A brief history of Husker football

[inWV]

1960s - Gets Good
early 70s - Gets Great
mid-late 70s - can't beat OU
early 80s - offense gets great, defense is achilles heal in one game (plus the oddly shaped field at Ped State)
mid-late 80s - some trouble with OU and southern teams
early 90s - less trouble with OU, more trouble with southern teams in bowls.
mid 90s - Gets Great again
late 90s - transition but we have crouch and Charlie's still coaching the D.
early 00s - wheels loosen on the bus, Frank goes to Athens OH
mid 00s - Cally experiment fails
late 00s - Things are Suhreal for awhile
early 10s - winning for the most part, but no one is really happy about it, including the HC. He gets fired.
Which brings us to the present.

 

[Bill_Callahan2.0]

sounds good to me

 

[B1G RED RULES]

1960s - Gets Good
early 70s - Gets Great
mid-late 70s - can't beat OU
early 80s - offense gets great, defense is achilles heal in one game (plus the oddly shaped field at Ped State)
mid-late 80s - some trouble with OU and southern teams
early 90s - less trouble with OU, more trouble with southern teams in bowls.
mid 90s - Gets Great again
late 90s - transition but we have crouch and Charlie's still coaching the D.
early 00s - wheels loosen on the bus, Frank goes to Athens OH
mid 00s - Cally experiment fails
late 00s - Things are Suhreal for awhile
early 10s - winning for the most part, but no one is really happy about it, including the HC. He gets fired.
Which brings us to the present.

Add to that it will be nearly 50 years since we won our first national championship and 20 years since we won our last. Also getting close to 20 years without a conference championship. On the fast track to becoming Minnesota football.

 

[cidsports]

1960s - Gets Good
early 70s - Gets Great
mid-late 70s - can't beat OU
early 80s - offense gets great, defense is achilles heal in one game (plus the oddly shaped field at Ped State)
mid-late 80s - some trouble with OU and southern teams
early 90s - less trouble with OU, more trouble with southern teams in bowls.
mid 90s - Gets Great again
late 90s - transition but we have crouch and Charlie's still coaching the D.
early 00s - wheels loosen on the bus, Frank goes to Athens OH
mid 00s - Cally experiment fails
late 00s - Things are Suhreal for awhile
early 10s - winning for the most part, but no one is really happy about it, including the HC. He gets fired.
Which brings us to the present.

I am looking forward to B1G West in 2017.

The 2016 season was full of ups and downs, but like the early month of 2017.

Wow, Wisconsin and Nebraska are off to great starts in B1G basketball and the Omaha team is not doing too bad, either.

Happy New Year!

#Until

 

[scarletred]

Add to that it will be nearly 50 years since we won our first national championship and 20 years since we won our last. Also getting close to 20 years without a conference championship. On the fast track to becoming Minnesota football.

I think you're reaching by quite a bit.. We're along long long way to becoming Minnesota if you did you're research the last 20-25 years.

 

[blackshirtproud]

Didn't the mighty 'Bama go on a 17 yr drought of MNC from 92 to 09 with one SEC title in the middle? Although tOSU had many conference titles, they had a 32 yr hiatus from the title from 70 to 02. I am not trying to make excuses here but this is not unprecedented. Have a little faith people!

 

[scarletred]

[QUOTE="blackshirtproud, post: 3230984, Although tOSU had many conference titles, they had a 32 yr hiatus from the title from 70 to 02. I am not trying to make excuses here but this is not unprecedented. Have a little faith people![/QUOTE]

Make that 1968-2002.

Nebraska was the 1970 National Champs Damn it.

 

[DudznSudz]

I've been thinking a lot about whether or not we can ever be great again. I think we can, and I don't think it's horribly bad that we've been in a long slump. It's true that Alabama and Ohio State went through very long periods of being so so to not very good. I think we can be great again, but here are some things I want to see change:

1.) We have to land the recruits. I don't care how we do it, but we have to do it. Hiring Donte Williams was a great first step. Now, let's see our coaches close.

2.) I would like to see us pimp our facilities even more. We have the money and the history here, we have Boyd Epley back, and we have good strength coaches; however, when you're going up against Oregon, et al, for recruits, you need to be able to hang with the best. I say build more bells and whistles until we're blue in the face.

3.) We need to start winning, or just barely losing, the big games. Next year, that means we have to whip Wisconsin's ass, pound Oregon, and lose competitively to Ohio State. Oh, and beat Penn State. That's a tall order, but we should be able to do it. If we can't, I will start questioning the coaching. It should basically be us and Wisconsin every year for the West, and it should be us more than them.

