Husker Athletics announces staff additions

Nebraska Director of Athletics Troy Dannen today announced the appointments of Kristen Brown And Short Gosha to the Husker senior administrative team, as well as the promotion of Tyler Kai lead the external functions of the Huskers Athletic Fund unit. The appointments are in addition to the promotion of Dennis Leblanc in April to the deputy director of sports for student facilities.

Brown will serve as Deputy Athletic Director/Senior Woman Administrator, with sports administrator duties for several Husker sports, including volleyball and women’s basketball. Gosha will serve as Senior Associate Athletic Director for Capital Planning with oversight of the Huskers’ capital planning, construction and facilities units, while Kai will now serve as Deputy Athletic Director for Revenue Generation.

“We welcome Kristen and Kortne to the Husker family and look forward to both of them making an immediate impact on our department,” Dannen said. “They bring valuable and unique expertise and experiences from a number of different institutions that play different roles in intercollegiate athletics. Tyler has proven to be a tremendous asset to Nebraska, and we are excited to have him lead our external fundraising efforts.”

Brown spent the last four years at Texas A&M, where she served as the department’s Senior Woman Administrator with oversight of women’s basketball, volleyball, football, men’s and women’s tennis and men’s and women’s swimming and diving. She spent her first two years at Texas A&M overseeing the student-athlete experience, during which time she provided executive leadership for the department in all matters related to student-athlete involvement. Before joining Texas A&M, Brown spent six years at the University of Maryland working for the Big Ten, Big East and American Athletic conferences as an administrator focused on basketball.

Gosha spent the past two years at Tulane University as deputy athletic director for facilities and operations. At Green Wave, he oversaw facilities and operations, capital projects/construction, facilities master planning, event management and guest services, camps/clinics, risk management and information technology. In addition, Gosha was the sports administrator for baseball, football, sailing and athletics. Gosha joined Tulane after serving three years as vice president and director of athletics at Florida A&M. One of his most notable accomplishments at Florida A&M was laying the groundwork for the school’s historic decision to move from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) to the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) in the fall of 2022. developing a comprehensive strategic plan for the department and securing a $10 million dollar grant for stadium renovations. Gosha also held administrative positions at the University of Miami, Middle Tennessee State and Jacksonville State.

Kai, who has been with Nebraska for three years, will work with the athletic development unit to oversee all external areas including major gifts, the annual fund, ticket sales/premium seating, and will serve as the athletics liaison to 1890. He was an integral part of the HAF team during his time in Lincoln, serving as Associate AD of Leadership Gifts and Capital Projects. He led the overall major gifts program for capital projects and endowments, securing significant gifts from Husker supporters. Kai previously spent four years at Tulane University as Associate AD for Development, and also has fundraising experience at the University of Tennessee and Kansas State University.

Derek Freeman will continue in his role as Senior Associate Athletic Director – Development and lead all internal activities of the HAF team, including campaign planning and departmental activities, including gift processing and data analysis