Blue Bloods - football

[jlb321]

mention of blue bloods in a basketball thread led me to ask myself - that while Nebraska is considered a blue blood in football - what is the shelf life of a blue blood if they are no longer relevant - is there an expiration date on Nebraska's program being in this elite group?

Also is Nebraska really concerned about keeping this status ?? We certainly aren't willing to pay our head coach as other blue bloods do -- seems like we are awfully frugal and possibly content to remain a middling BIG program while cashing the gigantic conference checks.

With the unique challenges that Nebraska faces (recruiting territory, weather,etc, etc) paying over a million less than other programs we like to consider peers seems like just giving up

Blue Bloods - Head Coach Salary

Alabama....................6.9 million
ND.............................1.6 * has a special contract to get keep outside endoresements etc ..makes 4 mil
OSU...........................6.1 mil
OU ............................5.5 mil
USC ......................... 3.8 mil
Mich...........................9 mil
Texas ........................5.2 mil
Neb............................2.8 mil

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next 5 programs

LSU ......................... reported 3-4 mil
PSU .........................4.5 mil
Florida...................... 4.3 mil
Georgia ....................3.75 mil
FSU ..........................5.2 mil

 

[bigboxes]

See Minnesota Gophers. We need to get back to competing for conference championships. It takes a while to build the foundation at schools like Nebraska. However, we have a strong history and our traditions match up with anyone. If Riley is not the one that will take us to the promised land, then surely he's the one to rebuild the foundation.

 

[jlb321]

See Minnesota Gophers. We need to get back to competing for conference championships. It takes a while to build the foundation at schools like Nebraska. However, we have a strong history and our traditions match up with anyone. If Riley is not the one that will take us to the promised land, then surely he's the one to rebuild the foundation.

Fleck 3.5 million - i believe

I don't see Minnesota anywhere on the list of elite programs although a long. long time ago they were elite.

We certainly aren't willing to pay our head coach like a program that expects to be elite

 

[NikkiSixx]

seems like we are awfully frugal and possibly content to remain a middling BIG program while cashing the gigantic conference checks.

This is my fear, and why I think the move to the B1G was at least 1 nail in the coffin for the program

 

[scarletred]

I'll start out by saying Tom Osborne wasn't one of the highest payed Head Coach in college football during his era and neither was Bob Devaney, both of these Coach's made Nebraska a blue blood what it is still today in my humble opinion.

Even tho Nebraska hasn't won a conference title in 17 years they are one of three programs that have the most all time wins and remains in the top 10 in all time winning pct. and has won 9 or more games 48 out of the last 55 years...Not too many programs in the country can match that feat.

 

[jlb321]

This is my fear, and why I think the move to the B1G was at least 1 nail in the coffin for the program

agree .. doesn't seem to be much financial incentive to improve our pecking order in the conference .. pay the coach a middle of the road salary .. get our 8-9 wins .. the stadium still gets filled at this level of mediocrity, and cash the conference checks

 

[scarletred]

Fleck 3.5 million - i believe

I don't see Minnesota anywhere on the list of elite programs although a long. long time ago they were elite.

We certainly aren't willing to pay our head coach like a program that expects to be elite

Iowa pays Ferentz 4.5 Million and Iowa is fare from a blue blood too.
Of course all these questions you have need to be asked to SE.

 

[jlb321]

I'll start out by saying Tom Osborne wasn't one of the highest payed Head Coach in college football during his era and neither was Bob Devaney, both of these Coach's made Nebraska a blue blood what it is still today in my humble opinion.

Even tho Nebraska hasn't won a conference title in 17 years they are one of three programs that have the most all time wins and remains in the top 10 in all time winning pct. and has won 9 or more games 47 out of the last 54 years...Not too many programs in the country can match that feat.

there is no question that nebraska is still a blue blood ... but that is now based almost entirely on its history ... in today's college football world we aren't going to compete by expecting coaches to take a discount because "we are Nebraska".

 

[jlb321]

Iowa pays Ferentz 4.5 Million and Iowa is fare from a blue blood too.
Of course all these questions you have need to be asked to SE.

yes but Iowa knows they are an upper middling program but has many of the same disadvantages that Nebraska faces - geographically

therefore they figure that in order to maintain their station they have to pay more than the other upper middling programs in the nation to compensate for the recruiting disadvantage and the fact that there program is in Iowa and not Florida

all of the other programs on that blue blood list have built in advantages that Nebraska doesn't .... we shouldn't add coaching salary to that list of advantages

 

[bigboxes]

Fleck 3.5 million - i believe

I don't see Minnesota anywhere on the list of elite programs although a long. long time ago they were elite.

