Husker Dan: NU Goes “Moos” Hunting: What’s Next?
Okay, so the search for a new Husker A.D. is over with news today of the hiring of Bill Moos. Moos, (pronounced “moose”) has been holding a similar position at his alma mater, Washington State for the past seven years., He succeeds Shawn Eichorst who was fired last month from his role as AD at Nebraska.
SO WHO’S MOOS?
Bill Moos, 66, graduated from Washington State University in ’73. And from ’82-’90, was the assistant AD there. He was the AD at the University of Montana from ’90-’95 and followed that with a stint as the AD at Oregon University from ’95-’07.
And after a falling out with Nike founder, Phil Knight, Moos resigned from Oregon in ’07 and for the next three years raised cattle at his ranch in Valleyford, WA. Yup. Raised cattle.
But in 2010, he returned to Washington State as the AD until 2017.
Do I think he’s a great hire? I have no clue. But this I know, Hank Bounds and Ronnie Green better have made this hire a great one. Nebraska can not afford another bad hire. Or even a mediocre one.
The Moos hiring brings us to the next issue. If, and I say if, Mike Riley’s career at NU comes to an end after this season, who should Moos, Green and Bounds (sounds like a law firm) go after?
FROST IS ON THE PUMPKIN?
A buddy of mine called me at the half of last night’s Buckeye-NU debacle.
“Hey, I was just watching The Weather Channel. It looks like an early frost…”
It would seem to me that former Husker quarterback Scott Frost should be near, or at the top of UNL’s shopping list.
Why?
STOCK RISING?
The thing about Frost is, his stock is rising and rising rapidly – especially if his Central Florida team can run the table at 10-0. They’ll play in a nice bowl and will get everyone’s attention. Yesterday, the Knights beat the snot out of East Carolina, 63-21. Yes ECU is only 1-6 and UCF is 5-0.with two early season games canceled due to Hurricane Irma. But 5-0 isn’t too bad.
If Nebraska doesn’t hire Frost, a team from another Power Five conference likely will. The window to get Frost might be a very small one, especially if the Knights continue to win.
Hiring Frost would be not only a great move for dear Old Nebraska U, but for Frost as well. He grew up in Wood River, Nebraska. He was recruited by and played for Bill Walsh at Stanford University. And when Walsh left for the NFL’s ’49’er gig, Frost went back to his roots in Nebraska. It was there that he was 24-2 as a starter at QB and led the Huskers to the 1997 National Championship.
And after his days as a player at Nebraska, Frost played in the NFL (primarily as a safety). He was a GA at Nebraska in 2002 and at Kansas State in 2006 before working as an assistant at Northern Iowa. Then it was on to Oregon where he was the wide receivers coach and was eventually elevated to the role of OC/QB coach.
Then it was on to Central Florida as their head coach (2016-present). He took over a program that a year before he got there, was 0-12. In Frost’s first year at UCF (2016), the Knights went 6-7 and played in a bowl game. So why would Frost want to leave Orlando, Florida, which is in the hot bed of recruiting?
Here are several reasons:
His Knights play in in Bright House Networks Stadium which has a seating capacity of 44,206.
The Knights play in AAC which is not a Power Five conference.
By taking the Nebraska job, Frost would be back home with his teams playing in a state-of-the-art football facility, in front of packed Memorial Stadium and coaching in perhaps the best FBS conference in the country.
It’s not a matter of if Frost gets wooed by bigger programs, it’s just a matter of when.
Frost may be ripe for the pickin’s. Let’s hope Nebraska doesn’t mess this one up. Winter is soon approaching.
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