Troy Dannen, the athletic director at Nebraska, talks about his collaboration with Matt Rhule and how he can support the football team.
Upon becoming a candidate for the open Husker position, Troy Dannen, the incoming athletic director at Nebraska, called Matt Rhule, the head coach, whom he had known since the Huskers’ days in the American Athletic Conference.
Dannen and Rhule had mutual acquaintances in the sports world, so they knew one other rather well.
In addition to inquiring about the Nebraska position, Dannen had a query for Rhule, the person he is currently supervising.
“I considered him a friend before I came here and I’ll consider him a friend some day down the line,” Dannen said Tuesday. “I want him to succeed, but I wanted to know that he was good with me as much as I was gonna be good with him.”
Dannen stated that Rhule and he should work as “partners” rather than just an athletic director managing a football coach during his press conference on Tuesday. Even while Dannen acknowledged that he is not an expert in football, he claimed he can still take steps to ensure Rhule and his team are successful.
“He and I have to be great partners,” Dannen said. “I’ve got to work for him, I’ve got to advocate for him. I’ve got the champion him. What does he need? We have the same end goal in mind which is adding another trophy to the trophy case. I don’t know what that path is. He does. It’s his job to put me on that path and there will be times when I can contribute and help him. I do know how to navigate the landscape. I do know if recruitment and retention of players is priority No. 1 for him, it’s No. 1 for me.”
Throughout his comments on Tuesday, Dannen spoke of his reverence for the Nebraska football program and what it had done in the past. Asked Tuesday about the program’s two-decade swoon, he said he’s not concerned about why things haven’t worked well in Lincoln. He said he believes that Rhule has what it takes to succeed and one of the biggest attractions of the job was working with Rhule.
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