FYI, much of this has been put together from various sources throughout the past few weeks. As a result, some of it may be a bit dated, and much of it may have been speculated about. I was hoping to get some news on ACs, but that well has dried up over the last ten days or so. (Feel free to copy, paste, email at will)
Here is a quick rundown of how I gathered this info.
My family has/have been involved with fundraising since the Devany years, including administrative stints with the N-Club and HAF. That work has generated many close relationships with both current and former employees in the university. Many of whom are in the athletic department or deep in the university management tree.
As for myself, I work in the representation world. Not as an agent directly, but we provide agency services regarding deal value, prospecting, communications, etc. So when ADs tell the media, "We haven't talked to XYZ or their agent," it's true. But, because they're talking to us instead, universities, players, coaches reach out, and we'll gauge interest from them and get all the lines of communication put together.
Scott almost backed out twice.
He didn't want to leave UCF, and some people close to him advised him that he wasn't ready yet for NU. It took some magic from Matt Davison to get the deal done and pull him away from UCF. I've been told this is where he got the green light to bring the whole UCF staff with him.
Within the AD, there were two significant issues:
Bill had virtually no ability to control the football department. The term used to describe the football offices under Moos was "Frat House."
He also had loose purse strings across the board. As a result, many of his contractual, hiring, and budgeting decisions have left the AD in some difficult positions.
Since TA has taken over, we now have a "direct reports" style infrastructure in place, and there is a better understanding of what each person in the chain's responsibilities include. This slight change has made a big difference in simple day-to-day bureaucratic operations.
I know people in the AD were stunned and adamant that TA was going in another direction. Many say that this came from the top. I talked with one person close to the BOD, and they say this was all Trev. Not sure whom to believe. But given who we had on the line for a replacement (more on this below), I have to think this came from the top.
I suspect TO may have gotten into someone's ear and helped get the negotiated deal done (Note: this is pure speculation on my part)
Matt Campbell was in the hopper, negotiations were very far along, and they were lead by his side. We rug pulled him with this new SF deal. It's ironic, considering Pollard left us at the altar at the last minute during the AD search.
Other candidates/pipe dreams:
Aranda- early-stage comms, nothing substantial, but both parties were talking. Dave was the staff pick in the AD office.
Bill O'Brien - This was our main option before interest from the Campbell camp.
Luke Fickel - We reached out but didn't make any headway. Many think he's trying to position himself to take over for Day at tOSU if dominos fall in a way that would open up that Job.
Marcus Freeman - No direct info on where this went but this was one of the names floated by agents. I don't think it had any legs.
Lane Kiffen - No contact and no interest from what I've been told.
The players haven't been much better. Keep an eye on the transfer portal. Several O players already have one foot out the door. New Staff positions will be key here; there is the potential for a sizeable chunk of the two-deep departing.
The overall feeling is next year is just delaying the inevitable.
Nebraska has one of the best fanbases for potential monetization, yet we're falling way behind here. To give you an idea of how far. Individual players at UK, UCONN, BAMA, and OU have "on paper" NIL deals bigger than all Husker football deals in total.
ABM uses OD, which is a good thing, but they need to hire some people who know how to put the bigger deals together and manage talent, or they need to be replaced. ASAP.
NIL/ABM is becoming a point of friction with the Basketball offices as they are running into recruiting battles where they can't compete with the packages that other schools are offering.
Side note: I asked who we would target if this happened and got dead air. I would expect Chinander to step in for a gap year, as there is no contingency plan in place.
Basketball: scouts and agents are starting to take notice. I've had several ask if I wanted to go back this year and watch a practice. That has never happened before. If given the resources Fed & Matt can get this program to the top tier in the B1G. We're a competitive NIL deal away from landing one, maybe two 5*s for the second consecutive season.
Football Recruiting, you can go ahead and put recruiting on the shelf and forget about it. But we're going to have a hard time until there are significantly more marks in the win column. I talked with a BigXII AC, and he told me there are three main pillars you need to sell a kid on to land them. Program trajectory, program stability, and a random one, family's ability to go to games. For any kids outside of 250mi of Lincoln were dead in the water on all three.
Transfer Portal - It sounds like we plan to go hard at the transfer portal this cycle. Honestly, I'll believe it when I see it. Success here will almost certainly hinge on who we're able to attract as an OC.
See you in 2030
Some Quick Credentials:
So you know where all this is coming from.Here is a quick rundown of how I gathered this info.
My family has/have been involved with fundraising since the Devany years, including administrative stints with the N-Club and HAF. That work has generated many close relationships with both current and former employees in the university. Many of whom are in the athletic department or deep in the university management tree.
As for myself, I work in the representation world. Not as an agent directly, but we provide agency services regarding deal value, prospecting, communications, etc. So when ADs tell the media, "We haven't talked to XYZ or their agent," it's true. But, because they're talking to us instead, universities, players, coaches reach out, and we'll gauge interest from them and get all the lines of communication put together.
Scott Frost Hire
After UCF had their undefeated season, SF became the only choice to replace MR. But, unfortunately, no other candidates even made it to the interview phase, which put us in a very precarious position.Scott almost backed out twice.
