Troy Dannen talks grass in Memorial Stadium, Matt Rhule’s 17-item to-do list and more

Nebraska Athletic Director Troy Dannen keeps the file locked in the bottom drawer of his desk. One day, he’ll show it to reporters.

The to-do list NU football coach Matt Rhule handed Dannen the day he took the job.

There are 17 items on it. Dannen didn’t divulge them. He thinks Rhule is right about most or all of them. And the Huskers don’t plan on taking a backseat to any school that might have some of them.

“We’re trying to catch up to anybody that wins more than we do,” Dannen said Wednesday at Big Ten Media Days. “And there are a lot of ways to do that. Some of them in our control, some not within our control.

“And it’s not just things. It’s not just baubles and trinkets and toys. It’s philosophies, it’s ease of approach, it’s ‘How can we make things easier?’”

Dannen chuckled when asked by a reporter what a good season might look like. Unlike former A.D. Bill Moos in 2019, Dannen wasn’t taking that bait to give a win total.

He instead offered an analogy related to track.

“We’re in Lane 4, we’re going to run as fast as we can in Lane 4, we’re going to be prepared in Lane 4, and, at the end of the race, Lane 3 may beat us. We can’t control, necessarily, what happens in Lane 3, but if we do everything right in Lane 4, that is the best we can do.”

More Dannen notes

* Nebraska wants to have grass in Memorial Stadium by 2026. It may well be Bermuda grass, too, because Dannen believes that strain can grow in northern climates.

* NU’s new training table will open next week inside Osborne Legacy Complex.

Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule speaks during a news conference at Indianapolis. Courtesy of the Big Ten Conference.

Photos: Sights from Day 1 of Big Ten football media days — July 23

Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti speaks during an NCAA college football news conference at the Big Ten Conference media days at Lucas Oil Stadium, Tuesday, July 23, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Darron Cummings