We certainly aren't willing to pay our head coach like a program that expects to be elite

I was just giving an example of how we will know we are not a blue blood any longer, when we become Minnesota. They were once considered elite and things changed. The landscape of college football has changed since NU last was dominant. Can we adapt? I think so. It still doesn't make me happy that we are not in the conversation these days. I am hopeful though.

 

[scarletred]

yes but Iowa knows they are an upper middling program but has many of the same disadvantages that Nebraska faces - geographically

therefore they are smart enough to know that in order to maintain their station they have to pay more than the other upper middling programs in the nation to comensate for the recruiting disadvantage and the fact that there program is in Iowa and not Florida

More like they didn't want to lose Ferentz and take a chance on a head coach that won't accomplish what he has achieved over the last 18 years, 2 co-B1G titles, 5 or 6 Top 8 finishes and he has a 135-92 record and is 83-64 in the conference.

 

[jlb321]

More like they didn't want to lose Ferentz and take a chance on a head coach that won't accomplish what he has achieved over the last 18 years, 2 co-B1G titles, 5 or 6 Top 8 finishes and he has a 135-92 record and is 83-64 in the conference.

well for 2.8 million I guess we can at least hope that we can supplant Iowa in the current pecking order of the BIG west ... but at the end of the day the conference pay day is the same so it doesn't really matter. Still enough people around to fill the stadium and wax poetically about TO and Devaney from decades ago. No real urgency to be anything other than mediocre.

 

[scarletred]

I was just giving an example of how we will know we are not a blue blood any longer, when we become Minnesota. They were once considered elite and things changed. The landscape of college football has changed since NU last was dominant. Can we adapt? I think so. It still doesn't make me happy that we are not in the conversation these days. I am hopeful though.

Minnesota program went on hard times in the early 1960's one reason was the Minnesota Viking franchise started up in 1961 and they made terrible hires and they left their stadium on campus for to share the Metro Dome with the Vikings they have a 0.458 winning percentage since 1962 winning record.

I believe Minnesota only has one 10 win season since this time period and plenty of losing seasons in between.

 

[Truehuskerfan]

Minnesota program went on hard times in the early 1960's one reason was the Minnesota Viking franchise started up in 1961 and they made terrible hires and they left their stadium on campus for to share the Metro Dome with the Vikings they have a 0.458 winning percentage since 1962 winning record.

I believe Minnesota only has one 10 win season since this time period and plenty of losing seasons in between.

Yes-I've heard the comparison made before between us and Minnesota as a program that used to be a blue blood but fell on hard times, but the comparison really doesn't work. We are far from falling to Minnesota's level and will never get there as long as we have the desire to maintain a great program. People in Minnesota just didn't care as much about the Gophers when they got professional sports. That's not going to happen in Nebraska.

 

[scarletred]

Yes-I've heard the comparison made before between us and Minnesota as a program that used to be a blue blood but fell on hard times, but the comparison really doesn't work. We are far from falling to Minnesota's level and will never get there as long as we have the desire to maintain a great program. People in Minnesota just didn't care as much about the Gophers when they got professional sports. That's not going to happen in Nebraska.

And that is still true to this day in Minneapolis. When was the last time the Gophers sold out their new TC bank stadium.

 

[timnsun]

Keep in mind Nebraska has won 5 NCs in the last 45 years... how many has Michigan won? Norte Dame? Texas? RedScarlet's stats are good as well...

I agree that we are far from elite and that has been the case for a dozen years now, but that has to be the case a lot longer than recent history for us to be knocked from blue blood status in my opinion.

 

[jlb321]

Keep in mind Nebraska has won 5 NCs in the last 45 years... how many has Michigan won? Norte Dame? Texas? RedScarlet's stats are good as well...

I agree that we are far from elite and that has been the case for a dozen years now, but that has to be the case a lot longer than recent history for us to be knocked from blue blood status in my opinion.

completely agree ... but at some point I would like to once again have the program start contributing to its legacy rather than being completely dependent on it ... it doesn't seem like we are willing to invest like other programs as far as the head coach is concerned

 

[Truehuskerfan]

Keep in mind Nebraska has won 5 NCs in the last 45 years... how many has Michigan won? Norte Dame? Texas? RedScarlet's stats are good as well...

I agree that we are far from elite and that has been the case for a dozen years now, but that has to be the case a lot longer than recent history for us to be knocked from blue blood status in my opinion.

