Trev Alberts leaving NU

[damonhynes]

Will he get rid of the football team?

You actually could be partly correct. He is not going to literally kill the football team. He could however easily kill the national reputation of Nebraska Football if he were to pull Nebraska out of the BIG10 and cut and run to an inferior league. That is the biggest thing to fear. The hard core fans would buy into it but Nebraska's reputation as a Football school would be burnt to the ground. The question will be answered in December more then likely. After Scott Frost does not even win 6 games will Trev Alberts own it and fire Frost or will he try to save Frost and blame all of Nebraska's failures on being in the Big10?

They won't leave the B1G unless they get kicked out. That's a lotta TV bux coming to Lincoln, much as I'd love to see them back in the Big XII.

[jessep28]

A women's team would probably need to be added in order to satisfy Title IX stuff, but maybe Division 1 hockey will be coming to Lincoln, haha.

[bbinks]

How long will he keep Frost? Solich was fired for doing better.

[Cermak]

What have we had like 3 athletic directors in the last 4 years ? . Total chaos and instability in the athletic department usually equals losing teams.

[bigredmed1]

A women's team would probably need to be added in order to satisfy Title IX stuff, but maybe Division 1 hockey will be coming to Lincoln, haha.

Why do they need another women’s team? Bowling and shooting aren’t enough? Seriously, bowling is a women’s scholarship program.

[Greg S]

What have we had like 3 athletic directors in the last 4 years ? . Total chaos and instability in the athletic department usually equals losing teams.

That's kind of deceiving as you put Alberts in there who just got hired. Eichorst was his longer than 3 years ago. I do think Trev has a good chance at staying for quite some time. He went into UNO which was going through AD's seemingly every 2 years and was an absolute disaster and lasted.

Greg

[bigredmed1]

Alberts wasn’t really a disaster, but he was a wuss when it comes to that department. The east fun stuff like the baseball stadia? He is on it. Fixing the shitty service for STHs? MIA. Nothing that would force him to fire someone or alter how things were handled in an issue that was going to risk his image got done. Lots of former fans because of that.

[Greg S]

Alberts wasn’t really a disaster, but he was a wuss when it comes to that department. The east fun stuff like the baseball stadia? He is on it. Fixing the |expletive| service for STHs? MIA. Nothing that would force him to fire someone or alter how things were handled in an issue that was going to risk his image got done. Lots of former fans because of that.

Moving to D1 and cancelling wrestling and football I think would hardly classify as easy....

Looking at the budget/cost and based on history, getting Baxter built was unprecedented for UNO athletics.


Greg

[bigredmed1]

They had no real choice, all the other schools were going D1 and they had to go up or basically sink to NAIA. Football was a giant budget suck. No way UNO survived an honest audit. They were sucking money out of student activity fees and lecture funds to pay for it and they showed no sign of getting better.

Wrestling was burned for title 9 balance and that is the politically incorrect truth. Sucks, but they also looked at what they had to compete with regionally in D1 programs and knew it was not going to work. He definitely did it badly.

[Greg S]

They had no real choice, all the other schools were going D1 and they had to go up or basically sink to NAIA. Football was a giant budget suck. No way UNO survived an honest audit. They were sucking money out of student activity fees and lecture funds to pay for it and they showed no sign of getting better.

Wrestling was burned for title 9 balance and that is the politically incorrect truth. Sucks, but they also looked at what they had to compete with regionally in D1 programs and knew it was not going to work. He definitely did it badly.

The way he handled wrestling was definitely a mistake (and one you could learn from).

The entire process though was not an easy one to navigate. You had so many in the community who did not understand it the way you laid it out for them (and still don't despite how many times it's been explained in different ways).

You look at the absolute mess UNO was going through with their ad's leading up to Trev. So incompetent and leaving every couple years. With the financial mess UNO was in, it was impressive what he accomplished with facilities, the move to D1 and balancing the budget. I understand you have personal issues that never got resolved in regards to parking and Baxter.

