The Shawn Eichorst era as Nebraska athletic director is over after five years.
Ronnie Green: "we met with the coaching staff to let them know we will bring in new leadership for Nebraska Athletics to strive for higher levels of competitiveness."
With the Big Red football season off to a rocky start, many Husker faithful are speculating about the future of coach Mike Riley.
Hank Nounds- "Riley is our football coach, we expect him to compete this is not about Mike Riley"
And the repetitive theme from the Nebraska President and Chancellor going forward: compete harder, win more.
Green: "husker fans as we know are the best fans in the nation deserve winning teams"
You could say the ground shook in Lincoln today and all of Nebraska felt the ripple effect.
Days after the Huskers embarrassing loss to Northern Illinois, Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst paid a steep price.
The Chancellor saying: we expect more. Reporter Miranda Christian begins our team coverage tonight.
The UNL Chancellor and President say they are ready to move on and find a leader who will help Husker athletes compete at the level they would like to see.
"We have work to do, we want to get started on that work by bringing in the new leader."
Chancellor Ronnie Green addressed a room full of reporters after Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst's dismissal Thursday. "Athletics is the biggest thing at this school."
Freshman Ivey Drake says hearing about Eichorst being let go was surprising. "I was kind of like whoa like I know it happened at high school but didn't think it would happen in college." Others weren't so surprised. "To me it felt like everyone wanted him to go that is what I have heard"
"We expect our teams to compete on every playing surface." UNL President Hank Bounds said that the decision is based on all of their teams not being at the competitive level they want to see. "I guess there is always room for improvement, maybe they need a fresh start."
First year grad student Connor Swanson says Eichorst's exit is a big deal. "Huge, you can tell as soon as he was fired, it was immediately I got notifications and people telling me."
There is worry that having an AD leave mid-season will affect teams, but Green and Bounds say the move should not affect anything. "It is only such good competition, they want to do the best and want to win but they need good support." The decision for the timing now, and making this change now, was to move forward now and to move the leadership forward now."
As far a timeline, Green said they would like someone as soon as possible. but they want to make sure they find the right person for their school. They should have an interim named shortly.
Shawn Eichorst released this statement: "While I am deeply disappointed in the decision today, I am grateful for the wonderful years that my family and I have spent at Nebraska. I am proud of how our student-athletes, coaches and staff represented this great university and state, and I am confident that the future is bright for Nebraska Athletics."
Craig Nigrelli spoke one-on-one with the host of The Bottom Line at the Omaha World-Herald, Mike'l Severe, during our 4 and 5 o'clock newscasts. He was not surprised the ax fell on the AD. So he asked him about the other man on the hot seat. (craig) :"Let's talk about Mike Riley, all of a sudden his future looks murky does it not ? - ( severe) - it does but if he wins, he keeps his job. I know a lot of people think its over, but if he gets to 7-and-5, 8-and-4, it would be a heck of a time inside the conference, beat some teams, upset some teams, but he's not gone." For his part, coach Mike Riley said tonight, he's thankful that Shawn Eichorst brought him here to Nebraska.
We have a poll on our Facebook page asking what you think about Eichorst's firing. Specifically, if you think the move will help turn things around for the program. You've responded with an overwhelming "yes' vote.
We also have a poll on Omaha Sports Insider.com where you can weigh-in on the Eichorst decision. There you can find reaction from Nebraska officials, former and future Huskers, and national experts.
