We hired one. Bo Pelini. Just goes to show there are absolutely no sure things. Plenty more examples.
Substance only please: Changes?
- Thread starter Archie Graham
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We hired one. Bo Pelini. Just goes to show there are absolutely no sure things. Plenty more examples.
he got banged up on some of those throws. yep he isn't healthy so throw it 48 times with him. that wont get him more injured. northwestern has a qb that cant throw and the nw rb did worse than Nebraska. yet some how they make it work with 28 passes and just a few qb design runs
he got banged up on some of those throws. yep he isn't healthy so throw it 48 times with him. that wont get him more injured. northwestern has a qb that cant throw and the nw rb did worse than Nebraska. yet some how they make it work with 28 passes and just a few qb design runs
Are Harbaugh and Urban Meyer young stud coordinators? A good hire has nothing to do with whether the person was an HC or a coordinator. A quality coach is a quality coach. Once Riley gets his recruits and gets rid of Bo's aftermath, we will find out if it was a good hire. That will be a couple years. For a coach to be great right out of the box is an anomaly, not the norm. You know that. There are most often growing pains, and as fragile as these Bo leftovers are, if you didn't think there would be growing pains, you are nuts....completely nuts. No offense.
No. Bo was not an up and coming awesome coordinator that was talked about. He was hired because of his history with NU and possibly because how Pedey handled his interview. He wasn't the hot coordinator. I agree they don't always Pan out, but Bike Smiley was a huge reach, and a hire that left a lot of people puzzled. I'll back him, but just don't see it ending well. The fact of the matter is NU blows at hiring coaches lately.
I actually trust rivals rankings, it's why I come here. Like the star rankings or don't but history has proven teams with higher ranked rivals recruiting classes win on average win way more games. Plus its a ton less risky.
I also value the offer lists. Kids like Grimm, Wilson, Bootle, and Thomas offer list is pretty terrible. Why is that? That's a little less than 1/3 of the class right now.
Those Nintendo #'s you speak of, do you happen to consider the level of HS football those guys play at? A guy like Grimm has very nice #'s but look at his level of competition. Plus, since when does HS stats matter?
I'm not saying it's a bad class, but it's very risky and questionable. It just seems like some are giving Riley the benefit of the doubt. I hope your right but this class doesnt pass the sense test IMO. Since I've been on this board, I've never seen one like this.
This made it sound like what Riley wants is good because it is like Wisc and MSU. Just saying it is not like what Wisc wants to run.
Meyer and Harbaugh caliber coaches aren't coming to NU. Hate to break it to you. I agree a quality coach is a quality coach, but we aren't in the market for the biggest names.
Also why do we have to wait until Riley has his recruits. This is such a BS excuse. A quality coach is a quality coach right? I knew there would be growing pains, but come on. We suck at a level worse than Callahan right now. That's bad... He's got a few games to make sure that doesn't happen. I'll support him, but he needs to take a real look in the mirror.
TO said there is not enough time to be a great running team and a great passing team. You have to choose which just want to try to me great at and the other needs to be good enough to be honored. We need an identity. We need something we are great at. We are in no man's land now.
(And we have a slow playing defense, lost our return game from last year, and are keystone cops at the end of games - all for doubling the staffs salary?)
(And we have a slow playing defense, lost our return game from last year, and are keystone cops at the end of games - all for doubling the staffs salary?)
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I think this is a bit of hyperbole- we are nowhere near as bad as the Callahan days. Do you remember KU stomping a mudhole in us or Texas Tech? We aren't good but we aren't epically bad either.
I think we looked much better than Northwestern. We were the better team. Im not going to say the team hasnt got its heart in the game. They couldve checked out weeks ago when we lost to Illinois. They didnt. Tehy have heart. More than I expected.
I think the time management and play calling needs tweaked. You cant say the run was stuffed right off the bat. You have to keep pounding it to get it going. We were getting good gains. We had 3rd and 3 or less a number of times and threw a homerun ball. It just didnt make sense.
I guess Im saying play calling and time management. Little issues here and there.
I think the time management and play calling needs tweaked. You cant say the run was stuffed right off the bat. You have to keep pounding it to get it going. We were getting good gains. We had 3rd and 3 or less a number of times and threw a homerun ball. It just didnt make sense.
I guess Im saying play calling and time management. Little issues here and there.
completely disagree. they have had 4 heartbreaking losses. Most would've mailed it in weeks ago.
I agree with a lot of this post, but I don't understand why people think that we don't have the money to pay a coach big bucks. (1) Last year we received about $17 million from the BIG (up from $10 million we received the last year in the Texas conference), and that number is projected to be $45 million in 2017 when the new TV contract kick in and we get full share. (2) We require donations up to $3,000 per seat and fill the stadium every game Saturday. But, the donation amounts have been going down the past couple of years and they are (IMO) going to take a big dive after this season. So not investing an extra $2-3 million in the HC salary is going to cost the athletic department much more in reduced revenue.