Greg

[omaha79]

They had no real choice, all the other schools were going D1 and they had to go up or basically sink to NAIA. Football was a giant budget suck. No way UNO survived an honest audit. They were sucking money out of student activity fees and lecture funds to pay for it and they showed no sign of getting better.

Wrestling was burned for title 9 balance and that is the politically incorrect truth. Sucks, but they also looked at what they had to compete with regionally in D1 programs and knew it was not going to work. He definitely did it badly.

I was told by multiple people close to the program during that time period, that every coach was asked if they'd be willing to go D-1. Denney flat out said no and he was the only one to say no when polled. There was likely an avenue to make it work, but I'd also heard that Denney became even more adversarial towards Trev Alberts after reading the tea leaves and knowing it was likely coming no matter what he thought.

I used to work closely with the athletic department just prior to that era so I still knew people at that time, and I heard that almost immediately. Also, I heard there was almost a physical altercation between Denney and Alberts in the days right after the announcement and the two never actually spoke again. This was during the time when the news media was speculating if there was any hope for saving the program. I'd assume any hope of keeping the program was dead if that event actually transpired. That second part is anecdotal, but I was given very specific details on when and how it supposedly happened that you almost can't make up...that I wouldn't feel comfortable sharing on an open forum.

[GrandpaaSmucker]

So far Trev Alberts appears to be keeping a poker face and he has not shown any real tells or clues as to what he might do in regards to fixing the fall and decline of the Nebraska Football program. Let us hope he does not have puppet strings connected to rich and famous political folks here in the state because that probably means this is not going to end well.

[omaha79]

So far Trev Alberts appears to be keeping a poker face and he has not shown any real tells or clues as to what he might do in regards to fixing the fall and decline of the Nebraska Football program. Let us hope he does not have puppet strings connected to rich and famous political folks here in the state because that probably means this is not going to end well.

A poker face is a good thing? What else is he going to do? Pound his hands on the podium making a fiery speech saying "I want 9 wins from Frost NOW! This year. I won't surrender the Big Ten West to Iowa and Wisconsin! 9 wins or Frost is gonnnnneee!"

That would work well.

[Greg S]

This is pretty funny:

[Brad]

Apparently Trev is gone.

[skinzfan23]

I don't follow this stuff real closely, but why would he leave NU after working so hard to get there from UNO?

[Brad]

I don't follow this stuff real closely, but why would he leave NU after working so hard to get there from UNO?

New Chancellor, new system President, lawsuit.

Also, reports saying he has been offered the job, but he hasn't accepted the job yet.

[Greg S]

I don't follow this stuff real closely, but why would he leave NU after working so hard to get there from UNO?

New Chancellor, new system President, lawsuit.

Also, reports saying he has been offered the job, but he hasn't accepted the job yet.

From what I have heard there has been friction between university and the Board of Regents. Supposedly it's was a big factor in Ted Carter leaving.

[Coyote]

Apparently Trev is gone

Bad news for NU! I thought that Trev was a good man for NU.

From UNO, to NU, to A&M?

[CBJason]

Wow! This would be a huge hit the athletic department would take, most of all with football. He seems to be such a perfect fit there and seems to be guiding the university back to prominence because the football program seems to be on an upswing. I can’t imagine what Rhule is thinking right now. I’m really surprised at this development.

[Stargazer]

I keep thinking this is just a bad way of asking for another raise.. I could see Bill Bryne (recall A&M stole him too).. but Trev? Who's always bled Husker red? Come on. Will there be a "Soueeey.. Razorback" moment?

[Brad]

Thought this was an interesting statement from man who built NU Volleyball:

[SkyWarrior55]

I don’t think he will leave. At most he’s using this to send a message to the University saying if they don’t wake up and get things in order then it’s gunna not go as hoped.

But I have been wrong before.

[Louie]

Thought this was an interesting statement from man who built NU Volleyball:

Ted Carter almost doubled his pay and benefits from $1.2M to just shy of $2m. I think that played a far larger part in his departure.

