Koll: Omaha fans need face UNO AD

By Mike Finn

Philadelphia, Pa., is a long way from Omaha, Neb., but that didn’t stop one NCAA Division I coach from commenting on the decision by University of Nebraska-Omaha athletic director Trev Alberts to drop the sport shortly after the Maverick squad won a third straight NCAA Division II championship, March 12.

“Two steps forward, three steps back,” said Cornell coach Rob Koll, one day before his Big Red team opened competition in the NCAA Division I tournament in Philadelphia. “Every two programs you reinstate, you drop three.

“I think it’s an incredibly short-sighted decision by an athletic director that probably doesn’t have a lot experience in athletic fundraising. You disenfranchise fifty, sixty years of alumni and as far as fiscal decision, it’s probably one of the worst decisions an athletic director can make for their university and that needs to be pointed out to them.

“You are not going to save it in this venue. That needs to be done in Nebraska. What can I do in Ithaca, N.Y., other than write a letter which he can push aside and throw away? It needs to be homegrown.

“The differences and changes occur when the town of Omaha starts marching on his house. When they start getting in front of this guy. When they start pulling resources away from the University. That’s when the change occurs. Not from talking about it in Philadelphia.”