“He is the premier athletic director at the BCS level,” said new Montana head football coach Robin Pflugrad, an assistant coach at Oregon and Montana when Moos was AD at the schools.
“I couldn’t think of anybody more capable that we could bring in,” said Washington State football hall-of-famer Keith Lincoln, an assistant coach when Moos played for the Cougars and director of the WSU Alumni Association when Moos was WSU’s associate and associate athletic director.
“To me,” former longtime WSU sports information director Rod Commons added, “everything is ‘plus’ when you look at Bill Moos being Washington State’s athletic director.”
PFLUGRAD, LINCOLN AND COMMONS were eager to supply specifics when asked about their reasons for supporting Moos.
“From public relations to fund-raising, from academic excellence to understanding the new elements of the APR (the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate for student-athletes), Bill is the best I have ever been around,” Pflugrad said.
“He has great communication and inter-personal skills,” Lincoln said. “And Bill is happy whether he’s out on a wheat farm or cattle ranch or at the Spokane Club or the Seattle Club. He’s comfortable in all those arenas.”
“The fact that he was an athlete (at WSU), I think, is very special,” Commons said. “He understands the culture, the fans, the boosters and the people who work here.”
Commons added, “He’s got tremendous charisma. He’s a hire that could go out and immediately connect with the Cougar Nation.”
MOOS SUPPORTERS VIEW him as a leader who delegates authority when necessary, but a man who isn’t afraid to make tough decisions himself.
“He’s going to come in and make some changes,” Lincoln promised. “Anyone would. But he sees the big picture.”
“From a management standpoint, he never that I ever heard, looked over people’s shoulders and second-guessed,” Commons said. “That’s the kind of boss that people want, who has confidence that you can do the job the way it needs to be done, but also are team players.
“If Bill decides something needs to be done a certain way, you have to buy into that.”
PFLUGRAD IS IN a unique position to offer insight of Bill Moos.
Their children played in the same sandbox growing up in Missoula.
Bo Moos and Aaron Pflugrad later played high school football together in Eugene and now play for ex-WSU coach Dennis Erickson at Arizona State. Amanda Pflugrad is a cheerleader at Oregon. But back to that sandbox for a moment.
“One time I watched Bo Moos grab my daughter’s Barbie dolls and pull the heads off of them,” Pflugrad said.
Pflugrad told the story with a laugh. Clearly, Pflugrad hasn’t let a few decapitated Barbies alter his strong belief in the qualities of Bill Moos and what he'll do as Washington State's Athletics Director.
“He’ll roll his sleeves up and get it done, in each and every capacity of what’s needed,” Pflugrad said.
“He’s the best. He’s simply the best.”
CF.C Managing Editor Barry Bolton contributed to this report.
NOTE:
WSU will hold a press conference at 2 p.m. Wednesday to announce the hiring of Moos. It can also be viewed on videostream at http://experience.wsu.edu/.
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