Adam interviews interim AD Dennis Leblanc before the hiring of Troy Dannen.
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - Welcome to the Carriker Chronicles,
00:10 the people show, checking the pulse of Eskimo Nation,
00:12 brought to you by DPS Concrete Construction.
00:14 Check them out at dpsconstruction.net.
00:17 As I'm sure you can tell, the family and I
00:20 are on spring break in lovely Steamboat, Colorado.
00:24 So bear with us if we have any technical issues,
00:26 but I think we'll be all right today.
00:27 I am excited to be joined by my special guest today.
00:32 Now, real quick, before I bring him on,
00:35 if you're excited that Nebraska sports across the board
00:39 are all on the rise, smash the like button.
00:42 Also, to show some love to the men's
00:44 and women's basketball team as they get ready
00:47 to take on Texas A&M in their NCAA tournament games
00:51 this Friday, smash that like button as well.
00:54 Now, I'm gonna bring on my guest, Mr. Dennis LeBlanc,
00:57 who has been with Husker Athletics,
00:59 the athletic department, more than 40 years, since 1983.
01:04 He's directed the academic program since 1993
01:07 and has worked as the executive associate AD
01:10 for academics since 2015,
01:14 the interim athletic director of Nebraska Athletics.
01:17 Mr. Dennis LeBlanc, how are you doing, my friend?
01:19 - I'm doing great, Adam.
01:20 This is so cool to be on with you,
01:22 knowing that you're one of my former student athletes
01:24 that I worked with.
01:26 I can't tell you how exciting it is for me to hear
01:29 about all the great things
01:30 all of you former athletes are doing.
01:33 - Okay, did you ever think, all those years ago,
01:36 when you were chatting with my dad
01:37 and you were meeting with me and we were planning,
01:39 and I had no idea what I wanted my major to be,
01:42 I still don't know what I wanna be when I grow up,
01:43 by the way, did you ever think one day
01:46 that I would be interviewing you on my show
01:48 with you as the interim AD?
01:50 Did you think that would ever happen?
01:52 - You know what, I didn't.
01:54 I knew you were gonna do great things, okay?
01:56 I always knew that.
01:57 You were a very focused young man, very disciplined,
02:01 so I knew you were gonna do great things,
02:03 but no, I figured you might be where you are
02:07 before I would be doing what I am, let's put it that way.
02:10 - I don't think anybody who knew me when I was younger
02:12 ever in a million years thought I'd have a show,
02:14 'cause that involved talking,
02:15 and I didn't do a lot of that when I was younger.
02:18 - Yeah.
02:20 So, for those who've watched my show in the past,
02:22 you know that I will ask the question, okay,
02:24 anything that needs to be asked,
02:26 the guests can answer however they see fit,
02:28 and then we move on.
02:29 So I'm just gonna put that out there,
02:30 and most of these are interesting questions, fun questions.
02:33 This first one might be the most challenging one
02:35 if there is a challenging one,
02:36 so answer it however you want, and then we'll move on.
02:38 What was your reaction when you found out
02:40 Trev Albridge was leaving to go to Texas A&M?
02:43 - Well, I have to tell you I was shocked,
02:45 'cause I knew nothing about it.
02:47 I was at, it was spring break,
02:49 I still work during spring break,
02:51 but I stayed home a little later,
02:52 'cause my first grandchild came over,
02:55 and I was holding her, and I got a text message
02:58 from Will Bold, our baseball coach,
03:00 asking me if I heard the news, and I said,
03:02 "And is it true?"
03:03 And I said, "I don't know what you're talking about."
03:05 And then as the day unfolded, of course, we learned,
03:08 we still didn't know a whole lot 'til about four o'clock,
03:10 so yes, I was shocked, to say the least.
03:13 - Well, congratulations on the granddaughter.
03:17 Is that what you said?
03:18 - Yeah, I have a granddaughter who was born in November,
03:22 and then just yesterday, I flew down to Arlington, Texas,
03:27 where my son and his wife had a little baby girl as well.
03:30 So I'm doubled up now, two granddaughters.
03:33 - Well, congratulations, that is awesome.
03:35 And before I ask this next question,
03:37 I should put out there, as we're recording this,
03:41 things are circulating on the Twittersphere
03:44 that there's a potential new AD,
03:46 a six-year deal in the works,
03:48 and potential new AD being hired from Washington.
03:51 But just so people know that and are aware of that,
03:53 but I wanted to ask you, Dennis,
03:55 what was it like for you when you received the call
03:58 asking you to be our interim AD here for Nebraska?
