Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen has been named to the College Football Playoff selection committee, along with inaugural selection committee chair and longtime athletics administrator Jeff Long, the CFP announced Monday.
Dannen replaces former Maryland athletic director Damon Evans, who took the same job at SMU. Long will serve a one-year term and replace Steve Weiberg, who stepped down from the committee for personal reasons.
Dannen is in his second year leading Nebraska’s athletic department. From 2021-23, he served as a member of the NCAA Constitution Committee and the Division I Transformation Committee. He also previously served as the chair of the NCAA Football Competition Committee and was an executive committee member of the Football Oversight Committee.
Dannen came to Lincoln after serving as the athletic director at Washington, where he helped guide the Huskies’ transition to the Big Ten and oversaw a football program that reached its first CFP national title appearance in January 2024.
Long spent 40 years working in college athletics as both a coach and administrator. Currently a consultant with ISE and Trenchcoat Advisors, Long returns to the CFP selection committee after having served from 2014-18, including time as the group’s initial chairman during the 2014-15 seasons.
He spent 22 years as athletic director at Kansas (2018-21) and held the same role at Arkansas (2008-17), Pitt (2003-07) and Eastern Kentucky (1998-2001).
“We are pleased to have Troy and Jeff join the committee,” CFP executive director Rich Clark said in a prepared statement. “Troy brings a long commitment to college athletics to our group and previous experience as a member of the FCS Selection Committee, while Jeff, as the first chairman of the CFP selection committee (2014-15) will step in immediately and provide an experienced voice in the room.”
The CFP announced in March that former Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio was among five new selection committee members named to the 13-member group tasked with ranking the top 25 teams that ultimately are considered for the 12-team field this fall.
Dantonio, Dannen and Long join will join former ESPN college football reporter Ivan Maisel, Middle Tennessee AD Chris Massaro and former Ole Miss All-America tight end Wesley Walls in the incoming class. Baylor AD Mack Rhoades, who is entering his second year with the group, replaces outgoing committee member and Michigan AD Warde Manuel as the committee chair.
Returning committee members include longtime Nevada athletic director and coach Chris Ault, former Arizona State All-American offensive lineman Randall McDaniel, former Oregon State and Nebraska coach Mike Riley, Miami (Ohio) athletic director David Sayler, Virginia athletic director Carla Williams, and Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek.
The new members will begin their three-year terms this spring and will also replace Navy AD Chet Gladchuk, former Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe, former Nebraska offensive lineman and NFL Hall of Famer Will Shields, and former sportswriter Kelly Whiteside, whose terms have expired.
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