I just saw Lavonte David make a game saving tackle, Enunwa become the Jets #1 receiver, and Burkhead become a staple of the patriots offense. And I do not watch much NFL football. Pelini had a lot of faults but he recruited football players and developed them well.
Many on this team have already quit.
- Thread starter HuskerDana
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I was on a team once that underachieved. To protect yourself from the losing, you act like you care, but you isolate yourself. The more selfish guys on the team will convince themselves that they played well and move on mentally to thinking about other things-- partying with the girls or whatever. Then another week of practice with some false effort when you can get away with it and repeat...
I know what you mean. I was born in January 1962, so even though I don't remember the seasons 1962-1967, Nebraska literally was a winning program every year of my life until I turned 40. It's a strange new world, and it's super wonderful to live in Iowa City at this time in football history.
I was born after the 57 season and my first recollection of Nebraska football was beating Oklahoma after JFK was assassinated and winning the Big 8 conference after 23 years not winning a conference title in 1963..
You really remember ALL of the good years (sans 1962) of the most recent great era of Husker football, the first great era being the 1900-1940 stretch of dominance.
Agree, he had his moments with some guys. Could never solidify the trenches, and when our AD turned on him, he had one foot out the door.
I have ALWAYS maintained Bo would have been spectacular with a real recruiting coordinator like that Cajun HC at LSU (when we could have thrown real $$$ at that guy). And I am/was a Bo-Bot, whatever the hell that meant. I always liked the guy, even when everyone turned on him. I think he got an unfair shake at Nebraska, especially at the end, and if he would have "outsourced" some recruiting functions, I think he would have been even better.
One of Pelini's main failures was who he hired as assistant coaches. Same was probably true for Riley.
I have always disliked Bo and he would have left us for sure for OSU if he was a more attractive candidate in 2011 but he got shafted big time once T.O left. The school did not go all out, with Eicwhore resisted funding football to its maximum, and subtly punished Bo for his exploits. Frost was aware of the politics behind the scene that hampered our growth as a program when Bo needed all the help he could get. And he only came to NU now when he knew the "money" would be available for the rebuild. It is no coincidence that we went from a BCS type in 2009 to 2012, to a barely top 30 team once T.O retired at the end of 2012. There are a lot more things going on behind the scenes than fans want to recognize, they would rather complain about "work ethic" and "coach accountability" than understand that our program has been run poorly for at least 5 years, and are at the bottom because of decisions made a half decade ago.
Pelini was a hot head and a jerk who isn't fit to be the head coach of a major college team.
As a coach, I can tell you that the hardest thing to do is to change a losing culture. I firmly believe that many on this team may WANT to win, but they aren't exactly devastated if they lose, either.
Getting kids to hate losing more than they love winning can be difficult. That type of mentality is pretty much impossible to change in less than a season.
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it's a fallacy that Bo couldn't recruit. When he focused on it, he was able to connect with the kids and get commitments -- we all just wanted him to do it more consistently.
This is the kind of thinking that makes it hard to take fans seriously. Yes Bo was a jerk, hothead, maniac but that doesn't excuse the fact the AD didn't do anything to help him win games. And the fact the Chancellor and AD didn't have the nuts to fire Bo in 2013, and instead slowly killed the program to kill him is the root of a lot of our problems. Bo was exactly what we thought he was. It was up to the adults to get rid of him and make a smart hire. They had 2 full years to get it done when the right man came available, and they did it when Mike Riley was available. We will pay for this for a while, and are lucky it isn't terminal.
If we are winless at BCU gametime they will play their asses off to see that we stay that way. If this happens I will NOT say a word about it.
So what did the AD do that caused Pelini to lose 4 games a year? If all he lacked was support, why would they need nuts to fire him? Bo was a major part of the slow death. Once again, it someone else's fault.
Solich didn't do what he needed to do at Nebraska to remain the coach or to get a better gig. Period
Callahan didn't do what he needed to do at Nebraska to remain the coach or to get a better head coaching gig. Period
Pelini didn't do what he needed to do at Nebraska to remain the coach or to get a better gig. Period
Riley didn't do what he needed to do at Nebraska to remain the coach or to get a better gig. Period
Their actions, their decisions and their results were the reason. The rest is just excuses.
