People in Lincoln had to be surprised by the departure of Trev Alberts. After spending his college days with Nebraska and being the athletic director, he left in favor of the Texas A&M job to replace Ross Bjork. Moving from the Big Ten to the SEC was a big one, especially with both conferences entering new eras.
Alberts was asked about his first few months at Texas A&M, having a sense of humor with the media regarding the current state of college football. However, he did indicate the quality of life some of the Aggie players — not just in football — will be having due to modern rules in college athletics.
“It’s great, I love it. The great thing is, there’s really nothing going on nationally to have to worry about,” Alberts joked . “Life is simple, nothing locally.
“To be honest with you, it’s an exciting time. I think we’re going to look back — I’m a little jealous of student-athletes to be honest with you. Think about them. The life of a student-athlete, maybe not all of them, but some is going to be at a level that is unprecedented.”
When Alberts was going through the high school recruiting process, he wound up with the Nebraska Cornhuskers. He quickly became a star linebacker, eventually winning the Dick Butkus Award and being an Unanimous All-American for the 1993 season. Nebraska even retired his No. 34, with no other Husker wearing his number ever again.
Alberts would have cleaned up in the NIL world and who knows, maybe cashed in by entering the NCAA transfer portal back then. But to him, earning a full academic scholarship to play football was good enough and something he “couldn’t believe.”
“I couldn’t believe they paid for my school back in 1989,” Alberts said. “Think about where we’ve come, right?… I think this is good. I think college sports has never been more popular.”
Answering the question at SEC Spring Meetings in Destin, there are still a lot of questions for Alberts and his fellow athletic directors to answer. Not just about macro issues but some short-term changes are being floated around as well.
Alberts is just getting going in College Station and is hoping for a good first full year. In his opinion, the future is bright. Not just for the Aggies but for the entire college sports world as it trends in the right direction.