Tonight was Bill Moos' monthly radio show, where he was asked about a wide range of topics and programs at the university. Here's the notes from the program and what callers had to ask the Nebraska athletic director.
On the opportunity for momentum against Michigan State and Iowa:
-“It’s really important to be ascending at the end of the year, and if we can get these last two, it would put a skip in our step going into the offseason, into the weight room, into conditioning and into spring ball.”
-Moos admitted that bowl season is a long shot for the Huskers, and the football program is focused on the last two games for the above reason, not really to earn a bowl spot.
On how much Moos feels better since the 0-6 start:
-“We continue to improve. When you talk about recent success, we played Ohio State, we owned them in the first half… we went into overtime with Northwestern…”
-Moos loves how much the offense has been able to click (over 600 yards more often than not), and that the Nebraska offensive game has been entertaining for the fans to watch.
-Moos also said that the process to recruit for Scott Frost’s style of offense takes time, but that he found the right nucleus in Adrian Martinez. Moos has been impressed with Martinez’s maturity on the field and in other aspects of his life.
On the seniors leaving:
-Moos is impressed by how much the seniors want to win the last two games for the younger guys to build a foundation for the future, and the younger players want to win for the seniors to “send them off right.”
-Eight seniors have already graduated, eight will graduate in December, and the other three are on pace to graduate in the spring. That type of success “doesn’t hit the front page as much as it should,” Moos said. This led into the next topic of discussion…
On the academic success for Nebraska athletics:
-The NCAA graduation success rates (GSRs) came out this week, and Nebraska student-athletes hit the 90 percent mark for the first time in school history. That’s just above the average 88 percent mark for the entire NCAA. Nine programs had a perfect 100 percent, which includes women’s tennis, women’s basketball and volleyball, all of which have posted a perfect score over the 14 years the metric has been calculated.
-Moos was asked by Dennis LeBlanc, Executive Associate Athletic Director of Academics, to speak to his staff. Moos called the staff “unsung heroes” and told them during that visit that “it’s not my practice to go into locker rooms, and when I do, it’s usually when championships have been secured. This is your locker room, I’m in here because you guys won a championship.”
On Nebraska volleyball:
-“It’s been an interesting and hard-fought conference race… there’s some darn good volleyball in the Big Ten. We had a tough stretch there... I like this team, and it’s going to be the nucleus of good things to come.”
-Moos is optimistic about the volleyball team’s postseason position.
-Moos noted how impressive it is to have a Top 10 team with a freshman setter in Nicklin Hames.
-“Volleyball is the poster child of what I’m hoping to see across the board, where it’s passed on to the next generation, there’s that responsibility” of taking the baton and running with it, and “that’s what Husker football was for 30 years,” Moos said.
-Nebraska volleyball was the hunters and have become the “hunted” and it’s a much different game when playing as the “hunted” according to Moos.
SIDE NOTE: Moos said to get there at least 45 minutes early to the Michigan State game for the Sam Foltz tribute, scholarship presentations and much more.
CALLER: Greg from Beatrice, wanted to thank Bill from coming from the “great state of Washington” to help the athletic department, also asked about how much the nutrition program is shared among sports and what each specific sport gets.
RESPONSE: Moos was glad he asked this question, because he is proud of the answer. "All of our student athletes are treated the same. They all eat at the training table, they all benefit from the nutrition program, we have the best nutritionist in Dave Ellis."
-The training is sport-specific, but each sport gets the same level of support, gear, academic training, etc.
-Moos noted that the 50th anniversary of the Husker Power program is next year.
CALLER: Sam from Kearney, asked about expanding the football roster and adding walk-ons in other female sports to fulfill Title IX requirements.
RESPONSE: Moos said Nebraska is in compliance with Title IX and it looks that Nebraska can move its football roster from 138 to 150 without having to add another women’s program. Most women’s programs have healthy participation, which is what the athletic department wanted in order to make this football roster expansion happen.
CALLER: Scott from Kearney, asked about the the women’s gymnastics program and what happened in the coaching change.
RESPONSE: Moos reaffirmed that there was no student-athlete welfare issues or academic issues with the resignation of Dan Kendig after 25 years at the head of the program.
-Nebraska will hire a new coach for that program at the end of the season, which will help in furthering the candidate pool for the position. Heather Brink is currently the interim coach.
CALLER: Caden from Omaha, wanted to know how the athletic department is trying to keep in-state talent for the cross-country and track programs.
RESPONSE: Moos is happy with how both programs are doing, both men and women, and Moos noted Gary Pepin, the 39-year track and field coach, is one of his favorite coaches. Pepin has won lots of trophies in the Big 8, Big 12 and Big Ten, and Moos said he has won lots of trophies "humbly" for the university.
