Had we won the few conference titles in which we were close under Pelini he would still be here. This was not some major rebuild. We do have some talent issues to fix...debatable if Riley can do that. But, we play in a weak division. Riley will be 0-6 against Iowa/Wiscy if we lose to Iowa this year. Not....getting...it...done. Of course, before the first game under Riley the narrative was “wow, finally we have an experienced coach, amateur hour is over.” Fast forward three years and it’s ...let’s get to a bowl game somehow. This is a 10 year rebuild.
We’re not relevant
- Thread starter StrongArm517
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That's why hiring Frost is very intriguing, he's young so give him enough time and he'll build a winner.
I don't think conference titles were going to keep Pelini around as soon as Tom retired. HP was going to get rid of Pelini one way or another before he left. Once his advocate and protector was gone, BP was a dead man walking and he knew it. IF he had won multiple conference titles and the audiotapes hadn't come out, Pelini was going to probably leave for greener pastures anyway.
No, we are laughed at on a national level because we hired a coach that had three losing seasons in his last five and lost 12 out of his last 15 games and thought somehow that was a resume for success.
Then our perennial 9 win program became a joke spiraling in the wrong direction.
And the funniest part is our media and fanbase continues to love our losing coach because he tells us how important we are. We have become a case study of how to ruin a traditional power.
You pretend like he had to BUILD a winning culture. We just had to build on a winning program. The last guy actually built a winning culture in year one from a 5 win train wreck. It shouldn't be too hard.
Great answer.
HP did an end run around Tom naming his successor for a reason. People can argue over whether or not we should have hired Riley or not, but nobody should be so naive as to think that SE was brought to NU for any other reason than to get rid of Pelini. HP wasn't going to let Tom do to him what he did to Bill Byrne by naming his successor on the way out the door. We would have been stuck with that nut job BP for years more if that had happened. SE brought HP out to interview MR for heaven's sake before they closed the deal. I'm just happy at this juncture that we have a guy who represents our University well. You know I NEVER caught any grief over the bad losses with Pelini, it was always the bahavior that people mocked. Heck on a cruise a former Florida State player and current olympic sprint coach told me, "I have always respected your program. You guys deserve better than that psycho. Why doesn't Osborne get rid of him". It wasn't about the W/L record or blow out losses because every program knows it has endured that at some point in time.
How about another year so he gets to at least coach with some redshirt sophomores and juniors that he's recruited? He's still relying on Pelini's recruiting. 590 had a Charlie McBride quote the other day on the radio, "Woody Hayes asked me if I wanted to be a good coach. I said yes. He told me to get great players then." I don't think it's fair to can a coach this quickly and neither will most of America.
He would not have been fired had he won multiple conference titles.Great answer.
His behavior helped but it was obvious we were never going to accomplish relevance with bo.
His behavior was worse the year before he was fired so there goes your argument
Again, it wasn't about the record. It was about the behavior, the audiotapes, the way he treated staffers in the athletic offices, and the way he treated ordinary people just trying to do their jobs. The guy was a jerk. One way or another he was gone when they hired SE. Either he left for greener pastures as he had been trying to do for years or SE canned him. One way or another he was gone.
I think it's complete BS to fire a coach 3 years into a what Riley stepped into...but if Nebraska insists on doing something stupid, give the next guy 7 years no matter what the results are. How many times do we have to fire the coach before we realize who the coach is isn't the problem?
And everyone pointing to us losing to Iowa and Wisconsin despite "out recruiting" them...1) Wisconsin is consistently top 10 and Iowa flirts with it every couple years, so it's not that simple. 2) pelini didn't beat them either 3) they have stable coaching situations with systems in place to recruit guys that fit that system. Something we can't do if we change coaches all the time. Riley has been trying to beat them with a pro style offense using upperclassmen recruited for a spread. Not an easy task.
The part of the fan base that thinks like you is part of the problem. Most believed Pelini needed to go but not because they hated watching him yell and scream or use profanity. They believed he needed to go because he was getting blown out once or twice a year and it was not changing. In fact that was the reason SE used, however I think Perlman and SE and a part of the fan base really did not care if he had won the MNC they felt Pelini somehow reflected on themselves personally.
What's frustrating is that I believe this is the reason many coaches are not interested in the job. Who wants to be held at high standard of wins while at the same time being a saint.
