Husker Air Takes Flight—Did It Land Any Prime Football Recruits
A year ago, Nebraska Athletics launched a novel transportation arrangement they hoped would pay off in efficiency and in landing top recruits. It is now February 2020—how did it turn out? I’ll grant you, Lincoln, Nebraska is in the middle of the country. It’s 53 miles from Omaha, Nebraska; it’s 226 miles to Kansas City, Kansas; it’s 188 miles to Des Moines, Iowa; it’s 520 miles to Chicago, Illinois. While I’m sure the drive is scenic and enjoyable, it takes a long time to get somewhere. So flying makes sense. Bill Moos, athletics director at Nebraska, wanted to open up the recruiting landscape to his new head coach. With roughly 2 million residents in the Husker State (and fewer football players), Moos wanted head coach Scott Frost to be able to reach far flung recruiting hot beds like Florida, California, Ohio and Texas easily and quickly. He came up with Husker Air. Husker Air relies on the private planes fully owned and fractionally owned by donors to the Husker Athletics Program. Donors, in exchange for their aircraft, receive a tax deduction. Those who purchase jet cards, where they buy hours on a private charter, may…