SHAWN EICHORST
Shawn Eichorst came to the University of
Nebraska in 2012 with an incredible passion for
the University and for its student-athletes. As the
leader of a tradition-rich athletics program with
24 intercollegiate teams, 600-plus studentathletes and more than 300 full-time employees,
Eichorst has relied on a strong value system and a
student-centered approach to lead the Department.
Athletics’ primary mission is to provide studentathletes with the resources and support they need
to be successful in academics, athletics and life. The
health, safety and welfare of student-athletes are
priority one and are at the essence of every decision made at Nebraska.
Nebraska has a history of providing first-class coaches, staff and facilities for its students.
Additionally, since Eichorst arrived in Lincoln, resources and services in every student-athlete support
unit have been improved and enhanced, including academics, athletic medicine, life skills, nutrition,
sports psychology, strength and conditioning and in the Nebraska Athletics Performance Laboratory
(NAPL).
Eichorst has continued to aggressively move Nebraska forward with several new initiatives to
enhance the student-athlete experience. The Department will provide state-of-the-art laptop
computers to all student-athletes beginning in the summer of 2015 and the University will now
provide four-year, full cost of attendance-based scholarships for all scholarship student-athletes in
every sport. Also beginning in the summer of 2015, every Husker letterwinner who graduates and has
exhausted his or her el igibility will be provided assistance to either obtain an internship; study abroad
or attend graduate or professional school.
Eichorst has made more than 350 public appearances around the state, and his monthly radio show
and “Connecting on Campus” online column provide the opportunity for him to further connect and
share the incredible activities, initiatives and accomplishments that take place at the University and
in the Department. As a member of the Chancellor’s Senior Administrative Team, Eichorst maintains a
strong connection and collaboration between the University and Athletics Department.
A highly respected national leader, Eichorst was appointed in 2015 to the Division I Football
Oversight Committee. He was the first Director of Athletics from any conference to visit the Big Ten
Conference-based Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) at its Champaign, Ill., headquarters.
The CIC is a highly successful academic-based consortium of 15 schools, including all 14 in the Big Ten
Conference. Nebraska is leading the Big Ten and the CIC in several areas, including Digital Humanities
and head injury research.
Under Eichorst, Nebraska extended its nation-leading total of CoSIDA Academic All-Americans
to 320 and its nation-leading total of NCAA Top Ten Award winners to 17, after Mary Weatherholt
(women’s tennis) earned the honor in 2014. In 2014-15, more than 400 awards were presented
at the 25th Anniversary Student-Athlete Recognition Banquet—A Night at the Lied. Over three
commencements, 118 student-athletes earned undergraduate or graduate degrees and the Big
Ten Conference honored 205 Husker student-athletes with Academic All-Big Ten awards. For the
first time in school history, all Nebraska teams had an NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) of 950 or
higher, as reported in May of 2015. The Nebraska football (second consecutive year) and rifle (third
consecutive year) programs received public recognition for having an APR in the top 10 percent in
their respective sports. In addition, five Husker teams (women’s basketball, softball, women’s tennis,
volleyball and women’s golf) had a Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 100 percent, as reported in the
fall of 2014.
On Dec. 4, 2014, Eichorst announced the hiring of Mike Riley as the Huskers’ new head football
coach. As one of the most respected and sought-after coaches in the profession, Riley’s hire was
highly praised by prominent members of the national media, the coaching fraternity, Riley’s former
players, and current and former Nebraska student-athletes. In Riley, Eichorst secured one of the finest
football minds in the world and great positive-thinking teacher of young men.
In 2014-15, the Nebraska women’s bowling team earned the school’s seventh national title and
fifth since bowling became an NCAA sport in 2004. The Husker men’s track and field team won
the Big Ten Indoor Championship and 13 Husker teams competed in NCAA postseason action,
including bowling, football, volleyball, women’s basketball, wrestling, softball, men’s and women’s
gymnastics, rifle, and men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field. Nebraska produced 36
All-Americans who won 51 awards.
Nebraska’s fan support continues to be unparalleled in college athletics. In fact, in 2014-15 top 15
national rankings for average attendance were reached across five sports—football, volleyball, men’s
and women’s basketball and baseball. A tribute to loyal Husker fans, two sports lead the nation with
consecutive home sellout streaks, including football (340) and volleyball for regular-season action (188).
