ADVERTISEMENT

Mike Riley's contract extended until 2020 and most likely again in December

You need to get your facts straight. First of all its ludicrous to give MR a free pass for that first year. But even if you did.....they did not have the same record in the second year because Bo went 10-4......not 9-5 as Mike Riley did. Also you said they had bad losses in that second season. Bo lost to

#5 Texas 13-20
#9 Texas A&M 6-9
#13 Oklahoma 20-23
# 18 Washington 7-19

Fail to see the bad losses in that
Because Bo is a jerk, it's fair to rewrite history. It happens all the time here.
 
Mike Riley was 2-13 in his last 15 pac 12 games at Oregon State. Andersen has not done well but to say he inherited a sinking ship might be an understatement.
2-13 isn't good and a lot of fans wanted him gone. However, unlike us who can pay whatever buyout we want, especially now that there is Big 10 money, OSU was completely stuck. Riley had worked out what the AD called "a lifetime deal." At that point if OSU fired Riley they would have had to pay him seven full years worth of salary.

It was very bad there.
 
You need to get your facts straight. First of all its ludicrous to give MR a free pass for that first year. But even if you did.....they did not have the same record in the second year because Bo went 10-4......not 9-5 as Mike Riley did. Also you said they had bad losses in that second season. Bo lost to

#5 Texas 13-20
#9 Texas A&M 6-9
#13 Oklahoma 20-23
# 18 Washington 7-19

Fail to see the bad losses in that

Since you like "facts" so much, you should know we went 9-4 last year, not 9-5. You know 4 losses, just like every year with Bo. And I said 4 losses with blowouts was a typical Pelini year, not that he specifically had them in 2009. 2009 and 2010 were Pelini's best years because he inherited a bunch of NFL players. Even with the likes of Suh, Haag, Gomes, Prince, Helu, Crick, Assante, etc he still lost 4 games. When they were gone he had the humiliating blowouts (see 400 yards rushing by one player), and miracles like NW and Iowa to get 9 wins. Those were much more like the team Riley won 9 with last year. Bo was running this into the ground fast and instead of rewriting history to make your hero look better, you should give the new guy a chance to fix it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dinglefritz
Since you like "facts" so much, you should know we went 9-4 last year, not 9-5. You know 4 losses, just like every year with Bo. And I said 4 losses with blowouts was a typical Pelini year, not that he specifically had them in 2009. 2009 and 2010 were Pelini's best years because he inherited a bunch of NFL players. Even with the likes of Suh, Haag, Gomes, Prince, Helu, Crick, Assante, etc he still lost 4 games. When they were gone he had the humiliating blowouts (see 400 yards rushing by one player), and miracles like NW and Iowa to get 9 wins. Those were much more like the team Riley won 9 with last year. Bo was running this into the ground fast and instead of rewriting history to make your hero look better, you should give the new guy a chance to fix it.
Most of this is spot one. The last few years certainly were not Nebraska standards. However, nobody is pining for the day when we average 9.5 wins a year with at least one blowout. That gets you fired. I don't see people calling for Riley's head at this point (unless it was during the first half last week). I do see a lot of criticism. Why is the criticism not fair?
 
2-13 isn't good and a lot of fans wanted him gone. However, unlike us who can pay whatever buyout we want, especially now that there is Big 10 money, OSU was completely stuck. Riley had worked out what the AD called "a lifetime deal." At that point if OSU fired Riley they would have had to pay him seven full years worth of salary.

It was very bad there.
7 years of his salary at OSU was about $8,000. Anderson is going to get paid more than Riley's buyout in about the first 2 years. Would you give it a rest? Is it your mission in life to dig up every little twisted factoid to try to make people look as bad as you can whether it's Stevie P, SE, Riley, etc? Shouldn't you be hand translating the Bible in to the little known Flint Hills dialect? It would be time much better spent than trolling on here.
 
