Thoughts on the 2017 Season and Nebraska Football

[DudznSudz]

This has been written before and will be written again, but the average Nebraska fan believes that 1994-1997 was the norm between 1968-1997. The problem is that far more of the seasons in that era were 3 loss or 2 loss and a tie seasons. Sometimes losses were to opponents we had no business losing to and sometimes ugly losses to elite teams. 1994-1997 was dominant, the rest of the time was good to very good but not dominant.

Don't leave out 1970 and 1971 there, Tuco. They were pretty kick-ass in those years, too. :-D

But yes, your point is WELL taken. We were that team that was always "good" and could beat the stuffing out of 95% of other college football teams through sheer physical dominance, but always lost between 1 and 3 games a year and could rarely stick it to Oklahoma or whatever team was #1 in the country at the time, and then later could never get over the hump of beating the smaller, faster Florida teams. The legacy of Nebraska football since 1970 is really one of extremely frustrating "almost!" seasons, with 5 years of insane dominance.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

I'm guessing you felt the same way about Frank? That's not a slam it is just exactly what happened in 2003.

I see what you are talking about in the fact that our stud recruiters don't have their guys on the field yet. However, how come our classes were rated any better if we have studs waiting to take the field? I don't buy we really had the #42 class if you factor in who never made it, however at absolute best we were #20. If the guys are stud recruiters, why weren't we ranked hire then and why aren't we ranked higher this year even if you consider "avg. stars"?

You cant always look at recruiting from the macro. Nebraska is always going to have a player or 3 that is a local player that may not have a high star rating that will have an affect on the overall team rankings. What I would do is go back and look at the number of 4 star players that have signed with Nebraska over the last 15 years. Then look at the number of 4 and 5 star visitors that have made their way to campus, many on their own dime, again during that same time frame. Those are the things that get people excited about recruiting. Then look at the rankings from 2000 to 2013 and count the number of 4 stars that never panned out, but attributed to the high recruiting rankings of past coaches. Then there are always factors that are in play now that weren't even 5 years ago, with 4 year deals, that don't allow for the easy cutting of players, combined with the number of redshirted players etc. If you want to believe recruiting isn't any better now than it was, there is nothing anyone can say to change your mind. But if you look at it objectively and not just based on recruiting rankings, you can see the base level program is much better

 

[jlb321]

This has been written before and will be written again, but the average Nebraska fan believes that 1994-1997 was the norm between 1968-1997. The problem is that far more of the seasons in that era were 3 loss or 2 loss and a tie seasons. Sometimes losses were to opponents we had no business losing to and sometimes ugly losses to elite teams. 1994-1997 was dominant, the rest of the time was good to very good but not dominant.

I think most of us would be happy to be very good or have an occasional very good season. Forget about being elite or winning conf titles - it has been 14 years since out last 3 loss season.

 

[TightlineHF]

8-4 is reasonable to expect? Is this what we hired Riley for in December 2014? Was the idea that in year 3 we should hope for 8-4 and call wins over Iowa and Wisconsin "amazing"?

You have to know when it is time to measure. And it surely is not time to measure. We are seeing steady progress toward building something special, with a trend toward quality coaches (yes, it took unnecessary steps, but we are now getting there), dramatic improvement in recruiting (with a few position exceptions) and a young team that, although ridiculously inconsistent, gets better as the game goes on and really seems to be learning.

I consider myself a realist, and yet I find myself optimistic about this team. But, again, it requires that you decide that the time to measure has not arrived. When? I am not sure. But it is at least 2019 for me.

