progress,” Manning said. “It’s a learning process for him, but he really enjoys this team.”

Ferrari joins a lineup anchored by two of the nation’s best pound-for-pound wrestlers in Antrell Taylor (157) and Brock Hardy (141). Taylor, last year’s national champion, zeroed in on improving his mat work.

“My biggest thing was being able to wrestle on the mat top and bottom,” he said. “I feel like I’m pushing towards getting some more riding time, and being just a fully-developed wrestler.”

Hardy, last year’s NCAA runner-up, focused on consistency.

“I’ve beaten the national champ, but I’ve also lost to true freshmen,” he said. “I’ve got to make sure that I have the best product out on the mat every single time.”

Younger names are rising too—LJ Araujo at 165 and Camden McDanel at 197 among them. McDanel, an All-American as a true freshman, has taken another leap.

“Since the NCAAs, the room’s been full,” Hardy said. “A lot of guys are getting better in a lot of different ways.”

Manning has built the culture to match the results. Nebraska broke its home-dual attendance record last January against Penn State, and he sees wrestling’s rise as part of a larger Nebraska trend.

“It means a lot. I fought like a dang animal to make wrestling relevant here,” he said. “In some ways, for us over here, volleyball sets the tone… It’s an opportunity for us to really have our program seen in that light. You have to have success. It’s about winning.”

The Huskers open Nov. 2 at Navy.

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Dannen’s words this week could double as a theme across Nebraska athletics: stay steady, build right, don’t shortcut the process. That feels like a mission for this weekend at least, right?

Thanks, as always, for reading. We’ll have more throughout the weekend.