Drama, Drama, Everywhere...

[Tuco Salamanca]

Are you stuck in a loop or something - Lets be clear here:

1. You have no idea if raising the bar for coaches salaries ( including assistants) would not help attract better coaches - you simply do not know this and cannot know it until its tried. If Nick Saban said he was interested in coaching Nebraska, they would pay whatever he wanted. As I stated before big time athletics is not Wal-Mart or a government job with a pay scale. If a guy has interest, the AD will know a guy has interest. The coach doesn't need to ask what is the pay scale.

2. There are many ways to use money that should and could be brainstormed - This AD gives the money back to the University when the sports teams are failing - brilliant! Like what?

3. If like you this program is not willing to try then do not bitch when it fails - and a "few extra bucks" is not 2 million or more Its a few bucks in the overall scheme of things. Dan Mullen isn't leaving Miss St for less than $5.5 million per year. Is Dan Mullen worth $5.5 million a year? Not to me he isn't.

 

[huskerfan1414]

I think you both have good points.
We should be willing and ready to pay top dollar, up shouldn't do it for the sake of doing it if the coach hasn't earned it.
I agree with tacos point about interest, but I also think you have to be known as willing to pay top amount..a reputation if you will, to catch coaches attention.
We may or may not have that I don't know.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

But the whole reason there is drama drama everywhere is because we lost to northern Illinois, Oregon, and played terrible in our 1 win.
It's isn't because we aren't going to win a NC this year, or even a big 10 championship. Few expect that right now, it you obviously think everyone expects it immediately.
Had we beat NIU like we should, there wouldn't be as much drama drama everywhere. There'd be some of course, no one will ever be completely happy heck go to Alabamas board. But the post was an obvious reaction to the dire mood after losing to NIU, hardly the same as losing a top 10 matchup eliminating us from playoff contention.
Expecting better this year may be entitlement in the dictionary definition, but it doesn't mean husker fans feel entitled to a national title this year or immediately after Riley was hired. That's make believe.

The whole preseason was talk of this is year 3 and if he doesn't compete for championships he needs to go. That is fact. There was drama after the Ark St game, there was drama after the Oregon game, there will be drama after the Rutgers game. This is a byproduct of the fan base believing this job is something more than it currently is. Expecting better isn't necessarily entitlement. The entitlement comes from believing because we are Nebraska that things should just be a certain way. I didn't mention national championship one time in my post. I said championships, be that division, conference or national championships.

Everyone should be disappointed in a loss to Northern Illinois, but the OP and my reply were not based on that one loss. This is a 20 year issue littered with blotched decision after blotched decision.

 

[otismotis08]

It's not just about paying the HC. Sometimes I think they get too much focus. We need to be paying the assistants and recruiters. These guys are critical to success, and good ones need to be kept in the fold long-term. That was a big part to TO's approach.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

It's not just about paying the HC. Sometimes I think they get too much focus. We need to be paying the assistants and recruiters. These guys are critical to success, and good ones need to be kept in the fold long-term. That was a big part to TO's approach.

What was? Osborne's picture is next to the definition of frugal in the dictionary.

I also disagree a little with the good ones need to be kept in the fold long-term. I said this in another thread, but Osborne was lucky in that he didn't have many assistants, especially on the offensive side of the ball that had aspirations of becoming coordinators or head coaches. It also led to the complacency that affected Solich. He had guys that no longer wanted to do the leg work.

 

[otismotis08]

What was? Osborne's picture is next to the definition of frugal in the dictionary.

I also disagree a little with the good ones need to be kept in the fold long-term. I said this in another thread, but Osborne was lucky in that he didn't have many assistants, especially on the offensive side of the ball that had aspirations of becoming coordinators or head coaches. It also led to the complacency that affected Solich. He had guys that no longer wanted to do the leg work.

TO kept his assistants long-term, largely due to loyalty.
These days, top-level pay will attract them and keep them around, and focused on what they are good at.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

TO kept his assistants long-term, largely due to loyalty.
These days, top-level pay will attract them and keep them around, and focused on what they are good at.

Where do assistants stick around long term? Some of the highest paid assistants have left some of the top schools in the country. The average coaching tenure is about 5 years, the days of TO, Paterno, Bowden are done and left with Stoops. He was in his mid 50's and quit. He also had a bunch of turnover in his assistant coaches. Saban has a new coordinator every year, same with Urban.

 

[little a]

My two cents, and feel free to weigh in:

- We need to shelve the talk of hiring a new coach and relax, let the team play, and watch them be extremely hit-and-miss this year, as was the plan all along. They're running a different offense, a new defensive scheme, and their QB situation is, in my opinion, yet to be sorted out. Going forward, I hate to say it, but Coach Cav has probably gotta go. The O-line play just hasn't been there while he's been the coach.

- Firing Riley right now is a terrible idea for financial and perception reasons. Letting Riley finish out this year, and next, and land good recruiting classes, is an excellent idea. I never thought this team was going to be superb this year, but they very well might be in 2018.

- Going forward, relax. This is not the program it was under Osborne, and it never will be again. With good hires (and I would argue our position coaches, in general, have been very good hires), and the defense settling in, we'll be ok.

The thing everyone has to remember is, the people running this program did NOT do the "open the checkbook and sign for whatever amount is demanded" approach to hiring a coach. That is the one way you can get a Meyer, Harbaugh, Dabo Jim Bob Redneck, Saban, etc to show up and turn a program around in 1 year. We instead went the cheaper route, and nothing is particularly wrong with that, it just takes a lot longer to build up a program that way. It's also entirely possible that Riley simply stabilizes the program and then retires anytime between 2018 and 2021. At THAT point, when he retires gracefully (because he is a good guy and has had a long, respectful career) we can talk about bringing in Frost, or going the "splash hire" route, but not until then.