"Obviously, just like all of our programs, we want to keep the in-state kids at home. If they're good enough to compete at this level, they need to be Huskers..."
CALLER: Ron from Lincoln, wanted to call and say that he despises the early kickoffs, and wanted to know if Moos had any influence to change the times. He also asked about Moos’ family and ties to Big Springs.
RESPONSE: Moos said that the early kickoff TV deals are providing great revenues, and that Nebraska has to “earn” the night games. Also said that the recruits have a way to see Nebraska play regardless of the time, and that morning practice time gives Nebraska an edge when they play the morning games. Moos said he’s always one to make “lemonade out of lemons.”
As for Moos’ family, his grandfather was born in Big Springs and his siblings (nine of them) were raised just outside of Ogallala. He had a family reunion of all of that generation this summer and said that “I got to go and brag that I am now a Nebraskan and return to my roots and got to be the big shot at the family reunion. It felt pretty good.”
CALLER: Heather, wanted to thank Moos for the support of men’s gymnastics team, and wondered where he sees the future of the program with other schools shutting down those programs. She’s a mother of a male gymnast.
RESPONSE: Moos assured her that Nebraska is embracing gymnastics and is proud of the accomplishments of both the men and the women. Nebraska is in the process of building a new facility for gymnastics, and lauded the quality
-”You don’t need to worry, as long as I’m around, that men’s gymnastics will stay where it is in regards to being one of our varsity sports” and it will have the resources to compete for championships, Moos said.
CALLER: Kyle from Omaha, asked about student attendance and if Nebraska had considered going back to the previous student section ticketing rules, where students had paper tickets that could be resold instead of them being on the N-Card.
RESPONSE: Moos is concerned about the attendance of students as well, as it aligns with a decline in student attendance nationally. He's concerned with the fact of generational Husker fans not having a lot of alternatives back when everyone came to games, but with technology allowing for students to watch the game from anywhere, it causes a problem with finding ways to get them to come.
-During the Boneyard Bash earlier this year, Moos told students "you have to get there early, stay there late because there will be a game where you will make the difference" and Michigan State might just be that game.
-Moos didn't know about the previous ticketing format with student tickets and made a note of that to discuss if changes with student ticketing are possible.
On Huskers’ visit to Washington State and if Moos gave Amy Williams any dinner recommendations:
“No, I didn’t, but I’m sure she’ll be able to figure a couple of those things out. I’m not sure what the weather is, but there could be a little snow up there around this time… wishing Amy good luck, we got them last year when they were here, and hope we can call it a sweep.”
On the opportunity for momentum against Michigan State and Iowa:
-“It’s really important to be ascending at the end of the year, and if we can get these last two, it would put a skip in our step going into the offseason, into the weight room, into conditioning and into spring ball.”
-Moos admitted that bowl season is a long shot for the Huskers, and the football program is focused on the last two games for the above reason, not really to earn a bowl spot.
On how much Moos feels better since the 0-6 start:
-“We continue to improve. When you talk about recent success, we played Ohio State, we owned them in the first half… we went into overtime with Northwestern…”
-Moos loves how much the offense has been able to click (over 600 yards more often than not), and that the Nebraska offensive game has been entertaining for the fans to watch.
-Moos also said that the process to recruit for Scott Frost’s style of offense takes time, but that he found the right nucleus in Adrian Martinez. Moos has been impressed with Martinez’s maturity on the field and in other aspects of his life.
On the seniors leaving:
-Moos is impressed by how much the seniors want to win the last two games for the younger guys to build a foundation for the future, and the younger players want to win for the seniors to “send them off right.”
-Eight seniors have already graduated, eight will graduate in December, and the other three are on pace to graduate in the spring. That type of success “doesn’t hit the front page as much as it should,” Moos said. This led into the next topic of discussion…
On the academic success for Nebraska athletics:
-The NCAA graduation success rates (GSRs) came out this week, and Nebraska student-athletes hit the 90 percent mark for the first time in school history. That’s just above the average 88 percent mark for the entire NCAA. Nine programs had a perfect 100 percent, which includes women’s tennis, women’s basketball and volleyball, all of which have posted a perfect score over the 14 years the metric has been calculated.
-Moos was asked by Dennis LeBlanc, Executive Associate Athletic Director of Academics, to speak to his staff. Moos called the staff “unsung heroes” and told them during that visit that “it’s not my practice to go into locker rooms, and when I do, it’s usually when championships have been secured. This is your locker room, I’m in here because you guys won a championship.”
On Nebraska volleyball:
-“It’s been an interesting and hard-fought conference race… there’s some darn good volleyball in the Big Ten. We had a tough stretch there... I like this team, and it’s going to be the nucleus of good things to come.”
-Moos is optimistic about the volleyball team’s postseason position.
-Moos noted how impressive it is to have a Top 10 team with a freshman setter in Nicklin Hames.
