Sokol: Mavs sacrificed for Huskers

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One of the University of Nebraska at Omaha's top athletic boosters on Monday blasted the school's plan to drop football, saying he's convinced that political concerns about protecting the Cornhuskers did in the Mavericks.

David Sokol said Athletic Director Trev Alberts told him last year there was talk that the University of Nebraska Board of Regents would never approve a step up to lower Division I for the Mavericks, out of concern that the move would undercut the Huskers.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Athletic Director Tom Osborne, who coached Alberts during his All-America football career in Lincoln, also had told Alberts he couldn't support such a move, Sokol said.

Alberts “had mentioned to me he had been told it was highly unlikely the regents would approve Division I football, and he knew that was a major hurdle,'' Sokol said. “Trev said even Tom told him he would not be supportive of that.''

Alberts vehemently denied the Sokol scenario. Osborne said he could recall no such conversation with Alberts.

“I absolutely respect David Sokol and his emotions, but I want to make one thing very clear: Tom Osborne never told me he wouldn't support UNO football to Division I,'' Alberts said.

Alberts and UNO Chancellor John Christensen both say they had heard speculation before that the regents would block a move up by the school, never knowing if there was truth to the stories.

But they said discussions about the Mavericks' future never reached the point of testing that theory. The school's financial projections made it clear that UNO could not afford to bring football along if it made the jump to NCAA Division I.

“I'm aware of what the perceptions are, but it never became part of the conversation,'' Alberts said.

Regents Chairman Bob Whitehouse and NU President J.B. Milliken could not be reached for comment Monday. The regents have to approve the UNO proposal. Five of the eight endorsed the idea Sunday.

In the discussions of UNO's athletic future, there was never any contemplation that its football team would play on the same level as UNL's Cornhuskers. If UNO football had gone to Division I, it would have played in the Football Championship Subdivision, the group of smaller Division I schools formerly known as I-AA. Osborne told The World-Herald on Monday that he can't recall ever registering opposition to a UNO step up to that subdivision.

Osborne acknowledged that if UNO had made such a move he “wouldn't be jumping up and down about it.'' He said having a Football Championship Subdivision school in the state might be attractive to some players who otherwise might have chosen UNL. But such a change wouldn't have upset him, he said.

“I don't think I ever expressed a feeling it would be something really opposed by us here at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,'' Osborne said.

Osborne said he and Alberts are friends and colleagues, and since Alberts became UNO's athletic director two years ago, they have been getting together to talk every two months.

He said the only discussions he and Alberts have had about UNO stepping up in competition were over Football Championship Subdivision requirements in terms of increased scholarships and stadium size.

“I've made it very clear to Trev that he needs to do what's best for his program,'' Osborne said. “I said, ‘You and I are friends, but I want you to do what's right for UNO.' He's his own person.''

Ken Stinson, an Omaha construction executive and member of an ad hoc group of business leaders who worked with Alberts on UNO's Division I plan, said he never recalled Board of Regents politics being discussed. The focus was on costs, he said.

Christensen and Alberts announced over the weekend they are recommending that UNO accept an invitation to join the Division I Summit League. As part of a department reorganization to prepare for such a move, the school would drop its tradition-rich football and wrestling — programs not offered by the league.

The two said the study of athletic department finances indicated that, with growing expenses and flat revenues, the athletic department couldn't continue on its current course, nor could it afford the higher costs of Division I football. Currently $5.3 million of the $9.5 million athletic budget comes from various sources of institutional support, such as taxes or student fees.

Sokol formerly played football at UNO and long has been a major booster. He and his family last year donated $1 million, most of it used for a video board at UNO's Caniglia Field. Earlier, he paid to put in new turf and to build a new press box.

In his first interview since UNO's Division I plans were announced, Sokol said he had no inkling of the school's plan until he received a call from head football coach Pat Behrns on Saturday night. Behrns had just been given the news by Alberts.

Sokol said he does not trust the figures Alberts and Christensen say show that UNO could not afford to join the Football Championship Subdivision. He said the NU system can always find numbers to justify its actions.

“They tend to shoot an arrow and then paint the target around it,'' he said.

Sokol dismissed concerns about growing tax and tuition subsidies of UNO athletics, saying sports are important to campus. The whole university system is subsidized, he said, and that's why it receives an annual state appropriation approaching $500 million.

Despite the denials, Sokol refused to believe that regents politics weren't involved. “(Christensen) was told and knows full well if you ever get there, the answer is no, so don't go there,'' said Sokol, chairman of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. and other Berkshire Hathaway divisions.

Sokol also criticized how the entire matter was handled, particularly the secret process and how it was sprung on the affected athletes and coaches.

“The problem is even if you make a good decision and implement it badly, it looks like the wrong decision,'' he said. “Treat people the right way.''

But he also said he won't do anything to try to stop the moves. “I don't think you can turn it around.''

Contact the writer:

402-444-1130, henry.cordes@owh.com

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