Most of this is spot one. The last few years certainly were not Nebraska standards. However, nobody is pining for the day when we average 9.5 wins a year with at least one blowout. That gets you fired. I don't see people calling for Riley's head at this point (unless it was during the first half last week). I do see a lot of criticism. Why is the criticism not fair?

Criticism is always fair, but some are taking it a ridiculous level, far beyond "criticism".

Openly rooting for the current staff to fail? Come on, that would be very bad for this program right now. Rewriting history and romanticizing the Pelini era? Come on, a change had to be made, we don't know if it was the right hire yet, but Nebraska football needs it to be.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dinglefritz
Criticism is always fair, but some are taking it a ridiculous level, far beyond "criticism".

Openly rooting for the current staff to fail? Come on, that would be very bad for this program right now. Rewriting history and romanticizing the Pelini era? Come on, a change had to be made, we don't know if it was the right hire yet, but Nebraska football needs it to be.
I would agree on all fronts. However, I haven't seen anyone yet rooting for Mike to fail. As far as Bo, I haven't seen a person say that they wish he was here and didn't need to be fired. Are people expecting better than the Pelini years? Yes.
 
Mike Gundy sucked his first 3 years at Oklahoma State. They stuck with him and now they are top 10. Saban sucked at Michigan State. Dabo Swinney had an average to poor record his first few years and they stuck with him and now Clemson is on top of the world. Chris Peterson sucked his first two years at Washington. Craig Bohl at Wyoming sucked starting out.

Contrast that to Bo, Sumlin, Brian Kelly, Solich, Helfrich, Mora, McElwain who started off great and then floundered.

I would rather go with the first group than the second.
The funny thing about this post is that Bo now better fits into the first group, not the latter.

And Saban never sucked at MSU.
 
Question for the message board...

If Nebraska is in a position to effectively buy out Mike Riley's contract at any point and everyone knows this, then why is it such a big deal to extend his contract? How can prospective recruits take comfort in that? I think we extended his contract because it's business as usual in our athletic department.

Let me see if I've got this right. Mike Riley is the 42nd highest paid coach in the country. Yet the athletic department has the 22nd highest revenue (and I believe this data comes prior to NU earning its full B1G revenue shares).

Is it safe to say we're kinda getting what we pay for? And maybe the NU Athletic Department is taking advantage of the most loyal fans in college football who continue to make the program highly profitable despite the team not winning anything meaningful for for almost two decades?
 
relative -

6-5-1
6-6
7-5
6-6
9-2 and good bye.

Sucks maybe not, but 25-22-1 before one good season isn't awesome.
i think it's safe to say if those first four seasons played out in Lincoln, whoever was coaching would not have gotten a fifth season...

Let's put a finer point on it... if those first four seasons were under Riley (impossible after his second season, I know...), would he be coach for a fifth year?
 
The funny thing about this post is that Bo now better fits into the first group, not the latter.

And Saban never sucked at MSU.

How does Bo better fit into the first group? I don't see it. The first group are coaches that started slow and then won big, the second are coaches that started well and never improved, or even had the bottom fall out. Pelini's best teams were his first few years (even though they still lost 4 games every year) and he never improved and won big like the guys on the first list.
 
Last edited:
Question for the message board...

If Nebraska is in a position to effectively buy out Mike Riley's contract at any point and everyone knows this, then why is it such a big deal to extend his contract? How can prospective recruits take comfort in that? I think we extended his contract because it's business as usual in our athletic department.

Let me see if I've got this right. Mike Riley is the 42nd highest paid coach in the country. Yet the athletic department has the 22nd highest revenue (and I believe this data comes prior to NU earning its full B1G revenue shares).

Is it safe to say we're kinda getting what we pay for? And maybe the NU Athletic Department is taking advantage of the most loyal fans in college football who continue to make the program highly profitable despite the team not winning anything meaningful for for almost two decades?