-“Volleyball is the poster child of what I’m hoping to see across the board, where it’s passed on to the next generation, there’s that responsibility” of taking the baton and running with it, and “that’s what Husker football was for 30 years,” Moos said.
-Nebraska volleyball was the hunters and have become the “hunted” and it’s a much different game when playing as the “hunted” according to Moos.
SIDE NOTE: Moos said to get there at least 45 minutes early to the Michigan State game for the Sam Foltz tribute, scholarship presentations and much more.
CALLER: Greg from Beatrice, wanted to thank Bill from coming from the “great state of Washington” to help the athletic department, also asked about how much the nutrition program is shared among sports and what each specific sport gets.
RESPONSE: Moos was glad he asked this question, because he is proud of the answer. "All of our student athletes are treated the same. They all eat at the training table, they all benefit from the nutrition program, we have the best nutritionist in Dave Ellis."
-The training is sport-specific, but each sport gets the same level of support, gear, academic training, etc.
-Moos noted that the 50th anniversary of the Husker Power program is next year.
CALLER: Sam from Kearney, asked about expanding the football roster and adding walk-ons in other female sports to fulfill Title IX requirements.
RESPONSE: Moos said Nebraska is in compliance with Title IX and it looks that Nebraska can move its football roster from 138 to 150 without having to add another women’s program. Most women’s programs have healthy participation, which is what the athletic department wanted in order to make this football roster expansion happen.
CALLER: Scott from Kearney, asked about the the women’s gymnastics program and what happened in the coaching change.
RESPONSE: Moos reaffirmed that there was no student-athlete welfare issues or academic issues with the resignation of Dan Kendig after 25 years at the head of the program.
-Nebraska will hire a new coach for that program at the end of the season, which will help in furthering the candidate pool for the position. Heather Brink is currently the interim coach.
CALLER: Caden from Omaha, wanted to know how the athletic department is trying to keep in-state talent for the cross-country and track programs.
RESPONSE: Moos is happy with how both programs are doing, both men and women, and Moos noted Gary Pepin, the 39-year track and field coach, is one of his favorite coaches. Pepin has won lots of trophies in the Big 8, Big 12 and Big Ten, and Moos said he has won lots of trophies "humbly" for the university.
"Obviously, just like all of our programs, we want to keep the in-state kids at home. If they're good enough to compete at this level, they need to be Huskers..."
CALLER: Ron from Lincoln, wanted to call and say that he despises the early kickoffs, and wanted to know if Moos had any influence to change the times. He also asked about Moos’ family and ties to Big Springs.
RESPONSE: Moos said that the early kickoff TV deals are providing great revenues, and that Nebraska has to “earn” the night games. Also said that the recruits have a way to see Nebraska play regardless of the time, and that morning practice time gives Nebraska an edge when they play the morning games. Moos said he’s always one to make “lemonade out of lemons.”
As for Moos’ family, his grandfather was born in Big Springs and his siblings (nine of them) were raised just outside of Ogallala. He had a family reunion of all of that generation this summer and said that “I got to go and brag that I am now a Nebraskan and return to my roots and got to be the big shot at the family reunion. It felt pretty good.”
CALLER: Heather, wanted to thank Moos for the support of men’s gymnastics team, and wondered where he sees the future of the program with other schools shutting down those programs. She’s a mother of a male gymnast.
RESPONSE: Moos assured her that Nebraska is embracing gymnastics and is proud of the accomplishments of both the men and the women. Nebraska is in the process of building a new facility for gymnastics, and lauded the quality
-”You don’t need to worry, as long as I’m around, that men’s gymnastics will stay where it is in regards to being one of our varsity sports” and it will have the resources to compete for championships, Moos said.
CALLER: Kyle from Omaha, asked about student attendance and if Nebraska had considered going back to the previous student section ticketing rules, where students had paper tickets that could be resold instead of them being on the N-Card.
RESPONSE: Moos is concerned about the attendance of students as well, as it aligns with a decline in student attendance nationally. He's concerned with the fact of generational Husker fans not having a lot of alternatives back when everyone came to games, but with technology allowing for students to watch the game from anywhere, it causes a problem with finding ways to get them to come.
-During the Boneyard Bash earlier this year, Moos told students "you have to get there early, stay there late because there will be a game where you will make the difference" and Michigan State might just be that game.
-Moos didn't know about the previous ticketing format with student tickets and made a note of that to discuss if changes with student ticketing are possible.
On Huskers’ visit to Washington State and if Moos gave Amy Williams any dinner recommendations:
“No, I didn’t, but I’m sure she’ll be able to figure a couple of those things out. I’m not sure what the weather is, but there could be a little snow up there around this time… wishing Amy good luck, we got them last year when they were here, and hope we can call it a sweep.”
