First off, I am in no way saying Bo should have been retained. Just because I find MR's recruiting @ NU and his track record of recruiting troublesome doesn't mean I wanted Bo to stay.
Second none of the commits you named were highly ranked. Both 3-stars. Barry was a 5.5. Talan was a 5.6
Third your wrong about Neal. Neal was always going to take his visits. Bo leaving caused more of a concern for Neal being a decom then his visits.
Jaevon Walton still isn't here so I guess that's a mute point.
Same with Love but I highly doubt Love would have left but all of these are just assumptions from both of us. I doubt Neal, Love, or Walton even really knows the answer to that.
Please be clear, in no way am I saying we should have kept Bo. Bo was a terrible recruiter, just worried that MR isn't any better or maybe worse. And it seems like its for different reasons. Bo was stubborn and couldn't handle prima donna recruits such as 4's & 5's. MR isn't shy to recruit the big names. He just isn't getting many bites.
I never suggested you wanted to keep Bo or not. In fact, you missed my point entirely.
You claim Riley has a lot to prove with recruiting. The man has been in Lincoln for a little over 6 months now. The only thing you can judge him on his first recruiting class which he had all of basically 7 weeks to pull together.
While you want to cast judgment for the lack of high profile recruits, I look at the 2015 class and I'm extremely impressed by what Mike Riley brought into the program.
Mike Riley didn't have time to go out and build relationships with a bunch of top 100 recruits whom were already committed elsewhere. His best course of action was to maintain some previous commits and then assess areas of need going forward.
He saw the linebacker depth as the biggest collection of holes on the roster. He didn't panic. He didn't go out and waste some schollies on JUCO trash like Bill Callahan in 2004 and 2005. He also didn't go the Bo route and bring in kids with absolutely no business playing in the Big Ten. More on that in a moment.
Contrary to your lack of knowledge on the situation. Courtney Love was transferring regardless of the coach.
The absurd aspect of his transfer was how he soured on Bo. He hated Pelini, and didn't actually request a transfer until after Bo was dismissed. He could've stuck around in the Spring and seen how he would've fit into the new defense. But he was gone anyway and bought a line of bull shit from Kentucky who claimed he would be eligible in 2015.
Josh Banderas was also ready to transfer, but that's kind of irrelevant to this discussion.
So Riley looked at the linebacker depth and realized it sucked. Instead of going after trash he and his staff scour the country for some guys they can purge:
1. Mohammad Barry - Was heading to Wisconsin. By October, he realized he would not qualify there. In fact, his inability to get into Wisconsin was part of the "last straw" for Gary Andersen. He knew he would never be able to get over the athletic hump to compete with Ohio State if he couldn't pull in athletes like Barry to Wisconsin. Barry then was choosing between Miami and K-State until the Huskers came in changed his mind. Kid was an All-State LB with 4.4 speed from Georgia's biggest class.
2. Adrienne Talan - This kid, also with 4.4 speed, out of Florida 7A, was actually Bray's #1 target while at Oregon State. Even after visiting and building a nice relationship, he was seriously considering Arkansas, TCU, and Pitt. Talan is an example of player who would've likey never ended up at Oregon State. But he's a player who will select Nebraska because of facilities, tradition, support, etc.
3. Tyrin Ferguson - The 2014 Louisiana High School Defensive player of the year, was targeted by Riley and staff in September. He had no offers because he had basically played in 5 career Varsity games at that time. By the end of December, Ferguson had offers from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Cal, Arizona State, and had committed to Nebraska. If Riley was still at Oregon state, you have to wonder if Ferguson would've stuck with the Beavers after all.
4. Jalin Barnett - a top 250 Offensive tackle, who was no where on Nebraska;s radar prior to Riley, is likely heading to Stanford or Arkansas or staying in state at Oklahoma State. This kid had offers from Auburn, UCLA, and OU, but chose the Huskers because of Mike Riley.
5. Lavon Alston - a dynamic and explosive wide out very much in the mold of many PAC 12 athletes, was very much choosing between a handful of PAC 12 programs. Riley convinced him to head out to the Plains.
So your argument is that "none of these recruits were high profile." That argument is silly and really just illustrates the absurdity of your argument with relation to Riley.
Look at the programs who wanted these players and then tell me where players in those programs fit into the Big Ten West from a talent standpoint:
Wisconsin
Kansas State
Arizona
Arkansas
Arizona State
Washington
TCU
Cal
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Miami
Pitt
K-State
Central Florida
Riley and staff proactively attacked the situation and were solutions oriented by bringing in the type of talent necessary to compete for a league title. Rebuilding and stacking the depth at Nebraska is not an overnight fix. They didn't pout, and made an effort to start the rebuild at these key positions.
This isn't really a Riley to Bo comparison, but its a broader look at how Bo tried to fix depth issues. Bo never had a plan B for everything. If he missed out on a recruit or a kid reneged, Bo called the kid an Effing Pussy, complained to Gary Dinardo with BTN, and then went and found a Plan H kid from rural Alabama like DeAndre Wills. Or he would go get a kid like Ernest Suttles and Jaevon Walton. Those kids had talent, but plenty of coaches and administrators were ready to say, "These Kids are Bad news. " That's why the big programs aren't recruiting them anymore.
Riley didn't do that, he found kids who could first and foremost run. He then made serious inquireies, and finally sold Nebraska.
Claiming he still has a lot to prove is misguided and off base. He's already proved a ton
