A new hire and raising more money for Nebraska

Troy Dannen’s smile and tone suggested he was still in the honeymoon phase of being Nebraska’s new athletic director.

The department sits seventh nationally in the latest Learfield Director’s Cup standings, and, as he quipped Thursday on Huskers Radio Network, NU football hasn’t lost a game in its 2024 season. The facilities are generally good, the “give-a-darn factor” is high and Dannen has a long to-do list.

“I’ve probably never had more fun in my life in this job than I have in the last six weeks,” Dannen said on his monthly “Sports Nightly” radio spot.

Coach Matt Rhule and his assistants, Dannen said, should start moving from North Stadium into the third floor of the Osborne Legacy Complex offices this week.

By the end of May — two weeks after the University of Nebraska-Lincoln wraps up its spring semester — the academic and Life Skills administrators should have migrated, too, leaving North Stadium’s offices available for a “whole wave” of more athletic department officials, including in fundraising. The Huskers Radio Network studio will likely move into North Stadium, too, he said.

Dannen hired Chief Operating Officer Haven Fields last week. On Sports Nightly, he said he’d add Chief Financial Officer Seth Dorsey to the staff this week. Both Fields and Dorsey worked for Dannen at Washington, although Dorsey recently worked inside Texas A&M’s athletic department, too.

Dorsey will maintain what Dannen sees as a strong internal operation while Fields goes to work on external operations, with a special focus on fundraising.

“We do such a great job internally,” Dannen said. “There’s not much you can say we should be doing differently. But I will tell you: We need to raise more money. We need to do a better job on the development side.”

NU’s ability to raise money affects both its name, image and likeness operation through the 1890 collective, and the scope of the $450 million Memorial Stadium renovation. Dannen, still gathering data on the project, will provide a full update to NU’s Board of Regents in June.

On Sports Nightly, he sketched out priorities unrelated to the project’s demolition and rebuild of South Stadium, mostly inhabited by rank-and-file fans.

“We’ve got to get chairbacks in East and West (Stadium),” Dannen said. Most sideline seats in Memorial Stadium remain bench seats.

Dannen said NU has $40 million in donations tied to specific seat purchases; only the Big Ten TV revenue produces more annual revenue.

“We’ve got to make sure that we take care of those seats that have a purchase price — or basically a seat license — behind them,” Dannen said. “Get the amenities up to incentivize people to want to continue to do that.

“I’ve told Matt: Winning 10 games wouldn’t hurt either. But part of it is, we’ve got to get the experience better.”

Dannen also wants NU’s 1890 Initiative to be the “best collective in the country.” Prior to his arrival — days after Trev Alberts’ departure — Nebraska’s athletic department offered tepid public support of 1890. Dannen’s opening press conference comments — broadcast on Big Ten Network — openly supported 1890, signaling a hard shift in approach.

Without 1890, Dannen said on Sports Nightly, “I couldn’t tell you how far behind” Nebraska might be in the NIL market. When fans ask how they can financially support the athletic department, Dannen puts 1890 “at the top of the list.” NIL is the new recruiting tool.

“They have led us, and now I think the department’s catching up and helping them,” Dannen said.

More notes from Dannen’s monthly show:

Dannen prioritized finishing NU’s new outdoor track facility, which will take an additional $9 million.

Nebraska’s old Ed Weir outdoor track got removed to make way for the new football building, and two previous athletic directors, Bill Moos and Alberts, did not put bleachers or fan amenities at the new spot, located just north of Devaney Sports Center.

Nebraska will invite architects to Haymarket Park this summer to visualize how Husker baseball and softball can add “pitching labs and other things that go along with recruiting” to the existing complex.

Dannen said he wants NU baseball and softball to be the top respective programs in the “Upper Midwest.”