No, no, no. Osborne won because he evolved, adapted, and innovated. Let teams like Minnesota stay in the past, lumbering teams with no passing skills. High skill players want a chance to see if their skills lead to a pro career, with a college education as a backup plan. Do you want be like Georgia Tech or USC? The key attribute from the past is hard work, discipline and skill make champions. As someone said, it's the jimmy and joes that win, not scheme.
The football revenue pays for all of the other sports at NU except men's basketball and maybe one other. There are a lot of expenses to be covered including still paying Bo and staff. We have resources but they aren't unlimited like some seem to think. If the big boosters aren't behind it- it won't happen and they don't part with their cash as easily as some here believe.
Still need an identity that you are committed to that provides you an advantage. Switzer knew that. OU had an identity. What identity do you perceive from the Mike Riley staff? Shrewd game management, strategic play calling? great quarters defense? Nah. Just a hodgepodge. Check out Tom Herman's transition at UH. They may get a big bowl. For a program like that, now that's a coaching transition!
All due respect, I think what lacks merit is your reading comprehension. I stated multiple times in my post that the current lack of a winning culture is not entirely MR's fault. However, I don't think it's unreasonable to have expected some progress in year 1 on that front. In fact, I think if there's no progress this season in that department this season, it's hard to imagine year 2 or year 3 magically having an improved culture. We do have 4 games left, so it is possible for some improvement there, it just looks much more like a possibility than a probability at this point.
Perhaps the culture will be better next year. I honestly hope it will b/c as much as I am disappointed by MR and staff this year, I also know that if we have to change coaches again, it will just set the program back another few years to evaluate that one, and see what happens. And then the cycle could just repeat again, with the same results. It is a difficult balance to know when to not waste more years on a coach when the team is no longer making progress, and when to just be patient and see what kinds of results the coach can get with his own players in the system.
I think if this coach had come in with a better record, or some sort of indication that he would be successful here, the fan base would be much more patient with him right now. Unfortunately, we brought in a coach with mediocre results over a long time as a college coach and were asked to believe on faith that he could succeed in building a winner here because he and his staff would have resources they never had at OSU. It could still happen, but the fact of the matter is that at Nebraska, MR and staff are getting basically the same kinds of results they were getting at OSU.
Besides the DTs, the lack of talent on defense is of historic proportions. You MUST have playmakers at linebacker. Banderas should be at DE, where his skill set would fit somewhat. Our QB can't throw a screen, slant, 10 yard hook or 5 yard pass to a RB in the flats. Tommy is a reasonably decent runner, but he is not a game breaker by any stretch of the imagination. He is also not a very good ball handler, nor does he have the ability to run the read plays well at all. Our offensive line is not nearly good enough to just line up and run it through people all day. Our best assets BY FAR on offense are the receivers. Riley's biggest mistake is in thinking that he could turn Tommy into a serviceable enough thrower that he could get the ball to these great receivers. This team needs a serious infusion of talent all over the depth chart. Also, do you not believe that Riley is dealing with a group of players who are forever Bo and who will never give 100% for him? That makes it impossible for a team to play anywhere near their potential. In a normal situation, I would say a good coach needs to be able to win these malcontent players over, but in this instance Bo did serious psychological damage to these kids by pounding into their heads daily that they absolutely cannot trust anyone outside of their locker room. I truly hope that going forward these kids won't suffer in real life from having this drilled into their heads.
You shouldn't. Rivals evaluates players that attend their camps. I'm perfectly happy with our class to date - even those you knock. I don't think it will be Riley's best but it is a very good start - especially with a highly organized support staff.
Now H.S. numbers don't matter? Let's bet on prayers and feelings. SMH.
Next.
So you would do what now? What next year? What in the next few years? I'm asking. I completely disagree with your time table so I'd like to know how you would proceed if you were in a position of power.
Five pages and only Matthew has offered legit football talk. Anyone else other than him want to talk about football?
Honestly didn't see this. Apologies.
So you are upset that we didn't run the same plays on a drive?
We ran the heck out of the ball yesterday and on average we got stuffed. I agree that on some plays we got traction, but overall, we got man handled at the LOS. Northwestern did what teams have been trending toward - they put big numbers in the box and made us beat them with the pass. We had our chances and didn't get it done.
Edit - I just want to be clear. If your position is that Langs is not an amazing play-caller than we can agree. But I don't think he did anything wrong against Northwestern. He could have called anything. It wouldn't have mattered. We got smoked at the LOS. @cubsker
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I'm not suggesting whether it is good or bad. I just get tired of seeing people call it the WCO.
