Matt Rhule reveals his initial reaction to Trev Alberts leaving for Texas A&M
Former Nebraska Athletics Director Trev Alberts left to take the Texas A&M AD job earlier this month, surprising many with his decision. Cornhuskers football coach Matt Rhule made his first public comments about the move on Monday.
Rhule shared that he is happy for Alberts and his family but will also miss working with him.
“Obviously last week, really sad to see Trev and [Angela] go. More than just a great boss, I consider Trev a friend. He’ll be a friend of mine forever,” Matt Rhule said. “I just think they’re just class, class, class people. And I wish them the best. This business is hard. People move from job to job. You build relationships. Just really grateful for them and sad to see them go.”
Trev Alberts is a former Nebraska star, who appeared happy in Lincoln. However, clearly he felt like it was time for a change.
Still, Rhule feels good about where Nebraska athletics is and the future of the athletics department.
“Any time Tom Osborne calls you, or all the different donors and fans who have reached out, just really appreciative of everybody, through what could be seen as a tough time,” Matt Rhule said. “But I think this is a tremendous, tremendous opportunity. Everyone’s going to wonder why Trev left, and that’s his story to tell. … I know he was very forthcoming to me and very forthright with me, and I have no complaints about the way he handled anything, at least with me. So very thankful for him.”
This is without a doubt a time of transition for Nebraska, as the university is looking for a permanent school president, in addition to a new permanent AD.
Rhule believes the time is now to analyze everything, make strong hires and get everyone at Nebraska pulling in the same direction.
“This is an opportunity for us to look at everything within our athletic department, everything within maybe even our university, and how can we be better? Because this is an amazing place,” Rhule said. “We love the state of Nebraska. We love Lincoln. We love Omaha. We love everywhere that we’ve been and everyone that we’ve met.
“I just think sometimes we forget some of those things. We forget how great a place this is to raise a family. We forget how great a place this is to live and to be around. So while it is a tough time losing someone of Trev’s caliber, all I’ll say I believe he put 15 years here in athletic administration, and from everything I see in our athletic department, this is a well-run athletic department and this is a good place.”