Nebraska Director of Athletics Troy Dannen announced Tuesday that Haven Fields has joined Husker Athletics as Deputy Athletic Director/Chief Operating Officer. Fields has an impressive resume in college athletics, most recently as Deputy Athletic Director for Administration at Washington.
 
“We are excited to bring Haven and his family to Lincoln and look forward to them joining the Husker family,” Dannen said. “Haven brings great experience in college athletics, beginning with his time as a football student-athlete to his work as a fundraiser, and as an athletic administrator in multiple FBS conferences.
 
“Haven will have an immediate positive impact on Nebraska Athletics, working daily with our football program and many of our external units. He has great leadership skills and an infectious personality, and I look forward to him getting integrated with our student-athletes, coaches, staff, and our great fans.”
 
Fields will serve as the day-to-day football administrator, assisting Head Coach Matt Rhule and his football staff. In addition to his role with the football program, Fields will oversee the Huskers Athletic Fund team and assist Dannen in managing the day-to-day operations of the athletic department.
 
“I want to thank Troy Dannen for this outstanding opportunity during a critical time in the college athletics landscape,” Fields said. “I look forward to serving our elite student-athletes, coaches, staff, and the Lincoln community. With such great history and tradition, along with the country's most passionate and supportive fan base, I'm ecstatic to join Husker Nation. Go Big Red!”

Fields comes to Lincoln after joining Dannen’s Washington staff in January. With the Huskies, Fields led several external units including Marketing and Fan Engagement, Strategic Communications, Creative and Digital Services, Multimedia, and served as the Liaison for Learfield/Husky Sports Properties. Fields also played a role in assisting with the Huskies’ transition to the Big Ten with oversight of the Broadcast Operations that will produce a plethora of video productions.
 
Fields was the Football Sport Administrator for the 2024 College Football Playoff National Runner-Up and 2023 Pac-12 Champions. During his time at UW, Fields assisted in the hiring of new Head Football Coach Jedd Fisch and Head Men’s Basketball Coach Danny Sprinkle. 
 
Before his appointment at Washington, Fields was the Deputy Athletics Director at Ball State University as the number two administrator in the department. He assisted in supervising the Cardinals’ 19 teams and 450-plus student-athletes. Fields oversaw several external areas (Athletics Communications, Marketing & Fan Engagement, Development, Ticketing Sales & Operations, and was the liaison to Learfied-IMG/Ball State Sports Properties).
 
Several of the team’s Fields worked with experienced record success from a revenue generation standpoint. Specifically, he worked as the sport administrator for the football and basketball programs. He administered the football program’s first bowl game win in school history in 2020, beating two top-25 opponents in that season. Ball State finished the year ranked in the AP Top 25 and made back-to-back bowl appearances for only the third time in the school’s history.
 
Fields led Ball State’s COVID-19 plan for return to campus, testing protocols that successfully allowed all programs to compete and finish their seasons. During his time at Ball State, he assisted in raising private support of more than $15 million and oversaw the athletic department’s most notable capital project to date--The Scheumann Family Indoor Practice Facility, which was fully funded through private support.
 
Prior to his time at Ball State, Fields worked at the University of Illinois as the Associate Athletic Director of Development. In his six years with the Illini, Fields assisted with the university’s $2.25 billion “With Illinois” campaign, $300 million of which was earmarked for athletics. The university campaign exceeded $2.7 billion, and the athletics portion raised $321 million.
 
Before his stint at Illinois, Fields worked at the University of South Alabama for over five years, where he assisted in the facilitation of the overall football operation for a start-up, Division I program, and transition to Football Bowl Subdivision. Fields began his time in collegiate athletics at Auburn, working for four years at his alma mater.
 
Fields played collegiate football for Auburn, earning the Zeke Smith Award (Auburn’s Defensive Player of the Year). He was an honorable mention All-SEC pick as a linebacker and earned a spot on the All-SEC Football Allstate “Good Works” Team. After college, Fields played two seasons of professional football in the Canadian Football League for the Hamilton Tigercats and British Columbia Lions.
 
