Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen discusses his relationship with Matt Rhule and how he can help the football program.
When new Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen was just a candidate for the vacant Husker job, he called Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule, who he had known dating back to their time in the American Athletic Conference.
Dannen and Rhule were plenty familiar with one another and had common friends in the athletics industry.
Dannen wanted to know about the Nebraska job, but had a question for Rhule, who he is now overseeing.
“I considered him a friend before I came here and I’ll consider him a friend some day down the line,” Dannen recalled 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.”
During his press conference on Tuesday, Dannen said he and Rhule need to be “partners” rather than an athletic director merely overseeing a football coach. Dannen said he doesn’t know the ins and outs of football, but said there are things he can do to make sure Rhule and his staff have success.
“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.
