Trev Alberts

[Husker John]

Trev is an awesome AD. He's got vision, can make the tough calls, and that combination is a formula for making brilliant decisions. Omaha is a hockey town that loves college sports. Trev filled that enthusiasm with a national collegiate hockey power in the Big O. Hopefully he'll get the call to be the AD in Lincoln sooner than later.

[Tomhusker64]

 

He cut a wrestling program on the night they won a national championship. And told the team over the phone.

Zero class.

Who told you this? The aquarium guy. You believe everything you hear?

Is common knowledge. However, I heard it from one of the boys that I coached who was in the program.

 

Who the f#*k is the aquarium guy?

[zoogs]

The aquarium guy, and the sock puppets, are true legends. The one heralded the arrival of Bo Pelini (he likes his saltwater aquariums -- you know you have to get that process started early). And the sock rode gloriously into the sunset after doing us the great service of keeping everyone sane in the tumult of 2014. He wasn't the hero we deserved. But he was the hero we needed.

[klb835]

Whats the point of this again? This happened awhile ago. Why are we talking about it?

[It'sNotAFakeID]

CNR wants Trev Alberts to be the next AD at Nebraska. Honestly, it's not a bad idea. Trev has done a fine job at UNO and was put in a situation no AD ever wants to find him or herself in: telling athletes that they no longer play for this school. In the long run, the decision to cut the football and wrestling program was the right decision, and now the hockey team (the only hockey show in Nebraska) sits atop the college hockey world for the time being.

 

Would he have similar success at Nebraska? Who knows. But I think his resume speaks for itself and that he should be given careful consideration when Nebraska looks for its next athletic director.

[C N Red]

CNR wants Trev Alberts to be the next AD at Nebraska. Honestly, it's not a bad idea. Trev has done a fine job at UNO and was put in a situation no AD ever wants to find him or herself in: telling athletes that they no longer play for this school. In the long run, the decision to cut the football and wrestling program was the right decision, and now the hockey team (the only hockey show in Nebraska) sits atop the college hockey world for the time being.

 

Would he have similar success at Nebraska? Who knows. But I think his resume speaks for itself and that he should be given careful consideration when Nebraska looks for its next athletic director.

 

I never said i wanted him to be AD. Just dont believe he deserves all the ill will. Honestly i really dont know who i would like to be AD, except i dont think Eichorst is the right fit.

 

If time comes though i think Trev should at least be on the short list. Maybe Rutgers would be willing to let go of theirs. Shes a Nebraska alum

[desertshox]

Just had to start this thread. I get soooo sick of people bashing Trev about getting rid of football and wrestling at UNO.

 

ADs DO NOT want to drop programs!! It was about economics. The programs were leaking money. He could have kept them and in a couple years he could have folded the entire sports department.

 

Or, he could get rid of a couple big money losers and focus on one big sport(hockey) that could make money considering its the only one of its kind in the state(i.e. no fanbase competition). He made the right decision and has saved other sports b/c of it.

 

It was a thankless job and took some balls to do it. Now they are starting to thrive b/c of the hockey program. And who knows, maybe they can bring back wrestling, football, or both someday b/c of his actions. It could be a sportless university if not for what he did.

 

thought hockey was gonna be cut until a big outside push for donations saved it. remember reading the move was to get into a D1 basketball conference. so wouldnt the one big sport actually be basketball? have also heard people talk about the move to cut football was done to appease people in lincoln and keep a second fbs school from competing with unl.

[Thanks_Tom RR]

Just had to start this thread. I get soooo sick of people bashing Trev about getting rid of football and wrestling at UNO.

 

ADs DO NOT want to drop programs!! It was about economics. The programs were leaking money. He could have kept them and in a couple years he could have folded the entire sports department.

 

Or, he could get rid of a couple big money losers and focus on one big sport(hockey) that could make money considering its the only one of its kind in the state(i.e. no fanbase competition). He made the right decision and has saved other sports b/c of it.

 

It was a thankless job and took some balls to do it. Now they are starting to thrive b/c of the hockey program. And who knows, maybe they can bring back wrestling, football, or both someday b/c of his actions. It could be a sportless university if not for what he did.

 

There have been reports following this decision that have demonstrated the numbers Alberts is quoting are incomplete. Football and Wrestling combined were in the black the year these two national champion programs were canceled. Link.

 

In public statements, Alberts said the football program was losing $1.3 million a year. However, according to financial statements filed with the NCAA that "Outside the Lines" obtained through public records requests, the football program was short $50,500 in revenue, and the wrestling program was ahead by $143,000 for the 2009-10 fiscal year.