You are looking at it backward. The fact that the boosters can buy Riley out of his contracts isn't the issue. Recruits and parents understand that. It isn't because having the contract for the 5 years adds comfort, it's that a contract less than 5 years adds to the discomfort.

No one is taking advantage of you. No one is forcing you to support the team. Lastly, paying Riley or any other coach $3 million a year more isn't going to break the bank when you will be bringing in an additional $20-30 million a year.

What Nebraska fan needs to realize is that this job isn't as attractive to an outsider anymore. 20 years ago, Nebraska was a more attractive job than Texas A&M, Tennessee, LSU, Oregon, Stanford, etc etc etc. Now it isn't.

Nebraska has shot itself in the foot with how it fired coaches, who they hired to replace those fired coaches, going all the way back to 1997. Coaches aren't busting their ass to go to a school that currently believes they are more than they are. Stud coaches aren't going to give up their $4 million a year job at stable U to take over a program that is on their 4th coach in 13 years, where the last 3 coaches won at least one division title. Unrealistic expectations of the fan base and those in charge will push quality candidates away. Believe it or not. The fact that the last 3 coaching searches had names like Bob Davie, Dave Wannstedt, Houston Nutt, Jim Grobe, Turner Gill, Bill Callahan and Bo Pelini tells you all you need to know.
 
You are looking at it backward. The fact that the boosters can buy Riley out of his contracts isn't the issue. Recruits and parents understand that. It isn't because having the contract for the 5 years adds comfort, it's that a contract less than 5 years adds to the discomfort.

No one is taking advantage of you. No one is forcing you to support the team. Lastly, paying Riley or any other coach $3 million a year more isn't going to break the bank when you will be bringing in an additional $20-30 million a year.

What Nebraska fan needs to realize is that this job isn't as attractive to an outsider anymore. 20 years ago, Nebraska was a more attractive job than Texas A&M, Tennessee, LSU, Oregon, Stanford, etc etc etc. Now it isn't.

Nebraska has shot itself in the foot with how it fired coaches, who they hired to replace those fired coaches, going all the way back to 1997. Coaches aren't busting their ass to go to a school that currently believes they are more than they are. Stud coaches aren't going to give up their $4 million a year job at stable U to take over a program that is on their 4th coach in 13 years, where the last 3 coaches won at least one division title. Unrealistic expectations of the fan base and those in charge will push quality candidates away. Believe it or not. The fact that the last 3 coaching searches had names like Bob Davie, Dave Wannstedt, Houston Nutt, Jim Grobe, Turner Gill, Bill Callahan and Bo Pelini tells you all you need to know.

Let me be the first to say...Riley can't meet whatever the bar is, I'm not going to cry if he goes.

We have to consider this fan base though. At this point in time, I would imagine our fan base would demand Frost get the first look, *because that's the way we roll*.

There are only a couple of truisms spouted across the Husker casual fanbase anymore

1. We need to get back to our running identity.
2. We need to get Frost while he's a young up and comer before some other school locks him down.

For folks that think there are better fits out there in the next 18 months...consider this. There were better fits in 2008 when we went "thumbs down" on Steve P and wanted TO hired to "bring back Bo". That's exactly what happened, and most folks weren't even upset that our own Gill didn't get more than a sham of a look.

With Lincoln Riley and Tom Herman off the books, the last two of the potential all star hires are now gone. Its basically Frost and bunch of other guys we're not sure are any better than Frost would be, even though they are more experienced. Tie goes to the Husker.

IMO, a vote for canning Riley in the next 18 months, is effectively a vote for Frost. The folks who are debating Husker football in donut shops across the state are not looking to hire Mike Gundy.
 
Last edited:
How does Bo better fit into the first group? I don't see it. The first group are coaches that started slow and then won big, the second are coaches that started well and never improved, or even had the bottom fall out. Pelini's best teams were his first few years (even though they still lost 4 games every year) and he never improved and won big like the guys on the first list.
I'm speaking of his YSU results. "Now."
 
