Matt Rhule 'fired up' about Nebraska's hire of Washington AD Troy Dannen
Nebraska head football coach Matt Rhule was all smiles on Wednesday.
Not only was Rhule’s football team now fully moved into NU’s new weight room facility, but the school also announced the hiring of Washington’s Troy Dannen as its new athletic director. Rhule spoke on the hire of Dannen publicly for the first time as the Huskers’ pro day was going on.
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“Troy was the AD at Tulane when I was at Temple,” Rhule said. “I don’t have a strong personal relationship with him, but I have a really good professional relationship with him. I think Troy fits the criteria that we are all looking for. He’s an accomplished athletic director. He’s been on all the big committees; he’s been on the oversight committee. He knows the issues facing college football. He’s an unbelievable guy.
“It’s no slight to the University of Washington, which is a wonderful place. I just know he wanted to come home and he wanted to be here. I’m fired up and excited to have him. The University of Nebraska took a step forward today.”
Dannen’s hire comes a week after Trev Alberts left NU for Texas A&M. Also on Wednesday, the board of regents named UNMC’s Dr. Jeff Gold its priority candidate for Nebraska’s next president.
Rhule was unaware of the Gold news Wednesday as it broke, so he did not comment on that. However, he did have strong words of praise for the job interim president Chris Kabourek has done since Ted Carter left NU in December.
“The fact that it happened so quickly, I think it speaks great about the amount of candidates and interest. I also think it speaks about the job that Chris Kabourek did to get this done this quickly,” Rhule said. “My experience with Chris Kabourek throughout this has been fantastic. Governor Pillen has been fantastic. I’m very grateful.”
Several people expressed interest in the Nebraska job
Another interesting thing Rhule shared on Wednesday was that not only did he talk with Dannen about the AD opening at Nebraska, but multiple other candidates also reached out to him about the job.
NU has turned the page quickly from the short-lived Carter-Alberts era at Nebraska.
“I had people reach out to me,” Rhule said. “A lot of people wanted to be here. A lot of people would’ve liked this opportunity because I think everyone sees what the potential is at Nebraska.”
As for Dannen, Rhule knows he’s the right fit for this job to help Nebraska succeed.
“I think the way I’ll be successful as a football coach here is just focus on my area, and just trust Troy is going to handle his area and crush it,” Rhule said. “I saw what he did at Tulane. That’s why Washington wanted him, and that’s why other people wanted him. He said to me that, ‘This is just as a special place.’ Anybody that grew up in the time that we grew up knows what Nebraska can be.”
And when you see the new facilities and everything happening in Lincoln, it’s easy to get excited about the future.
“I said it loudly the other day at the press conference how excited I am about the potential here,” Rhule said. “I can tell you this: these scouts (at pro day) are blown away by the facilities we have here – absolutely blown away. I was excited when I talked to Troy and any other candidate that reached out to me, that I was excited in what I can believe happen here.”