Let me be very clear here because I think you missed it the first time I posted in the thread and I think this is very important to note:
I do not know exactly what has been tried in practice or team meetings, etc. And neither do you. And neither does any other poster on this board. Since I do not know what has been tried, it is impossible to know what to try next. A few items I know I would do for sure at this point that should have already been done this season:
1. Anybody who has not bought into this coaching staff and system needs to be out of the program
2. There is absolutely no reason to not have been rotating the OL during the season
3. There is no reason we should have not given Bush/Darlington/Fyfe, or one of the back-up QBs a series or two against USA
Again, I don't know what is going on in practice, so it is possible that the back-up QBs just never did enough to earn the trust of the staff for even a series. It is also possible that none of the back-up offensive linemen did anything to merit that. Again, I do not know what has happened at practice, and only have to go on what I've read in the media and/or heard on talk radio. It sounds like Foster is the real deal at OG, so it is shocking to me that he hasn't rotated in at some point this season.
Again, I am not a football coach. You are on here, assuming that in order to criticize a coaching staff, one has to have a solution. I actually agree with that philosophy in an organization, and when I've had people reporting to me, I have mentioned that specifically: never come to me with just a problem, come with a problem and a solution. However, critics from the outside do not need to offer solutions when they see something wrong. It's not hard to notice the culture is broken and the team is mentally weak. Since I noticed that, do I need to have a solution to fix it? If I were a sports psychologist, and I knew what had already been tried, and what would the logical next steps would be, sure, I would suggest it. Instead, we are all fans on a message board, seeing something that is not working and discussing it.
As for time frames, it's not that I expect the culture to be entirely fixed in one year, but I did expect to see progress this year. I had hoped that by game 8, we would just not be the team that folds in the fourth quarter every time the going gets tough.
It pains me to say this, but I think the last time the team actually played like it was capable of playing was during the bowl game against USC. That team would not be 3-5 right now. I'm not saying Cotton is the answer at HC at all, I'm saying that is the last time the team played well against a pretty good opponent.
I'm upset that we didn't even try to establish a ground game based on the plays that had a little success. Quick hitting dive plays with TN were doing okay. Our slow developing shotgun run game was trash, as our tackles are terrible.
Thanks for the last two responses guys. I'll reply tomorrow. I have to get my guy down for bed.
I'll try my best to reply....
1. I'm sure we do practise all the time, but Tommy's inability to execute this one play is a HUGE issue. As such, I'd pound this same play every single day until he starts to execute it perfectly.
2. I disagree that we mixed it up. Other than trying (and failing) to use the fly sweep as misdirection, I think we were incredibly repetitive. Almost no FB. Tommy hand off to Newby who ran into Reeves' bum. It was awful. What was worse was that there were plays called early that attacked the edges that often got 6-9 yards, that disappeared as the game went on. I try to cut Langsdorf slack, but he makes me pull my hair out.
3. All three of our interior guys have struggled all year. Reeves and Utter has been successfully bullrushed regularly, and guys just step around Kondolo (although he has been better as of late). I would like to see Thurston/Hannon get some snaps at Center and Foster/Farmer get some snaps at Guard. Candidly, even if doesn't help the on-the-field performance this year, I think it's important for team unity and to get guys ready for 2016. I'm not sure if Givens-Price slept with someone he shouldn't have, but how he didn't get in at RT with Sterup's performance is beyond me. Langsdorf = Failure #1, but Cavanaugh has been Disappointment #1. I thought Danny might do what he's doing, but I expected much better from Cavanaugh.
4. I would like to see Jano on the field for >70% of snaps. I don't care what the formations are that make that happen but he needs to be on the field and get his hands on the ball. For IB's, Newby has not earned the right to all these snaps. I think all three of Newby, Cross and Wilbon should be sharing snaps. I should add, I wouldn't limit Cross to a short yardage back. He has run tougher lately and in-traffic, he is looking like he is getting 2-3 more yards after contact than Newby. Given our OL struggles, that has to be part of our calculus.
Re: More substitutions - all of OL, RB, DL have been woefully managed.
That's how I see it anyway....
Cheers Archie, Matthew.
The one option play they ran went for a touchdown. I would take advantage of Tommie's option skill. I would also play a back that doesn't go down as easy as Newby.
TA overthrows open receivers and is a turnover machine in the passing game. Option can substitute for passing as a compliment to the power game.
A little option can go a long way. Charlie McBride told me that we don't actually have to run the option to beat you with it once we get you looking for it.
TA overthrows open receivers and is a turnover machine in the passing game. Option can substitute for passing as a compliment to the power game.
A little option can go a long way. Charlie McBride told me that we don't actually have to run the option to beat you with it once we get you looking for it.
