Troy Dannen vows Nebraska will not cut scholarships, sports due to House settlement

One month after the House v. NCAA settlement received preliminary approval, schools continue to assess what the landscape will look like. That includes at Nebraska, where athletics director Troy Dannen told coaches there’s only one certainty – the school will not cut scholarships or sports.

If the House settlement receives full approval, the revenue-sharing era will come to college athletics. The cap will be 22% of the average Power Conference revenue, and it is set at $20.5 million for the 2025-26 sports year, Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported. School distributions are also expected to reduce to help account for back damages, adding to questions about budgets.

Speaking with HuskerOnline’s Sean Callahan and Steven Sipple, Dannen said cutting sports or scholarships won’t be an option. Instead, his focus is on the university’s current budget and expenses.

“I will tell you the only thing – the only thing that’s absolute that I’ve told our coaches is we’re not cutting scholarships and we’re not cutting sports,” Dannen said. “For us, generating additional revenue and reallocating our existing expenses, we’ve got to look. We’re a $200 million operation. Do we really need to be spending $200 million on what we do? Or is there a better way to allocate? Take a piece of that money and allocate it toward this new expense vs. what we’ve been doing.

“And that’s the exercise that a lot of our leadership team has been doing over the last couple of months. I will tell you, 60% of my day is contemplating how we’re going to operationalize and how this settlement will play out.”

Questions continue to swirl about the future of non-revenue and Olympic sports because of the looming price tag if the House settlement is approved. The back damages total $2.77 billion as part of the agreement, and the NCAA is expected to be responsible for 40% of that payout. The final 60% will then come from a reduction in school distributions.

Troy Dannen: ‘There are 100 questions I don’t have answers for’

Of course, back damages and revenue-sharing are just two parts of the House v. NCAA settlement. Roster limits are also on the way. The SEC set its football scholarship limit at 85 for the 2025 season – 20 fewer spots than the 105 under the agreement. However, Yahoo Sports reported schools can add 20 walk-ons.

Still, it’s another question Troy Dannen has about what’s next if the settlement receives full approval. He doesn’t want to say too much about what’s next because he doesn’t have the answers, but said roster limits are one of his most notable concerns.

“I’ve been very careful not to speak publicly for two reasons,” Dannen said. “One, I think those who are speaking publicly are out over their skis a little bit. There are 100 questions that I don’t have answers for. And I’ll just give you one right off the top – the roster of 105 in football, is that 105 [for] 365 days a year? Is it 105 during the football season? Or is it some hybrid of it? Right now, we’re carrying 145, 150 through spring ball, through summer. Then, we cut 220 in camp, and then after the first game, we go back to 150. So what does this model look like? There’s a lot of those. We have to get answers. The devil’s always been in the details, and so that part of it, I’m waiting on.

“Secondly, particularly as it comes to the big-picture money stuff because it’s active litigation and because it hasn’t been resolved, I’ve been really hesitant. We haven’t committed final numbers to our coaches. I’ve started to talk to them conceptually. I’ve met with every coach – from rifle and bowling to football – just about how this model can play out in their benefit, trying to get their creative juices flowing to how it can be handled.”

What’s next after preliminary approval of House settlement?

Preliminary approval was just the first step toward final approval of the House settlement, though. It’s still a long way to the finish line to usher in the revenue-sharing era.

Notice campaign and claim periods began last month as athletes received the terms and claims procedures. The first back-damage payment is due May 15, 2025, or within 45 days of the settlement’s finalization. According to the long-form settlement agreement, the average damages award for a football or men’s basketball player at a Power Five conference school will be approximately $135,000.

The settlement also allows for objectors. Some have already come forward, including former and current rowers at Yale, Oregon State, George Washington and Texas. The deadline for objections is scheduled for Jan. 31, 2025, which is the same day the claim period will close.

The motion for final approval of the House v. NCAA settlement is on March 3, 2025. The final approval hearing is then scheduled for April 7, 2025, and will be held remotely and in person.