Nebraska coaching staff excited about 'new look' offense in 2026

Nebraska quarterbacks coach Glenn Thomas met with the media on Wednesday afternoon. Thomas has a lot on his plate in 2026 with a new starting quarterback in UNLV transfer Anthony Colandrea.

Colandrea joins Nebraska following a breakout junior year with the UNLV Rebels. The St. Petersburg, Florida, native finished the 2025 season throwing for 3,459 yards, 23 touchdowns, and nine interceptions with a 65.9 completion percentage. He also added 649 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns.

The former Rebel's play earned him the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year award. Before UNLV, Colandrea played two seasons at Virginia. He joined a Nebraska team that was looking for a new opening-day starter after Dylan Raiola transferred to the Oregon Ducks.

Head coach Matt Rhule made the announcement of the new starter earlier in the month. Thomas and Rhule have a history of working together, as the two previously spent time at Baylor and Temple.

Thomas was asked about his starting quarterback's ability to improvise and spoke about embracing Calondera's ability.

"Like, obviously you don't want a quarterback to be a robot, right? The great ones, you know, see things that we don't see, you know, because they had the best view in the stadium. So, I think there's a fine line. And again, I think it's evaluating each play versus what happened versus what was there. So, you know, we kind of joke never apologized for touchdowns, but at the end of the day, like, you know, what could have happened different or how scould I reacted different on this play and and um you know, there have been times where he hadn't necessarily made the ideal decision that something good has happened and we'll talk through that and then vice versa."

Nebraska opens the 2026 season on Saturday, Sept. 5, when the Ohio Bobcats visit Memorial Stadium. Kickoff time is set for 11 a.m. CT and can be seen on FS1.

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This article originally appeared on Cornhuskers Wire: Nebraska coaching staff excited about 'new look' offense in 2026