Common Fan - A Nebraska Football Podcast

Gary Sharp joins the Common Fans to share his reactions to the Cincinnati game and talk about what’s next for Nebraska football. Gary saw plenty of issues for the Huskers to fix, but the game didn’t fundamentally change his outlook for the Big Red in 2025. Defensive line, depth at running back are obvious areas in need of improvement.  Gary also mentions the linebacker play as something he was sur...

The Common Fans discuss Nebraska’s thrilling win over Cincinnati at Arrowhead Stadium.  The Huskers showed plenty of promise on Thursday night, but the team also has lots to work on.  The Nebraska team that showed up at Arrowhead Stadium does not look like a playoff team…but that doesn’t mean the Big Red can’t still put together a special run in 2025. The most important thing was getting out of Ka...

The Common Fans celebrate the end of the offseason and the beginning of another season of Nebraska football! Before getting to their bold predictions, there is much to discuss regarding the latest and greatest surrounding Husker football:  The debate over whether or not you can be a fan of more than one college football team.  National commentators predicting Nebraska in the playoffs. Josh Pate, P...

Mike’l Severe joins the Common Fans for the third of a three-episode series, breaking down every game on Nebraska’s schedule. The episodes will be released Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of this week, in anticipation of Nebraska’s first game next week.  Today, Mike’l and the Common Fans go through the final four games on the Huskers’ schedule.  On the game against USC in Lincoln: With USC coming to...

Mike’l Severe joins the Common Fans for the second of a three-episode series, breaking down every game on Nebraska’s schedule. The episodes will be released Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of this week, in anticipation of Nebraska’s first game next week.  Today, Mike’l and the Common Fans go through the middle four games of the Huskers’ schedule.  On the game against Michigan State: The crew sees Ne...

Mike’l Severe joins the Common Fans for the first of a three-episode series, breaking down every game on Nebraska’s schedule. The episodes will be released Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of this week, in anticipation of Nebraska’s first game next week.  Today, Mike’l and the Common Fans go through the first four games of Nebraska’s schedule.  On the opener against Cincinnati: The crew sees some con...

Broadcasting legend Tim Brando joins the Common Fans to discuss the upcoming season, the outlook for Nebraska, his favorite to win the Big Ten, his old friend Lee Corso, plus much more!  Brando sees the Huskers taking another step forward in 2025: Last year, Brando came on the Common Fan Podcast and correctly predicted Nebraska would make a bowl game and have a winning season in 2024.  He believes...

The Common Fans discuss the impact offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen and special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler will have for Nebraska football in 2025.  In order to take the patented Year 3 leap under Matt Rhule, the Huskers will almost certainly need to win close games.  What can turn close losses into wins? Improvement on offense and special teams.  Holgorsen brings swagger and a simplified p...

Tom Osborne biographer Henry Cordes of the Omaha World Herald and Brandon Vogel of the Counter Read Newsletter join the Common Fans for the final episode of the Tom Osborne series.  Simply put, TO is the best coach in Nebraska football history, and one of the greatest college football coaches of all time.  Beloved by his players to this day. Deep and lasting connection to his players, built on a c...

College Football Hall of Famer Grant Wistrom and Omaha World Herald legend Tom Shatel join the Common Fans for the fifth episode of the Tom Osborne series. This episode focuses on the 1995-1997 seasons.  The dominance of the 1995 team. Averaged over 53 points per game; gave up just 14 and a half. They averaged more than 556 rushing yards per game.  No team came within 14 points of them on the fina...

For Episode 4 of the Tom Osborne series, the Common Fans are joined by All Big 8 wingback Abdul Muhammad and longtime Nebraska sports writer Mitch Sherman. This episode focuses on the period from 1990-1994.  Toward the end of the 1990 season, the Huskers were #2 in the country. Then they blew a 12-0 lead against Colorado, and suffered back-to-back blowouts against Oklahoma and vs. Georgia Tech in...

The Common Fans interrupt their summer series on Tom Osborne to discuss the latest comments from Scott Frost.  In case you hadn’t noticed, Scott Frost is in the news again.  When asked what he learned from his time at Nebraska, Frost said, “Don't take the wrong job.” He went on to say, “I got tugged in a direction to try to help my alma mater and didn't really want to do it. It wasn't...

