Tag: Troy Dannen

Nebraska Athletic Director wants to eliminate Friday night games

Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen would like to see Friday night home games come to an end.

Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen said on a recent radio appearance that he sent a letter to the Big Ten commissioner formally requesting that Nebraska not host Friday games in the future. This does not include the traditional Black Friday game against Iowa.

Nebraska has played a non-Iowa Friday night game in each of the past three seasons. The last two years saw Nebraska take on Illinois, and in 2022, Nebraska was on the road against Rutgers. Friday night games have become a common theme on the program’s schedule, and Dannen would like to see it end.

“Just because of the size of the stadium and the locale, I don’t think we want to be canceling in-person classes. I’m sure the students didn’t mind. But at the end of the day the more we can avoid that I think the better off everybody will be.”

He went on to say that he is also not happy about certain Big Ten programs being able to opt out of the Friday games.

“I don’t like seeing other athletic directors in the league saying, ‘By golly, we will not do that’ and laying their foot down. I’m not sure any institution should have the unilateral ability to do that. But if we do, I raised my hand with the commissioner and said Nebraska should be in that same position with 90,000 fans and the proximity we have to campus.”

Dannen has made positive changes to the athletic department ever since his arrival in March. From additional focus on NIL to contract extensions, he has made his mark. The elimination of Friday night games could be viewed by many as a positive development. It will be interesting to see what happens.

In the meantime, Nebraska will take on Purdue this Saturday. Kickoff is at 11:00 a.m. CT and the game can be seen on Peacock.

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REPORT: Nebraska to name new athletic director

The University of Nebraska is wasting no time in finding a new athletic director.

The University of Nebraska is wasting no time in finding a new athletic director. Pete Thamel of ESPN has reported that the school is finalizing a six-year deal to hire Washington AD Troy Dannen as the school’s next athletic director.

Dannen is replacing Trev Alberts, who left for Texas A&M last week. The new AD was hired at the University of Washington in October 2023.

Before the Huskies, he had served as AD at Tulane University (2015-2023) and Northern Iowa (2008-2015). Thamel also reports that Nebraska officials prioritized Dannen’s Midwest ties and strong football background.

The new athletic director has worked on the NCAA Football Oversight Committee, NCAA Football Competition Committee, and the NCAA Transformation Committee.

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New Washington athletic director throws shade at Ohio State

Washington isn’t even in the Big Ten yet and shots are already being fired. #GoBucks!

The University of Washington recently hired a new athletic director after Jen Cohen left Seattle for the same position at USC. The Huskies turned to Tulane athletic director, Troy Dannen, to fill their opening. Even though Washington doesn’t join the Big Ten until 2024, Dannen is already firing shots.

Doug Lesmerises reported on X (formerly Twitter) that Dannen made disparaging remarks aimed at Ohio State and Texas. The comments were made in his very first interview as the Huskies AD on Seattle sports radio station 93.3 KJR.

In talking about the new world of college athletics regarding name, image and likeness, Dannen chose to target two of the marquee names in college football who happen to have the largest budgets in college athletics.

“If budgets won championships, Ohio State and Texas would win everything – and they haven’t won much lately,” Dannen said.

That’s a pretty bold statement to make about a future conference foe. Maybe Mr. Dannen should check the numbers first. Since winning the inaugural College Football Playoff national championship in 2015, the Buckeyes are 95-12 with four Big Ten championships and four more CFP Playoff berths. National championships don’t grow on trees and are not easy to come by … something the new Washington AD should know seeing as the Huskies’ last national championship came in 1991. To say Ohio State hasn’t won much lately seems like a fairly uneducated statement.

But maybe that’s just who Troy Dannen is. Upon leaving Tulane he made the following comments about about accepting the Washington athletic director position. “I want to go someplace where you can win. I love Tulane; you’re not going to win a national championship at Tulane,” remarked Dannen,

The comments as a whole about Ohio State, Texas, and Tulane come across in very poor taste. In fact, maybe Dannen shold head the advice of Abraham lincoln, who once said, “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.”

Ohio State will travel to Washington to face the Huskies in 2025 as part of the new look Big Ten.

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Tulane is third school not to partake in EA Sports NCAA Football

Notre Dame’s highly debatable decision not to allow itself in the next edition of EA Sports NCAA Football continues to have a ripple effect.

Notre Dame’s highly debatable decision not to allow itself in the next edition of EA Sports NCAA Football continues to have the desired ripple effect. Tulane announced Friday that it also was pulling out of participation in the revived video game franchise. Athletic director Troy Dannen made the following announcement:

Let’s not kid ourselves. Nobody except diehard Green Wave fans and people who like building dynasties with lesser known programs was going to buy this game so they could play as this team. Tulane doesn’t have nearly the same influence as Notre Dame or even Northwestern, the second program to pull out of the game. Still, this should make it clear that no one is a given to allow itself to be part of it anymore.

It’s amazing that it could take programs not participating in a video game to fast-track the NIL process and finally get college football players the money they’ve deserved for so long. Hey, whatever works, right?