Bill Moos shares Scott Frost initially had 'no interest' in Nebraska job

Longtime Athletic Director (previously at Montana, Oregon, and Washington State) Bill Moos served as Nebraska‘s Athletic Director from 2017-2021, until his retirement in June 2021. In that timeframe, Moos hired former UCF head coach Scott Frost to lead the football program, and former Iowa State/Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg to lead the basketball program.

The hire of Fred Hoiberg has payed off immensely for the program, as Nebraska is currently 21-2 (10-2) and climbed as high as No. 5 in the AP Poll Rankings, its highest in program history. The Cornhuskers also seem poised to nab a top-three seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1991 (No. 3 seed).

On the flip side, however, the hire of Scott Frost was a disaster for the Nebraska football program. Frost, who played at Nebraska from 1995-97, was hired after leading UCF to a 13-0 record and a Peach Bowl victory over LSU in 2017. Across his first four seasons in Lincoln, Frost led the Huskers to an extremely disappointing 15-29 record. Following a 1-2 start to the 2022 season, Frost was let go and Matt Rhule was hired the following season.

Bill Moos reveals Frost initially had ‘no interest’ in Nebraska opening

During an appearance on the Feb. 11 edition of ‘Early Break w/ Sip, Jake & Bill Busch‘, Moos revealed that Frost initially had no interest in the job. This means that they could have potentially avoided the disastrous hire if they had decided to move elsewhere.

“I brought (Associate AD) Matt Davison in because (former Nebraska AD) Tom Osborne said ‘if you want to get to Scott, bring Davison in. They’re best friends, and God knows how Davison will tell you how he won that Missouri game 14 times in a day.’ But I could see that.

“So I sent Matt as my conduit to Scott. There was no interest. He was appalled with what was happening at Nebraska. I had to get through to Matt to get it to Scott that those days are over. I’m here now. This is my roundup. I’m running the ranch. Fortunately we were able to get a sit-down in Philadelphia that nobody knew about.”

Frost’s sit-down interview with Nebraska did not go well, per Moos

In Moos’ recently released memoir, Crab Creek Chronicles: From the Wheat Fields to the Ball Fields and Beyond, he dove into that sit-down, which did not go well.

“As pissed off as I was that Davison unexpectedly sat in on that meeting, I was glad he did, as it prompted me to tell Kendra (his wife) to stay in the room. And, like many times before, her intuition proved to be invaluable,” Moos wrote.

“‘He’s not ready,’ (Kendra) said after closing the door that left just the two of us in the room. ‘Too immature,’ Kendra said. ‘Yep, I agree. But if I don’t pursue him with everything I’ve got and he ends up at Tennessee or Florida, I’m screwed,’ Moos said. ‘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,” Karen said.

Frost did in fact fall flat, and ended up back at UCF prior to the 2025 season. In his first season back with the Knights, UCF finished with a 5-7 record and missed the postseason.