Michigan is a good example of a team that has always been considered a blue blood regardless of recent success. They've only won 2 national championships in the poll era(since 1936) and only one in nearly the last 70 years. They've gone through their share of hard times(worse than we have been in recent years) over that period too. Blue blood status seems to be as much about fan enthusiasm(which really never goes away for blue blood programs regardless of year to year success) and having an established brand that people recognize.

 

[scarletred]

completely agree ... but at some point I would like to once again have the program start contributing to its legacy rather than being completely dependent on it ... it doesn't seem like we are willing to invest like other programs as far as the head coach is concerned

Again this all falls on the AD decision who he hires as Football, Basketball and if you want to throw Baseball in the ring as well.

 

[jlb321]

Again this all falls on the AD decision who he hires as Football, Basketball and if you want to throw Baseball in the ring as well.

yes, and I think that the AD knows that while there is all kinds of grumbling about not being elite from the fans, it is all bluster, and the stadium will continue to be full with 8-9 wins per year. He can be frugal and control costs which creates a larger delta after cashing the conference checks. The fan base wants to be elite/relevant but the athletic department is willing to endure a bit a grumbling because at the end of the day they know fans will keep showing up.

 

[Harry Caray]

Since we shared the National Title in 1997, Michigan has won 4 conference championships and has had 6 Top 10 finishes. We have had 0 conference titles and 2 Top 10 finishes (both under Frank Solich, zero since 2001).

They also have a couple other things going for them that we don't: proximity to fertile recruiting areas, and a reputation as one of the best academic institutions in the nation. That will make it much harder for them to fade into irrelevance than us.

 

[scarletred]

yes, and I think that the AD knows that while there is all kinds of grumbling about not being elite from the fans, it is all bluster, and the stadium will continue to be full with 8-9 wins per year. He can be frugal and control costs which creates a larger delta after cashing the conference checks. The fan base wants to be elite/relevant but the athletic department is willing to endure a bit a grumbling because at the end of the day they know fans will keep showing up.

I get what your're saying here.. But just think if Eichirst hired Riley for 3.5 million U and I for starters would have said " are you f___£ing kidding me what's he done to deserve that much coming from Oregon State".

 

[jlb321]

I get what your're saying here.. But just think if Eichirst hired Riley for 3.5 million U and I for starters would have said " are you f___£ing kidding me what's he done to deserve that much coming from Oregon State".

you are correct ... I just wonder who might have been in play for 4-6 million?
I realize Harbaugh was never going to come here .. but I wonder when we are next looking for a new coach, and lets say Scott Frost is a hot comody.. would we be willing to pay 6 million to entice him if the timing is right like it was with Harbaugh?
I am supportive of Reilly and maybe his results will earn him a big raise.

the salary we are paying is still significantly less than what LSU, Georgia, USC, Florida etc are paying for newer hires who haven't proved anything

 

[Truehuskerfan]

you are correct ... I just wonder who might have been in play for 4-6 million?
I realize Harbaugh was never going to come here .. but I wonder when we are next looking for a new coach, and lets say Scott Frost is a hot comody.. would we be willing to pay 6 million to entice him if the timing is right like it was with Harbaugh?
I am supportive of Reilly and maybe his results will earn him a big raise.

the salary we are paying is still significantly less than what LSU, Georgia, USC, Florida etc are paying for newer hires who haven't proved anything

And the fact we are paying less than LSU. Georgia, USC, Florida, etc. are paying for newer hires who haven't proven anything in itself proves nothing about anything. There are a lot of factors that go into coaching salaries that have nothing at all to do with the quality of the school or how much the school cares about winning. Comparing coaching salaries is a terrible way to determine who are blue blood programs and who aren't.

 

[jlb321]

And the fact we are paying less than LSU. Georgia, USC, Florida, etc. are paying for newer hires who haven't proven anything in itself proves nothing about anything. There are a lot of factors that go into coaching salaries that have nothing at all to do with the quality of the school or how much the school cares about winning. Comparing coaching salaries is a terrible way to determine who are blue blood programs and who aren't.

it clearly doesn't determine who is a blue blood .. I think it does, in part, comment about how much a program is willing to invest in a top flight (perceived or proven) coach ... we are never going to be in the conversation for a top flight proven coach for under 3.5 million per year. There is no doubt the fans care about winning but from a business perspective the athletic department knows they can pay a coach on the cheap .. have an average to slightly better than average program and the return on investment will be much more than if they paid a coach 6 million per year and won 11+ games a year+ conference championships.