04:02 - Well, I mean, first off, I was honored,
04:04 because I love this place so much.
04:10 And when I hear from individuals like you,
04:14 and Jordan Larson, and Doug Glazer, and Will Compton,
04:19 and the list goes on and on,
04:21 and I know the things that they're doing out there,
04:23 it reminded me so much
04:25 why I love to come to work every day.
04:28 Who would not wanna have my job,
04:30 where I get to be in the middle of student athletes
04:33 while they're trying to achieve
04:34 at the highest level in their field,
04:36 and trying to figure out what they're gonna do someday?
04:39 So I was honored, and I said, "Absolutely,
04:41 "I wanna jump right into this
04:42 "and try to keep the Husker ship sailing."
04:45 And so it's a real privilege,
04:47 and 'cause I grew up here.
04:49 I came here in '83.
04:51 I've been here for, now going on my 41st year.
04:54 And so I've grown up here, and yeah,
04:58 so it's been amazing.
05:00 - So you've been the interim AD for nearly a week now.
05:04 What's it, what's your interaction's been like so far
05:08 with other leadership around the university
05:10 during your brief stint so far?
05:12 - Well, you know, I've tried to spend as much time
05:17 in the athletic department around the staff,
05:19 and you know, the athletes know who I am,
05:22 and I'm mingling around with them as well,
05:25 and try to get out to competitions.
05:27 But during that time period,
05:29 I've visited with all of our head coaches,
05:33 who, you know, I know all of them already.
05:35 But I just wanted to let them know we're gonna be okay,
05:39 and you know, this place is gonna continue to hum along,
05:42 'cause we have so many great people here.
05:44 - What, in your opinion, has been the biggest key
05:47 to Nebraska sports as a whole,
05:49 being on the rise like they have been recently?
05:51 - I, you know, I think that, you know,
05:55 there's all this talk about changes in college athletics,
06:00 and I think that our athletes, you know,
06:05 they know that's on the horizon.
06:08 But I believe that this group is looking at
06:13 all the different things that Nebraska has in place,
06:18 these athletes, and I don't know,
06:20 it's kind of a weird thing.
06:21 I mean, once they get started, and you have a group in here,
06:26 I think that it just kind of feeds off of everything.
06:29 I know that, obviously, we would've wanted
06:32 to win a few more football games next year,
06:33 but I can tell you that I've had a chance
06:35 to work with Coach Hall up close and personal,
06:37 and I can tell you, he's gonna do amazing things here.
06:40 He already has, but there are things that maybe everyone,
06:45 you've been able to see it,
06:46 but we're gonna even start to feel it more next year.
06:49 And I think that's really permeated down
06:51 through all of our sports, but, you know,
06:53 Fred and Amy are doing a great job
06:56 with our basketball programs.
06:57 Baseball is off to a great start.
06:59 Wrestling, sending night wrestlers to nationals.
07:02 So, yeah, it really is, once it starts,
07:05 they just kind of feed off of each other.
07:07 - You actually led into my next two questions perfectly
07:10 that I have written down here.
07:11 My next one is, my next question is,
07:13 in your opinion, okay, in this ever-changing landscape
07:17 of college sports, how does Nebraska keep up
07:19 with the constant change, and how do the Huskers
07:22 continue to actually take things to the next level as well?
07:25 - Well, you know, the thing that separates Nebraska
07:29 are our fans, and, you know, we talk about that a lot,
07:34 that through the good times and the bad times,
07:37 Nebraska's fans have been there, and they've shown up.
07:41 And so I still believe that is what has gotten us
07:45 through the tough times, and I believe that is what
07:48 is going to continue to keep us being able to be nimble
07:52 and change as things change in college athletics,
07:55 because we have fans that will show up, they're generous,
07:59 they want to be a part of the athletic department,
08:02 and I really feel Nebraskans want to watch a game,
08:05 whatever sport it is, and feel like, you know,
08:08 that they're a part of that, and they play that game
08:11 like Nebraskans would go to work every day.
08:15 - And my next question is about Matt Rule,
08:17 but before I get into that, I want to give a shout-out
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08:42 All right, so Matt Rule said earlier this week,
08:45 he said, and I quote, "I'm here, I'm all in," end quote.
08:49 And then he said, "And Julie is all in,
08:51 "we're not going anywhere unless you guys kick us out."
08:55 Okay, then he went on to talk about,
08:57 in the press conference earlier this week,
08:59 about how he's sending his son to Nebraska next fall,
09:01 and that his wife is opening a business in Lincoln
09:04 because they believe in this state.
09:06 Now he did also say, and I quote,
09:08 "We must have a vision for the future," end quote.
