Trev Alberts

“These jobs are hard,” Alberts said. “There is a lot of change that is happening in college athletics. Leadership really matters, because at the end of the day, you need to make sure you are aligned with people who have your back. I started watching a lot of videos of Gen. Welsh, back as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I watched him give his Aggie Muster speech in April of 2022. I watched every single video I could find of him, because that is who I report to, and the more I studied him, the more impressed I became. It just kept going to the point I said, 'I think this is an opportunity that I would really be unwise not to pursue.'

“So, I got comfortable very quickly with who Mark Welsh was as a man and as a leader and was very confident in the commitment from those under his leadership that we would have an opportunity to do some special things together.”

A BRIGHT FUTURE

In May, Aggie Women's Tennis secured Texas A&M's first national title in seven years, while Adela Cernousek '25 became the first NCAA individual women's golf champion in program history.

During the 2023-24 athletic year, every Aggie team reached the postseason for the first time since 2015-16.

The future of Texas A&M is indeed very bright, with the head coaches, athletics director, university president and affiliate organizations all in alignment. The school appears perfectly positioned to navigate the transformational changes in college athletics.

“It is imperative the AD has the business skill set required to lead us through what is coming,” said Jay Graham, member of The A&M System Board of Regents. “Trev showed at Nebraska-Omaha and Nebraska-Lincoln that he has the ability to navigate business issues, and I have full confidence he can lead us in the new age of name, image and likeness (NIL), revenue sharing and all that comes with that.”

AN UNEXPECTED CAREER

Alberts never had director of athletics on his list of career choices. The job found him only after careers in football, banking and broadcasting.

In 1993, Alberts had one of the greatest seasons ever for a defensive player in college football. He totaled 15 sacks, 21 tackles for loss and 38 quarterback hurries while leading Nebraska to the national title game. He won the Dick Butkus Award and Jack Lambert Award as the top college linebacker and was a consensus All-American.

The Colts made him the fifth overall selection in the 1994 NFL draft. Alberts missed 20 games in three seasons with a dislocated right elbow, a concussion, a partially dislocated left shoulder and a hamstring injury. He retired after three years, at the age of 26, having played 29 games with seven starts. The Colts announced his retirement a day after he declined to undergo reconstructive shoulder surgery.

“After my concussion, my wife asked, 'Is there something else you can do?'” Alberts said, laughing. “I said to her, 'Well, actually, no, honey, I do not think there is.' It just was not a great experience for me. That is not anything against the Colts. It was just so frustrating from a physical standpoint. Now, at 54, I can promise you I am grateful I only played three years.”

RUNNING TOWARD THE FIRE

Alberts moved back to Lincoln after his playing career ended, and he briefly worked in institutional investments at a local bank. He then served as a football analyst for more than a decade for CNN/Sports Illustrated, ESPN, CBS and Westwood One before starting a search for something more fulfilling.

After turning down overtures from his alma mater to work in athletic administration, Alberts received a call from the University of Nebraska at Omaha about its director of athletics job. He took over a program that faced an overall structural deficit of $3 million and annual operating deficits of $1.8 million, explaining he tends to “run toward the fire.”

Alberts stayed there 12 years before returning to his alma mater for three.

During his time at Nebraska-Omaha, he made the decision to eliminate football and wrestling and add men's soccer and men's golf. It was part of his plan that took UNO to The Summit League, an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference. At Nebraska-Lincoln, he oversaw a multi-year fundraising campaign dubbed GO BIG. The school opened a $165 million state-of-the-art training center last year and continues to push for $450 million to renovate Memorial Stadium.

“Trev looks at projects as understanding where you are first and dealing with those issues before charting the direction going forward,” said David Scott, an Omaha businessman and Alberts' best friend and confidant. “Or as my father would tell us, 'If you do not know your starting point, you cannot map out a realistic path to your desired destination.' Trev will spend a lot of his time figuring out where the program is currently before setting the course forward. But when you are working with universities, one has to deal with the politics, the hurdles and barriers, and that is the difficult part.”

HOME IN AGGIELAND AT LAST

Now at Texas A&M, the Aggies have welcomed Alberts with open arms. So, what is A&M getting in Alberts?

“More than you deserve,” Scott said. “It is the truth. More than you deserve. He is a unique individual who has an undaunting desire to make a real difference in whatever he takes on. He runs at a high speed, so you better keep up.”

And that is already proving true in Aggieland.

“When Trev arrived here as athletics director, he provided some real leadership and brought everyone to the table,” said 12th Man Foundation President & CEO Travis Dabney. “It was really the first time that had been done. He should be recognized for some quality work, leadership and for pointing all toward the same goal. I am incredibly optimistic about his leadership of the athletics department.”