Trev Alberts, The Savior?

Trev Alberts

When former Husker All-American Trev Alberts was hired as the Director of Athletics at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, he was considered by some the savior of the department.

The cold hard facts of the time (and for a long time) showed that UNO athletics were a mess.  No clear leadership, no identity, no vision, no mission, nothing!   In comes Alberts, an outsider to athletic administration (non what soever).  He's a former jock with All-American looks who worked for ESPN.  Trev knows he's popular in Nebraska, he's a former Husker who may one day want to succeed Tom Osborne in Lincoln.

Trev has used his influence to get fans fired up about the Mavericks.  He hired to the best hockey coach in America to make UNO's only division one sport competitive and profitable again.  But a slick speech and a dazzling smile didn't keep Alberts from doing his job, running the athletic department with deep financial troubles and no way to pay for them.  Trev made no secret that he wants UNO to be a D-1 school in all sports.  Why?  Division 2 is dying and in a city like Omaha you would be better off getting rid of the entire athletic department than to go D-3 or NAIA.

We find out on Sunday that the D-1 vision is going to become a reality, UNO has been invited to the Summit League.   Great news for the future, bad news for the present.   Making the jump, Alberts is recommending that UNO drop football and wrestling.  There are no sacred cows at UNO, football has been played for over 100 years and wrestling just won its 3rd straight national championship.  There are no sacred cows at UNO.

Why football?  It's simple, additional scholarships, additional money for coaches, facilities upgrades the money just isn't there.  No money, no football.

Why wrestling?  It's simple, the Summit League does not offer the sport.   I know fans love the Mavs but you can't make decisions on what the fans want.  Think about if coaches did that, there would be a different quarterback starting every week.

The truth is, Trev Alberts has to ask the Board of Regents for permission to go division one, if Trev wants something he also has to give something up.  He's giving up football and wrestling.  This decision did not just come out of the blue.  I know personally this has been a year long process, a process that has brought us to this point.

UNO is about to go division 1, the school is doing so with a vision, a mission and a purpose, something the athletic department has never had in my 20 years of covering it.  That is why Trev Alberts is the savior of the UNO Athletic Department.   History I believe will show this.