Nebraska Cornhuskers pull from Big Ten rival for new athletic director
Exactly a week after Trev Alberts left the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the lurch for Texas A&M, the university has found his replacement. While there hasn't been an officially announcement from the school, it appears they poached an AD from one of their newest conference rivals.
Pete Thamel reports that the Nebraska Cornhuskers have agreed to a six-year contract with now-former Washington Huskies AD Troy Dannen. Dannen just arrived in Washington last October and immediately had quite a full plate thrown in his lap.
After watching his new team play for the national title, he led a search to replace Kalen Deboer who left for Alabama. He eventually pulled from a former Pac-12 rival to land Jedd Fisch from Arizona.
Sources: Nebraska is finalizing a six-year deal to make Washington athletic director Troy Dannen the school’s new athletic director. The hiring of Dannen gives Nebraska an immediate replacement for Trev Alberts, who left for Texas A&M last week. pic.twitter.com/q9SRkTK7hk
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) March 20, 2024
While holding two different athletic director positions in six months time might worry some Nebraska Cornhuskers fans who are still suffering from whiplash after Alberts' exit, it's not as though Dannen jumps from job to job to job on the regular.
Before coming to Seattle and the new Big Ten school, he was the athletic director at Tulane from 2015-2023. In that time, he helped revive a Green Wave football program that had become one of the worst in the sport. They're now considering one of the best mid-major programs around.
Nebraska Cornhuskers have their man
Troy Dannen also served as AD for Northern Iowa from 2008 to 2015.
It would appear that his unique experience working in the Big Ten, rebuilding a program from the ground up and working in and around the heartland combined to make him the top target for interim president Chris Kabourek and the board of regents.
Dannen's name does appear to come out of nowhere. While some names came up over the last week as possible candidates for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, he wasn't among the top list.