 

[jlb321]

You cant always look at recruiting from the macro. Nebraska is always going to have a player or 3 that is a local player that may not have a high star rating that will have an affect on the overall team rankings. What I would do is go back and look at the number of 4 star players that have signed with Nebraska over the last 15 years. Then look at the number of 4 and 5 star visitors that have made their way to campus, many on their own dime, again during that same time frame. Those are the things that get people excited about recruiting. Then look at the rankings from 2000 to 2013 and count the number of 4 stars that never panned out, but attributed to the high recruiting rankings of past coaches. Then there are always factors that are in play now that weren't even 5 years ago, with 4 year deals, that don't allow for the easy cutting of players, combined with the number of redshirted players etc. If you want to believe recruiting isn't any better now than it was, there is nothing anyone can say to change your mind. But if you look at it objectively and not just based on recruiting rankings, you can see the base level program is much better

this is probably true - and if true then I think a reasonable expectation is that if the coaching is better and the talent is better then the results should be better very soon. I agree that you can have the same recruiting rankings and have a higher % of your recruits be high caliber performers and 1-2 special recruits can make a difference. But again these assumptions (which is what they are) should eventually be proven in the W-L record.

 

[timnsun]

there is a difference between acknowledging the missteps that took place in the 1st 2 years and given those accepting 8-4 as reasonable vs declaring 8-4 a "smashing success"

a surgeon who screws up the original surgery - has the patient spend 2 days in the ICU and on day 3 goes back to the OR and fixes things doesn't declare the care of that patient as a "smashing success".

I completely agree that 8-4, given the situation we currently find ourselves in, is reasonable. I do not, however, agree with declaring 8-4 year as wildly successful for this year. I never, not once, argued for Riley to be fired - I just don't agree that we have enough information to declare that we are on the right path. I think we need another 2 years to determine if, as a program, the arrow is pointing up, down or horizontal versus the baseline of regular 9 wins seasons that had been established prior to this hire.

To this point, that's fair. But painting Dudz as someone who is going to sit back and enjoy mediocrity moving forward is a bunch of crap.

Look, we all want the same thing, and that is to be relevant again, and then be elite again. It's fair to bring up the missteps the first two years. But for those who are preaching patience, I don't think it's fair at all to say we are going to remain satisfied with 7-5, 8-4, no championship appearances, because Mike is a nice guy.

I don't see anyone saying that, other than posters who aren't in the "be patient" crowd.

 

[Chuck003]

8-4 is reasonable to expect? Is this what we hired Riley for in December 2014? Was the idea that in year 3 we should hope for 8-4 and call wins over Iowa and Wisconsin "amazing"?

Agreed. I would be willing to say that winning 3 out of your last 8 games in year 3 is not a sign of a team trending upward.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

I think most of us would be happy to be very good or have an occasional very good season. Forget about being elite or winning conf titles - it has been 14 years since out last 3 loss season.

People are talking about being dominant not having 3 loss seasons. The 3 loss regular season last year was met with skepticism because of the blowout losses. People always say what they'd be happy with when they don't have it, then when they have what they thought they'd be happy with, somehow its not enough.

 

[inWV]

Agreed. I would be willing to say that winning 3 out of your last 8 games in year 3 is not a sign of a team trending upward.

If we were to win our next four, we will have won 5 of 6.

 

[inWV]

7 teams (5 power 5) had 2 losses or fewer last year.

 

[gd81]

Outside of Saban, Urban, Dabo and Peterson, I think pretty much any new HC hire would be a coin flip in terms of success at Nebraska. The elite coaching pool is pretty shallow. Just the current state of affairs. Hope Riley & Co. get it done.

I met Coach in Elkorn this year. Like everyone knows an outstanding guy. Fits us like a sleeve but he also has the damnest luck in games. This this past week. Our first plays go off our best receivers face mask one that Stanely would admit he should make. Result pick. In the 2nd quarter our db makes a nice break on a deep ball breaks it up but it lands right in their other receivers hands. Result TD. Some dudes are snake bit. No one deserves Wins more than Mike. Hope they start coming.

 

[timnsun]

I met Coach in Elkorn this year. Like everyone knows an outstanding guy. Fits us like a sleeve but he also has the damnest luck in games. This this past week. Our first plays go off our best receivers face mask one that Stanely would admit he should make. Result pick. In the 2nd quarter our db makes a nice break on a deep ball breaks it up but it lands right in their other receivers hands. Result TD. Some dudes are snake bit. No one deserves Wins more than Mike. Hope they start coming.

