Story and photo by Andrew McClure, NewsNetNebraska

Sports are a passion for many people. But for Derek Brandt, being passionate about sports got him his job.

“I used to work at a magazine called Big Red Report,” said Brandt, referring to a Lincoln magazine devoted to Husker sports. “I made some contacts there who recommended me for a job in the athletic department.”

Although he is also employed as a member of the wait staff at the Nebraska Club, a member-only restaurant in Lincoln, what he considers to be his “real” job takes place in the bowels of Memorial Stadium.

“I’m the sports information director for the swimming and bowling teams,” Brandt said. His duties include setting up interviews with the media and coordinating those interviews. He also creates media and recruiting guides, which are used by the university to grab the attention of high school prospects.

Although he has been a member of the department for six months, he is already looking for the opportunity to advance.

“My goal is to get promoted or get promoted to another school with a higher profile sport,” Brandt said. He added that his dream job would be as media director for football, because with high-profile sports come greater opportunities.

“If you are doing football, you are the media relations director, or like here at Nebraska, you are the assistant athletic director,” Brandt said.

Regardless of what sport he works in, Brandt, a native of Columbus, Neb., just wants to find a job that suits him, at a school where he feels comfortable with what he is doing.

“I would love to work for a school like Florida, Cal or Kansas; any school with high-profile sports.”