The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I and the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Early heads of the department were given the title "Athletics Manager" – the first was multi-sport coach and physical education professor Raymond G. Clapp, who filled the role from 1902 to 1905.
[3] The first individual to hold the title "athletic director" was E. J. Stewart, who served from 1916 to 1919 and also coached football and basketball during parts of his tenure.
[4] However, Nebraska does not consider Stewart its first athletic director because it was not a full-time administrative position; this designation belongs to Fred Luehring, who became AD in 1920.
Aside from Bob Devaney, NU's football coach for the first six of his twenty-six years as AD, the athletic director position has been a standalone role since 1954.