Actually, the second one you refer to hit the Oregon receiver in the hands and our DB was there to sop him short of he first down. It ricocheted into his fellow receiver's hands for a nice gain and first down.

 

[gd81]

From what the media posts we have out recruited our foes in the West Division by about 10 spots. That would lend you to think player develop is better with our opponents. That said they have had coaching changes too. Except Chicken Hawks. So then you think "is it our system vs. theirs. A lot of questions that I hope our AD is digging into. No doubt these coaches and AD want to win more than us fans. But for some reason we can't turn the corner.
Lastly I love some post saying we'll get better but so will everyone else. Last year we did not get better. Another passing team coming to Lincoln so another test Sat. morning. We have a young team and not many Pelini guys left.

 

[gd81]

Actually, the second one you refer to hit the Oregon receiver in the hands and our DB was there to sop him short of he first down. It ricocheted into his fellow receiver's hands for a nice gain and first down.

My bad thought he scored.

 

[jflores]

I'm guessing you felt the same way about Frank? That's not a slam it is just exactly what happened in 2003.

I see what you are talking about in the fact that our stud recruiters don't have their guys on the field yet. However, how come our classes were rated any better if we have studs waiting to take the field? I don't buy we really had the #42 class if you factor in who never made it, however at absolute best we were #20. If the guys are stud recruiters, why weren't we ranked hire then and why aren't we ranked higher this year even if you consider "avg. stars"?

I would have supported Frank another year and I think Nebraska did itself a great PR disservice by canning the guy without a top shelf guy waiting in the wings. We were a little big for our britches then about our Branding, and it astounds me that people think we can have that same attitude a decade and a half later, far far removed from even that level of success (as you know we had a recent national title appearance).

Strange thing, while I'm a technical guy with an engineering degree and all that, I really don't make much hay out of the recruiting analytics. I get as excited as anyone to have 4 and 5 stars lining up to play, but that indicates to me an overall trend of them wanting to play for a set of coaches rather than I feel like a certain set of coaches have to be #X in absolute ranking and #Y in avg star ranking.

I'm much a believer in Tuco's point that NU is going to have enough "flyers" out with local kids (Walker) or maybe a diamond find that we'll never truly be a Top 10 year in year out kind of class. At least to get over the hump. Once we are back in the conference title club, I think we can reap the benefits of "me too" bandwagonism these other programs do when they win.

I think to get there though, we're going to have to find a staff that can keep us in that 15-20 range with some key difference makers in certain position groups. DL certainly puts us in that conversation with the way he recruits QBs and it being the most important position on the field. And as a Nebraska fan, I note that either through skill, luck, or divine intervention, we seem to have more than our fair share of luck developing key players from the ranks of 2 and 3 stars and even walk-ons. We seem to have rougher than average luck, with our highly touted guys working out (See Grixby, Stafford, Lucky, Andre Jones, etc) to the degree they are hyped.

So there's an element of "that's a wash" to me between the two groups.

 

[dinglefritz]

From what the media posts we have out recruited our foes in the West Division by about 10 spots. That would lend you to think player develop is better with our opponents. That said they have had coaching changes too. Except Chicken Hawks. So then you think "is it our system vs. theirs. A lot of questions that I hope our AD is digging into. No doubt these coaches and AD want to win more than us fans. But for some reason we can't turn the corner.
Lastly I love some post saying we'll get better but so will everyone else. Last year we did not get better. Another passing team coming to Lincoln so another test Sat. morning. We have a young team and not many Pelini guys left.

Don't say "we can't turn the corner" just yet. We were damned close to pulling off a comeback for the ages against Oregon. This season's story is yet to be written. Good or bad.

 

[ThrowBones92]

8-4 is reasonable to expect? Is this what we hired Riley for in December 2014? Was the idea that in year 3 we should hope for 8-4 and call wins over Iowa and Wisconsin "amazing"?

