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LINCOLN – Nebraska Director of Athletics Troy Dannen announced today 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 excellent 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).
