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My Thoughts

Archie Graham

Archie Graham

Offensive Coordinator
Apr 12, 2007
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Firstly, let me begin by saying I thought the worst this team could do was seven wins. Clearly I underestimated the level of rebuild this was going to be under MR and his staff. I'm still confident, however, that Riley is going to get us to a good spot in a few years. Many folks seem to be indicating that recruiting is not going great. I completely disagree with this assessment. We have a very strong class going right now and many of our commits are putting up video game statistics during their senior year. Of course, this doesn't translate to success at the college level but it is the best sign one can hope for at this point in time. Unless we start seeing player jump ship, which I don't think will happen, we are moving in the right direction.

Defense.

Not much to say. Very happy to see a number of adjustments this week. Secondary looked much stronger from a technique POV. Illinois had their chances to make plays and left some big gains out on the field. Collins is such a monster. I love watching him play football.

Special Teams.

Foltz is such a weapon. Brown was good. Can't complain much here either. Obviously, the DPE fumble hurt early on. I was shocked he essentially got the bench after that mistake.

Offense.

Where to begin. Tommy is a gamer and his play has kept us in some games this year; however, yesterday was a tremendous regression by him. There was no excuse for the constant game of '500' that was going on. It was baffling. Sadly, it appears that the coaches were numb to his play and continued to push heavily on the passing game even though it appeared the running game was going strong. OZ needs more carries. Jano should never be lined up as a running back. Drops hurt drives again. The 3rd down will go down in history. Just startling.

I very much hope Alex Lewis is dismissed from the team. His behavior is once again totally unacceptable, especially for a captain, and it sets a pathetic example for the younger guys.

Conclusions.

We are good enough to compete with the rest of our schedule. I hope we are mentally strong enough to gets the number of wins we need to make a bowl game. We need more practices.
 
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It's crazy how so many NU fans overreact. Just a feeding frenzy on all the negativity! Simply, Riley walked into a tough situation this year. Players leaving the program, injuries, major depth problems and dealing with Bo's mentality ingrained in team's head. Riley does appear to have a talented class coming in next year. Ignore the rankings and just look at those crazy good stats! Can't judge the head guy until he has a few years to work with the players he recruited. I'm frustrated as much as anyone not winning a title since '99, but we need to suppot this team and coaches and see how things shake out. Look on the bright side, we haven't lost by 40 or 50 like the previous coach and we didn't hire Charlie Strong! Ha
 
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Archie Graham said:
Firstly, let me begin by saying I thought the worst this team could do was seven wins. Clearly I underestimated the level of rebuild this was going to be under MR and his staff. I'm still confident, however, that Riley is going to get us to a good spot in a few years. Many folks seem to be indicating that recruiting is not going great. I completely disagree with this assessment. We have a very strong class going right now and many of our commits are putting up video game statistics during their senior year. Of course, this doesn't translate to success at the college level but it is the best sign one can hope for at this point in time. Unless we start seeing player jump ship, which I don't think will happen, we are moving in the right direction.

Defense.

Not much to say. Very happy to see a number of adjustments this week. Secondary looked much stronger from a technique POV. Illinois had their chances to make plays and left some big gains out on the field. Collins is such a monster. I love watching him play football.

Special Teams.

Foltz is such a weapon. Brown was good. Can't complain much here either. Obviously, the DPE fumble hurt early on. I was shocked he essentially got the bench after that mistake.

Offense.

Where to begin. Tommy is a gamer and his play has kept us in some games this year; however, yesterday was a tremendous regression by him. There was no excuse for the constant game of '500' that was going on. It was baffling. Sadly, it appears that the coaches were numb to his play and continued to push heavily on the passing game even though it appeared the running game was going strong. OZ needs more carries. Jano should never be lined up as a running back. Drops hurt drives again. The 3rd down will go down in history. Just startling.

I very much hope Alex Lewis is dismissed from the team. His behavior is once again totally unacceptable, especially for a captain, and it sets a pathetic example for the younger guys.