In the third episode of their deep dive into Tom Osborne’s career, the Common Fans talk to Husker legend Steve Taylor and former Lincoln Journal Star sportswriter Ken Hambleton about TO’s teams of the 1980s.  TO takes things to another level. With five conference titles from 1980 to 1989, Nebraska had more wins than any other college football team in the decade.  Huskers come agonizingly close to...

In the second episode of the Common Fans’ deep dive into Tom Osborne’s career, the boys look at TO’s early days as Nebraska’s head coach in the 1970s.  Husker legend Tom Ruud discusses his days playing for both Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne.  Long time sportswriters Mike Babcock and Brandon Vogel also join the conversation.  Changing of the guard from Devaney to Osborne.  Early struggles to beat Okl...

The Common Fans launch their new summer series focused on Tom Osborne’s coaching career with a look at his time as an assistant to Bob Devaney.  If you wanted to make the case that God’s a Cornhusker, there might not be a better place to start than here: Tom Osborne arrived on Nebraska’s campus as a young graduate student in pursuit of a PhD within a month of Bob Devaney taking over as the Huskers...

The Common Fans announce “TO,” a new series of episodes focused on Tom Osborne’s career at Nebraska.  Similar to last year’s series, “The Reckoning,” the Common Fans once again bring you a summer series to look back at certain aspects of Nebraska football history to help you survive until football season. As the offensive coordinator of the Huskers’ first two national championship teams, and the h...

The Common Fans discuss the most essential players for the Nebraska football team in the coming season.  Optimism abounds at numerous positions of need.  While expectations are high for Matt Rhule in year 3, the Huskers will need numerous players who have been in the program for several years to take the next step.  They also need multiple transfers to have an immediate impact.  Dylan = obvious #1...

The Common Fans share some of their (and their listeners') most extreme reactions–both meltdowns and celebrations–to Nebraska football games over the years.  One of the guiding principles of the Common Fan Podcast is: We Don’t Judge.  Whatever Nebraska football has made you do over the years, this is a safe place to share your experiences.  Whether it was punching the couch, putting a hole in...

The Common Fans go through the 2025 schedule and pick wins and losses for every game.  The ax forgets, but the tree remembers. It’s time for Nebraska football to be the ax again.  Early part of the schedule lines up well for the Huskers.  Under the lights at Arrowhead.  First conference game vs. Michigan a major opportunity.  Husker fans sweating the trip to Minneapolis? No one knows that to make...

The Common Fans discuss all the latest Husker news of the last week, including comments from Scott Frost and a new development with the Michigan game in September.  Frost’s inability to say the word “Nebraska.” Many Husker fans want to see the former player and coach succeed again at UCF, but it would help if he could acknowledge his time in Lincoln.  The absurdity of Michigan trying to slap its o...

What are the most pivotal games for Nebraska in 2025? What games will come to define the season for the Big Red? The Common Fans dive in for a discussion about the most important games on the schedule as the Huskers look to build on their bowl season in 2024.  Does anyone like PJ Fleck? The hate for Iowa burns strong.  First conference game at home vs. Michigan is massive.  USC is a mystery.  Surp...

The Common Fans talk some big picture takeaways as spring ball wraps up and we look ahead to the 2025 season.  1) Questions Questions Everywhere While optimism around the program is high, there are a number of questions that won’t be answered until the season starts in the fall. What will special teams look like under new coordinator Mike Ekeler? Can the defense continue its stellar play that has...

The Athletic’s Mitch Sherman joins the Common Fans to talk Dana Holgorsen’s offense, what to expect from the Blackshirts, whether Special Teams can finally figure it out, and much more.  What will Nebraska’s offense look like under Dana Holgorsen? RB depth behind Emmett Johnson. Do they look to the portal?  Outlook for the WR corps, with true freshmen Cortez Mills and Isaiah Mozee showing promise....

The Omaha World Herald’s Evan Bland joins the Common Fans to talk all the latest with Nebraska’s spring football practice and look ahead to the coming season.  Offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen’s recent comments about how the offense is progressing.  Running back depth behind Emmett Johnson an open question. Dylan Raiola fully invested:  Assuming major leadership role going into year 2 at the h...

Josh Peterson joins the Common Fans to discuss a wide range of Husker football-related matters, including the topic that took over Husker Twitter early last week: whether or not there’s too much Nebraska football coverage, and whether anything can be learned from spring ball.   The Common Fans are shocked to learn there are people out there who don’t want to talk about the third team linebacker in...