LINCOLN, Neb. — Matt Rhule and Trev Alberts huddled Monday morning near the edge of the artificial turf inside the Nebraska practice facility, deep in conversation as a light rain fell on the newly rooted grass fields nearby.
On all sides of the Nebraska braintrust, 60 Huskers, roughly the top half of Rhule’s roster, moved through the opening segment of the first practice in this preseason camp.
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Rhule and Alberts present the picture of competence — needed in this moment more than ever. As storm clouds in college athletics gather and radical change echoes across the football landscape, Nebraska is lucky to have them both.
An alternate reality in which Alberts and Rhule never landed in Lincoln is entirely imaginable. And yet, as they work to restore a winning tradition at Nebraska after its years of wandering off course, progress seems inconceivable without them.
On what ground would the school stand without Alberts? The former Butkus Award-winning linebacker at Nebraska, rock solid by all accounts as an athletic director, has earned respect and admiration in the Big Ten community since he took the reins of a department two years ago racked with leadership issues.
Bill Moos, the former AD pushed into retirement before Alberts arrived, made the necessary coaching hires. But his daily management lacked the attentiveness required in this era of upheaval marked by the name, image and likeness revolution, the proliferation of gambling and the continued specter of conference realignment.
The latest rounds of realignment, since Alberts took his seat at Nebraska, have turned college sports into a game of musical chairs. On the heels of the Big Ten’s acquisition of USC and UCLA, Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC and Colorado’s jump to the Big 12, talk turned heavy this week toward potential Pac-12 implosion.
Will Oregon and Washington bolt for the Big Ten, too? Arizona has been talking with the Big 12. Florida State is unhappy in the ACC.
More schools will inevitably change affiliations before the dust settles. The consequences of these moves are mind-boggling. College sports appears set to careen toward a dystopian existence dominated by a series of professionalized super conferences.
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Entire athletic departments could be left unable to compete, frozen out of the big leagues and underfunded because of giant multimedia payouts set to buoy the programs that found a seat at the table.
As a historically relevant member of the Big Ten, Nebraska’s spot remains secure. But don’t assume it’s locked in place. The Huskers have not produced a winning season in football since 2016. They add next to nothing in basketball.
The athletic department is fiscally sound. The loyalty of the Nebraska fan base is incomparable. None of it figures to matter much, though, if a day arrives when every football program is assessed and categorized on its merits.
As Alberts says often, Nebraska must win. Each time conference realignment accelerates, that moment comes more into focus when the music will ultimately stop. It underscores the urgency of what will rate as Alberts’ defining move at Nebraska — the pursuit and hire of Rhule last fall. On the surface, Rhule, like Alberts, fits well in a pressure-packed situation.
Small fires arise annually in every program. At Nebraska over the past two decades, periods of drama often mushroomed into major distractions. Rhule, in part because of the larger problems he navigated at Temple, Baylor and in the NFL, handles those moments with grace and apparent ease.
As Rhule and Alberts visited Monday at the outset of camp, the coach had dealt in the past 72 hours with the resignation of an assistant coach and the suspension of one of his top returning defenders.
Mere feet away from Rhule and Alberts stood an unfinished, $165 million football complex — the most expensive project in the history of Nebraska athletics — that was supposed to turn operational this week. It remains far from completion. The Huskers will not receive the full benefit in 2023 from considerable upgrades to the training and recovery methods that Rhule sees as vital.
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Still, Rhule emitted a good vibe.
“I really felt a sense of calm,” he said of the Huskers’ attitude at the start of camp.
Construction on Nebraska’s new football building remains ongoing. (Mitch Sherman / The Athletic)
They are a reflection of their coach.
“He’s very intelligent,” Alberts said after watching Rhule work the room last week at Big Ten Media Days, “very strategic. I think he’s authentic.”
Rhule’s media savvy buys him some time. Moreover, it displays the same skills that he puts to use in dealing with his players, recruits, donors and administrators.
Turbulent times demand leaders who communicate well, internally and with the public. Rhule and Alberts rate near the top of the sport in that area. They show up to work every day and manage with steady hands.
“We spend a lot of time together,” Alberts said. “We’re working on our relationship. I think it’s really important.”
Alberts said he works, too, on his relationship with Ted Carter, the Nebraska system president. A former superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, Carter took over the Nebraska seat on the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors on July 1 upon the retirement of Nebraska chancellor Ronnie Green.
Carter offers for Nebraska another powerful voice in the crowded room of leaders in college sports. The president, his AD and coach form a formidable trio. Yes, the school is lucky to have them all.
No matter the fluctuating headlines of each day, an avalanche of change is underway. Schools without a powerful voice — and a winning pedigree — are most at risk to get buried.
As Alberts said in Indianapolis, “leadership matters.”
(Photo: Steven Branscombe / Getty Images)
Mitch Sherman is a staff writer for The Athletic covering Nebraska football. He previously covered college sports for ESPN.com after working 13 years for the Omaha World-Herald. Mitch is an Omaha native and lifelong Nebraskan. Follow Mitch on Twitter @mitchsherman
