Athletic director Troy Dannen already leaving Washington. Here’s where he’s headed
The Troy Dannen era of leading Washington athletics is already over.
After five whirlwind months, Dannen is leaving as the Huskies’ athletic director to take the same job at Nebraska.
Pete Thamel of ESPN reported Wednesday morning that Dannen was getting a six-year contract from Nebraska. The Cornhuskers lost AD Trey Alberts to the same job at Texas A&M last week.
UW will join Nebraska’s league this fall when the Huskies move into the Big Ten Conference.
“This is deeply disappointing,” University of Washington president Ana Mari Cauce said in a UW news release Wednesday.
“I look forward to recruiting a leader who is committed to the goals and values of Husky Athletics — someone who will lead Husky Athletics into the Big Ten and build on the successes of recent months and years.”
In less than six months at Washington, Dannen offered football coach Kalen DeBoer a new contract he didn’t accept. Dannen watched DeBoer lead UW football to the national championship game in January then leave for Alabama days later.
Dannen hired Jedd Fisch from Arizona to replace DeBoer. Then he fired UW men’s basketball coach Mike Hopkins.
Dannen’s and his wife’s family are from Iowa. Thamel reported Dannen’s reason for leaving Washington as a still-new AD to return to the Midwest at Nebraska was “deeply personal.”
“We understand the need to make choices based on what’s best for one’s family,” Cauce said. “We wish Troy well.”
Dannen came to UW from Tulane, where he was athletic director for eight years. Before that, he was AD at Northern Iowa in his native state.
Cauce now goes on her second search for an athletic director since October. Tacoma native Jen Cohen left UW in August to become the AD at USC.
Erin O’Connell, the Huskies’ deputy athletic director and chief operating officer, again is UW’s interim athletic director. She had that role for about six weeks from late August until Dannen took the job in early October.
Cauce seemingly needs to act quickly in hiring Dannen’s replacement. The Huskies are in the process of hiring a new men’s basketball coach. That sport’s transfer 45-day transfer portal for players opened this week. It runs through May 1.
This story was originally published March 20, 2024 at 8:23 AM.
