We need to talk about Nebraska football’s social media strategy
We need to talk about Nebraska football’s social media strategy
Because it's good, and the Nebraska Spring League approach highlights that.
We need to talk about Nebraska football’s social media strategy.
It’s good. I’m not just talking about the “Chasing 3” docuseries, which the Huskers dropped the third episode of just over a week ago.1
I’m not just talking about the mic'd up moments either, although they are good too. The latest dropped Sunday, with new quarterbacks coach Glenn Thomas as the man on the mic. It’s under two minutes, but it gives you a quick look at the type of coach Thomas is.2
I’m more specifically talking about what Nebraska is doing with its Nebraska Spring League (NSL) series, which we now have two days of videos for. The Bugeaters, by the way, won Day 2.3
We talked about the idea behind the NSL last week, but we didn’t really dive into the social media side of it. We need to because, again, it’s good. In addition to creating a way to compete more regularly through spring ball, coach Matt Rhule has also created something for fans to follow along.
On Friday, for example, we learned that the daily competition was “Red Zone Lockout.” How does it work? You can find the full breakdown in the video around 20 seconds in, but the idea is that the offense and the defense each get points based on what they are able to accomplish in the red zone. Where Nebraska gets it right with these videos is the highlights that follow. Do the Huskers want us to see everything that happened in practice? Of course not, but they dial in on the key moments. This allows fans the opportunity to see a little of what took place.
It goes beyond that. Nebraska also offers up in the moment reactions and interviews, which appear to be as much fun for the players to record as it is for the fans to watch.
There’s a method to this madness, of course. Rhule doesn’t want to show off everything — some teams are even moving away from spring games to prevent too much from being shown to opponents — but this style of video (and social media to push it) hits the mark in the best ways. It doesn’t show off too much — the highlights were only 15 seconds of Friday’s video — but it feels like you’re getting something. It feels like you’re included, even if what you’re being shown is highly curated.
It’s smart, and it’s what a lot of the better social media teams in athletics are doing. Anyone can give you an edited moment set to trendy music — and those have their place, don’t get me wrong — but it takes a willingness to pull back the curtain just a little more.
Tennessee is doing it. The Vols, for example, shared a mic’d up coach video and a new episode of their docuseries “The Juice” in the last week (which is also in its fourth season).4 Both take you into the Vols’ world and show a side of the people and program in ways we might not otherwise see (even if we know we’re being shown exactly what they want to show us).
In the modern world of college athletics, those that find ways to bring fans in will be the big winners. It’s easy to want to shove everyone out, keep the cameras away and to say social media is a distraction. I suspect that those that embrace it, however, will wind up on top in some ways — that might be through donations,5 recruits taking notice, etc.
I’m eager to see how Nebraska continues to adapt and evolve with social media trends as they change. It’s a tough world to navigate, but Rhule and the Huskers seem to be handling it in a really smart way — at least right now.
We also need to run things down with Nebraska volleyball really quick.
A lot has happened with the Huskers in the last week. Let’s run it down rapid style fire.6
>> Nebraska outside hitter Harper Murray was cited for a DUI on Friday morning, per the Lincoln Police Department. She was also cited for careless driving, minor in possession, carrying a false ID and obstruction of a peace officer.
Coach John Cook has not commented — Nebraska was concluding practice availability as the news broke, so it likely will be addressed at the next availability — but here is what a Nebraska spokesperson shared with the media:
“The Nebraska Athletic Department is aware of the incident. We are awaiting more information and will have no additional comment at this time.”
>> Nebraska’s newcomers “have been the highlight of the spring,” according to Cook on Friday. He said Skyler Pierce and Olivia Mauch were named the MVPs during Nebraska’s beach and spring practices.
>> The Huskers’ spring game is sold out once again, and it’s a good thing they moved the whole thing from Kearney High School (which holds 2,000 people) to the 5,000-seat Health and Sports Center at the University of Nebraska-Kearney.
People camped out for tickets last Tuesday, with some arriving as early as 1:30 a.m. for the opportunity to purchase tickets. Doors opened at 10 a.m. and tickets sold out in just 46 minutes.
>> After injuring her ankle last season, outside hitter Lindsay Krause is back at full strength (although she is still working on the mental aspect of her return). Middle blocker Bekka Allick is also back to practice after sitting out beach season. She took nine weeks off, and is participating at about 80% in the drills at this time.
>> Last thing, but Nebraska is well represented on the U21 national team. The Huskers have five players among the 20 invited: Mauch, Bergen Reilly, Laney Choboy, Andi Jackson and Murray. Campbell Flynn and Teraya Sigler, Nebraska’s 2025 commits, were also named to the roster.
The docuseries is very good though, and well worth a watch. The title, in case you missed it, is based on Nebraska losing four Big Ten games in 2023 by a field goal — Minnesota, Michigan State, Maryland and Iowa. Three of those were by the score of 13-10. Nebraska — which opened the docuseries with the early signing period in December — is clearly chasing those three elusive points in 2024 through everything the team does in preparation.
He says “finish” a lot, which when you consider the “Chasing 3” mantra, it ties together well.
The Rattlesnake Boys were in second place by only three points, so those of you taking quarterback Heinrich Haarberg and his team have to be feeling good about the long-term opportunity here.
The reason I mention Tennessee is because the Vols’ social media is often credited as being one of the best and more innovative in college athletics.
I bring this up too because many are leaning on fans to join collectives and invest in order to get exclusive content. I get it, because that content is valuable. However, there is a balance and finding ways to tease that content out to bring more fans in should pay off in the end.
Don’t worry. We’ll have more volleyball-specific stories in the weeks to come, especially as the spring game gets closer.
I did not look at the byline before reading. About halfway through I thought to myself, "hell yeah, I told Vogel to write more footnotes and he sure did deliver"
I just hope Nebraska and the fans remember kids make mistakes, no matter how good of athlete they are. It's what comes after that shows the character.