In Troy Dannen, Nebraska gets football guy

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Fred Hoiberg let out a chuckle.

In the lobby of Nebraska’s team hotel for the men’s NCAA Tournament, the recently extended Huskers head man briefly rolled back the clock to his high school days at Ames High.

Well, one of the officials Hoiberg had during his Little Cyclone era was new Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen.

“I hope he’s a better AD than he was a ref,” Hoiberg joked. “I honestly don’t remember. I’m sure he was one of the better ones.”

Jokes aside, Hoiberg said he was “really excited about Troy.”

“I know what he’s all about, and that’s winning,” Hoiberg said. “He’s got a lot of experience at this level and we’re certainly excited to have him on board.”

It’s been quite the week at the University of Nebraska Lincoln — an all-timer, actually since the news first broke at 8:55 a.m. last Wednesday that Texas A&M was circling in to hire Nebraska’s Trev Alberts for its open athletic director position.

Alberts, after a full workday of “will he, won’t he,” decided to leave, telling his staff shortly before 5 p.m. That left Nebraska without not only an athletic director, but a university system president after Ted Carter departed for the Ohio State job effective Jan. 1.

From there, the news rippled.

The next day, Gov. Jim Pillen slammed the Nebraska Board of Regents — an elected board he previously presided over — by saying that while he didn’t “fully understand or know” Alberts’ reasons for leaving, but “I do know that the time for reflecting on the failures of leadership, which led to his decision, must come later” and urged Nebraska to hire the permanent replacements for Carter and Alberts.

Following Pillen’s comments, Regent Rob Schafer of Beatrice said the Board of Regents “understands and appreciates the concerns we’ve heard” in regards to the president search.

“The selection of the president is the highest duty of the Board of Regents,” Schafer said in a statement last Thursday. “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.

“Our goal is to be timely, but we will not rush this crucially important process,” he added.

However, not before major decisions were made by interim president Chris Kabourek and interim athletic director Dennis Leblanc. On Tuesday, the pair extended Hoiberg through the 2028-29 season and gave him a pay bump from $3.25 million to $4.25 million.

And, most importantly, the hire of the athletic director.

While Wednesday will forever be a day that saw both the athletic director be hired and the priority candidate for a system president be named, Dr. Jeffrey Gold’s name isn’t the one at the bottom of Dannen’s contract. Kabourek’s is.

There are questions. So many questions.

Would Gold have preferred to hire the athletic director himself? Or in the eyes of the athletic department, is April too long to wait? But, inversely, was a weeklong search long enough? Did they rush it? How exactly did this hiring process play out?

And then there are questions for Dannen.

He, at the age 57, infamously said, “I’m not going to move again, God willing, president willing,” in October during his introductory press conference as the University of Washington’s athletic director.

Less than six months later, the former Tulane AD is moving again to Nebraska.

Yes, he’s significantly closer to his childhood home of Marshalltown, Iowa, and a raise from Washington’s $1 million to Nebraska’s $1.6 million.

But still, the question remains: Why, after less than six months, would you leave?

The answer will likely sound something like this: The timing is never right with these things. You never know when these jobs will open up. If you don’t take the chance, you may never end up where you ultimately want to be: close to the people you care about.

Understandable. Absolutely understandable. But you can’t help but wonder what all factored into his decision. It’s not just the people of Nebraska who deserve an answer, but Washington fans should receive some sort of acknowledgement as to what happened there — and hopefully not in a way that diminishes them like he did with Tulane.

The foot-in-mouth quote there: “I want to go someplace where you can win. I love Tulane; you’re not going to win a national championship at Tulane.”

For the record, the Green Wave sailing team won the singlehanded national championship in 2023. If sailing’s not your jam, Tulane knows how to win. The Cotton Bowl victory over USC that had the Green Wave ranked No. 9 in the final AP poll of the 2022-23 season. That’s winning.

Light baggage aside, the hire for Nebraska is a good one.

Dannen’s incredibly accomplished, and that’s without focusing on his blip of a Washington tenure, albeit eventful. For this, I’m choosing to ignore that, actually. The Huskies’ success over the last six months is a product of many things, not solely Dannen’s influence.

There’s his stint on the NCAA Constitution Committee. His stint on the NCAA Division I Transformation Committee — a group of folks within college athletics tasked with looking at the future of college athletics. He had chaired the NCAA Football Competition Committee for years, while also previously serving on an executive committee member on the Football Oversight Committee.

Smaller picture, his hire of Willie Fritz propelled Tulane to the top of the American. The Green Wave’s 2022 title was the first league win since 1998. Before that? Tulane hadn’t won its conference since 1949… back when Tulane was a SEC powerhouse back in the league’s infancy.

Football guy in a football state? Check.

His hire of Ron Hunter at Tulane resulted in a 20-win season in 2022-23 — doing so in a tough league that featured both Houston and Memphis. He’s apparently a one-time high school basketball official. 

Having an athletic director who seemingly cares about basketball: Good.

But how does he value women’s sports? The women’s sports programs at Nebraska are in an incredible spot. Volleyball won the Big Ten and advanced to the national championship game. Soccer won the Big Ten and danced to the Elite Eight. Rifle advanced to the national championships where only eight teams are invited. Basketball is in the NCAA Tournament. Track and field produced several female All-Americans this indoor season.

Will that be a priority of his?

Well, it’s where he cut his teeth.

Before he became the athletic director at Northern Iowa, Dannen was the director of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union for seven years.

“There is a storied tradition at Nebraska, but more work to be done. I truly believe our best years are ahead of us,” Dannen said in a statement. “I couldn’t be more grateful to Interim President Chris Kabourek for this opportunity. Chris has championed an inspiring vision for excellence across the University of Nebraska and he and I are completely aligned on where Nebraska needs to go in the future.

“I look forward to doing my part to helping Nebraska win championships across the board, graduate our student-athletes and elevate the world-class reputation of the University of Nebraska. I can’t wait to arrive in Nebraska and get to work.”

For Dannen, that work officially begins Friday.

Friday: the same day as Nebraska men’s and women’s basketball kick off the NCAA Tournament and as Nebraska wrestling is in the second day of its quest for a national championship.

Much to celebrate. Much to do.