Nebraska Football: AD Moos should set higher expectations for program

Nebraska Football has conflicting expectations at the moment.

Amidst all the tidbits from the Big 10 Media Days, there was a lot to unpack as the Nebraska Football program seemed to be a hot-button subject at the event. With so much expectation, it is easy to figure out why. Many believe that Nebraska Football can be successful in 2019. That includes the coaching staff and the rest of the athletic department.

Interestingly enough, it was a comment from athletic director Bill Moos that I take issue with. Overall, it was a harmless comment, but I didn’t like the way he answered the question. Especially given the fact that he was given several other opportunities throughout the week to elaborate or rescind his comment, he didn’t. It may have given us some inadvertent insight into what the Nebraska athletic department feels the football team can do.

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There is no doubt that Nebraska Football still has a ways to go before contending for a national championship. The building blocks are certainly there, but they need to focus on continuing to build the program. This season will tell a lot in regards to how far Nebraska still has to go before they can even be considered College Football Playoff contenders. They certainly aren’t there right now, and I wouldn’t expect them to be there for a couple more years. Frost is still trying to establish his identity with Nebraska, and his stamp has certainly been left on the program in such a short amount of time.

It’s for that reason why I found Moos’s comments is so strange. I get that he was trying to temper the expectations for a team that has garnered a ton of media attention. Even still, he should be encouraging his team to win as much as possible. Six wins certainly is not doing that. If anything, that is settling for the bare minimum. As Steven M. Sipple of the Lincoln Journal Star wrote, Moos seems to be okay with the bare minimum.

"“We really need to get to six (wins),” said Moos, who hired Frost. “We need to get in the postseason and get all those extra practices and get that recognition in college football.”"

Six wins are only two more wins than they had last year. Getting to six wins would be a nice step, but the program should definitely shoot for more. Scott Frost seems like he wants to do so. He kind of took exception to what Moos said, and I don’t blame him. If I was the head coach, I wouldn’t want to just try to settle for six wins, I would set my vision and goals beyond that.

"“I’m not sure any of us would be happy with six,” Frost said.“But I’m not worried about the number right now,” he said. “I’m worried about getting better. And we are better.”"

I agree with Frost wholeheartedly. He has the mindset where he does not want to just try and settle for six wins. He wants to be able to shoot for eight or nine, I presume. It’s a lofty goal, and he should be able to accomplish it with the talent he has. Anything less would be a disappointment. Especially after all the buildup that this Nebraska Football team has created this off-season, it’s up to them to perform now.

Moos is entitled to his opinion of course. However, he was off-base here. This is a Nebraska Football program that has big aspirations. Perhaps Moos should have them too.

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