He thinks it may have been an Embassy Suites. "They all look the same to me," Bill Moos said.

What the Nebraska athletic director knows for sure is that it was a hotel suite by the airport in Philadelphia. It was Friday, Nov. 17. It was the first face-to-face meeting between Scott Frost and the man who was about to be his new boss in two weeks.

But this wasn’t Moos' first dance. He knows you're not in that suite unless there are first some back-channel discussions, with each side getting a fair understanding of the other.

Before hopping on a train to Philadelphia (explanation on who did that and why in a moment), you first need to start with a conversation Moos had a little more than a week he'd been on the job with Tom Osborne.

The two were talking shop about being the Nebraska athletic director, and the culture surrounding the job, things like that. Eventually, the conversation got to the Husker coaching situation and included the name Scott Frost. It also included another name — Matt Davison, friend of Frost, the man who caught the Flea Kicker against Missouri from Frost 20 years ago.

"Frost to the miiiiiiiiddddddddlllllle....." Yeah, you know.

Anyhow, Osborne told Moos: "If you really want to know the real Scott Frost, I think I can tell you, but so can Matt Davison, who is his trusted friend."

Moos did not take those words lightly.

"As soon as Coach left, I had Matt in my office in 15 minutes," Moos said.

The new athletic director got to talking to Davison more regularly after that.

"So he could get a feel for me, and then he relayed what he felt about me to Scott, because Scott has trust in Matt," Moos said. "And Scott's a little bit guarded. That's understandable. I know Matt went to Scott and said, 'This is a guy you can trust. He'll have your back. He'll support you. And Nebraska is going to go places.' That kind of thing. That was a big help."

Meanwhile, Frost's Central Florida team just kept winning. Tennessee's job opened. Florida's job opened. Some Husker fans started to get anxious. Moos didn't budge, keeping to his word and not letting go of Mike Riley during the season. "I don't know what that does," Moos said. "The two of note who did that — Florida and Tennessee — what did they gain on me?"

Besides, he had Davison talking to Frost. "Pestering me," Frost said jokingly. And what did Moos do? Perhaps his shrewdest move of all: He mostly left Frost alone.

This was a little different than when he courted Mike Leach to coach at Washington State in 2011. At the time, Leach wasn't coaching at all. He was living in Key West.

"I had guys nagging Leach, but he didn't have a game to coach," Moos said. "I thought that the No. 1 thing that I could generally impress Scott (with) was, 'Let him have his space. Find out what I'm about, Scott, through Matt Davison, and our visit. And then go ... You'll kick yourself if you get preoccupied with this.'

"And I think, this is just speculation, some of these other places were nagging him and hounding and all that kind of stuff. I could sense and knew through Matt that that did not resonate with him."

Moos thought about meeting Frost in Orlando the Thursday night before Nebraska's game against Penn State. Nah. Might as well do it in Philly on Friday. Frost's team was playing Temple there.

He wanted Davison there, too.

Davison had been in New York, serving as the color analyst for Husker hoops as they took on St. John's. He only found out as that trip began that he was wanted in Philly.

He tried to rent a car, but had trouble getting one he could take just one way. "So I jumped on a train." Then he took a cab. Then he showed up at the Embassy Suites, if that's what it was. They all look the same.

A room was booked.

It would eventually have five people in it: Frost, Davison, Central Florida's director of football operations Gerrod Lambrecht, Moos and his wife, Kendra. The couple had flown a charter plane to get there.

Kendra made sure there were snacks and beverages. She also had a question or two of her own for Frost.

"She gives a tough interview," Moos said. "She had her finger out and everything else. 'You make sure, first and foremost, you're a good daddy to that new baby.' I'm glad she was in there."

The meeting lasted an hour, maybe a bit more.

"It was very casual and there were no notes," Moos said. "It was just I wanted to get to know this guy and I felt he wanted to get a feel for me too."

Davison thought going in that Frost and Moos would get along well, and left thinking they had.

"But I by no means felt it was a slam dunk that Scott was going to be at Nebraska here today," Davison said. "He's a loyal guy to his players at UCF and he was not going to let himself mentally get to that position. He was going to give everything to his players in Orlando."

Moos said he thinks he only sent one text message to Frost after that meeting, just wishing him a good week of preparation. He trusted his idea to allow space.

He had backup plans, of course. You have to have backup plans. And when he met the media last Saturday, Nov. 25, the deal with Frost was not a done deal.

Moos didn't do any negative recruiting of other schools during the process, although he did throw in one jab during last Saturday’s press conference. A memorable one. It was the line about how the SEC eat their young. He had the situation with Florida and Jim McElwain in mind when he said it. Perhaps not unrelated, the Gators were at that point one of the schools thought to be a heavy competitor for Frost.

As for the timing of the Husker offer? It was not extended until after the Iowa game, Moos said. The date it was agreed to was Monday, Nov. 27.

There were reports of last-day uncertainties by Frost. Moos, though, always believed the connection formed through the process would carry the day.

"I really disregarded anybody else I had on the list," Moos said. "I just felt that we had already established a comfortable relationship, and an element of trust each way, and it was just going to get there. It was just a matter of making sure that the details were carried through."

But yeah, it's true he was in Philly a couple weeks ago. It's a question he had maneuvered around when last in front of the media. He had answered then that, well, they do have good sandwiches there.

Now, with Frost seated next to him in a red tie, he could laugh about it.

"There was more than sandwiches there."