Earlier today I was getting annoyed on RSS with the re-occurring myth of state of Nebraska players being THE END ALL and I remembered sumin'. It deals with the fickle nature of fans and hindsight being 20/20, with recruiting especially.
Since Matt Davison changed the local sports radio game a bit by doing ex-player shows in 2002, I have heard some of these shows. In 2003, Tommie Frazier did a show from Ameristar.
This had to be after one of the whippings NU/Frank took in '03 and fans were just fed up with the last three years of butt-kickings that were out of the blue starting with CU in 2001. And not winning the North in four years after winning it three of the first four years of the Big 12.
With all these blowout losses once Osborne's culture and roster were gone, it was clear Solich was not competent to be HC or OC, after having done neither at this level prior to 1998, and fans were just fed up with Frank.
Anyway, someone calls the show and says, "Somebody needs to tell Frank it's GO BIG RED...not GO BIG WHITE!"
DAMN! Lol.
Now open to some interp, but specifically in 2003 NU had a Caucasian I-Back in Josh Davis who was starting because of recruiting misses and when he signed NOBODY thought, "One day he will start at I-Back."
Also, starting at CB was another fair-skinned boy in Pat Ricketts. Again, recruiting misses and solid player, but when he walked-on, nobody thought "Yep, starter." Unlike say Crouch who was a BIG deal when he signed and most thought would be a starter at some point.
But in general, the caller probably meant: Go get ATHLETES and we don't care if they didn't grow up on a farm in Nebraska!
Also, Lord, obviously not white, was starting too b/c of recruiting misses further angering the NU fanbase. Lord was decent but the previous 20 years had many All-Americans and First Team All-Conference QBs with the starting Husker QB being a high-profile/glam type position nation-wide. Lord was just not at that level but tough QB.
And Lord had NOBODY behind him. Not sure how this was possible with the previous 10 years having Tommie, Berringer, Scott and Eric. (Crawford was just one guy too.)
I will say while recruiting is very important (obviously), the HC and coordinators are just as big a piece, if not bigger, part of team and this is where NU REALLY lacked at the time.
BTW, Switzer's funny comment about "The Jimmys/Joes/Xs/Os" really only applies if you have a Top 10 team and a Bottom 10 Team playing each other.
Just remember that caller the next time somebody starts babbling about all the Neb-born kids on the 1997 team. With that 1997 coaching staff, they could have developed any decent roster into a damn good team, and as we say saw, a great roster was the best team in the country that year.
Since Matt Davison changed the local sports radio game a bit by doing ex-player shows in 2002, I have heard some of these shows. In 2003, Tommie Frazier did a show from Ameristar.
This had to be after one of the whippings NU/Frank took in '03 and fans were just fed up with the last three years of butt-kickings that were out of the blue starting with CU in 2001. And not winning the North in four years after winning it three of the first four years of the Big 12.
With all these blowout losses once Osborne's culture and roster were gone, it was clear Solich was not competent to be HC or OC, after having done neither at this level prior to 1998, and fans were just fed up with Frank.
Anyway, someone calls the show and says, "Somebody needs to tell Frank it's GO BIG RED...not GO BIG WHITE!"
DAMN! Lol.
Now open to some interp, but specifically in 2003 NU had a Caucasian I-Back in Josh Davis who was starting because of recruiting misses and when he signed NOBODY thought, "One day he will start at I-Back."
Also, starting at CB was another fair-skinned boy in Pat Ricketts. Again, recruiting misses and solid player, but when he walked-on, nobody thought "Yep, starter." Unlike say Crouch who was a BIG deal when he signed and most thought would be a starter at some point.
But in general, the caller probably meant: Go get ATHLETES and we don't care if they didn't grow up on a farm in Nebraska!
Also, Lord, obviously not white, was starting too b/c of recruiting misses further angering the NU fanbase. Lord was decent but the previous 20 years had many All-Americans and First Team All-Conference QBs with the starting Husker QB being a high-profile/glam type position nation-wide. Lord was just not at that level but tough QB.
And Lord had NOBODY behind him. Not sure how this was possible with the previous 10 years having Tommie, Berringer, Scott and Eric. (Crawford was just one guy too.)
I will say while recruiting is very important (obviously), the HC and coordinators are just as big a piece, if not bigger, part of team and this is where NU REALLY lacked at the time.
BTW, Switzer's funny comment about "The Jimmys/Joes/Xs/Os" really only applies if you have a Top 10 team and a Bottom 10 Team playing each other.
Just remember that caller the next time somebody starts babbling about all the Neb-born kids on the 1997 team. With that 1997 coaching staff, they could have developed any decent roster into a damn good team, and as we say saw, a great roster was the best team in the country that year.
