Texas A&M has reportedly found its new athletic director in the form of Nebraska Director of Athletics Trev Alberts. He’s expected to take the same position in College Station, according to Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle.

The hiring was made official on Wednesday, March 13.

Alberts will head an athletic department that saw former athletic director Ross Bjork take the same position at Ohio State in February. Former football coach R.C. Slocum has served in an interim athletic director role since then. The department features over 650 student-athletes in 20 varsity sports.

“With Trev’s expertise, the Aggies are poised to not only excel on the fields, tracks and courts, but also successfully navigate the multi-faceted intersection of sports, commerce and student-athlete empowerment,” President Mark A. Welsh III said. “He has a profound understanding of the intricate business of athletics and the evolving landscape of college athletics, particularly in the realm of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL). I can’t imagine a better individual to lead the Aggie Athletics program into the future.”

The hiring of Alberts comes after a search committee was formed in January to key in on a new athletic director. Members of the committee included Slocum, baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle and women’s basketball coach Joni Taylor, among others.

“From my perspective, there has never been a more consequential time in history for higher education and the evolving landscape of intercollegiate athletics,” Alberts said. “Leadership matters now more than ever before. My interest in Texas A&M is not only due to 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.”

Alberts, 53, is in his third season at Nebraska, where he played football as a linebacker from 1990 to 1993. He won the Dick Butkus Award in 1993 and had his number retired by the school the following year. Alberts was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015.

“I truly want to express my gratitude to the University of Nebraska — the school and its fans have been and always will be immensely important to me,” Alberts said. “Nebraska changed my life, and I’m thankful for the incredible 15 years I spent here.”

Alberts received a new contract in November 2023 that saw his salary increase to $1.7 million, which would grow to $2.1 million in 2026. The contract stated that “Liquidation damage buyouts [would] be paid to the university if Alberts were to leave for another opportunity.”

In 2022, Alberts hired Matt Rhule as the Cornhuskers’ football coach, with the team going 5-7 in his first season. Men’s basketball coach Fred Hoiberg was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the 2023-24 campaign, his fifth year in Nebraska.

The Cornhuskers’ volleyball program reached the national championship in 2021 and 2023 but fell short of the title in both years. In August 2023, Nebraska volleyball set a record for the highest-attended women’s sporting event of all time when over 92,000 took in a match at Memorial Stadium.

“I want to welcome Trev and his family to Aggieland,” Slocum said. “I want to thank President Welsh, and also the committee led by Dave Dunlap for their thorough and tremendous efforts in selecting Trev Alberts to lead our student-athletes, coaches and staff.”

Alberts was the fifth pick by the Indianapolis Colts in the 1994 NFL Draft, with injuries limiting his playing career to three seasons. He then worked as a broadcasting analyst before being hired by Nebraska-Omaha in 2009 as its athletic director.

In 2011, the Mavericks began the transition from Division II to Division I. During this process, the school cut its football and wrestling programs in order to join the Summit League.

Note: This article has been updated with confirmation of Alberts’ hiring and quotes from Alberts, Welsh and Slocum.