After less than six months on the job in Seattle, Trev Alberts was lured away by Nebraska when the athletic director from Washington, Troy Dannen, was hired on Wednesday to take his place.
Late last week, Alberts moved to Texas A&M to take the position of athletic director. Before departing the Big Ten Conference institution to take the helm of an SEC program, the former standout football player for the Cornhuskers served as the athletic director at his alma university for just under three years.
Dannen, an Iowa native who accepted the Washington position in October after serving as AD at Tulane for nine years, was swiftly chosen by Nebraska to succeed him. Dannen was Northern Iowa’s athletic director before to joining Tulane.
Nebraska has a rich history, but there is always more to be done. Our best years are still ahead of us, I firmly think,” Dannen declared in a statement. “I am incredibly appreciative of interim President Chris Kabourek for this chance.”
Just enough time passed for Dannen to sip on a cup of coffee in Seattle, a city renowned for its brews.
A little more than two months after the university declared it would be leaving the Pac-12 and joining the Big Ten in 2024, he was hired in early October to take charge of the Huskies.
During his short time in Washington, he oversaw two coaching searches, one of which is still ongoing, in addition to the football team’s march to the national championship game.
Following Nick Saben’s retirement, football coach Kalen DeBoer used the Huskies’ championship run to land the head coaching position at Alabama. Less than a week passed until Dannen hired Arizonan Jedd Fisch to take DeBoer’s place.
After Mike Hopkins was fired earlier this month after seven seasons as men’s basketball coach, Dannen was also in the midst of a coaching search for the position. The basketball position is still vacant.
Jen Cohen, who departed in August of last year to assume the head of Southern California’s athletic department, was replaced by Dannen. When the Huskies declared they were joining Oregon in the Big Ten, it was Cohen who oversaw Washington athletics, which contributed to the Pac-12’s demise.
After the Huskies’ huge football victory, it was believed that Dannen would lead the team into the Big Ten. However, in the upcoming years, there would be a significant increase in debt services paid for the renovations to Husky Stadium, as well as a department deficit of almost $8 million in the upcoming fiscal year.
While Dannen finds more financial security at Nebraska, he also finds a football school rich in tradition that hasn’t made it to a bowl game since the 2016 season.
Dannen and Matt Rhule, the football coach for the Cornhuskers who was hired by Alberts last year, were acquainted during their time in the American Athletic Conference. Rhule was the Temple coach, while Dannen was the athletic director at Tulane.
Rhule exclaimed, “I’m so fired up about this hire.” “The interim president Kabourek has identified the ideal candidate to guide the Huskers in the correct direction. Troy shares our perception that Nebraska is a unique state with unique people, a brilliant vision, and the guts to openly declare their desire to win in every category.
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