[djc311]

IF this happens then I'd say it's definitely NOT a good thing for UNL. Granted we did just pickup a new head coach for football and I have a lot of hope in what he's going to be able to do. However, I'd say the odds of getting booze at Memorial would go off the board... who knows about the rest of the renovations they just announced to reduce capacity and supposedly increase comfort.

[omaha79]

I don't follow this stuff real closely, but why would he leave NU after working so hard to get there from UNO?

Maybe because more going on behind the scenes and NU remains a cultural dumpster fire. The Terry Pettit quote is telling. NU hasn't had a decent culture for decades. It's run by know nothing regents and boosters who are just trying to carve out their own little piece of the pie and create a personal fiefdom. It's telling that they've had incompetence at so many levels for so long. Pederson, Eichorst, Moos, Frost, Riley and even Perlman set the athletic program back decades and there has been so much meddling by the "boosers of substance" and regents.

The rumor now is that he's being "heard", but lowering of budgets, meddling from the top, etc. has to stop. Football still isn't "fixed" and you have a coach that just had a losing season. If this happens, he will be working for a AD, Chancellor, and President he has no ties to. I don't see any way this is a winning scenario. Have another losing season? Well, then you have the temperature turned up on the hotseat after year two already. Have a nice winning year? Maybe Rhule starts looking because no one involved in bringing him there is still there. Rhule isn't known for his program loyalty. And, if either of these things happens, then you can just start the carousel of feces back up again. No matter what you think of Trev, his leaving is yet another body blow for the university and athletic department.

But, the fans, regents, and boosters will keep deluding themselves with the smell of their own farts that everything is fine and this is an A+ job nationally. The cycle continues then. We will continue to lap it all up because, what else do we have to do in the fall in this flyover state?

[omaha79]

Also, Trev has been sounding warning alarms since last year that NU isn't guaranteed a seat at the table and if they don't start winning, and improve in academics to the point they can maybe get back in the AAU, that NU is vulnerable as conference realignment continues to swirl. There continue to be rumors about the Big Ten talking to other schools. Everything from Florida St., to Notre Dame, to Virginia/North Carolina.

With more mouths to feed inthe league, you have to provide value. As streaming starts to bust, you have to bring eyes. NU gets high ratings, but no real media market. If they continue to lose, the failings of the academic side become more glaring. Do I think NU would be the first team "kicked out" of the Big Ten should the conference ever start to cull members and go for a truly radical realignment? No. Do I think they'd be scrutinized and in the top 3-4 considered? yes. They are not a grandfather member of the league, the academics are poor, and they don't win in the sport that matters. They were brought in to raise the profile of the league in footbal. period. they've failed miserably.

It was only about a year ago that Alberts said this and it's stuck with me since. What even happens to a program like NU without the Big Ten? Crawl back to the Big XII? drop to the Mountain West? I do worry that there is uncertainty with NU that most of us wouldn't consider, let alone take seriously.

[CBJason]

@omaha79

What are the academic issues you keep mentioning? Low graduation rates? Lack of high quality degrees and/or research funding?

[SkyWarrior55]

I was wrong. He is going to A&M





https://omaha.com/sports/huskers/footba ... c4dfe.html

[Cermak]

A wise career move for Trev, wish him
The best ! A little surprised they would focus on recruiting from a Nebraska school which is a very small state compared to Texas.

[Coyote]

Nebraska Athletic Director Trev Alberts leaving to take same role at Texas A&M

[Busguy2010]

He was doing a great job so it is a bit of a blow.

[djc311]

He's a girly for dumping NU. But to each their own, as they say don't let the door hit you in the |expletive| on the way out.

I'd be more forgiving if he hadn't just said in November that he'd basically never leave... at least it was implied by his own words. At least it's not on Nebraska's shoulders to foot the bill for vacating his contract.