 

[Truehuskerfan]

I've been thinking a lot about whether or not we can ever be great again. I think we can,

I stopped right here in reading your comment. Does this even need thought? There is nothing, I mean nothing I can't stand more than defeatism like this. Anybody who even entertains the question of whether we can be be great again has a loser mentality. Think about what the alternative says. We are 100%, absolutely, positively finished as a great program. It doesn't matter what we do, who we hire, how much money we spend, it's over and done and impossible to be great again. ANY program, and I do mean ANY program, no matter how little success they have had in the past that has that kind of mentality should just fold it up, quit wasting money and use it on something else. Why would or should we continue pouring money into something that we are absolutely 100% sure will never be better than just OK? If that's all we really have to look forward to then we are lying and fooling players, coaches and fans and essentially running a scam operation. What idiot would waste their time discussing a team that was absolutely, positively 100% guaranteed to never be great? And quite frankly, if that's where we are than so are most of the rest of the teams in college football, because if it is absolutely 100% impossible for us to be great again, then so it is for 90% of the teams in the sport. .

I support our coaches whomever they are and I especially like this group, though I don't know and neither does anybody else whether they are the right group to take us back to greatness. But I would abandon them and trash them or any other coaching staff we had nonstop before I would ever even for a second entertain the thought that we were finished as a great program. I am just absolutely fed up and sick of the "woe is us, we suck, nobody takes us seriously anymore, blah, blah, blah" nonsense. Get out of the freakin' dumps people and quit playing this dang pity party for our program.

 

[DudznSudz]

I stopped right here in reading your comment. Does this even need thought? There is nothing, I mean nothing I can't stand more than defeatism like this. Anybody who even entertains the question of whether we can be be great again has a loser mentality. Think about what the alternative says. We are 100%, absolutely, positively finished as a great program. It doesn't matter what we do, who we hire, how much money we spend, it's over and done and impossible to be great again. ANY program, and I do mean ANY program, no matter how little success they have had in the past that has that kind of mentality should just fold it up, quit wasting money and use it on something else. Why would or should we continue pouring money into something that we are absolutely 100% sure will never be better than just OK? If that's all we really have to look forward to then we are lying and fooling players, coaches and fans and essentially running a scam operation. What idiot would waste their time discussing a team that was absolutely, positively 100% guaranteed to never be great? And quite frankly, if that's where we are than so are most of the rest of the teams in college football, because if it is absolutely 100% impossible for us to be great again, then so it is for 90% of the teams in the sport. .

I support our coaches whomever they are and I especially like this group, though I don't know and neither does anybody else whether they are the right group to take us back to greatness. But I would abandon them and trash them or any other coaching staff we had nonstop before I would ever even for a second entertain the thought that we were finished as a great program. I am just absolutely fed up and sick of the "woe is us, we suck, nobody takes us seriously anymore, blah, blah, blah" nonsense. Get out of the freakin' dumps people and quit playing this dang pity party for our program.

Well, if you finished my post you'd have seen that I'm a positive and hopeful person when it comes to this program.

 

[Truehuskerfan]

Well, if you finished my post you'd have seen that I'm a positive and hopeful person when it comes to this program.

Yes, but it should not even be a question of whether we can be great again, it should be about how we can be great again. That's what I don't get-I thought you were pretty positive, but you detracted from your own points by suggesting you actually had to think about whether we can be great again. It's something that shouldn't need any thought.

 

[nudan92]

1960s - Gets Good
early 70s - Gets Great
mid-late 70s - can't beat OU
early 80s - offense gets great, defense is achilles heal in one game (plus the oddly shaped field at Ped State)
mid-late 80s - some trouble with OU and southern teams
early 90s - less trouble with OU, more trouble with southern teams in bowls.
mid 90s - Gets Great again
late 90s - transition but we have crouch and Charlie's still coaching the D.
early 00s - wheels loosen on the bus, Frank goes to Athens OH
mid 00s - Cally experiment fails
late 00s - Things are Suhreal for awhile
early 10s - winning for the most part, but no one is really happy about it, including the HC. He gets fired.
Which brings us to the present.

You omitted about 70 years of some pretty damn good football including teams that were beating Notre Dame including the Four Horsemen. Google Dana Bible, Ewald Stiehm and Walter Booth and you'll see what they were able to accomplish at Nebraska. Nebraska has really only had one era where they were dismal, from the beginning of WW2 until Bob Devaney's arrival with the exception of a few good seasons and some incredible players like Bobby Reynolds and Tom Novak.