 

To me, it seems football and wrestling got dropped to support the move to Division I and the Summit League, which does not compete in those two sports but does compete in golf and soccer (which shockingly UNO started after the move). Full disclosure, I am a UNO alumni, youth wrestling coach, and former wrestler, so the decision to drop these programs feels personal to me. Still, I find it hard to buy the revenue argument. Hockey has always been the marque sport at UNO, and any move their Athletic Department makes will be to benefit their main revenue generator (like building a new hockey arena), even to the detriment of other sports programs.

 

It also gets me really salting when I read reports about the timing of the announces.

 

In February, at which time records indicate that plans were already in place to drop the program, Alberts authorized the hiring of an assistant football coach from Minnesota. And he approved the signing of two junior college transfers less than a week before the official announcement, coaches say.

 

Wrestling coach Mike Denney got the word about his program around 11 p.m. on March 12, when Alberts called him just hours after his team had won the Division II national championship. The football coaches had heard about it just a couple of hours earlier as rumors spread through text messages from people who said they'd already read about it online.

[Judoka]

Just had to start this thread. I get soooo sick of people bashing Trev about getting rid of football and wrestling at UNO.

 

ADs DO NOT want to drop programs!! It was about economics. The programs were leaking money. He could have kept them and in a couple years he could have folded the entire sports department.

 

Or, he could get rid of a couple big money losers and focus on one big sport(hockey) that could make money considering its the only one of its kind in the state(i.e. no fanbase competition). He made the right decision and has saved other sports b/c of it.

 

It was a thankless job and took some balls to do it. Now they are starting to thrive b/c of the hockey program. And who knows, maybe they can bring back wrestling, football, or both someday b/c of his actions. It could be a sportless university if not for what he did.

The wrestling program was self sustaining. I've already ranted about this in previous posts, so I'll just end it there.

[TheMeanFarmer]

There was more to dropping football and wrestling at UNO than an A.D. decision.

 

If you want to follow the conspiracy guys down the rabbit hole the story goes like this.

Due to scholarship limits, proliferation of good athletes, good coaching etc... UNO football stood a chance to make inroads against UNL football. And they were going to have NONE of that.

And if UNL couldn't have wrestling, then UNO wasn't going to have it either.

 

Don't know that I buy into that, but there was more to it than meets the eye.

[Thanks_Tom RR]

There was more to dropping football and wrestling at UNO than an A.D. decision.

 

If you want to follow the conspiracy guys down the rabbit hole the story goes like this.

Due to scholarship limits, proliferation of good athletes, good coaching etc... UNO football stood a chance to make inroads against UNL football. And they were going to have NONE of that.

And if UNL couldn't have wrestling, then UNO wasn't going to have it either.

 

Don't know that I buy into that, but there was more to it than meets the eye.

I am disappointed in the end result, as I mentioned already, but I do not buy either of these conspiracy theories.

[VectorVictor]

Made a splash hire by bringing in Dean Blais. Won 2 national championships at UND and now UNO is starting to see some success

 

This, right here folks, is case-in-point as to why Trev would make a good AD--he searched and went out and grabbed the best talent available, and it's paying dividends for UNO.

 

There was a lot of talent available to NU when Eichorst went about his search. Unfortunately, by his own admission, he didn't bother with trying to interview or bring said talent to our school...which is why we're stuck with what we have now.

[Red Five]

So a handful of people have mentioned his "resume" at UNO? What would standout on his resume at UNO that would make him more qualified than 200 other D1 ADs? Or more qualified than 50 other high level assistant ADs at top notch athletic programs? Has he ever managed a budget comparable to UNL? Has he ever been in a department that has a top flight football team? Has he ever fundraised to a level that would allow the type of capital projects that the athletic department at UNL has?

 

FWIW, I have no opinion on why he cut football or wrestling at UNO. Sounds like he made a tough decision.

 

Whatever people think of Byrne, Peterson, or Eichorst, their resumes were 10x better than Trev's when we hired them. They had all been working in athletic administration for years and had big time AD experience (Oregon, Pitt, Miami).

 

If we were to hire a new AD who must have "Nebraska ties", the Greg Byrne at Arizona should be the target.

[teachercd]

What was the average attendance for UNO football and wrestling?

 

Seemed like football would get about 8K for games?

[teachercd]

It always amazed me that for years and years the retired football/basketball/baseball coach would become AD and things seemed just fine..