But would Frost jump at this job now or in the next 18 months? I'm not sure. He would be going all in at 43ish. If he comes to Nebraska and doesn't meet the "bar" and gets fired, he will be 48ish having failed at his state school. He also would be taking the risk that if he doesn't take it, Nebraska may hire a coach that does meet the "bar" and he may never get the chance. It's a tough spot. If Nebraska fires Riley in the next 18 months, and doesn't get Frost, the divide in the fan base will be too big to overcome and we become Iowa, Minnesota and Northwestern.
 
But would Frost jump at this job now or in the next 18 months? I'm not sure. He would be going all in at 43ish. If he comes to Nebraska and doesn't meet the "bar" and gets fired, he will be 48ish having failed at his state school. He also would be taking the risk that if he doesn't take it, Nebraska may hire a coach that does meet the "bar" and he may never get the chance. It's a tough spot. If Nebraska fires Riley in the next 18 months, and doesn't get Frost, the divide in the fan base will be too big to overcome and we become Iowa, Minnesota and Northwestern.

Frost is the great enigma. I know some of the "money" folks have the same concern. Perhaps Frost is "the answer" at 50 (but maybe we can't get him then), maybe we're setting him up to fail if we bring him in at 42 (although does he really need 10 more years to bake than Lincoln Riley?). The reverberations of a Frost failure, would be far and wide across the state. He's our Harbaugh, and the last link to the old days.
 
But would Frost jump at this job now or in the next 18 months? I'm not sure. He would be going all in at 43ish. If he comes to Nebraska and doesn't meet the "bar" and gets fired, he will be 48ish having failed at his state school. He also would be taking the risk that if he doesn't take it, Nebraska may hire a coach that does meet the "bar" and he may never get the chance. It's a tough spot. If Nebraska fires Riley in the next 18 months, and doesn't get Frost, the divide in the fan base will be too big to overcome and we become Iowa, Minnesota and Northwestern.
There is no risk in Frost coming here. He could go 9-4 until the end of time and the same people who hate Riley will love him for one simple fact: he played here 20 plus years ago.
 
There is no risk in Frost coming here. He could go 9-4 until the end of time and the same people who hate Riley will love him for one simple fact: he played here 20 plus years ago.

I think this is true, he doesn't have to be elite. But I think Riley would retire here at 9/10 wins a year too although he doesn't have as many years to go.
 
Our issues have been leadership nothing more - Clemson was brought up as an example - After Swinney gave up 70 points in the 2011 bowl game he made a drastic change - that change was that Clemson was going to be the leader in paying OC and DC salaries and they would get the best coaches possible that money could buy and it worked. Nebraska on the other hand with no ability to think strategically thinks they are stepping out paying Diaco $825,000 which does not even put him in the top 25 assistant salaries. In stead of becoming a leader they are again followers and since they have so much money they just give it back to the University

What has the leadership done to put NU back in the picture of CFB? nothing I am aware of we pay a little more for recruiting but not significantly. We pay our coaches middle of the road. the facilities are nice but everyone has nice facilities. We do not stand out in any area from say Purdue today.

So what can we do? I say do something different have a vision - For Riley that means stepping out of his comfort zone, why do we have to run the same offense as the majority of CFB teams. Kudos for changing the defense but I would tell Diaco his defense is going to blitz 80% of the time from here on -

If Riley fails or retires - why not hire a true option guy from Navy or maybe Paul Johnson how much worse could it be. Then maybe throw 2 million at a top DC to see if we can buy someone heck if Aranda would come here pay him 3 million
 
Our issues have been leadership nothing more - Clemson was brought up as an example - After Swinney gave up 70 points in the 2011 bowl game he made a drastic change - that change was that Clemson was going to be the leader in paying OC and DC salaries and they would get the best coaches possible that money could buy and it worked. Nebraska on the other hand with no ability to think strategically thinks they are stepping out paying Diaco $825,000 which does not even put him in the top 25 assistant salaries. In stead of becoming a leader they are again followers and since they have so much money they just give it back to the University

What has the leadership done to put NU back in the picture of CFB? nothing I am aware of we pay a little more for recruiting but not significantly. We pay our coaches middle of the road. the facilities are nice but everyone has nice facilities. We do not stand out in any area from say Purdue today.