He hasn't been in Lincoln three full years yet. This is his third season coaching the team. He was trying to hold a class together in winter 2014-15, which they did a decent job of all things considered. So now he has had two classes, and this will be his third in January 2018. He added one of the most savage recruiters in the country last winter to partner with one we already have, and we have a few other coaches that are doing some pretty good things. We are in on so many guys. Just because you don't think you see results doesn't mean its not happening. I wouldn't look to Rivals recruiting stars to base your evaluation of signed classes on.
But, FFS, he's really only had two full classes to recruit...those guys are true freshmen and redshirt freshmen/true sophomores this year. You don't build a 10 or 11 win season on the backs of freshmen and sophomores. A lot of them are playing or are on the two deep. He went out and got us a QB that can throw the ball...save your QB evaluation. Dude can spin it. Based on who was available for him to go get, he went and got one of the best options available. Otherwise, we're starting a redshirt freshman at QB and probably not able to redshirt the latest QB recruit who will likely be the best of the three.
Pelini left us with a house of cards, and we saw it come crashing down a few times at the end of his tenure and also during Riley's first couple of years. The embarassing loss at Iowa last year? We were playing with a skeleton crew. I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner last year.
So restocking is going to take time. I think one thing people need to pay attention to is the talent evaluation of this staff vs the old staff of the kids that actually make it here. Recruiting site rankings might be similar, but Riley has had more freshmen and sophomores making meaningful contributions that Pelini ever had. Partly because they HAVE TO play because of Pelini's recruiting failures toward the end of his tenure (look at what the program was left with at OL and all of the misses he had on those 3 star guys. If you're looking for young guys stepping in and playing well, we had a freshman that Riley recruited just overtake a senior at RT that Pelini recruited.To me, its trending positive and will continue to trend even more positive with the next class.

On the football side of things, Pelini NEVER was able to make adjustments once teams figured out how to expose his cover 2 shell. Really, since the transition to the Big Ten required him to get out of his Cover 2 shell when teams. He stubbornly stuck to it, his kids didn't even believe they could stop the run in it at the end because they couldn't. In the Big 10, with all of the rushing attacks, they were being set up to fail. And he never changed a thing. At least this staff is showing the ability to adjust.

Pelini rarely if ever changed out underperforming staff members. And his staff was pretty crummy,. He had a QB coach who didn't know how to coach QBs, he had a golf coach coaching his WRs. WTF. Riley has made tough decisions and upgraded every off season, and he has brought in guys universally respected in the industry each time. How can you miss that?

 

[timnsun]

My bad thought he scored.

They did a few plays later, but even on the play you recalled we played it perfectly if the guy who was supposed to catch it actually caught it. Would have held them to a field goal there at best.

 

[Toms Wife]

He hasn't been in Lincoln three full years yet. This is his third season coaching the team. He was trying to hold a class together in winter 2014-15, which they did a decent job of all things considered. So now he has had two classes, and this will be his third in January 2018.

Where is Urban Meyer when you need him. Those guys who signed in 2015 signed up to play for Mike Riley. They are his guys.

I wouldn't look to Rivals recruiting stars to base your evaluation of signed classes on.

Interesting comment about this site while on this site. It's kind of what they do.

Pelini had a QB coach who didn't know how to coach QBs, Riley has made tough decisions and upgraded every off season, and he has brought in guys universally respected in the industry each time. How can you miss that?

Ummmmm...Pelini's qb coach was hired by Urban Meyer and Tom Hermann. Love him or hate him that kind of says he's respected. It's way more impressive than the bull we were fed about how all the Pac Ten coaches think Cav is a great coach. The guys who have left Riley are coaching at some of the lowest levels if at all.

 

[NikkiSixx]

defeatist post I thought..

it's like saying, accept mediocre football, we get big 10 money now, so just shut your pie hole and enjoy that we even have football in this state..

what a load of garbage..

fire these clowns and open up the checkbook you cheap bastards..