Conclusions.

We are good enough to compete with the rest of our schedule. I hope we are mentally strong enough to gets the number of wins we need to make a bowl game. We need more practices.
Click to expand...

Do you still think the results we've seen on the field are because of Bo Pelini's aftermath, or do you think Riley just kinda sucks? His historical performance certainly doesn't make a very strong case that he can turn things around. Historically, he has taken programs downward.
 
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Noose7756 said:
Do you still think the results we've seen on the field are because of Bo Pelini's aftermath, or do you think Riley just kinda sucks? His historical performance certainly doesn't make a very strong case that he can turn things around. Historically, he has taken programs downward.
Click to expand...
Bo's aftermath, injuries, players getting booted and guys not fitting into Riley's system.
 
Husker Sledge said:
It's crazy how so many NU fans overreact. Just a feeding frenzy on all the negativity! Simply, Riley walked into a tough situation this year. Players leaving the program, injuries, major depth problems and dealing with Bo's mentality ingrained in team's head. Riley does appear to have a talented class coming in next year. Ignore the rankings and just look at those crazy good stats! Can't judge the head guy until he has a few years to work with the players he recruited. I'm frustrated as much as anyone not winning a title since '99, but we need to suppot this team and coaches and see how things shake out. Look on the bright side, we haven't lost by 40 or 50 like the previous coach and we didn't hire Charlie Strong! Ha
Click to expand...
Jim Harbaugh walked into the exact same situation. Aren't they undefeated? I could be wrong?
 
Husker Sledge said:
Bo's aftermath, injuries, players getting booted and guys not fitting into Riley's system.
Click to expand...

Then Riley wasn't a good fit. No one should take a 9-10 win team and make the same team sub-.500

Also, "Riley's system" sucks. Historically and statistically. I'll eagerly await your reply informing me that he develops players into NFL draft picks, then I'll inform you that you sound exactly like an Iowa fan.
 
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Noose7756 said:
Do you still think the results we've seen on the field are because of Bo Pelini's aftermath, or do you think Riley just kinda sucks? His historical performance certainly doesn't make a very strong case that he can turn things around. Historically, he has taken programs downward.
Click to expand...
Already, it looks like Riley's first year is a disaster. If he can't sign a very, very good recruiting class then It's time to start looking for a replacement. He was brought in to improve the way the team was prepared to win football games and improve recruiting. It's apparent that preparing teams to win games is not his strong suit and if fails as bad at recruiting it's gonna be a long 4 years of lame football.
 
Husker Sledge said:
It's crazy how so many NU fans overreact. Just a feeding frenzy on all the negativity! Simply, Riley walked into a tough situation this year. Players leaving the program, injuries, major depth problems and dealing with Bo's mentality ingrained in team's head. Riley does appear to have a talented class coming in next year. Ignore the rankings and just look at those crazy good stats! Can't judge the head guy until he has a few years to work with the players he recruited. I'm frustrated as much as anyone not winning a title since '99, but we need to suppot this team and coaches and see how things shake out. Look on the bright side, we haven't lost by 40 or 50 like the previous coach and we didn't hire Charlie Strong! Ha
Click to expand...

Thanks for the positivity, Let's all get on the magic bus with you!
 
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husker2612 said:
Didn't they also destroy a BYU team? Again maybe Im wrong
Click to expand...
If you think Nebraska is in the same ball park as Michigan coaching wise your insane. People stop making excuses for this this coach. Many Nebraska fans lack common sense. We want so badly to return to greatness that we don't see how bad things really are.
 
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husker2612 said:
Jim Harbaugh walked into the exact same situation. Aren't they undefeated? I could be wrong?
Click to expand...
No, they lost to utah in week one, but they have since turned it around and IMO are one of the top 3 teams in the bigten, and have a real shot at beating mich st and ohio st.
 
StrongArm517 said:
Harbaugh lost to Utah,,, but ummm, he cost 7 million. So before we start comparing Riley to him let's get out our wallets.
Click to expand...
Yes he did, Yes we should. Good coaches get paid good money, pay them Nebraska has the money to get a good quality coach.
 
