Osborne: Trev Alberts Proof that ?Good Guys? Win

Alberts: Success Depends on People around You

Video: Alberts Featured at Hall of Fame Induction

Alberts Credits His Family, Osborne, Big Red Fans

Touch of Sadness with Alberts' Hall of Fame Honor

Randy York N-Sider

Official Blog of the Huskers

Tom Osborne and Trev Alberts have a lot in common. By Tuesday night, both will be officially inducted members in the College Football Hall of Fame, Osborne as a coach (inducted in 1998) and Alberts as a player (to be inducted Tuesday). Both served as directors of athletics at the University of Nebraska, Tom in Lincoln and Trev in Omaha. Both are considered “good guys” working in football – the sport they love most. Small wonder why Osborne will support and salute a player that he recruited and coached this week in New York City.

The vice chancellor of athletics at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Alberts is one of 15 players in the 2015 College Football Hall of Fame Class, sponsored by the National Football Foundation. Following Monday’s reception at the Benjamin Hotel, two coaches will join 15 player inductees into the College Football Hall of Fame at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel Tuesday.

Reaching Osborne in an airport before he flew to Dallas to help select the final four teams in the 2015 College Football Playoff, Nebraska’s legendary coach reminisced about Alberts’ athleticism and dedication, then came to a heartfelt conclusion.

Osborne, Alberts Have Always Been Close, See Each Other Regularly

“Good guys win, and Trev’s a good guy,” Osborne told me. “He’s gone on to be very successful. I feel really good that he’s being honored this way in New York. We’ve always been close and I get to see him fairly regularly now, so it makes it especially meaningful.

“Trev was a great player and a great pass rusher,” Osborne said. “It really helped Trev when we went to a 4-3 defense a couple years before. He had dropped in pass coverage a lot, and in the 4-3, he was rushing all the time and, of course, that took advantage of his abilities.

“Trev had about the greatest first step of any defensive end we’ve had off the ball,” Osborne said. “He was a very intelligent player and played his last game in the Orange Bowl against (national champion) Florida State when he’d dislocated his elbow. We didn’t know if he was going to be able to play because that’s a very painful injury.”

Nevertheless, Alberts had two sacks “and played very well” in the national title game, Osborne said. “We played well enough to win that night and ended up losing on a field goal down there at the end. We had a couple of other things that happened in the game. I felt bad because those seniors laid the foundation for our later teams that won national titles (in 1994, ’95 and ’97).”

The Reality of Close Became the Foundation for Three National Titles

“I think our players on that night realized that they were good enough to play at the top level and I think it also led to a lot of resolve on their part,” Osborne said. “That ’93 team was the foundation of it all. Of course, Trev was also a NCAA Top Six Award winner and an Academic All-American as well as an All-American and our first player to win Butkus Award. All of those honors are just tremendous accomplishments.”

So are the 96 tackles Alberts made in 1993, including a record-tying 15 sacks. That magical senior season ended with Nebraska missing a field goal in the closing seconds of an 18-16 Orange Bowl loss to Florida State. Despite his painful injury, Alberts was as active as ever. His career tackle total reached 248, including 45 tackles for loss, 29.5 sacks, five fumbles caused and five fumbles recovered.

A man with a mild-mannered demeanor, Alberts represented Nebraska with drive and   humility. “Trev is so deserving of this incredible honor to be inducted into the National Football Foundation’s College Football Hall of Fame!” said Keith Zimmer, Nebraska’s longtime senior associate athletic director for Life Skills and the N-Club.

“Trev achieved success at the highest level as a Nebraska student-athlete earning Academic All-America honors, the prestigious NCAA Today’s Top Six Award and the Butkus Award,” Zimmer said. “Trev exemplifies what we’re striving to develop within our current Husker teams – success in athletics, success in academics and success in life.”

Keith Zimmer: Alberts the Ultimate Ambassador for Nebraska Football

“Trev has always been the ultimate ambassador for Nebraska football and for the state of Nebraska, and I’m so proud of the leadership he shows daily in his role as vice chancellor of athletics at UNO,” Zimmer said. “Trev is all about developing a balance, and I know he’s leading this charge at UNO in much the same way Coach Osborne did for him and his teammates during his college days.”

In this 15-man 2015 Football Hall of Fame Class, Alberts is:

One of three NFF National Scholar-Athletes

One of five unanimous first-team All-Americans

One of four players who won a major award

One of nine conference players of the year

One of nine members who played on conference championship teams

One of 10 members who played for a College Football Hall of Fame Coach

One of seven first-round NFL draft picks

Ten Husker College Football Hall of Fame Inductees are Still Living

Bob Brown (1961-63, inducted 1993)

Rich Glover (1970-72, inducted 1995)

Dave Rimington (1979-82, inducted 1997)

Coach Osborne (1973-97, inducted 1998)

Johnny Rodgers (1970-72, inducted 2000)

Mike Rozier (pictured above, 1981-83, inducted 2006)

Grant Wistrom (1994-97, inducted 2009)

Will Shields (1989-92, inducted 2011)

Tommie Frazier (1992-95, inducted 2013)

Trev Alberts (1990-93, inducted 2015)

Eight Deceased Player Honorees; Five Deceased HOF Coaches

Alberts is the 17th Nebraska player to be inducted into the National Football Foundation’s College Football Hall of Fame. That total includes eight deceased honorees: Ed Weir - Tackle (1923-25) - Inducted in 1951; George Sauer - Fullback (1931-33) - Inducted in 1954; Guy Chamberlin - End (1913-15) - Inducted in 1962; Clarence Swanson - End (1918-21) - Inducted in 1973; Sam Francis - Fullback (1934-36) - Inducted in 1977; Bobby Reynolds - Halfback (1950-52) - Inducted in 1984; Forrest Behm - Tackle (1938-40) - Inducted in 1988; and Wayne Meylan - Middle Guard (1965-67) - Inducted in 1991.

Osborne became the sixth Husker coach inducted into the NFF’s College Football Hall of Fame. The previous five Husker coach inductees are deceased: Fielding Yost (1898) - Inducted in 1951; (1929-36) - Inducted in 1951; Dana X. Bible (1929-36) - Inducted in 1951; Lawrence McCeney "Biff" Jones (1937-41) - Inducted in 1954; Edward N. "Robbie" Robinson (1896-97) - Inducted in 1955; and Bob Devaney (1962-72) - Inducted in 1981.

2015 National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame Class

Players:

TREV ALBERTS– LB, Nebraska (1990-93); BRIAN BOSWORTH – LB, Oklahoma (1984-86);

BOB BREUNIG – LB, Arizona State (1972-74); SEAN BREWER – DL, Millsaps (Miss.) (1989-92)

RUBEN BROWN – OT, Pittsburgh (1991-94); WES CHANDLER – SE, Florida (1974-77)

THOM GATEWOOD – SE, Notre Dame (1969-71); DICK JAURON – RB, Yale (1970-72)

CLINTON JONES – HB, Michigan State (1964-66); LINCOLN KENNEDY – OT, Washington (1989-92)

ROB LYTLE (deceased) – RB, Michigan (1974-76); MICHAEL PAYTON – QB, Marshall (1989-92)

ART STILL – DE, Kentucky (1974-77); ZACH THOMAS – LB, Texas Tech (1992-95)

RICKY WILLIAMS – RB, Texas (1995-98)

Coaches:

BILL SNYDER – 187-94-1 (66.5%); Kansas State (1989-2005, 2009-Present)

JIM TRESSEL – 229-79-2 (74.2%); Youngstown State (1986-2000) and Ohio State (2001-10)

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