LINCOLN — Outgoing Nebraska Athletic Director Trev Alberts didn’t apply for the Texas A&M job, he told The World-Herald on Thursday night, and “wasn’t trying to leave” Lincoln when the Aggies expressed interest in hiring him to be their athletic director.
And Alberts said he didn’t have a job offer when reports Wednesday morning announced he was primed to accept the job in College Station.
“We had a conversation verbally,” Alberts said, “but there was nothing concrete from them.”
So for hours, as speculation grew on whether Alberts would stay, he asked himself the same question. He “vacillated” between remaining at NU or leaving for the SEC school.
“My heart was one way, and my head would step in,” Alberts said. “It wasn’t easy.”
By late Wednesday afternoon “my head” won out, Alberts said, and he crafted an email to staff announcing his departure and apologizing for the timing.
Why did he leave his alma mater fewer than three years into his tenure for a shorter contract with the Aggies?
Alberts pointed to the A&M University President Mark A. Welsh, a retired general, who made a strong pitch last weekend.
“These are hard jobs — they’re even harder now than they’ve ever been — and leadership is just really critical,” Alberts said. “Maybe not to everyone, but it really is to me. So Gen. Welsh sold me on a really compelling vision. It’s compelling, and he’s a compelling person.
“That was the reason. Everybody’s looking for some crazy (reason) but you don’t have to run to do that. It’s a unique opportunity at a great school with defined leadership.”
Nebraska does not currently have a permanent president as the Board of Regents worked for more than 200 days on a search to replace Ted Carter, who accepted the Ohio State job last summer and started in Columbus on Jan. 1.
Asked about NU’s ongoing presidential search, Alberts declined to be more specific.
“I’m not going to say anything bad about my alma mater,” Alberts said. “I love Nebraska. But I think it’s fairly obvious there are some challenges. I think the layperson can probably figure that out. I think some of the challenges are reflective of where we are as a society as far as divisive things that are part of our everyday culture.
"It is what it is.”
Alberts said he has a “tremendous amount of respect” for Gov. Jim Pillen, a former Husker football player who once served on NU's Board of Regents.
“He’s working really hard, and he’s trying to do the right things for Nebraska,” Alberts said.
On Thursday, Pillen released a “call to action” that said it was “unacceptable” that NU’s “elected leaders have failed during this time to appoint permanent leadership.”
Regent chairman Rob Schafer released a response that the search for Carter’s replacement has been consistent in length with previous searches.
“We owe it to our students, faculty, staff and all Nebraskans to take the time we need to find the best possible leader for the University of Nebraska,” Schafer said. “Our goal is always to be timely, but we will not rush this crucially important process.”
A&M promoted Welsh, initially the interim president, to a permanent role in December 2023. The Aggies lost previous Athletic Director Ross Bjork to Ohio State in January.
A little less than two months later, A&M expressed interest in Alberts, who said he never applied for a different job in 15 years as either UNO’s or Nebraska’s A.D. Rather, athletic directors are typically approached with interest by search firms.
After an initial conversation, Alberts flew to Texas, interviewed with Welsh in the early part of the weekend then flew to Minneapolis so he could watch Nebraska women’s basketball play Iowa in Sunday’s Big Ten tournament championship.
By Wednesday afternoon, he knew “I had a decision to make.”
Alberts wrote the staff email while at home with wife Angela. He called the decision-making process, and writing that email, “emotional.” He eventually made phone calls to each member of his executive staff and connected with Matt Rhule, the football coach he hired who was in Scotland golfing.
The hardest conversation Alberts had, he said, was with Tom Osborne, Alberts’ former coach and Nebraska’s former A.D.
“Coach is a second father to me and gave me an opportunity to come to Nebraska,” Alberts said.
Interim A.D. Dennis Leblanc will do an “amazing job” in the role, Alberts said. Leblanc, promoted Thursday, directed NU’s academic office since 1993 and as football sport supervisor, has a strong relationship with Rhule. On X, Alberts said appointing Leblanc was the “right move.”
He also changed his avatar by then to a Texas A&M logo.
Alberts declined to comment on an ongoing Title IX lawsuit involving former Husker women’s basketball player Ashley Scoggin, who named Alberts and coach Amy Williams among others as defendants.
Scoggin alleged she had a sexual relationship with former assistant coach Chuck Love and that Nebraska did not do enough to ensure proper boundaries between coaches and student-athletes. On Thursday, Alberts referred to NU’s statement released in February that the university “does not agree with the allegations and intends to vigorously defend this matter.”
The Husker athletic department, Alberts said, is poised for more success. The executive staff, he said, is excellent.
He expects NU will attract a strong pool of candidates to replace him as the Husker teams are competing for championships.
The volleyball team made it to the national title game while soccer advanced to the round of eight. For the first time since 2014, both the men's and women's basketball teams appear likely to receive NCAA tournament bids.
“Nebraska’s in great shape — the best shape it’s been in the long time,” Alberts said.
Though it’s no longer his project to push, the $450 million Memorial Stadium renovation should go forward based on the work that has been done and money already donated.
“I think it’s going to be critically important to Nebraska’s future,” Alberts said. “A lot of people are invested in it. It’s a really good plan. I would be really surprised if it didn’t move forward.”