The other blurb that I read that is extremely disheartening, IMO, is we're now in need of our FIFTH AD since 2011. Although Trev may have been there a bit, that technically averages out to less than 3 years' per idiot, I mean, AD.

I agree with someone that posted a comment earlier that it seems the mega donors are in line with wanting to basically run the show. My guess is if we can't land a decent AD this time around and IF Rhule decided the next one in line isn't doing a great job (and he himself leaves) then there will be dire consequences for the football program.

Just when basketball was taking off... volleyball has been doing amazing...

[Brad]

The other blurb that I read that is extremely disheartening, IMO, is we're now in need of our FIFTH AD since 2011. Although Trev may have been there a bit, that technically averages out to less than 3 years' per idiot, I mean, AD.

You have also lost your President, Chancellor, and Now AD in less than 4 months... Its bigger than Athletics.

[omaha79]

@omaha79

What are the academic issues you keep mentioning? Low graduation rates? Lack of high quality degrees and/or research funding?

Nebraska became the first Big Ten school booted by the consortium known as the AAU. I believe they are the only Big Ten school not in the group. It was talked about in 2010 that they were a cultural fit for the Big Ten by Jim Delaney because they were in and that they probably wouldn't have been offered had they not been a part of it. They were booted roughly 2012, if I remember right and haven't been offered back in since. It has been a bone of contention for the Big Ten with Nebraska since. Also, they are typically ranked near the bottom of Big Ten schools in terms of academic rankings. The research funding is hard to pin down. NU never combined UNMC and the Lincoln campus before. I think they are starting to somehow merge that, at least statistically, but that always made NU look worse compared to other schools that had Medical schools fully integrated as well.

[omaha79]

The other blurb that I read that is extremely disheartening, IMO, is we're now in need of our FIFTH AD since 2011. Although Trev may have been there a bit, that technically averages out to less than 3 years' per idiot, I mean, AD.

You have also lost your President, Chancellor, and Now AD in less than 4 months... Its bigger than Athletics.

Reading the tea leaves in articles like the Athletic and what I'm hearing, the inability to hire a President and chancellor the last 7 months, "leads straight to the governors door." The Athletic has said the hires have become "politicized". I haven't really read into this too much, but my rudimentary understanding is that it's essentially the want of so many in this state to make the state and university a conservative utopia. There have been attacks on the faculty and leadership at the university for a while now for being "too liberal". And, the ability to attract and name leadership positions like a system president an dchancellor gets swept up in that. Basically, who would want to come here and run a university when those in politics want to rid if of the dreaded "liberalism". Cutting budges, the incessent need to fight "critical race theory," these things have unforseen effects.

Elections have consequences, up and down the ballot. You start losing good people because of the whims of some outside of the structure of this university and the blowback falls all the way to football, but that's just what it's sounding like to me.

[djc311]

The other blurb that I read that is extremely disheartening, IMO, is we're now in need of our FIFTH AD since 2011. Although Trev may have been there a bit, that technically averages out to less than 3 years' per idiot, I mean, AD.

You have also lost your President, Chancellor, and Now AD in less than 4 months... Its bigger than Athletics.

Reading the tea leaves in articles like the Athletic and what I'm hearing, the inability to hire a President and chancellor the last 7 months, "leads straight to the governors door." The Athletic has said the hires have become "politicized". I haven't really read into this too much, but my rudimentary understanding is that it's essentially the want of so many in this state to make the state and university a conservative utopia. There have been attacks on the faculty and leadership at the university for a while now for being "too liberal". And, the ability to attract and name leadership positions like a system president an dchancellor gets swept up in that. Basically, who would want to come here and run a university when those in politics want to rid if of the dreaded "liberalism". Cutting budges, the incessent need to fight "critical race theory," these things have unforseen effects.

Elections have consequences, up and down the ballot. You start losing good people because of the whims of some outside of the structure of this university and the blowback falls all the way to football, but that's just what it's sounding like to me.