He didn't want to leave UCF, and some people close to him advised him that he wasn't ready yet for NU. It took some magic from Matt Davison to get the deal done and pull him away from UCF. I've been told this is where he got the green light to bring the whole UCF staff with him.
Bill Moos
If it wasn't apparent to everyone, let's get this out of the way first, he got fired, full stop. There were multiple reasons for his accelerated departure, both professional and personal.Within the AD, there were two significant issues:
Bill had virtually no ability to control the football department. The term used to describe the football offices under Moos was "Frat House."
He also had loose purse strings across the board. As a result, many of his contractual, hiring, and budgeting decisions have left the AD in some difficult positions.
Athletic Department / Trev Albers
By most accounts, Trev is/has done a great job in the first few months of his term as AD. Many severely underestimate how bad of shape the AD was under Bill. Things had slipped significantly, and there was virtually no top-down oversite or coordination. Almost all the decision-making was done at the Assistant AD or department level with no clear path or direction guiding the decision.Since TA has taken over, we now have a "direct reports" style infrastructure in place, and there is a better understanding of what each person in the chain's responsibilities include. This slight change has made a big difference in simple day-to-day bureaucratic operations.
Scott Frost Status
The reduced contract and buyout arrangement came as a surprise to almost everyone. It's strange, but no one I talked to wanted to take credit or blame how this went down. There are conflicting reports on where the renegotiation plan emerged. Some say it was TA others say Scott suggested the idea himself.I know people in the AD were stunned and adamant that TA was going in another direction. Many say that this came from the top. I talked with one person close to the BOD, and they say this was all Trev. Not sure whom to believe. But given who we had on the line for a replacement (more on this below), I have to think this came from the top.
I suspect TO may have gotten into someone's ear and helped get the negotiated deal done (Note: this is pure speculation on my part)
Who were we going to get?
I've seen a lot of chatter about "who we going to get that better." Well, I'll tell you who was damn near signed, sealed, and delivered:Matt Campbell was in the hopper, negotiations were very far along, and they were lead by his side. We rug pulled him with this new SF deal. It's ironic, considering Pollard left us at the altar at the last minute during the AD search.
Other candidates/pipe dreams:
Aranda- early-stage comms, nothing substantial, but both parties were talking. Dave was the staff pick in the AD office.
Bill O'Brien - This was our main option before interest from the Campbell camp.
Luke Fickel - We reached out but didn't make any headway. Many think he's trying to position himself to take over for Day at tOSU if dominos fall in a way that would open up that Job.
Marcus Freeman - No direct info on where this went but this was one of the names floated by agents. I don't think it had any legs.
Lane Kiffen - No contact and no interest from what I've been told.
Team Morral
As far as I can piece together, the staff expected to be let go at the end of the year and have been checked out since Minnesota.The players haven't been much better. Keep an eye on the transfer portal. Several O players already have one foot out the door. New Staff positions will be key here; there is the potential for a sizeable chunk of the two-deep departing.
The overall feeling is next year is just delaying the inevitable.
New staff
This is a complete crapshoot. There are some pretty good names being floated around, but the terms are insane. Big money and two-year deals seem to be the starting point. No one wants to jump on board for a potential one-year gig.NIL
Is a disaster right now.Nebraska has one of the best fanbases for potential monetization, yet we're falling way behind here. To give you an idea of how far. Individual players at UK, UCONN, BAMA, and OU have "on paper" NIL deals bigger than all Husker football deals in total.
ABM uses OD, which is a good thing, but they need to hire some people who know how to put the bigger deals together and manage talent, or they need to be replaced. ASAP.
NIL/ABM is becoming a point of friction with the Basketball offices as they are running into recruiting battles where they can't compete with the packages that other schools are offering.
Odds and Ends
SF to step down? I've heard some rumblings that Frost was still thinking about stepping away after the season if he can't get who he wants as new ACs. I don't buy it, but getting the reduced buyout and salary then steeping away would be an epic "on his terms pr move."Side note: I asked who we would target if this happened and got dead air. I would expect Chinander to step in for a gap year, as there is no contingency plan in place.
Basketball: scouts and agents are starting to take notice. I've had several ask if I wanted to go back this year and watch a practice. That has never happened before. If given the resources Fed & Matt can get this program to the top tier in the B1G. We're a competitive NIL deal away from landing one, maybe two 5*s for the second consecutive season.
Football Recruiting, you can go ahead and put recruiting on the shelf and forget about it. But we're going to have a hard time until there are significantly more marks in the win column. I talked with a BigXII AC, and he told me there are three main pillars you need to sell a kid on to land them. Program trajectory, program stability, and a random one, family's ability to go to games. For any kids outside of 250mi of Lincoln were dead in the water on all three.
Transfer Portal - It sounds like we plan to go hard at the transfer portal this cycle. Honestly, I'll believe it when I see it. Success here will almost certainly hinge on who we're able to attract as an OC.
The Future
So, where do we go from here? The future looks pretty ugly, and therein is the source of this username. The empire has fallen, and we've failed to stop the first and second crises. Barring an unprecedented turnaround next year, we're looking at a long, long road back to relevance. This team will be utterly devoid of talent in 3 years. It will likely take two coaches beyond Frost to get us back to 'decent'. (One to build up the roster and one to get us over the hump). Think Blake-Stoops at OU.See you in 2030
