Incoln: One of the most decorated players in Nebraska football history, Ndamukong Suh, had a front-row seat to Husker volleyball’s Final Four run. He and NU Athletic Director Trev Alberts just happened to have a conversation over the weekend.
And Alberts, talking on his monthly radio show Tuesday night, said Suh, who won the Outland, Lombardi, Nagurski and Bednarik Awards in 2009, is interested in helping Nebraska’s name, image and likeness efforts.
“As he’s thinking about life post-playing in the National Football League and what that looks like, he’s got some ideas, he’s got some things,” Alberts said of the 36-year-old Suh, who may still join a NFL team for a playoff run this year. “I think he’s going to be involved some way, somehow, in Husker Athletics.”
Alberts noted he’d like to get Outland Trophy winner and former Husker Will Shields more involved, too. Shields and Alberts played together at Nebraska.
More notes from Alberts’ monthly talk on “Sports Nightly”:
Praise for Rhule and Co.
The NU A.D. lauded the work done by Husker coach Matt Rhule, his assistants and their full support on the recruiting trail.
Alberts said he was excited, too, by the small number of players who wanted to leave the program. As of Friday, the notable departures were Chubba Purdy, Jeff Sims, Tamon Lynum and Jake Appleget.
“Our chaos has been pretty limited, and I really think that speaks to the culture that coach Rhule and his coaches have built,” Alberts said. “Young men want to be a part of our football program, and that’s pretty cool.”
More seats in Devaney
Nebraska should be able to squeeze a few more seats into the Devaney Center for volleyball matches.
A record 9,198 fans attended the Huskers’ five-set win over Wisconsin in October.
While college football has “never been more popular,” leaders of the sport need to “take a holistic vision of our game” and reform it.
“Everything must be on the table,” Alberts said. “No matter how radical an idea you can think of or hear of, I think now is the time to examine everything.”
And while the timing could have been different, Alberts said, a letter from NCAA President Charlie Baker, who proposed a potential new subdivision that directly compensates athletes, should be applauded for moving the ball forward.
The NCAA will have “emergency legislation” in January, Alberts said, for the membership to vote on.
“It’s an effort for the NCAA to say, is it time for us to expand benefits to student-athletes—including economic benefits? That’s really what we’re talking about,” Alberts said. “So it’ll be interesting to see how the membership responds to that
“And then I think the response after that will be important to a few schools. We’re in challenging times. And we’ve got to think differently; we’ve got to be more nimble; and we’ve got to adapt and change. The status quo is not working.”
