Mike Riley
- Thread starter Pennsyhusker
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What in the world would make you say that? Bo had nothing but support for most of his tenure and he was given seven years. Bo's problems were internal and had nothing to do with time or support.
I like your point here and I agree with it. But I went with the underdog angle since, with all of our injuries, I think we will be an underdog against Wisky and OSU. Both games are on the road in some very difficult stadiums to play in, both games are against teams that have shown that they have good athletes who have competed well, and both teams, so far, are reasonably healthy. So if I were to make a prediction right now I would say our game against Wisky is a bit of a toss up at best, and in our game against OSU we will be the underdog.
I am not saying we cannot win those games. In fact, the point to my post is to say the opposite and to agree with your point: having Riley as our coach gives me more confidence in these kinds of games than if Pelini were still here.
I was pissed when we fired BO. But supported Riley 100% from the day he was hired. I am glad he is our coach. I actually think we may beat Wisconsin if we can heal up a little.
I agree. If we are healthy we can beat Wisky. We should have beaten them last year and the two teams are not radically different, in terms of returning players, this year from last. We have some injuries, the game is in Madison, and they have looked solid even in their two losses against very good teams. So I have to give them the edge right now. But we ain't the Little Sisters of the Poor either. Our defense is getting better and better, Wisky's offense is not that great, and our offense, when healthy, is capable of scoring on anyone I think.
You are absolutely correct. And it's all on Bo. If in a couple more years our depth is still this bad then it's on Riley. He deserves to have time to recruit and develop. Not everything is Bo's fault. But the depth of the team is squarely on his run of mediocre recruiting.
GBR
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anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi
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He had everything he ever asked for. The wage freeze for lazy assistants was after he was told more effort needs to come on the recruiting side. He refused to take advantage of that. It is absolutely mind-numbing the number of lap-dogs who think he was a victim. The poor guy played the pity card and a bunch of our weak-minded fans ate it up just because of the name of the guy who hired him.
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anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi
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And absolutely horrific roster management. 1st graders could do better.
This team has heart. I'm not conceding shit. As long as we play the next two games, I'm gonna give our players a shot at winning them. GBR and eff the haters!
This is the point I want to emphasize with Riley that I think is "bringing back" Nebraska football. Under Pelini, we had at least 1 game a year where we wouldn't just lose, we would look flat out incompetent. On TV. With a lot of people watching. This, and Callahan/Pedersen tanking the program, is I think what led people to become very, very excitable on forums/as fans. Nobody likes to see their team get embarrassed, and we are already a program with some key disadvantages (geography, years out of the spotlight) that can make us a little touchy as fans.
When Osborne was running things, we were a machine. Riley hasn't gotten us anywhere near that level yet, but we're continuously improving. We're MUCH more consistent, you can see our coaches make adjustments, and FINALLY, you can see Nebraska physically outlasting opponents into the 4th quarter again. These are some of our old hallmarks, and it is a testament to how well these new coaches are doing their jobs that we're starting to see them return.
I'm not sure what Riley is going to do after Tommy leaves. He's been talking up the running attack, and apparently has embraced it enough to use it regularly this season. The level of talent we're bringing in now, though, suggests we're going to regularly be one of the top programs in our conference again. Because of the level of parity in the game now, and because I think we're in a much more competitive conference, we won't necessarily be what we once were, but in every 5 year stretch, I should think we would be representing the West in the championship game 2 of those years, winning 1 if not 2, getting a berth in the Rose Bowl, and once in a while getting into the CFB playoffs. That, I think, would be the definition of a rebuilt program here at Nebraska.
Totally agree with you here and would add that one big difference I see is that Riley has already shown the willingness to adjust and adapt like TO did. Remember, TO started with a pro-style offense and did a 360 to option football. Changed the D to the 4-3 after losses to miami. Also, Boyd was a very clever innovator on his staff.
Riley has now offered a dual threat and shown alot of flexability already. IMO, stubborness was the downfall of the last staff that manifested itself in an ugly, defensive manner.
You're joking, right?
Great post. I totally agree. That is why I had the nerve to compare Riley to Osborne in my opening post. I just see our team becoming competitive again. Now, we may all have to eat our words if Wisky does a Pelini style beating on us again, but I just don't see that happening.
Not joking, just taking my "I like Mike" cap off for a moment to consider the alternate point of view. Never hurts to put yourself in the other guy's shoes, even if briefly.
It is all well and good to play the Devil's advocate. But even the Devil knows Bo had to go
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anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi
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His diaper powdered. The child never grew up, and as a result he needed his ass kissed constantly. Not the job of the AD. His predecessor was the babysitter, and that's not how you run a major corporate operation.
Oh, I think we can still get beaten pretty soundly. Every team technically can. tOSU will probably pound us into dust this year in Columbus. But I don't think this staff will ever let a team hang 70 points on us like Wisconsin did a few years ago. That was a basketball score, an example of a freakish problem in coaching. That happened specifically because Wisconsin knew Pelini would never adjust his defensive schemes, so they kept throwing the weirdest formations possible at us and just ripped us to shreds.
This staff adjusts, teaches its players to hang tough, and doesn't have a meltdown when things do go wrong. That translates to players that are a bit more calm when they play, and fans that are a bit more understanding because at least see composure and competence, even in losses.
The other problem with Pelini's refusal to adjust his defense is that it demoralizes the players who know that the scheme they are in is not working.
Yup! I heard rumors that when our defense was awesome under Pelini, it was because Suh would basically tell other players what to do in spite of what the scheme called for. Nothing egregious, but they would basically do their own adjustments because Suh was so good and such a strong leader that they didn't mind letting up a little with him around. Not sure if that was ever verified.
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anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi
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It is very telling that Lavonte David consistently graded poorly in his "scheme"