Wow... if UNL's new president is riding on a handpicked choice from Pillen, we're screwed for sure. That became governor because of Ricketts... who became governor because he was a billionaire. Another reason I despise politics.

Shocked UNMC can continue to function at such a high level with that moron as governor as I'm sure he has some sort of impact or say as to what they can do.

[omaha79]

The other blurb that I read that is extremely disheartening, IMO, is we're now in need of our FIFTH AD since 2011. Although Trev may have been there a bit, that technically averages out to less than 3 years' per idiot, I mean, AD.

You have also lost your President, Chancellor, and Now AD in less than 4 months... Its bigger than Athletics.

Reading the tea leaves in articles like the Athletic and what I'm hearing, the inability to hire a President and chancellor the last 7 months, "leads straight to the governors door." The Athletic has said the hires have become "politicized". I haven't really read into this too much, but my rudimentary understanding is that it's essentially the want of so many in this state to make the state and university a conservative utopia. There have been attacks on the faculty and leadership at the university for a while now for being "too liberal". And, the ability to attract and name leadership positions like a system president an dchancellor gets swept up in that. Basically, who would want to come here and run a university when those in politics want to rid if of the dreaded "liberalism". Cutting budges, the incessent need to fight "critical race theory," these things have unforseen effects.

Elections have consequences, up and down the ballot. You start losing good people because of the whims of some outside of the structure of this university and the blowback falls all the way to football, but that's just what it's sounding like to me.

Wow... if UNL's new president is riding on a handpicked choice from Pillen, we're screwed for sure. That became governor because of Ricketts... who became governor because he was a billionaire. Another reason I despise politics.

Shocked UNMC can continue to function at such a high level with that moron as governor as I'm sure he has some sort of impact or say as to what they can do.

It largely went unnoticed and forgotten quickly, but Alberts gave an interesting interview last yearl. It was around the time of the announcement of Oregon and Washington to the Big Ten. In it, he essentially said that he felt Nebraska's position is vulnerable and it was up to all involved that they are able to remain in the Big Ten and that he sees continued seismic shifts coming as cable dies and streaming revenue dries up and gets consolidated. Essentially, he was saying there is going to be a ceiling to these giant contracts that networks are giving out now. Once that ceiling is hit, conferences may start scrambling and reassessing. Some may realize they have too many mouths to feed. This constant push to keep adding inventory to the networks and "value" is not sustainable. He hinted that he could see a world where conferences start booting members they don't think add enough value.

What does Nebraska add? They have a brand, but it's a brand that's been tarnished and drug through the mud for 20 years now. They were brought in to raise the football brand of the Big Ten. They've utterly failed in that regard. Their games still get good ratings, but is that sustainable if they continue to lose? We are now 7 straight losing seasons in. And, the academic side isn't helping Nebraska's case. If the Big Ten got an offer for, let's say, a chunk of ACC schools like Florida State, Virginia, North Carolina, and maybe Notre Dame to all join en masse, would the Big Ten say it's time to cull some existing members to make this work? I'd think Nebraska would be in roughly the top 4 considered at that point. They would be hesitant to cull any of the original Big Ten teams no matter their stature.

And, while I've heard these rankings are flawed and don't include UNMC into Nebraska's endowment and research money, it's never a good look when every single year, you're rated last in the Big Ten in terms of rankings...and by a wide margin. Iowa is 70 spots over Nebraska and NU is dead last.


https://cornhuskerswire.usatoday.com/li ... r-2022-23/

[Cermak]

Alberts saw something he didn’t like, probably figured now is the time to jump ship. He wasn’t even at the job 4 years, that says something. Alberts departure completely came out of the blue, frustrating to say the least. NU’s athletic problems continue.

[almighty_tuna]

Despite Rhule's positive tweet yesterday I think it's only a matter of time before he's gone, too. Frankly they're lucky that John Cook has stuck around as long as he has.

Oh, and Pillen blaming the Regents? Yeah, warranted, but he can lump himself in that blame as well.