The Nebraska Cornhuskers Board of Regents went from the heel to the hero in record time. When Trev Alberts left the Huskers for Texas A&M there was some talk that the regents had chased him off.
There was even talk that he left because Alberts knew that the person university leadership wanted was going to be bad and that he was getting out while the getting was good. And then the university announced that the new president is none other than Jeffrey Gold.
And the narrative shifted.
Suddenly, the new narrative was that they changed direction. If Trev Alberts knew and didn’t like who the regents wanted. One Nebraska Cornhuskers commentator even noted that the hiring of Gold, who was previously the chancellor at UNMC, appeared to be aimed at Alberts specifically.
“The enormous middle finger the regents just gave to Trevor Benedict Alberts by picking his guy a week after he left is incredible,” radio host Ravi Lulla wrote on Twitter. “No notes. 10/10 petty.”
Trev Alberts got the shaft from Nebraska Cornhuskers regents
Lulla went on to explain that there was quite a bit of talk that Gold was the man that Alberts would have been in favor of. And that Gold became the man the regents hired at least in part because they wanted to shove Alberts’ face in leaving for Texas A&M.
Gold of course, has long been one of the top candidates. There was worry, however that the regents might bow to a more conservative political choice as that was what governor Jim Pillen stated he wanted.
Gold, as head of the university’s medical school is viewed as far more middle of the road, if not liberal than some of the other names being thrown around, like congressman Mike Flood and Florida president and former US Senator Ben Sasse.
It’s entirely possible that while there was some panic around the departure of Alberts originally, the Nebraska Cornhuskers got the better end of the deal with Gold and new athletic director Troy Dannen.