It really is all about the Akron game for you. Sure, you stuck it in the middle of the 'I hate Moos' letter to the Omaha Weird Harold editor from 'Dewey from North Platte', but that's what started all of this no longer thinly veiled hate fest.
Moos' comments regarding Ohio State and Michigan were at least partially tongue in cheek shtick for the media who'd just witnessed the worst season in school history. The Frost hire was universally lauded as a great get for the school and for Moos. Sorry for your loss.
Football tanked in a transition year. I didn't expect 4-8, nor did Frost, but no reasonable person can hang that on the new AD. If you are, the only thing you can say is he hired the wrong guy, which is a total BS statement, especially after one season and one season removed from a 13-0 record. Basketball tanked because the coach that was already on staff isn't good at his job and Moos rightly refused to re-up him to a long term deal. Whine all you want about Moos pulling the plug on the third party fluffer, but I agree with that move as well. Give him everything he needs to succeed? Sure. Do it at the expense of the school long term because you know you've got the wrong guy in that position? Not a chance. He saw enough to know he needed to figure out if that bandaid needed to be pulled off and obviously it does. Should be viewed as a good move by Moos in the short term. Baseball tanking again has nothing to do with Moos. He didn't hire Erstad nor create the odd mix of circumstances present in the B1G that will continue to hamstring Nebraska in that sport. They'll have up years and down years and it won't have anything to do with him.
So firing and replacing three coaches in 16 months wasn't enough? You want sweeping changes that a dynamic, progressive, younger AD would have executed? Like what? Firing Cook? That'd show everyone who's boss. What other sport or sports is screaming for a change at the top? We've already talked about the top three and from what I can tell, the rest seem to be doing fairly well. You don't upset the apple cart to add to your list of accomplishments...just because.
I don't know anything, nor do you, about Moos' relationship with Phil Knight. He strikes me as a guy I would have a hard time working with. If Moos didn't coddle Oregon's #1 booster to his satisfaction, maybe that's on Moos, maybe it's on Knight for being a prima donna. I'm sure we've got some of those in Lincoln as well that haven't liked any AD since Bob other than Tom and more than likely won't. Knight giving the dough to Oregon after Moos leaves doesn't say anything damning about Moos, but it's more of a petulant child look from Knight. Don't forget the good things he did in Oregon either. He nearly tripled their athletics budget, which was ridiculously low, and helped get major facilities upgrades funded and built. I know we're not talking about good things at Oregon, but you opened the door.
You're characterization of his departure from Pullman is slightly jaded. He admitted in a presser after his hiring at Nebraska that he'd grown frustrated with some of the administrations actions or inactions at Washington State and had thought about pulling the pin. I get it. Being frustrated because you aren't getting along with your boss doesn't mean he's not a viable AD. After 16 months I'm not ready to say he's not a team player either. He's not going to get along with everyone and I and everyone in the Nebraska fan base should be fine with that. I don't want a 'Yes' man in that position. If he's alienating everyone, everywhere, we've got a problem. Pissing off a third party consultant isn't going to move the needle for me.
Ah yes. The Akron game. This one's been beaten to death and doesn't deserve another round, but I certainly appreciate the fact that you've finally admitted that this is the personal slight Moos is responsible for that started this whole, sad shite show. He did what he could to preserve and then reschedule the game and it didn't work. Sorry. Some of that blame belongs in the lap of Larry Williams, the Akron AD. Being the AD in the hot seat when something that hadn't happened in 149 years of Nebraska football finally happens, isn't Moos fault. It absolutely impacted the football season and I imagine if he'd have had it to do over again he might have tried to reschedule the game for Sunday sometime during the week. Hard to say. Maybe he did what anyone new to the area would do and asked those with experience in Lincoln 'Hey, what are the chances this impacts the game?' to which he would have heard 'It hasn't happened in 149 years Mr. Moos'. Of course looking through the 20/20 perfection of Sunday morning after the game sure does make the path forward pretty clear. Obviously a younger, more dynamic and progressive AD would have had a better idea.
So Davidson handles day to day football operations. Great. Since we're being fair here, what previous AD handled those duties? Don't go back to Bob either. For the record, the AD has people that handle the minutiae of individual sports, he manages them and the overall program. He's not ordering new jock straps and making sure the American flag stickers are straight on the back of the helmets.
I'm torn on Miles because I personally like him. Much like pulling the band aid off with Frank Solich, I think it's time and Miles has earned none of the 'bogeys' Frank did, but he gave him a year anyway. Not giving him third party back up is also something I agree with. If he can't win with what most people have said is the best roster he's ever had at Nebraska, it's time. As to Miles being disenfranchised, he wasn't when he was winning in January as this quote from a Weird Harold article points to:
“When I need Bill, I ask him,” Miles said. “And he doesn’t always say yes — and I suppose (that’s) the yin and yang of being a coach and an administrator — but he’s very helpful, too. And is great for providing resources that we need to be successful."
Doesn't sound very disenfranchised to me. So since then Miles falls on his face and we start getting visits from the third party guy blaming it all on Moos. Sorry, but that's not Moos fault. As to his replacement, we'll see. It hasn't happened and yes, it is a big hire for the future of the program. If he drags another .500 lifer retread in here like Eichorst did with Riley, I think we'll be in agreement that he's made a mistake. It hasn't happened yet, so I'm not going to condemn him for it.
I'm sure you could go on all night. I'm sure you could find something wrong with the part of his hair, the colors of his ties, his shoe selection, whatever. You don't like him. I get it and sooner than later you'll get your wish. He's 68 and I doubt he'll ask for an extension beyond the current end of his contract, which is 2022. Then you'll get your guy, which is someone other than Moos. Will Davidson be ready by then? Maybe, but I know he wasn't in 2017 and IMO neither was Trev Alberts. What you have forgotten is that the program was in the ditch when the decision was made to fire Eichorst. The administration rightly decided on experience over youth for what looked at the time to be a very trying path forward. I'm assuming the overwhelming opinion of all involved was to go after Frost, so why saddle him with a young, inexperienced AD who's as likely to fall on his face and unintentionally sabotage the program? To give him the best chance of success, you give him senior leadership so all he worries about is football. You don't agree, but I and most other outsiders agree that it has worked for these first 16 months. What will it look like in 2022? I don't know, but I'm sure you do.