 

[huskerfan1414]

I'm not sure what else to tell you other than to look at who we put on the field, and look at who perennial top 15 teams put on the field. Not teams that have 1 or 2 good years. Teams that are good for sustained periods. You can only do so much with Xs and Os, and schemes and adjustments. At the end of the day, it comes down to stud players making plays. When you have more studs, you have more plays made. We don't have them all over the field yet. But I think we will.
Riley has improved his staff every year from both a coaching and recruiting standpoint, and I think we're just now getting to the point where we are getting playmakers on the field. Like guys who will be big time playmakers. But we need a bunch of them, and we only have a few. So until then, doesn't make more sense for the sake of sanity to be realistic? I still expect Riley to build a top 10 or top 5 program. If he can't do it, then we need to find someone else. If people just expect him to make this a top 5 program without having multiple classes of top talent evaluation and recruitment, then I don't know what to tell you. I still think a 6-7 year time period is enough time to allow a coach to build the program, course correct as necessary, and show what they can produce. So, right now, to say he can't get it done, it's just ridiculous.
And even then, we aren't going to beat everyone. Look at Ohio State, they have recruited better than anyone save USC and Alabama over the last 5 years, but they have been beaten pretty handily each of the last two games they played against other top teams. Look around. It's not an easy nor short process to get back to being a top 10 team annually.

He didnt say he expected top five without multiple top classes though.
Some of you should stop putting words in others mouths. Thats what people who dont trust their arguments do.
Im fine with people saying they need more time, have your opinion.
But someone else above accused fans of expecting national titles every year for ten years simply because people are upset we are staring at yet another mediocre season. Its a lie.

 

[huskerfan1414]

Nah, you're both wrong. Sorry, but that is more of the out-dated thinking. 8-4 is great considering our schedule, implementing a brand new scheme on D (which clearly needs time and work), and the hiccups along the way with Lee, a very not-deep WR corps, and a relatively young team. We just lost to Oregon, and we will likely lose to Ohio State and Penn State. That leaves us with Wisconsin or Iowa as the next loss, barring no other losses. If we beat both of them, that's amazing. If we don't, 7-5. If we beat one, 8-4.

I think that is both realistic and reasonable to expect.

You just lower the bar with every loss.

 

[ridge22]

He hasn't been in Lincoln three full years yet. This is his third season coaching the team. He was trying to hold a class together in winter 2014-15, which they did a decent job of all things considered. So now he has had two classes, and this will be his third in January 2018. He added one of the most savage recruiters in the country last winter to partner with one we already have, and we have a few other coaches that are doing some pretty good things. We are in on so many guys. Just because you don't think you see results doesn't mean its not happening. I wouldn't look to Rivals recruiting stars to base your evaluation of signed classes on.
But, FFS, he's really only had two full classes to recruit...those guys are true freshmen and redshirt freshmen/true sophomores this year. You don't build a 10 or 11 win season on the backs of freshmen and sophomores. A lot of them are playing or are on the two deep. He went out and got us a QB that can throw the ball...save your QB evaluation. Dude can spin it. Based on who was available for him to go get, he went and got one of the best options available. Otherwise, we're starting a redshirt freshman at QB and probably not able to redshirt the latest QB recruit who will likely be the best of the three.
Pelini left us with a house of cards, and we saw it come crashing down a few times at the end of his tenure and also during Riley's first couple of years. The embarassing loss at Iowa last year? We were playing with a skeleton crew. I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner last year.
So restocking is going to take time. I think one thing people need to pay attention to is the talent evaluation of this staff vs the old staff of the kids that actually make it here. Recruiting site rankings might be similar, but Riley has had more freshmen and sophomores making meaningful contributions that Pelini ever had. Partly because they HAVE TO play because of Pelini's recruiting failures toward the end of his tenure (look at what the program was left with at OL and all of the misses he had on those 3 star guys. If you're looking for young guys stepping in and playing well, we had a freshman that Riley recruited just overtake a senior at RT that Pelini recruited.To me, its trending positive and will continue to trend even more positive with the next class.