09:11 So my question to you, how important is it
09:14 to get Nebraska, and I feel like these are stupid questions,
09:16 but I'm gonna ask them anyways.
09:17 How important is it to get Nebraska football back on track,
09:20 and how big of a role does Matt Rule play
09:23 as a leader right now for Husker Athletics?
09:26 - Yeah, yeah, so yeah, it's absolutely the top priority,
09:31 because I've been here when football has been rolling,
09:37 and just like you talked earlier,
09:40 the momentum of the other sports, it makes everybody better.
09:43 Whether it's during a recruiting weekend,
09:46 all of those different things.
09:49 So being able to go to bowl games for recruiting,
09:55 yeah, it is the most important thing.
09:58 And as far as Coach Rule,
10:00 I've worked with seven head football coaches,
10:02 and I love them all, but I can tell you,
10:04 Matt Rule is a dude on this.
10:08 I love him to death, because he has made me
10:12 way better at my job in what he's asked us to do in our area.
10:16 And I just, you know, I just take the academic side,
10:21 for example, out of 135 players in the fall,
10:24 102 of them had better than a 3.0 cumulative GPA.
10:28 And I know some people would say,
10:29 well, that doesn't win championships,
10:31 but I would beg to differ that Coach Rule
10:34 will tell you that it does,
10:35 because he's developed his culture through that,
10:38 and he is so involved with us on the academic piece,
10:43 and that is what he is doing in every department,
10:47 asking people to step up and be the very best they can be.
10:50 - I love that, because when you talk about culture,
10:53 you talk about a level of accountability,
10:56 you talk about what's expected, and it's across the board,
11:00 and it's not just in one area, it's in every area,
11:02 which will translate into every area of their life,
11:05 which then translates onto the field as well.
11:08 So I love that, and again,
11:09 it feeds perfectly into my next question.
11:11 And I usually look this up about every two to three years,
11:13 because it still astounds me.
11:14 So I looked it up before I interviewed this morning,
11:17 all right, and Nebraska still leads
11:19 in all-time academic All-Americans, okay,
11:21 but the numbers, and who else is on this list,
11:24 just astounds me, but Nebraska has 320
11:27 all-time academic All-Americans, okay,
11:30 that's a pretty significant lead
11:31 over number two Notre Dame at 246,
11:34 MIT, okay, is third at 235.
11:37 - I'll stop you there, Adam, and tell you, though,
11:40 that actually our number is 354,
11:43 and Stanford is second now. - Well, they gotta update that.
11:45 They gotta update that. (laughs)
11:46 - Yeah, so I didn't wanna interrupt you there,
11:48 but I thought you guys were going along.
11:49 - No, you're good.
11:50 - Yeah, so yeah, 354. - All right, and then,
11:52 yeah, and then fourth is Stanford.
11:54 So I've updated the stats on my side.
11:56 Hopefully they'll do that on their side as well.
11:58 So Nebraska number one, Notre Dame, MIT, and Stanford,
12:01 and there's a pretty substantial separation
12:04 between one and two, and two to three, and three to four.
12:07 All right, now you obviously, you, Keith Zimmer,
12:09 everybody on that academic support staff
12:11 had a big hand in this.
12:13 What does this mean to you
12:14 when you hear something like this?
12:16 - Well, you know, not only the number
12:20 of academic All-Americans, does that mean a great deal,
12:23 but also the fact that our graduation rate is 95%,
12:27 which, I mean, it's 94% now.
12:29 It was 95, and which, at that time, when it was 95,
12:33 was number two out of all the Division I public schools.
12:36 And I mean, it means a lot,
12:37 because I've worked with individuals
12:40 who came to Nebraska,
12:43 and they were the first individuals in their family
12:46 to be able to go to college.
12:49 And then 25 years later, Adam,
12:51 I'm working with their son who walks in here
12:56 and, you know, looks like a scholar
12:59 and is ready to play some football or whatever sport.
13:03 And that is the coolest thing ever,
13:04 because not only are you impacting
13:07 the generation of the students here,
13:09 but you're impacting the next generation.
13:11 So that's always the ultimate goal,
13:14 is for them to lay a foundation,
13:15 and for us to bring people in
13:18 and help them leave Nebraska and be a pro.
13:21 And I'm not just saying a pro athlete,
13:23 but whether they're going in for a medical interview
13:26 or they're going in to interview for a teaching job,
13:28 but to have them shined up and be a pro.
13:31 - I like it, I agree.
13:33 The last question I have for you is a two-part question,
13:35 if you want it to be.