For my sanity and everyone's who actually pays attention to things beyond the borders of Nebraska would people PLEASE STOP COMPARING MICHIGAN AND NEBRASKA!!!!

Just because they both have first year head coaches, they are NOT COMPARABLE!!!!

I'm not real happy right now with our current situation, but I also realize that Harbaugh inherited a much deeper roster (and Hoke flat out underachieved) and the transition for his team to his systems aren't as drastic as what Nebraska's has been.
 
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Noose7756 said:
Do you still think the results we've seen on the field are because of Bo Pelini's aftermath, or do you think Riley just kinda sucks? His historical performance certainly doesn't make a very strong case that he can turn things around. Historically, he has taken programs downward.
Click to expand...

It's very clearly a combination of issues and I can certainly understand concerns that some have voiced. I won't be making a 'big picture' opinion about Riley et al. until year four.
 
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newAD said:
I'm not real happy right now with our current situation, but I also realize that Harbaugh inherited a much deeper roster (and Hoke flat out underachieved) and the transition for his team to his systems aren't as drastic as what Nebraska's has been.
Click to expand...

Completely agree.
 
Archie Graham said:
It's very clearly a combination of issues and I can certainly understand concerns that some have voiced. I won't be making a 'big picture' opinion about Riley et al. until year four.
Click to expand...
As an outsider, I have to admit to being baffled by the Riley hire. I thought that he just did not fit the profile and culture of what Nebraska Football has been over a very long period of time. But as a Pitt fan, I have been exposed to what an administration and AD can do to foul up a program and tradition. Once having stepped on the coaching carousel, unless you are fortunate enough to get the right guy, there is the potential for years, even decades, of frustration and mediocrity or worse.
By all accounts, unless the coach is outright incompetent or commits some impeachable indiscretion, you have to keep him on for four years to give a fair chance to install his program and recruit to it if he can. If he can't, you fire the coach or he leaves and you start over with the disruption in recruiting, installation of new culture and systems and all the other little things that add up that change entails. I know. At Pitt, we've been there and done that, most recently courtesy of you know who. Thankfully, I think we finally have our guy in Narduzzi, thanks to you guys firing Pelini and hiring Riley to get that series of coaching changes rolling.
I hope Riley is your guy, but I just don't see it. If not, I hope that your administration can get the next hire right because Nebraska Football has too fine a tradition to be allowed to settle back into the pack.
 
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To Mr. Chirp Chirp( I couldn't have said it better)
Noose7756 said:
Your predictions are horrible. Your information is trivial, at best. And you're cocky about all of it.


Why is it that you like yourself again?


You're the epitome of what is wrong with today's society. You believe that whatever you think is unique and valid. Because you were one of the many people who received a trophy for finishing last. It's obvious you're not athletic.


And your "inside information" is absolutely worthless. As are your takes.


I honestly think you deliberately lost the bet to mwulf so you could have a picture of a shirtless Beiber on your sig line.
Click to expand...
 
Husker Sledge said:
It's crazy how so many NU fans overreact. Just a feeding frenzy on all the negativity! Simply, Riley walked into a tough situation this year. Players leaving the program, injuries, major depth problems and dealing with Bo's mentality ingrained in team's head. Riley does appear to have a talented class coming in next year. Ignore the rankings and just look at those crazy good stats! Can't judge the head guy until he has a few years to work with the players he recruited. I'm frustrated as much as anyone not winning a title since '99, but we need to suppot this team and coaches and see how things shake out. Look on the bright side, we haven't lost by 40 or 50 like the previous coach and we didn't hire Charlie Strong! Ha
Click to expand...

The problem is this:
Most high school football teams could 1) be in a better position to defend a hail mary pass (especially after a timeout), and 2) could execute a basic running play to run out the clock at the end of the game. All of that is on Riley and the coaches he brought with him. It takes complete incompetence to lose those two games within one month of each other. Riley has shown that he absolutely has no idea what he is doing at the end of games----none. It is mind-boggling that someone this inept (and Billy C and Bo P) has been given the head coaching job at the U of N.

