For some folks, the “Good Life” just isn’t good enough.

Consider:

In early 2023, Ben Sasse, a Fremont native and the pride of Dodge County, resigned as junior Senator from Nebraska to become president of the University of Florida. They’re doing “amazing stuff in ag and coming ag-tech,” he told a reporter. No offense, University of Nebraska, where Senator Sasse had proudly worn the Big Red half-zip and enthusiastically passed Runzas into the crowd at Memorial Stadium.

Later that year, NU President and retired Vice Admiral Ted Carter, barely three years into his tenure, set his navigational beacon to Big Ten rival Ohio State and departed. It should be noted that despite frequently reminding Nebraskans he was a graduate of the Navy’s “Top Gun” school, he was a “back-seater” – a flight officer, not a pilot. Carter called his new role as president of Ohio State “the greatest honor of my career,” thus slighting the Navy, Naval Academy and NU.

Then came perhaps the deepest cut. NU Athletic Director Trev Alberts, former Husker and longest-tenured figure in Nebraska leadership, announced last week he was leaving for Texas A&M. “I’m not going to say anything bad about my alma mater,” he said. “But I think it’s fairly obvious there are some challenges.”

Challenges that apparently someone else should solve.

It’s hard to not take all this personally. These men were elected, selected, handsomely rewarded, revered and trusted. Nebraskans are generally restrained by choice, but competitive by nature. Our ancestors picked a hard place to settle and to cultivate, but they persevered and so do we.

And, we get it; there’s a rivalry among states, not just on the athletic fields, but for limited resources such as people, capital and leadership. We lose time in the race every time a high-profile politician or public figure hoists himself higher on the backs of Nebraskans, then abruptly departs.

Real leaders earn the people’s consent to the vision they put forward, and they dedicate more than just a few seasons or semesters to understand our ambitions and values. They stay the course and finish the job. Sasse, Carter and Alberts gave charismatic performances, saying pleasing things, striking the right tone. In the end, though, they failed to commend to us the same loyalty and trust we gave to them.

It hasn’t always been this way.

There was a boy from Hastings who played wide receiver at his hometown college, who spent a few seasons in the NFL, and then came home to begin his life’s work as coach and mentor. Tom Osborne is the best of Nebraska genius and leadership. Together, we achieved excellence, and we stayed loyal to one another through good times and challenging times, too.

If only we could find another like him.

This story was originally published by Nebraska Examiner, an editorially independent newsroom providing a hard-hitting, daily flow of news. It is part of the national nonprofit States Newsroom. Find more at nebraskaexaminer.com.