Texas A&M officially hired Nebraska’s Trev Alberts as the school's new AD, with Alberts expected to get a five-year deal that will “put him near the top of the SEC and among the top 10 athletic directors nationally in terms of salary,” according to Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.com. Alberts has led his alma mater's athletic department since 2021 and will be replacing Ross Bjork, who left Texas A&M after five years to become AD at Ohio State. Nebraska Exec Associate AD Doug Ewald said that the athletic department staff “were notified of Alberts' decision in a late-afternoon email, catching executive-level athletic department staffers by surprise” (ESPN.com, 3/13). In Houston, Brent Zwerneman noted Alberts and his family are “expected to be formally introduced at A&M early next week at a press conference in the Aggies’ Hall of Champions at Kyle Field” (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 3/13).
GEARING UP FOR CHANGE: In Lincoln, Just & Dunker noted Nebraska interim President Chris Kabourek said yesterday evening that he has “already spoken with potential candidates to serve as an interim role leading the athletics office” and that he planned to name that individual “very soon.” Kabourek said, “You never hope for this day, and you don’t take pleasure in it, but you’re prepared for it. I always have a list of individuals in my back pocket that, if it comes to days like this, I can get feedback, pick their brains, or gauge their interest.” He added they are “going to absorb the chaos” and will “just move on.” The news “blindsided senior administrators and staff members both at Varner Hall and within the Athletic Department.” Though, this is not the first time Alberts has been considered for another position since taking over Nebraska Athletics in 2021. According to sources, he was also a finalist for the CFP exec dir. position and interviewed for the vacant Big Ten Conference commissioner position before the conference hired Tony Petitti last May (
Lincoln JOURNAL STAR, 3/13).
CAUGHT BY SURPRISE: In Lincoln, Amie Just wrote under his direction Nebraska athletics was “getting ready to embark on one of the most seismic construction projects in recent decades” with the Memorial Stadium renovations on the horizon. Nebraska “needs to fundraise hundreds of millions of dollars for this” and Alberts is “hitting the door?” Just: “This is a place he loved wholeheartedly. He often said as much. And he’s leaving? … This is college athletics. Loyalty is a farce.” Senior administrators in both Varner Hall and Memorial Stadium “were completely blindsided” by the news yesterday and the “same goes for Nebraska’s coaches.” Just added with Alberts’ departure, Nebraska is “now in shambles from a brass perspective.” There is an interim President with Kabourek, now “there will be an interim athletic director” (Lincoln JOURNAL STAR, 3/13).
POWERFUL MAN: In Omaha, Tom Shatel asked why would a Husker legend “who embraced and preached loyalty and legacy toss his own legacy out the window on his way south?” Just last November -- four months ago -- Alberts got an eight-year extension that doubled his salary to $1.7M. The contract stipulated that Nebraska would “always make sure Alberts was one of the top three highest paid A.D.s in the Big Ten and top 10 in the nation.” Shatel wrote Alberts is “the most powerful man” at Nebraska and the Board of Regents “were going to take care of him.” No university presidential candidate “who was going to butt heads with Alberts would be hired.” Shatel: “Alberts was seen as the perfect hero to lead Nebraska out of the darkness and into the uncertain future. But all that is about to change. And that’s the part that mystifies me most” (OMAHA WORLD-HERALD, 3/13).
SET THE MARK: In Lincoln, Luke Mullin wrote Alberts’ “crowning achievements at Nebraska appear prepared to stand the test of time.” Foremost among them is “the success of Volleyball Day in Nebraska,” when 92,003 fans packed into Memorial Stadium in August 2023. But he “certainly observed the success of a non-football event in Memorial Stadium” when the Garth Brooks concert took place exactly one month into Alberts’ time. Alberts oversaw the planning and creation of Memorial Stadium's biggest event yet, Volleyball Day in Nebraska, where the 92,003 fans in attendance marked a stadium record. Nebraska also set a world record for the largest attendance at a women's sporting event. The event brought in over $2.7M in revenue and “created a much larger impact to Lincoln’s local economy” -- and Alberts “didn’t want the good fortune to end there.” If a major concert tour or large non-football sporting event takes place in Memorial Stadium in the coming years, “fans will have Alberts to thank.” Mullin: “His long-term vision to not only improve the home of Nebraska football, but also open it up to other events is likely to pay dividends for Nebraska financially” (Lincoln JOURNAL STAR, 3/13).
FORMULATE THE LIST: In Omaha, Bland & McKewon wrote a list of "some potential candidates" for Nebraska: Oregon State AD Scott Barnes; Purdue AD Mike Bobinski; Nebraska Volleyball coach John Cook; Cincinnati AD John Cunningham; Wake Forest AD John Currie; 1890 Initiative collective President Matt Davison; SEC Associate Commissioner/Men’s Basketball Garth Glissman; Rutgers AD Pat Hobbs; Pitt AD Heather Lyke; Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard; Baylor AD Mack Rhoades; Utah State AD Diana Sabau and USC Exec Senior Associate AD Ed Stewart (OMAHA WORLD-HERLAD, 3/13).
