The specifics for what Trev Alberts will do to help the Nebraska football program are for another day.
In fact, on Wednesday, when he was introduced as the athletic director at Nebraska, Alberts didn’t offer many opinions on the football program he’s followed mostly from a distance for the past 12 years while he was leading the UNO athletic department.
Alberts was firm in saying that he’ll do what he can to help the Husker football program and coach Scott Frost.
“I know I will be all in to helping (Frost) and that staff to be successful,†Alberts said. “It’s important to the university and it’s important to the state of Nebraska. And he needs to know that I will be all-in to supporting his success.â€
Alberts was an All-America linebacker at Nebraska and the No. 5 pick in the 1994 NFL Draft. After playing professionally, he served as a TV analyst on college and professional football games.
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With his experience in football, how might Alberts be able to help Frost differently than he could Nebraska’s other head coaches? First, Alberts says he needs to better understand what the challenges are now in a program that is different from when Alberts played for the Huskers in the 1990s.
“We all just understand the football stuff, calling plays,†Alberts said. “But there really is a whole lot more to it than that. I hesitate to talk about specifics about areas that I’m going to help because I don’t understand what those are.â€
Frost also played at Nebraska, but that came a few years after Alberts graduated. But Alberts and Frost have spoken to each other several times over the years at various events.
Alberts believes he and Frost share a mutual respect for each other.
TREV ALBERTS HIRED AS AD
“Scott expressed to me privately his interest and desire and support in having me in this role,†Alberts said. “He wants to go to work together. So that’s my perspective as well. I think Scott is a tremendous football coach. I think he has a lot of great football coaching ahead of him. My job is to maybe help on some of the peripheral and allow him to do what he does best. It’s really hard to say what those things are. But we’ll dive in.â€
Frost was out of town on vacation and unable to attend Alberts’ news conference, but issued a statement commending UNL Chancellor Ronnie Green and University of Nebraska system President Ted Carter on the hire.
“Trev Alberts has a great track record of success in whatever he has done, dating back to his playing days through his time leading the UNO athletic department,†Frost said. “Trev and I share a love of Nebraska, this football program, and this athletic department. I look forward to working with Trev to continue to build our program.â€
Frost was hired by Bill Moos in December 2017 and has a 12-20 record through three seasons.
Alberts says he needs to establish trust with Frost and the other coaches — and that goes both ways.
“Coaches need to have the trust to tell me that what I’m doing is not helpful,†Alberts said. “Because if I’m doing something that’s not helpful, I want them to be successful. So we got to earn that together, and we’ll do that. That will be the first order of business, and then we’ll dive into some of the granular details of how we can better support all of our programs.â€
Unlike some former NU football players, Alberts didn’t opine much about the state of Husker football for the past decade. First, Alberts said it was important that the UNO athletes and coaches knew he was focused on the Mavs. Secondly, Alberts didn’t feel right commenting because he wasn’t fully aware of what was going on behind the scenes that could have been challenges to Nebraska’s football success.
“Certainly we haven’t achieved the level that we all hope to attain,†Alberts said. “But I believe strongly in Scott Frost’s leadership and the coaches that we have on the staff."
Alberts is excited to be back at an athletic department that plays NCAA Division I football.
“You love football,†Alberts said. “But I’ll be honest with you, I love competition. I can have just as much fun at a women’s soccer game in a shootout beating Denver, like (UNO) did a few years ago. I just love to win, and being a part of watching coaches and students do something that’s extraordinary.
“But, of course, football is a wonderful game. It teaches you a lot, and you learn a lot. And a lot of those lessons that I learned from 1989 to 1993 have been crucial and instrumental.â€