Liz and Katie Sowers to Coach Nebraska Flag Football Team
No coaching change in college flag football could be as impactful as the one announced by the University of Nebraska on Thursday. Current Ottawa University (KS) head coach Liz Sowers and her sister/defensive coordinator Katie Sowers will depart after the 2026 spring season for Nebraska. Liz will serve as the head coach, while Katie will be the associate head coach.
Both women have been pioneers in football and flag football. Katie Sowers spent six seasons in the NFL as an assistant coach, including the 2019 season, where she became the first female coach in a Super Bowl. The Sowers took over the Ottawa program from its inception and won five consecutive KCAC and NAIA titles between 2021 and 2025. The Braves' dominance has prevented any other school from capturing a championship in the NAIA's short flag football history. Ottawa went 88-8 overall and 34-1 in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) in the first five years of NAIA women's flag football.
Now, the pair will seek to be pioneers at the NCAA level at a school that was quick to embrace the sport. In January, just hours after the NCAA added flag football to the Emerging Sports for Women program, Nebraska became the first school from the NCAA's "Power 4" conferences to add a women's varsity flag football program. The Power 4 is considered the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big 12 Conference, Big Ten Conference, and Southeastern Conference (SEC).
The Sowers sisters know the area well, given Ottawa and Nebraska are about 3.5 hours apart. Nebraska plans to recruit during the 2026-27 academic year and could have "informal competitions" before ramping up to play its first full varsity season during the spring of 2028. The Cornhuskers plan to offer 25 scholarships starting with the 2028-29 academic year.
When the Sowers sisters took over at Ottawa, only 15 teams competed in the NAIA's first season in 2021. That number has risen to 35 varsity teams in 2026, with at least 20 more varsity teams expected to launch in the future. The 2026 and 2027 seasons will see flag football be contested as an NAIA invitational sport. By 2028, flag football is likely to reach Championship status in the NAIA.
The NCAA has grown to 60 varsity programs for the 2026 spring season, with another 55 announcing future programs. More than 325 schools are expected to have a club or varsity team competing in the spring 2027 collegiate flag football season. The NCAA is likely to see its first championship contested in 2028. That's the same timeline as the NAIA's first flag football championship and one major international milestone.
The NFL has been a major contributor to the rise in flag football, which has culminated in becoming an Olympic sport for 2028. The first week of the 2028 Los Angeles Games will see the sport make its Olympic debut. The NFL is also investing in a professional flag football league, aiming to launch it in the run-up to the 2028 Olympics.