Texas A&M President Mark A. Welsh III has named Trev Alberts as his new director of athletics — an All-American University of Nebraska football player who has served in AD roles in Nebraska for the past 15 years.
Alberts, a former first-round NFL draft pick and ESPN broadcaster, has been the director of athletics at the University of Nebraska since 2021. He moved to Lincoln after serving 12 years as the AD at University of Nebraska at Omaha, where he transitioned the athletic program from Division II to Division 1, while leading an overhaul of its athletic facilities.
Welsh said Alberts’s strong business acumen, range of experience and leadership abilities make him the ideal choice to oversee A&M Athletics, which has more than 650 student-athletes competing in the Southeastern Conference in 20 varsity sports.
“With Trev’s expertise, the Aggies are poised to not only excel on the fields, tracks and courts, but also successfully navigate the multi-faceted intersection of sports, commerce and student-athlete empowerment,” Welsh said. “He has a profound understanding of the intricate business of athletics and the evolving landscape of college athletics, particularly in the realm of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL).”
Welsh added: “I can’t imagine a better individual to lead the Aggie Athletics program into the future.”
Ross Bjork, who was hired in 2019 as Texas A&M’s A&M’s athletic director, announced in January that he was taking the same role at Ohio State University. Within a week, Welsh appointed David “Dave” Dunlap, a former student and past chair of the 12th Man Foundation Board of Trustees, along with six other committee members, to conduct a national search for the next director of athletics.
On Wednesday afternoon, Alberts extended his appreciation to the committee and President Welsh, saying he’s looking forward to collaborating with student-athletes and the 12th Man.
“From my perspective, there has never been a more consequential time in history for higher education and the evolving landscape of intercollegiate athletics,” Alberts said. “Leadership matters now more than ever before. My interest in Texas A&M is not only due to its prestigious reputation but also because of President Welsh’s compelling vision in which, I believe, Athletics can play a small but important role in helping Texas A&M achieve unprecedented success.”
Leaving his beloved alma mater will be bittersweet, Alberts said.
“I truly want to express my gratitude to the University of Nebraska — the school and its fans have been and always will be immensely important to me,” he said. “Nebraska changed my life, and I’m thankful for the incredible 15 years I spent here.”
Interim Athletic Director R.C. Slocum said he’s looking forward to seeing where Alberts takes the A&M program.
“I want to welcome Trev and his family to Aggieland,” said Slocum, who is the all-time winningest football coach in Texas A&M history and now serves as special assistant to the A&M president. “I want to thank President Welsh, and also the committee led by Dave Dunlap for their thorough and tremendous efforts in selecting Trev Alberts to lead our student-athletes, coaches and staff.”
While playing for Coach Tom Osborne’s Cornhuskers in the early 1990s, Alberts was recognized as the nation’s top college linebacker and named as Nebraska’s first Butkus Award winner. He also received All-American honors. He was selected in the first round as the fifth overall pick in the 1994 NFL draft and played for the Indianapolis Colts for three years before injuries prompted him to retire.
Alberts transitioned with ease from athlete to broadcaster, initially working as a contributor at CNN and Sports Illustrated before being hired at ESPN where he was an analyst for College GameDay.
In 2009, he was named director of athletics for the University of Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks program, where many student-athletes found success not just through competition but also academics. Alberts said he concentrated on the student-athlete experience, which resulted in consistent collective semester grade point averages above 3.3 (on a 4.0 scale) for 18 consecutive semesters. He was lauded for expanding the program, while raising private funds to pay for upgrades to facilities.
He was hired in 2021 as the athletic director at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, which is where he graduated from prior to playing his final semester of college football. His fundraising endeavors to improve facilities continued to be successful. A $450 million renovation of the football stadium is expected to break ground this fall. Alberts also oversaw a comprehensive, new 15-year multimedia rights agreement between the university and Playfly Sports, which is a sports marketing, multimedia and technology leader. The deal is valued at $301 million over the life of the contract.
Athletic achievements at Nebraska in 2022-23 include Top 10 finishes in NCAA wrestling, rifle, bowling, women’s outdoor track and field, men’s gymnastics and men’s indoor track and field. The Nebraska men’s track team captured the Big 10 outdoor title under a first-year coach, while its new head football coach also was hired by Alberts in Fall 2022. “Volleyball Day in Nebraska” was an effort spearheaded by Alberts that drew 92,000 fans to Memorial Stadium, making it the largest attendance ever for a women’s sporting event in the state.
In classrooms at the University of Nebraska, student-athletes thrived under Alberts initiatives. For the past two years, they have had a school-record 95 percent graduation rate across all sports.
Alberts and his wife Angela have three children – Chase (and his wife, Cassie), Ashtynne and Breanna. Trev and Angela have one grandson, Walker John.
A press conference will be scheduled early next week.
Courtesy of Texas A&M Today
