Mike Farrell Sports

College Football Recruiting, Opinion, and Analysis

Did Trev Alberts See a Nebraska Future That Can’t Work?

Texas A&M pastures look greener than Nebraska’s right now and it appears Trev Alberts made the right decision to leave

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By Rock Westfall

Husker Nation has moved on from Trev Alberts after the Nebraska Athletic Director’s shocking move to quit his “dream job” for the AD post at Texas A&M. Nebraska fans will tell you that Troy Dannen is an upgrade from Alberts as the AD and that they don’t miss Alberts, who is now seen as being all about himself.

Still, last Saturday’s 56-7 obliteration at the hands of the Indiana Hoosiers has knocked the Big Red faithful for a loop and has Nebraska fans questioning if Matt Rhule can turn around their beloved program. 

For the first time, Rhule is facing a crisis of faith among Cornhusker fans. On Saturday, it’s highly possible that the dreams of Husker Nation will become more of a nightmare as punchless, plodding Nebraska will enter Ohio State’s “Shoe” as 26-point underdogs to the Buckeyes.

Nebraska’s current plight also raises a legitimate question as to why Alberts would bail on his alma mater, where he was an All-American with his name permanently affixed to Memorial Stadium with other Husker legends.

Did Trev Alberts see the future and that it would not work?

Perhaps he did.

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Trev Alberts Living Large in College Station 

After losing their opening game, the Texas A&M Aggies have ripped off six consecutive wins for new head coach Mike Elko. Elko was hired before Alberts arrived, making for a much easier transition and allowing Alberts to focus on fundraising and other sports. Texas A&M is ranked 14th in the nation, while Nebraska is nowhere near the Top 25 after its debacle at Indiana.

Love him or hate him, nobody denies that Trev Alberts is intelligent and on the climb. He wants to become the first commissioner of college football should such a post ever be created. Having apparently done all he could do at a Big Ten blueblood (Nebraska), he is now in a position to claim that he turned Texas A&M into an SEC power that it always thought of itself as.

When Alberts took the Texas A&M job, he knew of the school’s reputation for printing money. The Aggies have a well-heeled and uber-motivated donor base that is obsessed with one-upping the Texas Longhorns and winning the school’s first national championship since 1939.

Texas A&M has long been seen as an underachiever in college football. Considering its blank check, top facilities, passionate fanbase, and recruiting footprint, there is justification for expecting more. Alberts’ arrival was a case of perfect timing for the Aggies, his career path, resume building, and most concerning, for Nebraska.

A Scary Thought – Are the Experts Right About Nebraska’s Limitations?

The best case against Nebraska ever returning to national prominence is that its Glory Days were in a bygone era that will bever be replicated. Under Bob Devaney and for most of Tom Osborne’s career, the Huskers were a brand unlike any other.

Nebraska was doing weight training, nutrition, walk-ons, and recruiting like no other program. It had, and still has, the greatest fans in college football. Despite a decade of decay, Nebraska remains a brand with a national cache.

Before cable TV, Nebraska was on the tube as much or more than any other program and retained that position in the early days of cable television.  The Big Red was a national brand from a farm state with a small population. But it caught lightning in a bottle and became a destination for the nation’s top prospects. Indeed, in those heady days, there was no place like Nebraska.  

Nebraska padded its record in a Big Eight Conference that was usually just the Big Two and Little Six. In those days, programs such as Iowa State, Kansas State, and Kansas were putrid, while Missouri, Oklahoma State, and Colorado checked in and out. Thus, the Huskers would play Oklahoma for all the marbles almost every year.

Another advantage Nebraska had was its use of Prop 48, which enabled it to secure additional talent that was not fully qualified academically.  When the Big Eight and Southwest Conference merged into the Big 12, Texas demanded that Prop 48 players be eliminated. Tom Osborne warned that things would never be the same for Nebraska because of that capitulation to a school that arrived from a renegade league forced to shut down because of its Wild West ways.

These days, every school invests in college football and makes a maximum effort. Fans can watch every program play every game via TV or streaming. Thus, all programs are national brands now.

In turn, Nebraska was forced to join the much more difficult Big Ten Conference to secure its financial future. There are few, if any, days off in the Big Ten and the recruiting footprint is much different than what Nebraska was used to before it joined.  

Nebraska has sold out every game since 1962 and has a good donor base, but its bagmen are second class compared to Texas A&M. Nebraska faces a much more challenging college football landscape than in its earlier dynastic days. Additionally, NIL and the transfer portal have triggered unexpected parity.

ESPN recruiting analyst Tom Luginbill has long said that Nebraska is now at a recruiting disadvantage. He says the program’s infrastructure is limited due to its location, the comparative difficulty getting prospects in and out of Lincoln, and the lack of local 5-star talent. Others have echoed those sentiments.

Last week, Husker Nation threw up its hands and whaled, “How can a basketball school with none of our advantages in fan support, investments, facilities, or commitments run us off the field under a new head coach?”

There is a legitimate answer to that question.  It’s a whole new world out there. IU head coach Curt Cignetti took full advantage of the new transfer rules to bring the best players from his 11-2 James Madison team to Indiana. The microwave approach nuked Nebraska in a devastating, humbling, and alarming defeat. But that is today’s game. Adapt or die.

I still believe Matt Rhule’s systematic approach will eventually produce bowl games and some marquee wins. Once or twice a decade, the Big Red may contend for a shot at the Big Ten championship game. But it’s a tall order to expect much more than what Bo Pelini produced before the world changed overnight.

Trev Alberts saw the future, and that it worked better at Texas A&M.

That being said, Nebraska should do significantly more than what it showed at Indiana. The effort was an abominable disgrace. The Ohio State game does provide an opportunity for the Big Red to regain its self-respect, even in the likelihood of defeat.

Certainly, if Iowa, Kansas State, and Iowa State can be regulars on the bowl circuit and regular contenders for shots in the championship game of their leagues, then Nebraska must as well. Husker Nation is right to never concede that point.  

Based on his actions, it’s doubtful Trev Alberts will take his alma mater and the points on Saturday.

Sadly for Nebraska, Alberts apparently knows a thing or two about college football. 

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