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Trev Alberts to Texas A&M

I actually think this is not an academics versus athletics debate. At all. And whether that rhetoric was driving the BoR is a little irrelevant. I think this is a sophistication issue rather than picking or preferring a side (academics versus athletics) for the BoR. The simple truth now is that a university athletic program is big business. Fortune 500 big business. If it’s not handled with that level of understanding and sophistication, it will fail miserably. I believe some in the state still think the athletic program is one of the departments at the university where student-athletes participate, fans go to games, and everyone benefits from this well-rounded experience. True. But on a board room level where all the grownups make decisions, that perspective alone is naive and foolish. Athletics are a financial driver — THE financial driver — for most universities and should be prioritized above all other components of the university. Not because it’s more important philosophically but because the very success of the university as a whole depends on it. Drives alumni interest and donations. Public interest. Applications. All of it. It is the face of the school. It is THE brand. It is 100% the tail that wags the dog now, and to dislike that or disagree with the that for principled reasons is fine over a coffee or beer. But not on any practical level. Dumb. Provincial. Short-sighted. Ruinous.
 

Uncle Buck said:
All I can tell you is it was a topic discussed on hmax in depth
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Well I was part of those threads and I would say that debunked or put to bed would not be how I would describe that. I remember people discussing the viability of the wrestling program, which I am not disputing. But the football program was thrown under with Title 9 to justify the move. It was a total lie and the video I posted goes over the numbers. Also, HC Burns was not given the opportunity to save the program. The football program had been successful but could have been losing money. It it was, Burns said he could have done some fund raising and easily made up the difference. But TA didn't give him the opportunity, in fact, he had told him the program was fine and canceled it without telling him.
 
Captkenny said:
Or maybe he is a great leader but things are so bad at Nebraska that he decided to leave. If it was just Trev leaving, one could more easily believe that it’s only a Trev problem. But when it’s also Carter, you have to start to wonder if there are other bigger problems percolating within the hallowed halls.
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Carter is not a Nebraska guy and was looking for a better program. Given the numbers at Ohio State vs NU he was clearly making a power move. TA is not. TA did not even wait to see how things panned out. He cut and run.
 



CrabHusker said:
That's where I started. The bio's don't really do much to paint a picture, other than they spent a lot of time in college.

Aside from Stark, they all appear to be 100% academics. Not that being an academic is an immediate negative, but in general their world views don't align with athletics. It really should be a healthy mix of backgrounds and/or opinions, especially at a school like Nebraska where athletics plays such a big role.
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I mean, the point of their role as Regents is to run an academic institution, right? I’m not trying to undermine the importance of athletics - I fully agree with Travis Justice that athletics are the public face of almost all universities - but NU at its core is an academic institution. So it makes sense for the Regents to have a strong academic background.

Also, the lack of a president impacts athletics, but also the entire university. This leadership vacuum should be a concern across the board. That falls directly on the BOR.
 




BleedinHuskerRed said:
I mean, the point of their role as Regents is to run an academic institution, right? I’m not trying to undermine the importance of athletics - I fully agree with Travis Justice that athletics are the public face of almost all universities - but NU at its core is an academic institution. So it makes sense for the Regents to have a strong academic background.

Also, the lack of a president impacts athletics, but also the entire university. This leadership vacuum should be a concern across the board. That falls directly on the BOR.
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Does it? Being in academics doesn't mean you're good at running it. In fact, having too many people from one background leads to an echo chamber of sorts. They might discuss 10 ideas but if those ideas are all very similar and they don't think of/allow a discussion of other ideas, it's an echo chamber.

It looks like the time to hire a president isn't that far off of past searches though (both for us and some other B1G schools). My guess is the direction they were leaning to hire wasn't in Trev's favor. It's clear now Trev wanted out for sometime and was biding his time until he was hired.

Bring in a president quickly and an AD immediately after and things can move on as they are.
 
Unless Buffett starts writing checks, NU does not have the resources to be top 10 relevant any further. I’m sure Trev realized this. There are only 8-10 programs in the US that have the jack to hire pro teams. Michigan, tOSU, Notre Dame, Stanford, SMU, Texas, aTm, and possibly a couple of others.

The land grant schools are history, at least at the top level. Everyone else is at some variant below the top.

The problem with everyone chasing dollars first is, eventually the beast consumes itself.
 
Warzone said:
Carter is not a Nebraska guy and was looking for a better program. Given the numbers at Ohio State vs NU he was clearly making a power move. TA is not. TA did not even wait to see how things panned out. He cut and run.
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Maybe. But I’m going to be open to the possibility that there are behind the scenes facts that I’m not aware of that would change how I would or should view the situation. It could be as simple as Trev is a “bad” guy and not the quality individual I thought he was. Or, it could be that these rumors that are starting to swirl about upper management and a toxic environment at the university have some basis in reality. Maybe it’s a mixture of both. We may never know.
 
NU_Alum said:
Does it? Being in academics doesn't mean you're good at running it. In fact, having too many people from one background leads to an echo chamber of sorts. They might discuss 10 ideas but if those ideas are all very similar and they don't think of/allow a discussion of other ideas, it's an echo chamber.

It looks like the time to hire a president isn't that far off of past searches though (both for us and some other B1G schools). My guess is the direction they were leaning to hire wasn't in Trev's favor. It's clear now Trev wanted out for sometime and was biding his time until he was hired.

Bring in a president quickly and an AD immediately after and things can move on as they are.
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Agreed that being an academic does not automatically qualify someone to be able to run an academic institution, but such a background would be quite useful.
 



RedStones said:
Ordering retreat is different than abandoning your troups.
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Of course it depends on who you consider your troops. If you consider your first loyalty is to family, then those are your troops. I assume he’s taking those troops with him.

I hope those who say this is solely a Trev thing are right. That’s much easier to move forward from. If he left because of a toxic self destructive situation within the university administration, that’s going to be an ongoing problem.
 
NoDakRed said:
I really thought Trev did a great job hiring Rhule and athletics was trending in the right direction. Sounds like Nebraska needs to address the leadership above the AD position pretty darn quick.
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This has been the problem at NU for over 20 years. The administration and leadership is the main problem. That house needs cleaned out.

Who do they report to? Anyone?
 

A lot of anger, and rightly so I believe.

I just think the placement of it on Alberts may be incorrect. In my opinion it is the leadership folks above him that should be more the focus of discontent.

If those folks can be cleaned up OR cleaned out I believe the AD position at Nebraska will become a lifer position.
 
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