On the football side of things, Pelini NEVER was able to make adjustments once teams figured out how to expose his cover 2 shell. Really, since the transition to the Big Ten required him to get out of his Cover 2 shell when teams. He stubbornly stuck to it, his kids didn't even believe they could stop the run in it at the end because they couldn't. In the Big 10, with all of the rushing attacks, they were being set up to fail. And he never changed a thing. At least this staff is showing the ability to adjust.

Pelini rarely if ever changed out underperforming staff members. And his staff was pretty crummy,. He had a QB coach who didn't know how to coach QBs, he had a golf coach coaching his WRs. WTF. Riley has made tough decisions and upgraded every off season, and he has brought in guys universally respected in the industry each time. How can you miss that?

We thank you Mrs. Riley and eagerly await your next post!

 

[DudznSudz]

You cant always look at recruiting from the macro. Nebraska is always going to have a player or 3 that is a local player that may not have a high star rating that will have an affect on the overall team rankings. What I would do is go back and look at the number of 4 star players that have signed with Nebraska over the last 15 years. Then look at the number of 4 and 5 star visitors that have made their way to campus, many on their own dime, again during that same time frame. Those are the things that get people excited about recruiting. Then look at the rankings from 2000 to 2013 and count the number of 4 stars that never panned out, but attributed to the high recruiting rankings of past coaches. Then there are always factors that are in play now that weren't even 5 years ago, with 4 year deals, that don't allow for the easy cutting of players, combined with the number of redshirted players etc. If you want to believe recruiting isn't any better now than it was, there is nothing anyone can say to change your mind. But if you look at it objectively and not just based on recruiting rankings, you can see the base level program is much better

100% right. Going back and looking at our classes since 2000, we never really did land a ton of 4 star talent. And, the buzz and visiting has gotten better. These are just what the metrics say. Belief has nothing to do with it.

 

[jflores]

I never thought I would say this but at this point I would just like to be Okie Lite. 5 of the last 7 years they have won 10+ games (the two years before that the had nine wins and this year they are expected to get there again.)

They contended for a national title once (getting screwed when Alabama and LSU had a stupid rematch that no one cared about).

They have beaten 6 top 10 teams in that stretch.

They have won 5 of 7 bowl games in this time.

Strangely enough, it took them awhile to get there. Miles is a pretty darn good coach and he left there after a 7-5 season. Gundy was promoted to HC and they went out and won four games with guys he helped recruit and coach (And its not like Les was a poor judge of talent either).

It wasn't until Year 4 he won 9 games, and Year 6 before he won more than 9 games.

Folks can say "this is Nebraska" all they want, but its likely that a Pelini regime who underwhelmed us in recruiting, didn't leave all that much more to work with than a Les Miles OSU team when it comes right down to it.

 

[jlb321]

We thank you Mrs. Riley and eagerly await your next post!

Does Mrs Riley live in Lincoln? Just wondering as I know there was some delay in her moving out after the original hire

 

[Toms Wife]

Strangely enough, it took them awhile to get there. Miles is a pretty darn good coach and he left there after a 7-5 season. Gundy was promoted to HC and they went out and won four games with guys he helped recruit and coach (And its not like Les was a poor judge of talent either).

It wasn't until Year 4 he won 9 games, and Year 6 before he won more than 9 games.

Folks can say "this is Nebraska" all they want, but its likely that a Pelini regime who underwhelmed us in recruiting, didn't leave all that much more to work with than a Les Miles OSU team when it comes right down to it.

Les Miles is a snake in the grass. If you "guys" are in Stillwater I would be careful uttering his name. You might make it out but you might be short a couple cajones. He almost destroyed that program ala Briles.

Gundy wins and he wins the right way. He was prime for the picking three years ago.

 

[ThrowBones92]

We thank you Mrs. Riley and eagerly await your next post!

Neat response. When you can't handle the content of the post, so call the poster a woman. That'll do it.

 

[ThrowBones92]

Where is Urban Meyer when you need him. Those guys who signed in 2015 signed up to play for Mike Riley. They are his guys.

