Liz Sowers Hired to Lead Husker Flag Football

Five-time national champion coach Liz Sowers was announced as the first head coach of the Nebraska flag football program, Director of Athletics Troy Dannen announced Thursday. Katie Sowers will serve as the Associate Head Coach alongside her twin sister. 
 
The duo comes to Nebraska from Ottawa University in Kansas, where they have teamed up to build a championship program at the NAIA level. The Sowers (pronounced ‘sours’) sisters will finish the current season with Ottawa, where they serve as head coach and associate head coach, before making the transition to Nebraska this summer and officially starting on June 1, 2026.  In January, Nebraska became the first Power Four school to add women’s flag football as a varsity sport, and plans to play its first competitive season in the spring of 2028.
 
“We are thrilled to bring Liz and Katie Sowers to Lincoln to build our women’s flag football program,” Dannen said. “Together they have built a championship program at the NAIA level and have experienced success working with national teams. They have a great vision for what flag football can become at the University of Nebraska and also understand the potential for the sport and the opportunities it will provide for young women across the collegiate landscape.”
 
Liz Sowers currently serves as the head coach at Ottawa, where she has coached five consecutive NAIA National Championship teams and led her team to five Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference championships in the last five seasons. Liz is a three-time KCAC Coach of the Year and owns an 88-8 record in her career as a head coach. She has recruited athletes from 17 different states and four different countries to help build Ottawa into a powerhouse program.  
 
"This is the start of a new era, and we intend to set the standard,” Liz said. “It’s an honor to lead the first flag football program at Nebraska, and even more meaningful to build it alongside my twin sister in a place with such deep tradition. We want young girls across Nebraska to see this team and know there’s a future here for them."   
 
Alongside her duties at Ottawa, Liz was the defensive coordinator for the USA Women’s National Team in 2023, which she helped to a Continental Championships gold medal. Under her tutelage, the team also allowed the fewest points in USA team history. Liz also served as the head coach of the 17U Girls Junior National Team in 2022, which won a gold medal at the Junior National Championships.
 
In her playing career, Liz was a seven-time First-Team All-American for the Kansas City Titans. She also played for the West Michigan Mayhem, Kansas City Tribe and Kansas City Glory. She was on the 2016, 2018 and 2021 USA Women’s Flag Football teams and on the 2013 and 2017 USA Women’s Tackle Football teams. She is a two-time gold medalist with the national tackle football team and also won gold with the national flag football team in 2018. 
 
In college, Liz played four years of college basketball, two at Hesston (Kan.) College and two at Oakland University. She was an NJCAA All-American at Hesston and helped Oakland to two conference titles. Liz has a bachelor’s degree in communications from Oakland University and a master’s degree in sports administration from the University of Missouri-KC.
 
Katie Sowers also coaches at five-time national champion Ottawa, where she is the associate head coach and defensive coordinator, along with the director of operations. Katie also served as the head coach for the Italian Women’s National Flag Football team from 2023-24. She organized and led selection camps, implemented training systems and game plans, and eventually led the team to a win over Germany.
 
"I am proud to join the Nebraska family as part of the first coaching staff in program history,” Katie said. “This is a fanbase that lives and breathes excellence, and I can’t wait to give this amazing fanbase another sport to rally behind."
 
Sowers has been on the coaching staff for three different NFL teams, including the Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers, and Atlanta Falcons. With the Chiefs, Katie was selected for the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship and worked with the tight ends in 2021. From 2017-21, she worked as an offensive quality control coach for the 49ers, where she primarily helped the wide receiver room and aided with scouting and run and pass game evaluations. Katie was a player personnel scout for the Atlanta Falcons from 2015-17 and created weekly practice player and prospect evaluations and assisted with scouting.
 
Katie has a bachelor’s in physical education from Goshen College and a master’s in kinesiology with an emphasis in pedagogy from the University of Central Missouri. She played basketball and soccer and ran track in college.