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I read that we had 3rd and 4 or less 9 times. We ran it 3 times and passed 6. We went 3 for 3 with the runs with 1 touchdown. Went 1 for 6 through the air with 1 pick 6. If we picked up 1 more of those it could have turned this game around.
We went into this game planning on throwing the ball. That was the game plan and we rode it to the bitter end.
I agree, rivals evaluates kids that attend their camps. Rivals actually has a ton of camps. I know 3 out of 4 of the recruits I named camped with rivals at some sort of satellite rivals camp. Notice their profile pics. So I'm confused, are you saying they gave them bad grades based on their performance at rivals camps? Wouldn't that actually point against MRs recruiting ability?
HS stats are nice but I can show you some really great stats of kids committed to Sacramento State. SMH
Thanks for a good thread, even if I disagree.
Here are a few things I noticed after rewatching the game with a cooler head.
1. We are very lucky our D Line is starting to play some ball because they had receivers open. It was a combo of their QB not being a very good passer, and not having enough time. You saw it come to a head at the end of the game as our front guys got gassed, it was time for us to turn another QB into Aaron Rodgers.
2. I agree with Matthew about utilizing Tommy's option skills. We should have also got him in more opportunities for run/pass options. He does pretty well on bootlegs and we need to mix that in more.
3. Leave Imani Cross on the bench. Sure he is a bruiser and in some situations he is ok, but I have no idea why this staff tries to run him outside of the guards. Terrible acceleration and it makes us look terrible. With that said, there was some opportunity on the edges, and we should have used Newby or Oz on this play. Also, what happened to ole Student Body right or left? Go set the tone.
4. Someone mentioned it 100% correct. Move Banderas to DE. He has no business being our middle LB, and costs us dearly. I can't wait for Weber to get back. If anything move MRI back to the middle and keep Newby and Young on the field with him. If anything we will be athletic back there, but man Banderas is a liability.
5. Fire Bruce Reed. That is all that needs to be said. Our special teams are awful. 450K for this guy could sell millions on a comedy tour because it is that hilarious. That guy shouldn't get a dollar with the assets he has back there. Foltz, DPE??? There is also no way our kick returners should be that bad.
1. We are very lucky our D Line is starting to play some ball because they had receivers open. It was a combo of their QB not being a very good passer, and not having enough time. You saw it come to a head at the end of the game as our front guys got gassed, it was time for us to turn another QB into Aaron Rodgers.
2. I agree with Matthew about utilizing Tommy's option skills. We should have also got him in more opportunities for run/pass options. He does pretty well on bootlegs and we need to mix that in more.
3. Leave Imani Cross on the bench. Sure he is a bruiser and in some situations he is ok, but I have no idea why this staff tries to run him outside of the guards. Terrible acceleration and it makes us look terrible. With that said, there was some opportunity on the edges, and we should have used Newby or Oz on this play. Also, what happened to ole Student Body right or left? Go set the tone.
4. Someone mentioned it 100% correct. Move Banderas to DE. He has no business being our middle LB, and costs us dearly. I can't wait for Weber to get back. If anything move MRI back to the middle and keep Newby and Young on the field with him. If anything we will be athletic back there, but man Banderas is a liability.
5. Fire Bruce Reed. That is all that needs to be said. Our special teams are awful. 450K for this guy could sell millions on a comedy tour because it is that hilarious. That guy shouldn't get a dollar with the assets he has back there. Foltz, DPE??? There is also no way our kick returners should be that bad.
So is everyone refusing to an knowledge that Tommy is playing hurt? You can't use him much more in the run game.
Tommy got rolled up a little during the NW game, but has been fine. He also looked good still when he ran to the endzone after he got rolled up. Not sure to the extent he is hurting, but he is a tough kid and I think will be ok.
Let me just touch on what I see as your major point. In my view, it is unreasonable to expect significant progress with the cultural mentality this early. We have been a mentally weak football team for a very long time now. You bring up a game like USC. But what about the few before that? The reality is that this overhaul is going to take time. Some guys are progressing, some need more time, and some may never get with the program. Not sure if you are aware of this but this weekend Will Compton and Kenny Bell were on twitter leading with comments about 'this one guy' who did pretty good at Nebraska. Jay Foreman and Scott Shanle had to tell them to take the train and remind everyone that the "us against the world" mentality is still very fresh in the minds of players - both former and present.
Finally, you are not correctly describing our team. We are not folding. We have lost a number of very close games but that is not folding. We are playing until the end. Flash back to a few games last year, e.g., Wisconsin. That is folding.
P.S. It's important to note that I'm not suggesting Riley is going to be the guy to turn it around. I hope that during his time at Nebraska he instills a culture that is consistent with what we used to have here a couple decades ago. It's long gone right now. If MR does that and then retires he will have made an impact even if the trophy case is empty.
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