Nebraska Fires Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst

In one of the least surprising decisions of the week, Nebraska has announced that the school has fired Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst. This decision comes after a week of drama in Lincoln that included a home football loss to Northern Illinois.

Eichorst took over the position in 2012 and hired three head coaches during his tenure. Those coaches included head football coach Mike Riley. That hire came with significant criticism, as Riley had seen mixed results during his tenure at Oregon State before relocating to Nebraska.

Prior to his time at Nebraska, Eichorst had served as the Athletic Director at Miamia in 2011 and 2012. While there, he hired Jim Larrañaga, who turned into one of the school’s better basketball coaches in history. Eichorst also spent time at Wisconsin.

There’s little debating that this was a football driven decision, but it still is one that should have an impact on Nebraska’s basketball program.

From a basketball perspective, this firing should only add to the heat already growing for head coach Tim Miles. Most anticipate that this is a “make or break” year for Miles and his staff and a change in the athletic department leadership will only add to this speculation.

There will certainly be more fallout for Eichorst and the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the weeks and months to come after this decision. Stayed tuned at BTPowerhouse.