 

[inWV]

You omitted about 70 years of some pretty damn good football including teams that were beating Notre Dame including the Four Horsemen. Google Dana Bible, Ewald Stiehm and Walter Booth and you'll see what they were able to accomplish at Nebraska. Nebraska has really only had one era where they were dismal, from the beginning of WW2 until Bob Devaney's arrival with the exception of a few good seasons and some incredible players like Bobby Reynolds and Tom Novak.

Understood, wasn't meant to be comprehensive

 

[nudan92]

Understood, wasn't meant to be comprehensive

No problem, I just like to talk about the pre-Devaney era Huskers when no one else really does. Nebraska was involved in some of the greatest games in the history of college football. We played against Jim Thorpe, Red Grange (holding him scoreless his senior season) and the aforementioned Four Horsemen. Nebraska seriously has a right to claim college football royalty.

 

[ssmill777]

Yes, but it should not even be a question of whether we can be great again, it should be about how we can be great again. That's what I don't get-I thought you were pretty positive, but you detracted from your own points by suggesting you actually had to think about whether we can be great again. It's something that shouldn't need any thought.

Seems like we have quite a few posters who post without thinking about it. I think that's a legitimate statement - to question can we be great again: Is the athletic director sure we can be great again? Like national champs good? Is our coaching staff capable of pulling off that kind of success? Is the quality of athlete we're bringing in going to be "difference makers"? I'm not sure that I can answer yes to those questions, especially by giving it a lot of thought. Just keeping it real. Now, do I think if we had hired an Urban Meyer or Nick Saban - would it be possible to be great/elite again? No doubt about it.

 

[Bugeater]

Reality says Nebraska will be good most of the time, and great some of the time. Depends on your definition of great. Some people would say 8-4 is great after a 2-10 season. You can want or wish this football program to be great all the time if you desire, but reality, again, will give you a different scenario whether you like it or not.

 

[nudan92]

Seems like we have quite a few posters who post without thinking about it. I think that's a legitimate statement - to question can we be great again: Is the athletic director sure we can be great again? Like national champs good? Is our coaching staff capable of pulling off that kind of success? Is the quality of athlete we're bringing in going to be "difference makers"? I'm not sure that I can answer yes to those questions, especially by giving it a lot of thought. Just keeping it real. Now, do I think if we had hired an Urban Meyer or Nick Saban - would it be possible to be great/elite again? No doubt about it.

The coach is almost surely the number one factor in recruiting. If Nick Saban or Urban Meyer were coaching at Nebraska we almost certainly would have top 5 recruiting classes. I honestly don't think Nebraska ever attains playoff status unless we bring in a big time coach.

 

[bigboxes]

The coach is almost surely the number one factor in recruiting. If Nick Saban or Urban Meyer were coaching at Nebraska we almost certainly would have top 5 recruiting classes. I honestly don't think Nebraska ever attains playoff status unless we bring in a big time coach.

You're going to be disappointed in waiting for something that is never going to happen.

 

[Bugeater]

You're going to be disappointed in waiting for something that is never going to happen.

Hope springs eternal.

 

[nudan92]

You're going to be disappointed in waiting for something that is never going to happen.

Actually I won't be because I've lived through 5 MNC's of which 3 of them I can remember. They were not life changing events for me however I really enjoyed the ride. That said I would still probably give up a kidney to regain elite status.

"Not the victory, but the action; Not the goal, but the game; In the deed the glory."

 

[bigboxes]

Actually I won't be because I've lived through 5 MNC's of which 3 of them I can remember. They were not life changing events for me however I really enjoyed the ride. That said I would still probably give up a kidney to regain elite status.

"Not the victory, but the action; Not the goal, but the game; In the deed the glory."

My point is that getting there will have to be done differently at NU than it is at other blue blood schools that have a recruiting advantage. Wishing for a dream hire to turn around our program overnight will never happen. Even if Urban Meyer or Saban took the job here it would take them longer than at their current positions. It is what it is. That doesn't mean that we can't have a respectable program in the interim.

And yeah, I miss being elite.

 

[inWV]

We hired Bob from Wyoming. Bob promoted his OC and ignored the idiots who wanted to fire him right away. Took a few years to beat OU, then a few to get his first great Triplet-led teams.
Clemson did not hire a "big time" coach in Dabo it seems, but they did promote a great recruiter. And of course his location makes it easier.
There is more than one path to getting a great team.