So what can we do? I say do something different have a vision - For Riley that means stepping out of his comfort zone, why do we have to run the same offense as the majority of CFB teams. Kudos for changing the defense but I would tell Diaco his defense is going to blitz 80% of the time from here on -

If Riley fails or retires - why not hire a true option guy from Navy or maybe Paul Johnson how much worse could it be. Then maybe throw 2 million at a top DC to see if we can buy someone heck if Aranda would come here pay him 3 million
Laughable. This fan base bitches constantly about salaries at the first sign of poor play. They would have pitchforks out (see Toms wife) if they became truly competitive with salaries.
 
i think it's safe to say if those first four seasons played out in Lincoln, whoever was coaching would not have gotten a fifth season...

Let's put a finer point on it... if those first four seasons were under Riley (impossible after his second season, I know...), would he be coach for a fifth year?
Key word is trajectory - Saban took over from a coach who went 0-11 and had no winning season in the last 4 at MSU Saban had no losing seasons the improvement is what other schools saw. Riley had the same trajectory in his early career and top schools wanted him but his last 5-6 years showed the opposite
 
Laughable. This fan base bitches constantly about salaries at the first sign of poor play. They would have pitchforks out (see Toms wife) if they became truly competitive with salaries.
if you do not act like a big boy then dont bitch when you are not one
 
There is no risk in Frost coming here. He could go 9-4 until the end of time and the same people who hate Riley will love him for one simple fact: he played here 20 plus years ago.

Risk to who? The fan base? The risks is his. If he doesn't succeed at Nebraska, he will have to work another 5-7 years to get another shot at a perceived big time school. Then all of a sudden he is 54 and not as attractive.
 
Question for the message board...

If Nebraska is in a position to effectively buy out Mike Riley's contract at any point and everyone knows this, then why is it such a big deal to extend his contract? How can prospective recruits take comfort in that? I think we extended his contract because it's business as usual in our athletic department.

Let me see if I've got this right. Mike Riley is the 42nd highest paid coach in the country. Yet the athletic department has the 22nd highest revenue (and I believe this data comes prior to NU earning its full B1G revenue shares).

Is it safe to say we're kinda getting what we pay for? And maybe the NU Athletic Department is taking advantage of the most loyal fans in college football who continue to make the program highly profitable despite the team not winning anything meaningful for for almost two decades?
You are right on the money. It's not a big deal at all for us considering our financial position. We have the money and if can get recruits to somehow believe that this makes him safer, so be it.
 
Key word is trajectory - Saban took over form a coach who went 0-11 and had no winning season in the last 4 at MSU Saban had no losing seasons the improvement is what other schools saw. Riley had the same trajectory in his early career and top schools wanted him but his last 5-6 years showed the opposite
I stand by my assertion... if Riley (or any coach) had 4 seasons at .500 at Nebraska, he would not have a 5th season here.
 
You are right on the money. It's not a big deal at all for us considering our financial position. We have the money and if can get recruits to somehow believe that this makes him safer, so be it.
Do you not understand the concept here? The money isn't the issue. If the contract isn't extended, then he's a dead man walking... this is true in all of competitive college sports, football and basketball.

Why is this so hard?
 