In 2013-14, Nebraska became one of only two NCAA institutions – and the first Big Ten program in
52
2015 NEBRASKA VOLLEYBALL
Director of Athletics / Wisconsin-Whitewater (1990)
history – to qualify for a football
Administrative Experience
bowl game, and advance to NCAA
» Nebraska, Director of Athletics (2013-pres.)
postseason in the major team
» Miami, Director of Athletics (2011-12)
sports of volleyball, soccer, men’s
» Wisconsin, Deputy Athletics Director (2009-11)
and women’s basketball, baseball
» Wisconsin, Executive Associate Athletics Director (2007-09)
» Wisconsin, Senior Associate Athletics Director (2006-07)
and softball. Additionally,
» South Carolina, Senior Associate Athletics Director (2004-06)
Nebraska was the only institution
» Wisconsin-Whitewater, Director of Athletics (1999-2003)
to win a postseason game in six of
those seven sports.
Education
Under Eichorst’s leadership,
» Wisconsin-Whitewater (1990), Bachelor’s Degree
Nebraska continues to focus
» Marquette (1995), Juris Doctorate
on improving its facilities and
the game-day experience at all
Family
athletic venues. In the summer
» Wife: Kristin; Sons: Jack, Joseph and Bennett
of 2015, a world-class Soccer and
Tennis Complex, located just north
of the Devaney Center and Nebraska Innovation Campus, will be completed. A new center-hung
video board and sound system was installed in the Devaney Center in 2015 to improve the game-day
experience for volleyball, wrestling and men’s and women’s gymnastics. In 2014, the largest wireless
network system at a college football stadium in history was installed in Memorial Stadium, along
with a state-of-the-art sound system.
In the summer of 2013, a Memorial Stadium expansion also added the innovative NAPL inside East
Stadium next to the Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior (CB3). That same year, Nebraska’s men’s and
women’s basketball teams became the primary tenants at Pinnacle Bank Arena, and the renovated Devaney
Center became the home for Husker volleyball, wrestling and the men’s and women’s gymnastics programs.
Eichorst came to Nebraska after serving as Director of Athletics at Miami in 2011 and 2012. He
hired legendary men’s basketball coach Jim Larrañaga, who led Miami to the NIT Second Round in
his first season and ACC regular-season and tournament titles as well and the NCAA Sweet 16 in his
second. The women’s basketball program posted its highest national ranking in school history (No. 5)
and advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. The women’s tennis team advanced to
the NCAA Elite Eight for the fourth straight season, and the baseball team made its 40th consecutive
NCAA appearance. The women’s soccer team posted its first NCAA Tournament win in school history,
and the volleyball team made its third straight NCAA Tournament trip.
Before heading to Miami, Eichorst was the Deputy Athletics Director at Wisconsin. He was the
Chief Operating Officer and oversaw the department’s daily operations, as well as Bo Ryan’s men’s
basketball program under the direction of Director of Athletics and former Husker Barry Alvarez.
From 2004 to 2006, Eichorst served as the Senior Associate Athletics Director for Administration at
South Carolina, overseeing the department’s daily operations, as well as the football and baseball
programs under legendary coaches Lou Holtz, Steve Spurrier and Ray Tanner, respectively.
From 1999 to 2003, Eichorst served as the Director of Athletics at Wisconsin-Whitewater, which
produced four top 10-percent finishes in the NACDA Directors Cup, one NCAA team title and two NCAA
runner-up finishes. The program also featured 11 CoSIDA Academic All-America selections.
A native of Lone Rock, Wis., Eichorst was an all-conference defensive back, three-time letterwinner
and 1990 football team captain for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He graduated magna
cum laude in business from UW-Whitewater in 1990 and in 2015 was awarded the Distinguished
Alumni Award for Professional Achievement. He earned a law degree from Marquette Law School
in 1995, practiced law in Milwaukee until 1999 and is a past member of the State Bar of Wisconsin
Board of Governors. He served
as an assistant adjunct professor
of law at Marquette, where he
taught classes in sports law.
He serves on the Marquette
University National Sports Law
Institute Board of Advisors and
in 2006, Marquette awarded
Eichorst the Sports Law
Alumnus of the Year Award. He
is also a graduate of the Sports
Management Institute and serves
on its Executive Committee.
Shawn and his wife Kristin
have three sons: Jack, Joseph and
Bennett.
The Eichorst family (clockwise): Kristin, Shawn, Jack, Bennett and Joseph