I love Nebraska football, but this fan base can be really negative and entitled. I know we've watched a once-prominent program sink down to being fairly lowly, but it can all be reversed with time and effort, and it IS just football.

Well, that's like, your opinion man.....

 

[otismotis08]

Where do assistants stick around long term? Some of the highest paid assistants have left some of the top schools in the country. The average coaching tenure is about 5 years, the days of TO, Paterno, Bowden are done and left with Stoops. He was in his mid 50's and quit. He also had a bunch of turnover in his assistant coaches. Saban has a new coordinator every year, same with Urban.

We don't have to be like everyone else. Take a different approach, pay up, and let people do what they're good at.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

We don't have to be like everyone else. Take a different approach, pay up, and let people do what they're good at.

It's the coaches that have the different approach. Coaches move on or get promoted. No one wants to be the RB coach at state U for 17 years anymore. They are doing what they are good at, they just do it for several schools over the course of their career.

 

[SnohomishRed]

Oh what to do with all our money???
Eichorst decision making tree

A) spend it on non-athletic scholarships

B) what does Alabama do - https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/30/sports/ncaafootball/alabama-college-football-coaches.html

Eichorst goes with A

 

[hddude55]

Fire Riley and hire Trump. We'd win so much that you'd get sick of winning.

 

[otismotis08]

It's the coaches that have the different approach. Coaches move on or get promoted. No one wants to be the RB coach at state U for 17 years anymore. They are doing what they are good at, they just do it for several schools over the course of their career.

Not always. Some guys are meant to be OC or DC and they know it.

 

[Chuck003]

I wish his winning percentage was .630 here. More like .552

 

[barney44]

I get that, but that's hindsight, especially for Hawkins. And after 4 seasons for Saban at MSU, there were a .500 team... it was his last year where they really took a leap and he went 9-2. If he was judged on his first 4 years he would look no different than Riley does now.

The point is, people who claim Riley was never gonna do better than 54% act like it's clear and anybody who thought otherwise is a moron. All I'm saying is it isn't that cut and dried. Look at Rodriguez at W. Virginia, where he was quite successful, and then at Michigan, where he bombed. There really isn't any rhyme or reason to it. There are very few sure things in college football.

Saban was turning things around at Michigan State and I'd think that would be the difference. You also had a small body of work to judge Saban by where Riley offered a careers worth. I'm not saying I disagree with your point but we're comparing opposite ends of the spectrum here with Sabans case and Rileys. It is hit and miss though and we can never expect a certain result to be set in stone no matter who Nebraska hires. We have found the right man more than once before, I think we can do it again.

 

[huskerfan1414]

The whole preseason was talk of this is year 3 and if he doesn't compete for championships he needs to go. That is fact. There was drama after the Ark St game, there was drama after the Oregon game, there will be drama after the Rutgers game. This is a byproduct of the fan base believing this job is something more than it currently is. Expecting better isn't necessarily entitlement. The entitlement comes from believing because we are Nebraska that things should just be a certain way. I didn't mention national championship one time in my post. I said championships, be that division, conference or national championships.

Everyone should be disappointed in a loss to Northern Illinois, but the OP and my reply were not based on that one loss. This is a 20 year issue littered with blotched decision after blotched decision.

No. That's false, it was not the story.
I said I thought we had a chance at 10 but didn't expect to win the big 10. As I recall I was one of the more optimistic on this board, so much so I was confused but now I know I was wrong, it I never thought Big10.
The freaking division is not a championship, jeeze tuco just stop, you're better than that.

 

[barney44]

And I get that. Again, the point I'm making is where a person coaches can make a difference as well. To think Riley could be successful here with all we have to offer isn't a moronic thing to think. He is proving that thinking wrong right now, but at the time he was hired it wasn't an unreasonable expectation to have that he would get better.

I thought maybe it could happen so you can toss me in to that bunch. I didn't really like the hire and was confused by it but I didn't let his record get in the way of the things I've seen some of his teams do. I figured with better support and resources he would do better, how much I wasn't sure but I hope for the best regardless.

 

[oldjar07]

Oh what to do with all our money???
Eichorst decision making tree

A) spend it on non-athletic scholarships

B) what does Alabama do - https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/30/sports/ncaafootball/alabama-college-football-coaches.html

Eichorst goes with A

I agree with you that there's many creative ways to be using that money instead of giving it away. And no, that doesn't include participating in the arms race of upgrading facilities. Everyone's doing that and it doesn't give that much of an advantage. The fact that Shawn Eichorst can't figure out a use for that money when our sports programs are struggling shows how poor of an AD he is and how little he cares about their success.

But I also agree with Tuco's point that their is no point in overpaying for average coaches. Pay Riley 8 million he's still the same coach. I disagree that we can't attract bigger name coaches than we have the last couple coaching searches. I don't think we tried to get a big name coach. The AD already had his guy.

I think we need to be flexible in regards to coaches. If Stoops or Kelly is willing to come here, I think we need to be willing to pay him 7 or 8 million. If Frost or another mid major coach want to come here, I don't think we should pay them much more than 3 or 4 million until they've proven they are worth more.

 

[Toms Wife]

No. That's false, it was not the story.
I said I thought we had a chance at 10 but didn't expect to win the big 10. As I recall I was one of the more optimistic on this board, so much so I was confused but now I know I was wrong, it I never thought Big10.
The freaking division is not a championship, jeeze tuco just stop, you're better than that.

I'm not for calling winning the division a championship. If that's the case we would have to give Bo his due on championships. I'm not really interested in doing that.