| Post: | Director of Athletics |
| Body: | the University of Nebraska–Lincoln |
| Incumbent: | Troy Dannen |
| Incumbentsince: | March 22, 2024 |
| Reports To: | President of the University of Nebraska |
| Precursor: | Athletic Manager |
| First: | Fred Luehring |
| Salary: | $1.6 million[1] |
This is a list of athletic directors of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (NU). The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I and the Football Bowl Subdivision. Troy Dannen was appointed Nebraska's seventeenth full-time athletic director on March 22, 2024.[2]
Nebraska officially recognizes seventeen official athletic directors, though at least fourteen others have held the role in an interim, unofficial, or de facto capacity. NU's longest-serving athletic director was Bob Devaney, who led the department from 1967 to 1992.
In its earliest days, the Nebraska Department of Athletics had no central figure or "athletic director," and the history of how this position developed is unclear. The department's first leaders typically were part-time officials who held others titles and responsibilities at the university. Oftentimes this person served on the Athletic Board, a group of faculty members which governed the department. Early heads of the department were given the title "Athletics Manager" – the first was multi-sport coach and physical education professor Raymond G. Clapp, who filled the role from 1902 to 1905.[3] The first individual to hold the title "athletic director" was E. J. Stewart, who served from 1916 to 1919 and also coached football and basketball during parts of his tenure.[4] However, Nebraska does not consider Stewart its first athletic director because it was not a full-time administrative position; this designation belongs to Fred Luehring, who became AD in 1920.[5] Like Clapp and Stewart, many of Nebraska's early athletic directors simultaneously coached one of the university's major varsity teams, primarily football – six of NU's first ten athletic directors also coached football during their tenure.
Aside from Bob Devaney, NU's football coach for the first six of his twenty-six years as AD, the athletic director position has been a standalone role since 1954. Including Devaney, five members of the College Football Hall of Fame have held the position.
| 1 | Raymond G. Clapp | 1902–1905 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Earl Eager | 1905–1911 | |
| Ewald O. Stiehm | 1911–1915 | ||
| 3 | Guy Reed | 1914–1918 | |
| 4 | E. J. Stewart | 1916–1919 | |
| 5 | Robert Scott | 1919 | |
| James T. Lees[6] | 1919–1920 |
| 1 | 1920–1922 | Resigned to become athletic director at Minnesota | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1922–1925 | Resigned to become head football coach at Denver | ||
| 3 | Herbert D. Gish | 1925–1932 | Entered private business[7] | |
| 4 | Dana X. Bible | 1932–1936 | Resigned to become head football coach at Texas | |
| 5 | 1937–1942 | Resigned to become athletic director at Army | ||
| 6 | Adolph J. Lewandowski | 1942–1947 | Retired | |
| 7 | 1948–1953 | Retired | ||
| 8 | 1954–1961 | Resigned to become athletic director at Indiana | ||
| 9 | 1962–1967 | Resigned to become athletic director at Northwestern | ||
| 10 | 1967–1992 | Retired | ||
| 11 | 1992–2002 | Resigned to become athletic director at Texas A&M | ||
| 12 | 2003–2007 | Fired | ||
| 13 | Tom Osborne[8] [9] | 2007–2013 | Retired | |
| 14 | Shawn Eichorst | 2013–2017 | Fired | |
| 15 | 2017–2021 | Retired | ||
| 16 | Trev Alberts[10] | 2021–2024 | Resigned to become athletic director at Texas A&M | |
| 17 | Troy Dannen | 2024–present |