having a coach who welcomes reporters and ANSWERS their questions with sincerity! Great interview today with MR. LOVE IT!!
It's GREAT
- Thread starter HuskerOH
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For a small population state, you guys really do have some impressive journalists in Nebraska too! Have they always been this on top of things?
I got a good feeling, MR seems to be that CEO type we need. All bases covered. Also love how he speaks so honestly and thanks the media for coming out.
It is nice to have a guy who doesn't feel threatened by the reporters or their questions. Answers honestly and is low key. We don't have to wonder if he's going to fly off the handle and punch someone or storm out. It like we have a professional in charge.
I look forward to the day that the narrative changes from nice guy to big time winner. It CAN be both, but that is rarely the case.
Agree with this it is nice to know that people can get some good insight. Hopefully this year we start turning the corner. I was skeptical about the hire but hope this staff can do the job. They are a lot easier to pull for than the previous staff.
Refreshing to see a coach embrace all roles of the job, Equally nice is for him to recognize the positive fan support and school tradition (which is what separates us from other schools) rather than let it be a negative.
GBR
GBR
agreed and the best coaches do embrace fan bases like this - I just hope he can win as otherwise it will/could be very nasty once the fans get upset
But what would be even more refreshing is a coach who wins big games for us for a change. We have not had a coach who consistently had us winning big games since a certain head coach retired in 1997.
I don't care if Riley is Guy Smiley at news conferences. Just win damn it
I don't care if Riley is Guy Smiley at news conferences. Just win damn it
+1 .. I will just add the caveat that you have to be in a big game in order to win it - our definition of "big game" has morphed. It used to be a game with potential national title implications for us or for both teams. It is now defined as upsetting a national relevant team.
I am not sure we have even played in a big game in recent years. The Michigan State game was only big due to the implications it had for MSU (not us). Same for Iowa. I'm tired of playing these big games as significant underdogs just hoping to pull an upset.
I agree to an extent. I like Riley. I think he is a good coach. And don't get me wrong, I too like his mature professionalism at news conferences.
Just tired of losing. Never thought I would be happy that Nebraska was among those "others receiving votes". Puke. Our program is on the decline and broken. I just want Riley, after 3 failed coaches, to be the one to turn us around.
Agreed. We have not been in a true big game since we crapped all over ourselves in the B1G title game against Wisky.
Gotta win. We create our own destiny. Willing to be patient as long as we see improvement-my low expectation for this season is simply winning record (but after looking at the schedule no reason for us to lose more than 4 games really...Ohio St, Wisco, Iowa, and Oregon will be tough ballgames)
GBR
GBR
Yea TO was such a bully. Amazing people in NE would think a nice guy can't finish first given our history.
Who said anyone on here thinks nice guys can't finish first? I think they can. Riley, as his presser shows, is a nice guy. I also think he is a good coach. I hope he can bring us back to great things.
I know this is off topic for the thread, but in my opinion, in order to reach elite status again NU needs an identity, a "system". Osborne had that. Solich had it too but could not recruit well enough to sustain it. Callahan had an offensive identity but none on defense. Pelini's teams had no identity of any kind on either side of the ball.
My hope is that Riley develops a top flight identity for the offense and defense as a pro style system. He is well on his way doing that for the offense with the coaches he has. Defense? It worries me. Banker? Meh. Maybe Parella and Bray can lead the way in forging that pro style identity.
One could argue that the win over UCLA was in fact a "big game" for our program. I know I know. It wasn't for a conference championship but I still viewed that as an important win.
UCLA was a good win but the reason it was so big for us is because we were 5-7 going into it. If we were 8-4 and won the same game I don't think we'd be touting it as much. I think we overvalue the significance because we want it to be a sign of where things are going, rather than how bad they were in the regular season.
How so? There are plenty of examples of nice guys doing well. Bobby Bowden, Mack Brown both come to mind right away. Tony Dungy in the NFL is another example...
It happens... Maybe not as often as the A-hole who wins, but there are plenty of examples... I could come up with more if you think I should.
How refreshing was that!
-optimistic without sugarcoating
-speaks in specifics
-genuine love for his players comes thru
-treats press with respect
-he's no figure head, he's involved personally on all levels which I believe to be a crucial ingredient
-optimistic without sugarcoating
-speaks in specifics
-genuine love for his players comes thru
-treats press with respect
-he's no figure head, he's involved personally on all levels which I believe to be a crucial ingredient
I love Riles. But one thing is missing from that list ---- the W's. Hopefully they come soon. He is easy to cheer for.
True, I should drop the 'maybe,' but the point is, nice guys who win are not as hard to find as you make them out to be.
I am with you. UCLA would be a team with lots of star players at all reserve positions. A team with an easy recruiting site ; with virtually limitless talent in the area and a name for a national draw. So what are we doing beating them ? With a previous coach causing player unrest after salting the field?... I am amazed how some cling so hard to their pessimism; when we had a nice victory run to end the season - even they would see it if TA's un-coachable day against Iowa hadn't cost us that game ( and he wasn't ).
It was a nice win. The point is no nationally relevant program is bragging about winning the Foster Farms bowl to get to 6-7. UCLA was a decent team last year...that lost at home to both ASU and Washington State. I have a higher standard for winning a big game than beating that team, that's all. I'm still glad we won and hope we can carry over the momentum.
I agree. It is a measure of how far our standards have fallen that we consider that game a "big win". It was an important win for our program. In that limited sense, yes, it was a big win for us considering the current state of our program. But it was not a big win in the sense I meant above: a win over a top ten team in a game that meant something of championship relevance.
I recognize most people expect more than a "good" press conference. So, "yes", it's good that Riley shows well in the media.
I also recognize that a coach not making an ass of himself is pretty darn close to a dead man's test.
I also recognize that a coach not making an ass of himself is pretty darn close to a dead man's test.
Thank you so much for pointing that out... It seems as if most people in this thread could care less about his coaching and record, as long as he is a good interview...
