Texas A&M University Division of Marketing and Communications
Texas A&M President Mark A. Welsh III has named Trev Alberts as its new director of athletics – an All-American University of Nebraska football player who has served in AD roles at 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 AD at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where he transitioned the athletic program from Division II to Division 1, while leading an extensive overhaul of its athletic facilities.
Welsh said Alberts’ 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 achieve excellence on the fields, track and court, but also successfully navigate the multifaceted intersection of sports, commerce and student-athlete empowerment,” Welsh said. “He has a deep understanding of the complex business of athletics and the evolving landscape of college athletics, particularly in the area of name, image and likeness (NIL).”
Welsh said: “I can’t imagine a better person to lead the Aggie athletics program into the future.”
Ross Bjork, who was hired as Texas A&M’s athletic director in 2019, announced in January that he is taking on the same role at Ohio State University. Within a week, Welsh appointed David “Dave” Dunlap, an alumnus and former 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 praised the committee and President Welsh, saying he looks forward to collaborating with the student-athletes and the 12th Player.
“From my perspective, there has never been a more consequential time in history for the evolving landscape of higher education and intercollegiate athletics,” Alberts said. “Leadership matters now more than ever. My interest in Texas A&M is not only because of 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.
It will be bittersweet to leave his beloved alma mater, Alberts said.
He said, “I really want to express my gratitude to the University of Nebraska – the school and its fans have been and always will be extremely important to me.” “Nebraska changed my life, and I am grateful for the incredible 15 years I spent here.”
Interim athletic director RC Slocum said he looks 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 also want to thank President Welsh and 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 Osborn’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 selection in the 1994 NFL Draft and played for the Indianapolis Colts for three years before injuries forced him to retire.
Alberts made the transition from athlete to broadcaster with ease, 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’s Mavericks program, where many student-athletes found success not only through competition but also through academics. Alberts said he focused on the student-athlete experience, resulting in a collective semester grade point average above 3.3 (on a 4.0 scale) for 18 consecutive semesters. He was praised for raising private funds to upgrade the facilities as well as expand the program.
He was hired as the athletic director at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 2021, from which he graduated before playing his final semester of college football. His fundraising efforts to improve the facilities continued to be successful. A $450 million renovation of the soccer 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, a sports marketing, multimedia and technology leader. The deal is valued at $301 million over the term 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 the first-year coach, while its new head football coach was also hired by Alberts in the fall of 2022. “Volleyball Day at Nebraska” was an effort led by Alberts that attracted 92,000 fans to Memorial Stadium, the largest attendance ever for a women’s sporting event in the state.
In the classrooms at the University of Nebraska, student-athletes flourished under Albert’s initiatives. For the past two years, his graduation rate in all sports has been a school-record 95 percent.
Alberts and his wife, Angela, have three children – Chase (and his wife, Cassie), Ashtyn, and Breanna. Trev and Angela have one grandson, Walker John.
A press conference will be held early next week.