Let Michigan, OSU, PSU pay top dollar and be the bell cows for the conference and we will sit back and be happy to cash the checks that are the byproduct of those programs (along with Wisconsin and heck even occasionally Iowa) making the conference relevant. We are certainly getting a heck of lot more than we are contributing to this conference at this point. Kudos to Harvey and TO for getting us into the BIG and selling the fact we would be an asset.

Again, hypothetically, Reilly retires, Scott Frost is a hot commodity and looking to move on ... if Florida, Georgia, LSU are also looking are we willing to outbid these programs for a head coach?

 

[19Football19]

I'll start out by saying Tom Osborne wasn't one of the highest payed Head Coach in college football during his era and neither was Bob Devaney, both of these Coach's made Nebraska a blue blood what it is still today in my humble opinion.

Even tho Nebraska hasn't won a conference title in 17 years they are one of three programs that have the most all time wins and remains in the top 10 in all time winning pct. and has won 9 or more games 48 out of the last 55 years...Not too many programs in the country can match that feat.

I hate when people bring up the past or the 90s or TO. TO became great when Barry S retired. Let's not forget. Name another BB that's gone 17 years without a single championship. Not to mention it's not changing anytime soon.

 

[scarletred]

I hate when people bring up the past or the 90s or TO. TO became great when Barry S retired. Let's not forget. Name another BB that's gone 17 years without a single championship. Not to mention it's not changing anytime soon.

Tennessee and Notre Dame.

 

[bigboxes]

Name another BB that's gone 17 years without a single championship.

NU took 23 years between championships from Devaney to TO. Hell, it's going on 17 years for OU as of this year (assuming they don't win it all). Miami (FL) is going on 16 years. Going on 31 years for Penn State. USC is going on 13 years. Shall I continue?

 

[Harry Caray]

NU took 23 years between championships from Devaney to TO. Hell, it's going on 17 years for OU as of this year (assuming they don't win it all). Miami (FL) is going on 16 years. Going on 31 years for Penn State. USC is going on 13 years. Shall I continue?

I'm assuming he meant conference championships. PSU has won 3 in the last 12 years. OU and USC have won a bunch. Miami's won 4 since the last time we have. Notre Dame doesn't have a conference but has made several BCS bowls since the last time we have.

Tennessee is the best comparison to us. And I'm not sure how many really consider them a "blue blood" anymore.

 

[scarletred]

NU took 23 years between championships from Devaney to TO. Hell, it's going on 17 years for OU as of this year (assuming they don't win it all). Miami (FL) is going on 16 years. Going on 31 years for Penn State. USC is going on 13 years. Shall I continue?

I believe his intentions were counting conference titles not just National titles.

 

[Truehuskerfan]

it clearly doesn't determine who is a blue blood .. I think it does, in part, comment about how much a program is willing to invest in a top flight (perceived or proven) coach ... we are never going to be in the conversation for a top flight proven coach for under 3.5 million per year. There is no doubt the fans care about winning but from a business perspective the athletic department knows they can pay a coach on the cheap .. have an average to slightly better than average program and the return on investment will be much more than if they paid a coach 6 million per year and won 11+ games a year+ conference championships.

Let Michigan, OSU, PSU pay top dollar and be the bell cows for the conference and we will sit back and be happy to cash the checks that are the byproduct of those programs (along with Wisconsin and heck even occasionally Iowa) making the conference relevant. We are certainly getting a heck of lot more than we are contributing to this conference at this point. Kudos to Harvey and TO for getting us into the BIG and selling the fact we would be an asset.

Again, hypothetically, Reilly retires, Scott Frost is a hot commodity and looking to move on ... if Florida, Georgia, LSU are also looking are we willing to outbid these programs for a head coach?

Scott Frost may not be the best person to use as an example because theoretically one could surmise that he might be willing to come back to his alma mater for less(I say theoretically, because I seriously doubt that he would-but it's not out of the realm of possibility). But if the question is simply are we willing to pay top dollar for a coach, I think we would if the situation is right and they are worthy of that price.

There seems to be an assumption among some people that based on our recent hires, we are not willing to "open the checkbook" and pay top dollar for a coach. But I would submit that in each of those cases, we were in a unique situation with coaching hires that makes it difficult to determine that. Frank Solich following Tom Osborne was an internal promotion, and thus we didn't need to pay him a really big salary. I would say that the coaching search following Solich's firing is the only time we were really on the open market looking for a coach-but Steve Pederson botched that process so badly that we were left with a pro coach who had just been fired from a head coaching job-thus Bill Callahan came relatively cheap(or so I recall-I really don't remember how his salary compared with other head coaches, but I don't think it was particularly high.) When Osborne was replacing Callahan, it was pretty clear that the new coach was going to be either Pelini or Gill. Neither was exactly a hot head coaching commodity at the time, so it's not like somebody would have tried to outbid us for either of them. Mike Riley was Sean Eichorst's target from the start when he was replacing Pelini, and given again that he wasn't a hot coaching commodity, he also came relatively cheaply.

