UNL announces Trev Alberts contract extension, big payday for Nebraska AD

University of Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts has been on the job for about two-and-a-half years ever since he was announced to the position on July 14, 2021. Even in that amount of time, the university's administration has enough confidence and faith in Alberts to lock him down for the long term.

Nebraska showed that faith on Tuesday as outgoing school president Ted Carter – set to leave to take over as Ohio State president next year – has announced that UNL has granted Alberts a contract extension that is set to keep him at the school through at least 2031. The new contract will be worth more than double Alberts' current annual base salary, increasing from about $850,000 to $1.7 million, and that will increase to $2.1 million in 2026.

Alberts' new contract, like his existing one, will be funded entirely with Athletic Department funds. No taxpayer or tuition dollars will be used. Nebraska’s is one of few athletic departments in the country to operate without a university subsidy.

Carter said he structured Alberts’ new contract based on a thorough review of compensation packages for other Big Ten athletic directors, with a goal of keeping Nebraska highly competitive in the market and retaining Alberts for the long term. The new contract includes:

>> The pay raise mentioned above: An annual base salary of $1.7 million, increasing to $2.1 million in 2026.

>> Retention incentives, including an existing contractual $500,000 retention bonus if Alberts stays through September 2025, with an annual $300,000 retention bonus for every year he stays thereafter.

>> A $3 million completion bonus if he completes the entire eight-year agreement.

>> Liquidation damage buyouts that will be paid to the university if Alberts were to leave for another opportunity.

Under Alberts' original contract, he earned an annual base salary of $800,000 in addition to a handful of potential bonuses: $100,000 bonus if Nebraska won a Big Ten football championship, a $150,000 bonus if the Huskers won a national championship and a $500,000 retention bonus if he is still the athletic director on July 18, 2026.

Also included in his original contract was the opportunity to earn up to $110,000 in bonuses for the Huskers' Academic Progress Rate and a $220,000 bonus if Nebraska finished in the top 15 of the Directors' Cup standings, which calculates every school's result in every sport. The Huskers finished 49th in the country and 10th in the Big Ten in the 2021-22 Directors' Cup standings.

According to an Inside Nebraska source, the contract extension has been in the works for a long while, with initial momentum for an extension beginning in early November as the power players at Nebraska were thoroughly impressed with Alberts' handling of the Nebraska football coaching search – even before Alberts officially locked down Matt Rhule as the future leader of the program.

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Per the University of Nebraska's official press release:

Carter pointed to a number of major achievements in Husker Athletics since Alberts took the helm in 2021, including the historic Volleyball Day in Nebraska that broke the world record for attendance at a women’s sporting event, the hiring of head football coach Matt Rhule, and a new 15-year, $300 million multimedia rights agreement with Playfly Sports that is one of the most comprehensive in the country.

Alberts is also leading the Huskers through the rapidly evolving Name, Image and Likeness landscape, is bringing the transformational Go Big project to completion, and has laid out an ambitious vision for renovation of the 100-year-old Memorial Stadium. Ten Husker teams had top-20 national finishes last year, and this year, the undefeated women’s volleyball team is currently ranked No. 1 in the country while women’s soccer will host the second and third rounds of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship. Nebraska student-athletes also have earned a record 95 percent graduation rate for the second straight year.

“Today’s college athletics landscape is complex and ever-changing,” Carter said. “We need exactly the right person leading Husker Athletics forward. In Trev Alberts, we have found that leader.

“Trev is a lifelong Husker and a Nebraskan in every sense – hardworking, accountable and a man of his word. He makes every decision with our fans and student-athletes at the forefront. There is no one I would trust more to lead athletics at the University of Nebraska than Trev Alberts. I have no doubt that someone of Trev’s caliber and character would be an attractive candidate anywhere, but I am thrilled to tell Husker Nation that Trev is here to stay.”

Alberts said: “My family and I are humbled by the confidence that President Carter and the Board of Regents have placed in me. It is an incredible honor and privilege to serve as the Director of Athletics at Nebraska and it is a role I don’t take for granted. Our student-athletes, coaches and staff have accomplished so much in the past two years. We have great momentum in Husker Athletics and we are excited for what is ahead. Go Big Red!”

Board of Regents Chairman Tim Clare of Lincoln applauded the new contract, saying: “Trev Alberts has spent the past two years rebuilding a culture of excellence and accountability at Nebraska Athletics. That’s why I’m so excited about this new contract. This ensures that Trev will be here for the long term, instilling excellence and accountability across the entire Athletic Department.

“Leadership matters, plain and simple. Trev is competitive, he wants to win and he bleeds Husker Red. We appreciate his loyalty to Nebraska and we want him to be a Husker for life.”

Board of Regents Vice Chairman Rob Schafer of Beatrice added: “The leader of Husker Athletics has to be someone we trust to steward major resources, navigate complex challenges, and guide the young women and men who wear the red N. We are so fortunate to have Trev Alberts at the helm. College athletics is undergoing a sea change right now, but Nebraska is in good hands.”