Washington State will talk to Bill Moos about athletic director position

While ex-Washington State athletic director Jim Sterk was being introduced in his new job Monday at San Diego State, WSU announced a quick move toward expediting the process of finding his replacement.

President Elson Floyd said the school will bring a familiar candidate to campus Wednesday — former Oregon athletic director Bill Moos. A statement released through the WSU sports-information office said Moos will meet with senior leadership of the athletic department, with coaches and athletic staff, and will then take part in a one-hour public forum with members of the university community.

The news that Moos will visit came only two days after WSU released a statement quoting Floyd saying he would announce Wednesday the composition of a search-advisory committee for Sterk's successor.

In that Saturday statement, Floyd named senior associate athletic Anne McCoy to be interim athletic director, and said his aim was to name the new athletic director "within the next month."

Floyd acknowledged Monday having received considerable support for Moos among WSU supporters.

"In light of that sentiment, I believe it's important to bring Bill to campus to allow him to meet with members of the campus community to determine the mutual level of interest going forward," Floyd's statement said.

Moos won't have too far to travel for the interviews. Since he left the Oregon athletic director's job after a falling-out with Oregon booster and Nike founder Phil Knight in 2007, Moos has been raising Angus cattle on his ranch south of Spokane.

Moos was a first-team All-Pac-8 offensive lineman at WSU in 1972 and later was an assistant athletic director at the school. He became AD at Montana, and in 1994, was a candidate at WSU, but lost out to Rick Dickson and went on to the Oregon job in 1995, where he served 12 years.

The Oregonian newspaper reported that the Oregon budget expanded from $18 million to $41 million on Moos' watch, and he told the newspaper that annual giving rose from about $3.5 million to $15 million.

Moos is believed to have significant interest in the job, but the Cougars would have to untangle a noncompete clause in his settlement with Oregon, the remainder of which is about $1.4 million over seven years.

One of the new athletic director's first charges will be to sustain fundraising for a proposed "phase 3" renovation of Martin Stadium, for the construction of luxury suites, loge boxes and club seats.

Meanwhile, Sterk made his first public appearance before supporters at San Diego State, where he called the school a "sleeping giant" athletically. He will have his own challenges, including an average attendance of only 17,622 for Aztecs football games last season under second-year coach Brady Hoke, and with potential issues surrounding the future of Qualcomm Stadium.

Of his relationship with Floyd and WSU, Sterk told The San Diego Union-Tribune, "We had the opportunity to stay. I think we could have, but this opportunity presented itself, and we decided to accept it."

Bud Withers: 206-464-8281 or bwithers@seattletimes.com