13:37 All right, do you have any behind-the-scenes stories
13:39 from your 40-plus years
13:40 here at the University of Nebraska
13:42 that you think the fine folks at home
13:44 might be interested in hearing
13:45 that you're okay with sharing?
13:46 And/or do you have any behind-the-scenes stories about me?
13:50 And you can have fun with that question if you'd like.
13:53 - Well, you know, 40 years,
13:56 I have a lot of stories.
13:59 I think probably the one
14:03 that is something that I treasure the most.
14:06 I have no pictures from it, I have no way to prove it.
14:10 But it's with an individual who's a mentor of mine,
14:14 and I visit with him on the phone this morning,
14:17 and that's Coach Osborne.
14:19 When Coach Osborne was the head football coach,
14:22 he had what was called a guest coaches program,
14:25 and he allowed us to bring faculty members on trips
14:28 or for home games, be able to come out to the hotel
14:33 when the team met,
14:35 and he allowed us to actually bring them into the meetings.
14:38 So I remember when we were rolling back in the '90s
14:41 and we were undefeated,
14:43 and we were defending national champions,
14:45 I would be in a room,
14:48 he would let us come into any meeting room we wanted,
14:50 so they would a lot of times
14:52 want to go in the quarterback room.
14:54 So it was Tom Osborne, Turner Gill, Tommy Frazier,
14:59 Brooke Berringer, Matt Turman, myself, and a faculty member.
15:04 And Coach Osborne would go through
15:08 the script of the first plays,
15:11 and he would ask the faculty member
15:12 if they had any questions,
15:13 and he would tell them what the first plays
15:15 were gonna be of the game.
15:17 And so at the time, I was pretty young,
15:20 and now later on, I look back on that,
15:22 and I'm like, wow, that was really cool
15:27 to be able to do that.
15:29 And then there was another time
15:31 when Christian Peter came in my office,
15:36 and we used to put notes on the lockers of the players
15:40 if they missed class,
15:42 and it would say, "See Dennis,"
15:44 and Christian Peter came running in real fast,
15:46 and he said, "Dennis, please don't give this
15:49 "to Coach McBride."
15:51 The guy, today in meetings,
15:53 or the other day in meetings when I missed class,
15:54 he took his false teeth out of his mouth
15:56 and threw 'em at me,
15:57 and they landed on my lap,
15:58 and I said, "What did you do with them?"
15:59 He said, "I don't know, I was so scared
16:01 "I didn't even touch 'em."
16:02 (laughing)
16:03 So, there are all kinds of stories like that,
16:07 but I treasure my days at Nebraska.
16:11 I pinch myself every day,
16:13 and I just say, "I've got the greatest job in the world."
16:15 No matter what area,
16:16 I mean, if I'm the interim AD,
16:18 or I'm directing our academic programs,
16:20 it is just the most fun ever.
16:22 - That is awesome.
16:23 Those are definitely stories I've never heard before.
16:26 So that's pretty cool.
16:27 - Yeah, and going back to you,
16:29 I just remember you were this young guy
16:33 from Washington, and you came in here,
16:36 and your dad, I spoke to your dad quite a bit,
16:40 and you're right, we talked a little bit
16:41 about what you were gonna major in,
16:43 and I could tell that this was a young man
16:47 who was brought up in a really great family,
16:52 and I just thought, this dude is big,
16:56 and he's disciplined,
16:57 and he's not ever gonna give me any problems
16:59 on the academic piece,
17:00 and I just was always fun to work with you,
17:04 and so glad that you became a Husker.
17:07 - Well, I appreciate you joining me today,
17:09 and it's actually a little quick story
17:10 for the fans at home.
17:11 Dennis called me last Saturday,
17:12 and one of his first questions to me was,
17:14 "How are my parents doing?"
17:15 And we hadn't chatted in quite some time,
17:18 so I thought that was pretty cool on Dennis's part,
17:20 so I wanna thank you for joining me today, Dennis.
17:23 And I got some questions, as always,
17:25 for you fine folks at home.
17:26 Let me know in the comments below, okay?
17:29 Number one, what is the number one characteristic
17:32 you're looking for in our next AD?
17:34 Number two, will the men's and women's basketball team
17:38 beat A&M on Friday?
17:39 You can answer individually for the men's and women's team.
17:42 And number three, what's the over/under
17:44 for Nebraska's win total in football next year?
17:47 It's at 7 1/2 right now.
17:48 Is Nebraska gonna win 7, 8, 6?
17:50 What do you think?
17:51 Until next time, Husker Nation, go Big Red,
17:54 and always remember--
17:55 - Throw the bones.