Fields earned his bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology from Auburn in 2001 and later earned a master’s in Higher Education Administration/Sports Management. He and his wife, Dr. Mya, who’s an Assistant Dean for Purdue University’s School of Multidisciplinary and Professional Studies have two sons, Haven Jr. (7) and Hendrix (5).

SATTERFIELD DISCUSSES SPRING GAME PLANS, OFFENSIVE EXECUTION

Nebraska offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield met with members of the media following the Huskers’ spring practice on Tuesday.

He discussed the plan for the quarterbacks during the spring game and what is important to see from them.

“The plan is that they’re all going to get a chance to play with all different groups. They’re still battling and competing with each other. What I want to see is them taking care of the football – securing the snap, taking care of the football, throwing the ball away when needed – just making sure that we have the ball at the end of every whistle.”

He spoke on the offensive development in the past few weeks and the execution level during last Saturday’s scrimmage.

“I think just our offensive operation. Execution is still not at 100%, but we know what to do now and we’re stepping in the right direction. Now, we just have to execute the technique at a little bit higher rate. Two or three weeks into it and getting a lot of football in the last few weeks, just naturally helped them improve and develop.”

Satterfield talked about the running back room and what the staff is looking for.

“They have their own little things that they do well. We’re just challenging them to go out and make plays and make people miss them. We want to see guys, if they’re in an open space, not get tackled by safeties or corners or DBs in general. Who can make people miss and who can hold onto the football? Who can win in pass protection?”

NU will continue with practice on Thursday. The annual Red-White Spring game presented by FNBO is scheduled for this Saturday, April 27 at 11 a.m. (CT). Tickets can be purchased on huskers.com or by calling the ticket office at 800-8-BIG RED.

HUSKERS WALK-OFF HAWKEYES IN GAME ONE

Bella Bacon hit a walk-off double with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Nebraska softball team to a 1-0 victory over Iowa in game one of a Tuesday doubleheader at Bowlin Stadium.

Bacon's game-winning hit was the lone hit of the game for either team with a runner in scoring position. Bacon's hit made a winner of Kaylin Kinney, who tossed an 8.0-inning, six-hit shutout. Kinney (16-12) tossed the first extra-inning shutout of her career and her first shutout this season.

Offensively, Bacon drove in the game's lone run and finished 1-for-4 with her clutch double. Samantha Bland and Sydney Gray each doubled and produced two hits for the Big Red, with Bland scoring the game's lone run.

Nebraska improved to 26-19 with the win and moved to 9-6 in conference play. Jalen Adams (9-11) took the loss for Iowa (16-22, 4-12 Big Ten). Adams allowed one run in 7.2 innings.

The game's first scoring threat came in the top of the third when Iowa had runners at first and third with two outs but Kinney escaped the jam with a strikeout.

In the bottom of the fourth, Nebraska loaded the bases with two outs. Gray doubled and Emmerson Cope and Peyton Cody walked before Bacon made solid contact but flew out to the warning track in center.

Iowa stranded a runner at third in the fifth inning and in the sixth, the Hawkeyes had runners at first and second with one out. Iowa then had runners at first and third before Kinney ended the inning with a strikeout.

In the bottom of the sixth, Bland led off with a double. She moved to third with one out following a ground out from Gray. Cope was then hit by a pitch and pinch runner Mckinley Malecha moved up to second base. But Nebraska stranded runners at second and third after a strikeout and a pop out.

Both teams stranded a runner in the seventh inning. Then in the bottom of the eighth, Bland and Gray began the inning with consecutive singles. The next two Huskers flew out before Bacon lined her double to the gap in right center, scoring Bland and setting off a celebration at home plate.

Post-Game Notes

• Nebraska played its ninth extra-inning game of the season, including its sixth extra-inning game in Big Ten play.
• The Huskers improved to 5-4 in extra innings this season, including a 4-2 record in conference play.
• NU has played six Big Ten opponents this season and has had at least one extra-inning game against all six opponents.
• With the win, Nebraska has won nine of the last 10 games against Iowa played at Bowlin Stadium. 
• Kaylin Kinney tossed an 8.0-inning shutout, her first shutout this season and the first extra-inning shutout of her career.
• Billie Andrews made the 200th start of her career.
• Katelyn Caneda made the 100th start of her career.