As Shatel said post-game: "
I’m so tired of offenses that need a decoder. We sound like cavemen pounding our clubs, but big linemen and running backs are commodities you can lure to Lincoln, Nebraska. And now Big Ten weather. Why does Nebraska keep hiring coaches who don’t understand this concept? Just because Nebraska plays in the Big Ten West does not mean it’s the West Coast."
 
I'd also add that our fan base should relax. Riley is going to be hear for at least five years. Take a deep breath and enjoy the ride a little bit. Going bonkers every week is going to make your life rather depressing.
 
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Husker Sledge said:
Ha Ha. Brady Hoke couldn't coach, but he damn well sure could recruit! Harbaugh is loaded with talent on the defensive side of the ball. Stop making those comparisons. Bo is the reason this program is where it is!!!
Click to expand...


Look at Michigans starting 22. It is similar to ours recruiting wise based on rivals.

There starting DL are 2 3 stars and a freakin 2 star.

The coaching sucks, will we please quit throwing the players under the bus.
 
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Archie, there's nothing wrong with being optimistic. I wish I were less pessimistic (my blood pressure might be lower). But the difficulty is that I've seen nothing to be optimistic about.

Does Riley have a strong record of coaching championship caliber teams? No, he flamed out of the CFL, NFL, and was on his way out of a mediocre Oregon State program.

Have we seen signs of a more disciplined team? No, we still commit comical numbers of penalties and couldn't kill the clock when all we needed was a full back dive play.

Are we seeing the makings of a stellar, Callahanesque recruiting class? Nope.

Do we see Riley motivating his team on the sidelines, showing a little emotion after a loss, etc.? Nope, we did get one "Hip Hip Hooray" chant after beating Southern Alabama.

Is Riley a CEO type--a guy who brings in top coordinators? Nope, he brought this old crew from Corvalis.

So I get what you're saying. I realize that Riley will probably be here 5 years, until he's 67 years old. And I'm sure there will be highs and lows. I just think that it's going to be 5 years of not-good-enough football.
 
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jeans15 said:
Look at Michigans starting 22. It is similar to ours recruiting wise based on rivals.

There starting DL are 2 3 stars and a freakin 2 star.

The coaching sucks, will we please quit throwing the players under the bus.
Click to expand...
Who gives a crap about star ranking. Fact is they have better players than we do. Just an example.....Terrel Newby's high school film was crazy good and he was highly rated. Look at what he has done in college. Nothing! A walk on fullback is better. Not saying this was one of Riley's better games, but Bo left this program with many issues. Riley can't be labeled a failure until things go South with HIS players in place.
 
FACT: the team sucks. That's all I need to know.

With the exception of our quarterback's improved play, every aspect of the program has taken a giant step backward. And Bo had set the bar pretty low to begin with.
 
newAD said:
For my sanity and everyone's who actually pays attention to things beyond the borders of Nebraska would people PLEASE STOP COMPARING MICHIGAN AND NEBRASKA!!!!

Just because they both have first year head coaches, they are NOT COMPARABLE!!!!

I'm not real happy right now with our current situation, but I also realize that Harbaugh inherited a much deeper roster (and Hoke flat out underachieved) and the transition for his team to his systems aren't as drastic as what Nebraska's has been.
Click to expand...

Can someone show me quantifiable evidence which proves that the situations in Mchigan and Nebraska are not "comparable"?

Some claim that Hoke left Harbaugh with more talent at Michigan than Bo left for Riley; however, a simple look at the past 5 years of Rivals recruiting rankings show Michigan's average class ranked 23rd while NU's average was 24th.

Does anyone doubt that we'd have a better record right now if Harbaugh were in Lincoln? If you don't, then it should be clear to you that we do not have the caliber of coach that NU needs.
 
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