Bill Moos Husker Home Visit Recap

Within his first 20 months serving as Nebraska's athletic director, Bill Moos made some 290 public appearances across the state of Nebraska.
 
For anyone who knows the affable Moos, that shouldn't be a surprise.
 
"I like doing that. I like being with the people," Moos said. "I like to embrace people. I think that's what Nebraska is all about."
 
So for Moos to be stuck in his office during social distancing amid the current COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenge – even if he jokes that he has enjoyed wearing a Husker sweatshirt and jeans into the office every day.
 
"That's kind of comfortable," Moos said, "for an old cowboy like me."
 
Moos filled his void of interacting with Nebraskans via a May 14 webinar involving some 400 members of the Huskers Athletic Fund. Senior Deputy Athletic Director for External Operations Garrett Klassy moderated the invitation-only Zoom session that featured Moos and included Executive Associate Athletic Director for Academics Dennis Leblanc, Director of Sports Psychology Dr. Brett Haskell and Director of Olympic Sport Performance Brian Kmitta.
 
Donors submitted questions on the registration form when they signed up to help drive the conversation. Not surprisingly, a hot topic Moos addressed was the future of Husker fall sports as colleges and universities continue to discuss options amid the global pandemic.
 
"These are unchartered waters, especially in the world of intercollegiate athletics," said Moos, who has daily conference calls with other Big Ten Conference athletic directors to discuss plans and options in preparations for the future.
 
He compared the ever-changing landscape and obstacles to a successful quarterback making an audible at the line of scrimmage.
 
"There are challenges, absolutely. There are unanswered questions," Moos said. "The real issue here is we're competing against an opponent that we don't know a lot about, and we don't know when we're going to end up defeating it. We've got to constantly be putting into place options as a conference, and of course institutionally and in the NCAA to be ready for when things happen.
 
"I will say this: By nature, I'm an optimist, and I believe that we'll be back in business in some way, one form or another, by the time classes are due to start in the fall."
 
The Big Ten Conference has banned organized athletic activities until June 1, a date already extended once from its origin of May 1, and a date Moos hopes doesn't move again. He believes the sooner Husker student-athletes can return to Lincoln, the better.
 
"I continue to believe the safest place for our student-athletes at the University of Nebraska is Lincoln," Moos said, "to get them out of the high-risk areas many of them are in, in metropolitan areas around the country, get them back to Lincoln where we can test and monitor.
 
"I would rather have our young people in Lincoln in our facilities where our medical people, our trainers, our professionals … can make sure the facility is clean, that they are clean, washing hands, wearing masks, having their temperatures taken."
 
As for the football season itself, Moos said options include an abbreviated season or a shift in start date. When football does resume, Moos said crowds could potentially be initially limited, perhaps anywhere from 25 percent to 40 percent capacity.
 
"We have a passionate, passionate fan base," Moos said, "who if there's ever been a way to continue to fill Memorial Stadium, if it was reasonable, I have every reason to believe that we would do it."
 
Moos commended his staff for continuing to discuss protocol and logistics for those fans at Memorial Stadium, noting issues such as delivery of tickets, ticket taking at gates, concessions, restrooms and bottleneck areas.
 
"I'm hoping it can be business as usual," Moos said. "Each day until we get a vaccine, it feels like we're going to have to call another one of those audibles. It's so important that we communicate properly … so that our great fans know what the protocol is going to be." 
 
Moos also said Nebraska is "well down the road on design" with its new athletic facility that will house the football program and benefit all student-athletes with academics, nutrition, training and medicine.
 
"The look of the building, the function of the building, the 'wow' factor, the sizzle, is at this point unbelievable," Moos said, adding that when design is finished, administration must first give approval for construction to begin.
 
"Our excellent fans continue to answer the call in regards to the fundraising efforts," Moos said. "We had an ambitious number of $100 million to be raised for this project, and we continue to move toward that goal.
 
"It's been most pleasing to me, because people could say, 'Hey, I don't know what the future holds, I'm not going to make a pledge, or I'm going to rescind a pledge.' That has not been the case. That has been, to me, another illustration of how fabulous Husker fans are."
 
Kmitta, meanwhile, updated donors on how the strength and conditioning coaches have continued to work with student-athletes while scattered across the country. They remain in contact as they normally would during the season, only now via Zoom and emails.
 
Student-athletes each have a specifically developed workout plan based on their access to equipment. 
 
 "Some of our athletes only have access to their house," Kmitta said, "so a lot of body weight workouts and a lot of running right now to keep them conditioned, so when we can get back to our facility, we're ready to go. We draw up programs based on what they have access to right now."
 
Both Moos and Leblanc commended student-athletes for staying on top of academics once campus closed and classes moved to an online only format.
 
"With this generation, the move to online classes worked out smoothly," Leblanc said. "They grew up teaching their parents how to use technology, so it worked out great."
 
He credited tutors for adjusting to Zoom to help student-athletes.
 
"The tutors have really liked it because they didn't have to drive down to the stadium," Leblanc said. "They were just able to log into the Zoom call and tutor them, everything from organic chemistry to calculus to psychology."
 
Haskell informed donors of the new Big Ten Conference initiatives on mental health. She is representing Nebraska on a conference cabinet new commissioner Kevin Warren established last fall to focus on providing student-athletes more options to mental health help.
 
The Big Ten's most notable initial implementation is allowing all of its student-athletes, coaches, full-time members of university athletic departments and conference staff members free access to a mental health and meditation app called Calm. It's the No. 1 mental fitness app for helping individuals experience lower stress, less anxiety, improved focus and more restful sleep.
 
Haskell noted how Nebraska had been ahead of the curve in terms of offering student-athletes access to such an app. For the past two years, Nebraska has been using Headspace, which has very similar platforms that Calm uses, Haskell said. Nebraska will now switch to Calm, an app that NBA star LeBron James uses.
 
 "We do it better at Nebraska than anywhere else," Klassy said. "Between our mental health specialists, our academic support, strength and conditioning, nutrition and Life Skills, we are the leaders, and that's something we are very proud of here."
 
Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.