Interesting comment about this site while on this site. It's kind of what they do.

Ummmmm...Pelini's qb coach was hired by Urban Meyer and Tom Hermann. Love him or hate him that kind of says he's respected. It's way more impressive than the bull we were fed about how all the Pac Ten coaches think Cav is a great coach. The guys who have left Riley are coaching at some of the lowest levels if at all.

Riley didn't evaluate or build that recruiting class. Be honest, at least. He tried to hold a class together of players. He didn't have time to build his own class.

Yeah, it is what Rivals does, and they're getting killed by 247, Scout, and ESPN in their talent evaluations. That's industry consensus I've heard implied for radio, newspaper, and other content-related folks.

And beck isn't there anymore, is he. Remember how good their offense was when Beck was imparting his wisdom? It was not very good. And he is stinking it up at Texas just like he did at Nebraska and OSU vs teams with a pulse.

 

[Bremser]

This isn't aimed at anyone specifically. If this rant offends you, it may be intended for you. Good. You may need a perspective check.

There aren't many people talking about how we would have folded 5,4,3,2 years ago or even last year. We battled back, our players hung in there, and we had a chance to win the football game even despite a horrible opening 4 minutes.

Look at our two deep! It's full of young guys and guys that are good but not great athletes and players. We ALL knew this rebuilding thing was a project. It's going to take time. Why do people suddenly once games start completely lose this perspective and think we need to be dominating right now? Pelini left us desolate in a number of areas. Look how much better our Oline looks through two games. We've gotten better there. We're better in a number of areas, but we're still not deep. That can only be fixed with recruiting and continuing to develop recruits. We've had two all-star recruiters for one cycle and Riley has a staff put together now that can go toe to toe with the blue bloods for recruits. We couldn't do that when Riley started.

We don't have the guys to go out and dominate good teams right now. Remember we are in the beginning stages of a transition to the 3-4. We've played exactly two games with live bullets with this defense of 4-3 players. Everyone who pays attention even a little bit knows we don't have very good options at the second level right now. Some of them are becoming pretty good (Gifford), but Diaco didn't show up with any prototypical 3-4 linebackers ready to play. Our defense will continue to make mistakes and play slow in certain situations they haven't seen LIVE before. Some people think you make a mistake once, you see it on tape, and you fix it and don't make it twice. There are a few instances like that, but normally, it doesn't work like that. You have to see that situation in front of you a good number of times before you react properly and correctly. Practice can only prepare you so much. But we're going to continue to improve under Diaco. Give the man some time. For people that say spring and fall camp should be long enough...all I can do is shake my head. Those people have clearly lack perspective necessary to see that this is a process. It takes times. There will be bumps, and how the players respond to the bumps will determine how the season goes. So let's let this thing play out, and try to not scare recruits and coaches away in the meantime.

I can't stand Husker Fan sometimes. The loudest are generally the people who understand the least that which is the complex world of playing and coaching college football. They think because they can engineer a #1 recruiting class 10 years in row and win 10 national championships in a row on NCAA College Football that they know what the f*ck they're talking about when it comes to actually coaching and playing the game. They would be completely lost sitting in position meetings. I'm not saying people shouldn't voice their opinions, what I'm saying is people need to be responsible for their voices, and actually learn about the world of college football before they spout off about stuff they have very little knowledge about. Have some self-awareness that you don't know as much as you think you do about college football. There are guys on this message board and other message boards that know and understand the game at this level - it would be wise to identify them and start asking more questions.

End rant

One other thing - I laugh at programs like Texas where they have let their fans and boosters and everyone without much good knowledge of the game to determine the direction of the program. They're in this weird cycle of sucking because they can't get a program established because the fan base and boosters won't allow it to take root. Honestly, if we do this to Riley and company, we'll be no better than Texas. Three coaching staffs have been run out of town since Osborne left without much to show for it. If we run #4 out because we can't be patient, then we get exactly what we deserve. We'll be just like Texas and fan base and boosters.

OUCH!