On behalf of the Husker family, I wish you and your family a wonderful new year and hope you enjoyed the holiday season. I appreciate the warm welcome you have extended to me and my family upon our arrival in Lincoln last fall.
As the calendar turns a page into 2013, Husker Athletics is also turning a page with the retirement of legendary Coach Tom Osborne. Although he is stepping down from his position as director of athletics, make no mistake, Coach is who we are and he will always be a part of our past, present and future. As many friends and colleagues shared during celebration events in his honor, Coach Osborne’s legacy is not solely the wins on the field--it also includes the principles, the pride and the passion for service and working with our young people. Coach has been a tremendous mentor to me these past few months and I know he will continue to be there for all of us as we move forward.
This new year presents tremendous opportunity for our student-athletes, coaches and staff and our Husker community. There will be opportunities both large and small for every one of our 600-plus student-athletes to demonstrate character, sportsmanship and, of course, victory. And there are opportunities for all of us to support our teams, the way Nebraska does with few peers. Your generous support of Nebraska Athletics — through your contributions, your attendance at games and your support of our university and our student-athletes in so many other ways — is the backbone of what we do. On behalf of all of our student-athletes, coaches and staff, thank you. You make all of us proud and we will continue to work every day to make you proud of Husker Athletics.
When I accepted the director of athletics position last fall, I made a commitment to Husker Nation that we will compete for Big Ten and National Championships in everything that we do; that we will compete with class, integrity and sportsmanship; and we will do it all with an unwavering commitment not only to academics, but most importantly, to the student-athletes themselves. Preparing our students for a fulfilling, successful life that includes community contribution should always be our primary objective. Since my arrival in Lincoln in October, my belief in these commitments has only grown stronger as I have met folks around the state and watched our student-athletes, coaches and staff work and compete.
I am sincerely humbled and honored to serve as your director of athletics and to represent the University of Nebraska. As I stated during my opening news conference, the core values of Nebraska Athletics are simple but yet so powerful: Integrity, trust, respect, teamwork and loyalty. That is who we are.
I look forward to working with all of you to make this already great program even better.
Go Big Red!
— Shawn Eichorst, Director of Athletics