Eichorst Sees Nebraska as Training Center of America

Randy York’s N-Sider

Official Blog of the Huskers

Omaha – Nebraska Director of Athletics Shawn Eichorst dreams so B1G that he skips the impossible, ignores the improbable and makes a room full of 200-plus Husker fans see what he envisions as the inevitable.

“I think the things that we’ve done in football have opened the eyes of our other coaches and our other programs to make sure we’re doing everything we can to recruit at the highest level,” Eichorst told a Big Red Today Breakfast crowd here Thursday morning at Anthony’s Steakhouse.

“Nebraska is a great place to recruit,” Eichorst said. “This notion about Nebraska and cornfields and in the middle-of-nowhere, I can tell you that that’s not what we’re thinking about. We’re thinking about Nebraska as the Training Center of America!”

Why? Because Nebraska is “Middle America and we’re in the middle of everything,” Eichorst said. “There are great things going on at our campus. There are great things going on in Lincoln and in Omaha. You’d be crazy to not want to come to Nebraska to get a degree and play athletics at the highest level.”

Eichorst’s declaration was, in effect, personal proof in a private but powerful goal that was triggered by Omaha World-Herald emcee Mike'l Severe (pictured below with Eichorst). Severe mentioned the importance of positivity, a daily barometer for Nebraska Athletics’ top leader.

“That’s where positivity comes in,” Eichorst said after revealing a stretch goal he embraces. “Let’s not make any excuses about where we are because we’re at a great place, and we don’t take a back seat to anybody. You’re seeing us reaching out to the elite and trying to recruit them to Nebraska, and I think that’s the right way to do it.”

Nebraska Basketball’s Ali Farokhmanesh Becomes a Pivotal Husker Leader

Eichorst acknowledged staying within NCAA regulations to help Nebraska bolster men’s basketball. “What I can tell you is we were very creative with men’s basketball,” Eichorst said, pointing out a basketball hiring similar to football’s hiring of Billy Devaney, NU’s executive director of player personnel and special assistant to head coach Mike Riley.

“We sort of created the same position to support Tim Miles with (Director of Player Relations and Development) Ali Farokhmanesh in men’s basketball,” Eichorst said. “We’re going to continue to be thoughtful and progressive in that way. We have to stay within the rules and regulations in that regard. But we are paying attention to recruiting across the board.”

That includes Chris Brasfield, another strategic Eichorst hire who serves as Nebraska Associate A.D. for Student-Athlete Recruitment and Experience on the senior management team.

Brasfield pays constant attention to recruiting. "That’s his job,” Eichorst said. A former football player, coach, and recruiter, Brasfield collaborates with all Nebraska coaches and support staff in all sports to help provide a recruiting experience at the highest level.

“That’s been progressive for us,” Eichorst said. “Chris understands how to recruit millennials. He understands digital and social media, you name it. We’re taking recruiting extremely seriously and making sure that we can help each one of our coaches across the board.”

Five More Important Points Shawn Eichorst Shared at Thursday's Omaha Breakfast

On positivity: “In general, that's my outlook on life. I think you can get more with that sort of approach than the other way. We have slowly brought our culture along in that regard. We have an incredible group of coaches and support staff, more than 325 who work with our 616 student-athletes to help them reach their goals. That comes with teamwork, with positivity and with leading in the right way. These 18 to 21-year-old kids are watching what we do and how we’re behaving every day. That also plays out on the field and the court, and there is no doubt that our fan base expects that. And that’s what I love so much about Nebraska – high expectations and standards, hardworking, humble, don’t want to be embarrassed, and play it the right way."

On the mindset following a 6-7 football season: "We stayed with it and we've had some success, but we have a lot of room to grow. We have improvements to make. We have to continue to recruit at the highest level. The stats don’t lie there. I don’t think anybody has competed for a national championship that has not had a top 25 recruiting class other than maybe Auburn beating Oregon. That's the environment we're in today, whether we like it or not. We have a lot to get out there. We're recruiting the best and the brightest. We have some students who are coming to kick the tires of Lincoln that we have not had in a long time.”

On media portraying Nebraska as unhappy in the Big Ten: “I think it’s kind of comical to be honest with you. No, I don’t think it’s frustrating. It’s flattering. I think it says a lot about Nebraska. But I can tell you this – there’s no finer conference in America and no better collection of 14 schools in America than the Big Ten. So why would you want to leave that membership?  We’re in good shape in the Big Ten. We don’t see any expansion relative to the Big Ten at this point or any time soon. Hopefully, that answers your questions. We’re very stable.”

On scheduling Big Ten East members in football: “I like playing Ohio State. Overbalancing the schedule is supposed to work itself out over time, but there’s no question that at the front-end of our integration into the Big Ten, the divisions have kind of flopped around a little bit from the Legends and the Leaders to the East and the West. I hear your point and I think it will balance itself out over time, but I want to play the Michigan’s, I want to play the Ohio State’s, I want to play the Penn State’s. We’ll play the Indiana’s, the Maryland’s, and those schools in due time, but I do think that there was some thought put into the scheduling. And playing into the Nebraska brand is one of the reasons why we were so attractive to the Big Ten. It was because of our high profile in football, and those high profile matchups are important to everyone.”

On the possibility of North Stadium expansion to match the East Stadium: “I think anything is possible. If we can bring more comfort and convenience to the North, the better. There’s no doubt about it. I think the capacity swings back and forth. I know folks are paying more attention to the true fan experience and making sure that that’s at its highest level. If you have to sacrifice a little bit of capacity to do that, you probably make a good decision, so you go ahead and do that. We have a good capacity right now, and we don’t need to go any bigger.”

Send a comment to ryork@huskers.com (Please include city, state)

Follow Randy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RandyYorkNsider

N-Sider Archives