[ad_1]
LINCOLN – Nebraska’s next athletics director is headed to Lincoln after an eventful six months with a new member of the Big Ten in the Pacific Northwest, the University of Washington.
University of Nebraska interim president Chris Kabourek announced his decision to hire Troy Dannen on Wednesday, less than a week after former NU AD Trev Alberts left to take the same position at Texas A&M University.
Kabourek said Dannen “sees the vision and momentum we have here at Nebraska,” including investing millions in academic and athletic facilities, “and is excited to be a part of it.”
“I knew I was a great fit at Nebraska,” Kabourek said. “He is a fierce competitor, he holds himself and his programs to extraordinarily high standards and cares personally about the success of student-athletes in sports, school and life.”
In a statement, Dannen said he is “aligned” with the vision of where Nebraska “needs to go in the future” and will work to help Nebraska win championships “across the board.”
“There is a historic tradition in Nebraska, but there is still work to be done,” Dannen said in the NU statement. “I truly believe our best years are ahead of us.”
Helped rebuild Tulane football
The new AD brings to the Husker athletics department the experience of having helped his coach, Willie Fritz, rebuild Tulane University football in New Orleans.
Tulane’s modern program peaked in 2022-23, when they won the Cotton Bowl against the University of Southern California and finished in the top 10 of the final Associated Press poll.
He also addressed the aftermath of a great year for Washington football. The university lost its head coach to the University of Alabama after reaching the College Football Playoff finals.
Dannen hired coveted University of Arizona football coach Jedd Fisch to replace Kalen DeBoer, the coach Alabama hired to replace seven-time national champion Nick Saban.
Known in football circles.
Dannen is well-known in football coaching circles. He is serving his fourth year as chairman of the NCAA Football Competition Committee and among the top leaders of the Football Oversight Committee.
He’s also a prolific fundraiser, which could help Nebraska solve How much of a planned $450 million renovation? of Memorial Stadium can or should be achieved.
Dannen’s biography shows personal and family ties to the Midwest, including earning his degree from the University of Northern Iowa, where he served as athletics director before being hired by Tulane.
Dannen’s arrival comes ahead of a pivotal second year for NU football coach Matt Rhule, who said during a news conference this week that Nebraska needed a bold leader who wouldn’t hold back.
Rhule, in a statement, said he is “very excited about this hire.” He said Kabourek found “exactly the right person to lead the Huskers forward.”
“Troy sees the same thing we do: that Nebraska is a special place, with special people, great vision and the unashamed courage to want to win across the board,” Rhule said. “Come on!”
Critical juncture with the Big Ten
Nebraska’s long-term stability in the Big Ten is approaching a critical juncture, with the university’s academic side striving to regain access to the Association of American Universities through increased research. Football success could also improve NU’s value to its conference peers after a decade-long crisis.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is the only non-AAU member of the Big Ten. NU leaders have made it a systemwide priority to rejoin that group of 71 top-tier research universities.
UNL was in the AAU when it was first invited to the Big Ten, but was kicked out in 2011 when the group began valuing medical research dollars more than agricultural research.
The NU system responded by raising money to boost UNL’s research efforts and forging closer ties between UNL and the University of Nebraska Medical Center at Omaha. Part of that change came in January, when the National Science Foundation agreed to allow UNL and the University of Nebraska Medical Center combine your annual federal research funding.
Dannen starts March 22 with a base salary of $1.6 million. Under the terms of her contract offer, she will receive annual raises of $100,000 through 2029-30. She also received a $1 million signing bonus. And she will receive an additional $250,000 to $350,000 in retention bonuses each year, starting in March 2027.
If he leaves early, as he did with Washington, he would owe NU up to $12.2 million. Alberts (or Texas A&M) must pay NU more than $4 million for leaving before his contract was up.
Nebraska will pay Washington about $1.8 million in damages to release Dannen from his contract in Seattle and cover his signing bonus there.
2024.03.20 Athletic Director Offer Letter FINAL_Redacted
GET THE MORNING’S HEADLINES IN YOUR INBOX
[ad_2]
Source link