I would say it's more likely than not that when we make the next hire, whenever that may be, that we will be more on the open market looking for a coach and may have to pay more. Just because we haven't had to before because of unique situations I don't think means that we aren't willing to. I don't think that means necessarily that we are going to get into a huge bidding war with other schools over a coach either, but if the strong desire to be successful is still there(and I have little doubt it will be), I think we will pay more for a coach than we are paying now, again provided that the situation is right and they are worthy of being paid that much.

 

[scarletred]

I'm assuming he meant conference championships. PSU has won 3 in the last 12 years. OU and USC have won a bunch. Miami's won 4 since the last time we have. Notre Dame doesn't have a conference but has made several BCS bowls since the last time we have.

Tennessee is the best comparison to us. And I'm not sure how many really consider them a "blue blood" anymore.

Tennessee is one of the top 10 winnings programs pct wise if you count Florida State they are 11th but FSU has played 464 games less.

Notre Dame been in 4 BCS bowls but doesn't have to win a conference title game to get a bid either.. BCS game I suppose you could say they earned that but they haven't won one of those BCS games either.

 

[Truehuskerfan]

Tennessee and Notre Dame.

Look at Michigan too. They do have 3 conference championships since we won our last one, but two of those are shared titles-the last of those being in 2004 and their only solo title being in 2003. Keep in mind too that they were able to win those titles without winning a conference championship game. We've appeared in 4 conference championship games in that period(including one in the B1G), while Michigan has not appeared in any B1G championship games in the 6 years the game has been around. So really, in the realm of conference championships in the last 17 years, Michigan is only marginally better than us and since we have been in the B1G together, not even as good. Yet nobody for a moment would question whether they are a blue blood program(and I would agree that they are one).

 

[percyland]

If you have to debate if you're a blue blood. You're not a blue blood.

 

[Truehuskerfan]

If you have to debate if you're a blue blood. You're not a blue blood.

You can debate any team's status as a blue blood. Just because you are debating it doesn't mean you aren't one. 12 ESPN writers last year said we are one. I agree with them.

http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...rojans-lead-list-college-football-blue-bloods

 

[jlb321]

If you have to debate if you're a blue blood. You're not a blue blood.

no one is debating whether or not we are a blue blood ... clearly we are and almost every college football article has Nebraska on that list

the question I have is how invested is the athletic department in getting the program back to elite status or like many have stated in this thread are we comfortable knowing that our status as a blue blood has been cemented over decades of success so really there is no pressing need to be a top ten program .. sit back and collect big fat conference checks without really doing anything of note to earn them

 

[percyland]

You can debate any team's status as a blue blood. Just because you are debating it doesn't mean you aren't one. 12 ESPN writers last year said we are one. I agree with them.

http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...rojans-lead-list-college-football-blue-bloods

Okay and I disagree with them?

I think the debate should be whether or not Nebraska can be a contender every year in the Big Ten West.

The only true people who blue blood status matters to is the recruits. Kids who didnt grow up in the 80s and 90s don't know who Nebraska is. Proof is in the recruiting rankings. Or I could say proof is in the lack of doing anything relevant in the last 20 years but that one always gets pushed aside.

 

[scarletred]

If you have to debate if you're a blue blood. You're not a blue blood.

And if you're wanting a debate about it I'll oblige.

 

[Truehuskerfan]

Okay and I disagree with them?

I think the debate should be whether or not Nebraska can be a contender every year in the Big Ten West.

The only true people who blue blood status matters to is the recruits. Kids who didnt grow up in the 80s and 90s don't know who Nebraska is. Proof is in the recruiting rankings. Or I could say proof is in the lack of doing anything relevant in the last 20 years but that one always gets pushed aside.

You're entitled to your opinion. The fact you are an Iowa fan who hates Nebraska should be noted in that too. I can't stand Notre Dame. That doesn't mean I don't think they are a blue blood program. Some of us can be objective enough to acknowledge that just because we don't like a team doesn't mean we can't acknowledge that they hold a status that we don't particularly like.

 

[percyland]

And if you're wanting a debate about it I'll oblige.

I'll give Nebraska the label of a "legacy" program which does help I admit.