“Some of the things we wanted to do, the athletic department didn’t want to fund,” Hawks said. “To me, if (Neal and I) hadn’t gotten involved in it and pushed for those kinds of things, not much of it would have been implemented.

“It’s disappointing that we had to get involved. It shouldn’t have been required. It would have been a shame to spend as much money as we spent and not (have) done the player facilities right.”

Hawks ended with this: “You either stay where you are, or you get into the upper half.”

Is Tim Miles the guy to get Nebraska into the upper half of the Big Ten?

He’s done it once. The Huskers stormed through the second half of Big Ten play in 2013-14 to finish fourth at 11-7 and earn the school’s first NCAA tourney bid in 16 years.

Miles might have one other “Get Out of Jail Free” card.

In his first two years at NU, the athletic department rode Miles like a rented mule to about every fundraiser and speaking engagement you could imagine. Partly because he was really good at it, but mostly because the football coach at the time was an embarrassment to take out in public.