  • Like
Reactions: dinglefritz
Our issues have been leadership nothing more - Clemson was brought up as an example - After Swinney gave up 70 points in the 2011 bowl game he made a drastic change - that change was that Clemson was going to be the leader in paying OC and DC salaries and they would get the best coaches possible that money could buy and it worked. Nebraska on the other hand with no ability to think strategically thinks they are stepping out paying Diaco $825,000 which does not even put him in the top 25 assistant salaries. In stead of becoming a leader they are again followers and since they have so much money they just give it back to the University

What has the leadership done to put NU back in the picture of CFB? nothing I am aware of we pay a little more for recruiting but not significantly. We pay our coaches middle of the road. the facilities are nice but everyone has nice facilities. We do not stand out in any area from say Purdue today.

So what can we do? I say do something different have a vision - For Riley that means stepping out of his comfort zone, why do we have to run the same offense as the majority of CFB teams. Kudos for changing the defense but I would tell Diaco his defense is going to blitz 80% of the time from here on -

If Riley fails or retires - why not hire a true option guy from Navy or maybe Paul Johnson how much worse could it be. Then maybe throw 2 million at a top DC to see if we can buy someone heck if Aranda would come here pay him 3 million

This is a friendly public service announcement that most of the college football world was surprised Riley would dump his friend as DC in favor of a name hire with national title credentials...and surprised again when NU only had to pay him 825K when folks thought we'd have to pay a million plus to keep him away from Arkanas or others.
 
Risk to who? The fan base? The risks is his. If he doesn't succeed at Nebraska, he will have to work another 5-7 years to get another shot at a perceived big time school. Then all of a sudden he is 54 and not as attractive.
He has no risk. Even a couple 5 win season would be forgiven for at least 10 years after he took over.
 
if you do not act like a big boy then dont bitch when you are not one

Too many people think salary is the only reason coaches jump at a job. Texas was willing to pay Saban $10mil a year when Mack "left". It isn't always about money. It isn't always about acting like a big boy. Over paying for a coach is easy. You mentioned the Navy coach and Paul Johnson earlier or in another thread. Johnson is 60 and never won anything and paying Ken Niumatalolo $5 million a year is laughable.
 
  • Like
Reactions: timnsun
Too many people think salary is the only reason coaches jump at a job. Texas was willing to pay Saban $10mil a year when Mack "left". It isn't always about money. It isn't always about acting like a big boy. Over paying for a coach is easy. You mentioned the Navy coach and Paul Johnson earlier or in another thread. Johnson is 60 and never won anything and paying Ken Niumatalolo $5 million a year is laughable.

Harbaugh was willing to take less for the assistant pool. Michigan could have ponied up for both.
 
Do you not understand the concept here? The money isn't the issue. If the contract isn't extended, then he's a dead man walking... this is true in all of competitive college sports, football and basketball.

Why is this so hard?
Do you just say, "I'm going to criticize that wife of Tom's no matter what"? Because I said let them extend the contract if it helps recruits because it's not a big deal to us. A coach at Nebraska is a dead man walking if he doesn't win regardless of what the contract says.
 
Too many people think salary is the only reason coaches jump at a job. Texas was willing to pay Saban $10mil a year when Mack "left". It isn't always about money. It isn't always about acting like a big boy. Over paying for a coach is easy. You mentioned the Navy coach and Paul Johnson earlier or in another thread. Johnson is 60 and never won anything and paying Ken Niumatalolo $5 million a year is laughable.
of course salary is not the only thing but this is these guys careers, of course most want to make a bunch of money. Even that I am not talking about head coaches for the most part I am talking assistants. If Nebraska truly wants to win then make this a destination spot for assistants and money is a big part of this . Think about Microsoft for many techies a job there is the golden ticket - why? the hours suck and the work is demanding why? because they pay a big starting salary.

We have the money you say it wont matter what is so wrong with at least trying it set minimum salaries for assistants that would put them at the top or close to top of CFB and then see what coaches fall out of the tree wanting a job
 
I stand by my assertion... if Riley (or any coach) had 4 seasons at .500 at Nebraska, he would not have a 5th season here.
even if the program had gone 0-11 the previous year - that would be uncharted waters for NU and i think most would change expectations
 
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT