Nebraska AD Tells Fans to Not 'Romanticize the Past' Regarding NIL

When it comes to the new era of NIL in college sports, Nebraska's athletic director is telling fans to adjust.

Oct 21, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Washington Huskies Athletic Director Troy Dannen stands on the sidelines before a football game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium / Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

It's no secret that Name, Image, and Likeness being introduced into amateur athletics has completely changed the outlook on how sports are operating in the present, and will operate in the future.

Recruiting and roster retention is the main area where NIL resources are allocated as high school players are now looking for certain financial stipulations before even considering playing for a program at the next level.

There will eventually be some oversight on NIL that currently isn't present, but this is here to stay.

Nebraska's new athletic director Troy Dannen addressed this new era of student-athletes getting paid in a conversation with Andy Staples of On3, and he made sure to let fans know they need to get used to this new aspect of college sports.

"Sometimes we want to romanticize the past and quit worrying about the present and what happened, and 20 years from now the romance of college athletics is going to be today," he said.

Dannen is known as a forward thinker and someone who builds athletic programs under his leadership.

He was named AD of his alma mater Northern Iowa in 2008 and started focusing on facility upgrades, improving their multimedia rights, and renegotiating contracts for their apparel and equipment. The success followed, and he was named FCS Athletic Director of the Year in 2014.

Dannen then took over as Tulane's athletic director in 2015, hiring Willie Fritz to become the head coach of their football program. That eight-year time period turned into the most successful stretch in school history.

Following a brief stint at the University of Washington last season, Nebraska is hoping the accomplished administrator will help turn their sports programs around like he has done in his previous stops.

To do that, Dannen shared with fans how he plans on accomplishing this goal.

"One of the things I felt we need to do Nebraska was get people comfortable in the fact that we're going to be compensating, whether it's through NIL or whether it's through revenue share, it may be down the line employment. We're gonna be compensating. It doesn't make the game worse, doesn't make it better, it doesn't mean you need to turn away from it. So I'm going to need their support. Today I needed it in NIL, next year I'm going to need a revenue sharing model," he told Staples.

It shouldn't be surprising that is the mindset he has heading into this new endeavor.

One of the fastest ways to build a program is by having financial flexibility that allows different teams to aggressively recruit, add through the transfer portal, and retain their rosters.

This will undoubtedly be the biggest test of Dannen's career with Nebraska in the expanded Big 10, but it sounds like he's going to heavily lean on NIL to get the Cornhuskers back to national prominence.