Now we have fans saying let's give Riley more years even though the results are bad and getting worse because he is a nice guy who doesn't cuss
Pelini was 3-1 against Iowa. Wiscy obviously owned him. What current players in our two deep do not fit a pro style offense? Tanner Lee, the guy Riley/Langsdorf recruited who has thrown the second most interceptions thus far this year? The fact that we are razor thin at WR? Certainly has nothing to do with this staff. The fact that we can’t find a scholarship TE to step on the field? Not this staffs fault. 20 year rebuild.
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That's the point - we fired Pelini because quote "he didn't win the games that mattered" and "we had to evaluate where Iowa was". Riley is not meeting the standards laid out by the guy who hired him.
Still, Pelini beat Iowa 3 out of 4 times, and Iowa has only sniffed the Top 10 once in the past 8 years. Wisconsin had 3 different head coaches in a 4 year period from 2012-2015 and they've had to replace their coordinators almost every year, yet they don't seem to lose a beat.
I'm guessing you think that Michigan should have given Rich Rod and Brady Hoke more than 3 years because they recruited well and just needed more time to coach their recruits?
There is no scientific way to know for sure what percentage of the fan base wanted Pelini gone because of his behavior or the record. I know what I've been told by people who know SE and HP and I've been told it was the behavior that cost him his job. Period. In the words of that immortal philosopher, "RELAX"......We just need to sit back and try to enjoy the rest of the season and let things play out. It will all work out.
What???
Bo was 3 - 1 vs Iowa & 1 - 2 vs Wisconsin......combined 4 - 3.
Our mighty Beaver HC is so far 0 - 5. "Progress".
You are correct the season will play out one way or the other. The issue with SE and Perlman is that they played politics even when they did not have too. The fans knew why SE and Perlman were getting rid of Pelini, why not just come clean when he was fired rather than making up a bogus reason like Iowa. The fan and prospective coaches would have understood that much better
I don't know why they didn't just say it. Not many people would have blamed them other than the people who didn't care about the behavior and they were probably going to be pissed regardless. The national media and other fan bases certainly didn't blame us for canning him based on the behavior. No doubt the blow outs didn't help Pelini's case, but if he was a likeable guy who treated people well, he would still be here IMO. He had Tom's endorsement. He had the tradition coalition on their knees. He had the Board of Regents in his pocket. HP really didn't care about the record that much as long as the peasants were quiet and his bosses were reasonably happy. You get blown out by Wisconsin and come out contrite and apologize for the effort saying you're gonna do better for the fan base, and people wouldn't have said much. There would have been some grumbling but most would have said we'll get em next year.
What we also do not know is the effect of the political games had on whether coaches were interested in the position. These guys know each other and see what's going on, if a coach had some interest there would also be some reservations due to the toxic political climate. I do not feel coaches are afraid of fan expectations but they are cautious if the university itself is screwed up
Damn Devaney and Osborne they spoiled us... Really I agree with some of this but Riley and Callahan were not going to get it done in 10 years... We gave Pelini 7 years the exception was the 2009 Big 12 CCG, he wasn't getting it done the last couple of years either...
If you're going to give a Head Coach 5-10 years he better not be a 63 year old that never won a conference title in the first place.
Relevant nationally for the better part of 15 years, no. Relevance in the B1G is another thing altogether. Michigan hasn’t done anything in the last 15 years either, but they are still relevant in the B1G and like it or not their proud history is part of that relevance. Until Nebraska can get back to competing for division and conference titles consistently the B1G pecking order will remain as follows:
tOSU
PSU
Michigan
Wisconsin
MSU
Nebraska
The rest, lead by Iowa. If Iowa wins a few B1G titles or Nebraska’s drought extends into the 25-30 year range that order can change. Minnesota’s relevance is now in the 60 year plus past. Lucky for me I’ll be dead by the time that could happen to the huskers.
tOSU
PSU
Michigan
Wisconsin
MSU
Nebraska
The rest, lead by Iowa. If Iowa wins a few B1G titles or Nebraska’s drought extends into the 25-30 year range that order can change. Minnesota’s relevance is now in the 60 year plus past. Lucky for me I’ll be dead by the time that could happen to the huskers.
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It's not just the losses that concerns me about Riley, it's his 3rd year and he still hasn't developed a quarterback. College coaches have to be able to develop guys quicker than that to succeed.
