Nebraska Considered 'Secret' Move Out Of The Big Ten Conference
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It’s funny the things you sometimes learn after someone retires from a position of power.
In this case, Bill Moos, who served as the athletic director for several prominent Division I universities including Washington State, Oregon and Nebraska, recently revealed in a new tell-all book just how close the Cornhuskers were making a seismic realignment move behind closed doors.
Moos served as the Huskers AD from 2017-2021 — overseeing the entirety of the failed Scott Frost era (more on that later). But he enjoyed 40 years in athletic administration following an All-Pac-8 career at offensive tackle as a member of Jim Sweeney’s Wazzu Cougars.
Former Nebraska AD ‘actively’ tried to get Huskers back to Big 12
In Moos’ book, the ex-Nebraska AD admitted that he was very much working to get the program out of the Big Ten and back to its longtime home in the Big 12. Citing that the school’s fans had become increasingly frustrated with the length and cost of travel to see their teams play vs. B1G opponents.
“Knowledge of this prompted me to implement my stealth approach to exploring possibilities by secretly testing the waters of returning to what was still known as the Big 12, even though it consisted of just ten members,” Moos wrote.
“My scheme centered around having my old friend Pat Kilkenny reach out to [then-conference commissioner] Bob Bowlsby … Knowing that Pat would do a thorough job of gauging Bob’s interest in what I believed should have been a realistic possibility.”
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Bill Moos admits he never wanted Scott Frost as HC
Elsewhere in the book, Moos talked about he had pushed hard for the football program to hire former Oregon head coach Chip Kelly back in 2017 — even flying to New Hampshire to meet with the coach after his four-year stint in the NFL.
“I was met with blank stares and a total lack of excitement when I expressed that to my superiors,” Moos revealed (via ESPN.com). “I later learned that a veteran regent and a generous donor to the university voiced a strong objection to the idea. I was not told I couldn’t pursue him, but I certainly felt negative vibes. Within a week, Chip Kelly was named the head coach at UCLA.”
Moos described Frost being “in sweats and unshaven” when he and his wife met with the UCF coach in Philadelphia later in the process. With both noting his “lack of maturity,” but ultimately falling on the fact that he needed to land somebody the school’s fans could get behind.
“If I don’t pursue him with everything I’ve got and he ends up at Tennessee or Florida, I’m screwed,” Moos told his wife. To which she replied, “Yeah, but if you bring Nebraska’s golden boy home and he falls flat on his face, you are really screwed. Remember, people have short memories.”
Frost ended up going 16-31 at Nebraska and was fired early in the 2022 season. He refused to comment about Moos’ book.
This story was originally published by The Spun on Feb 11, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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