What do you tell visitors this weekend?

[anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi]

Do you tell them this is the best place for them regardless of coaches (the adult thing to do)? Would they believe it?
Curious to what others think. And before the TC goes full potato in here saying "we don't need those guys, they won't matter if Frost comes and coaches mediocre talent up, etc." Or whatever other nonsense makes you feel better.
Just curious how Bounds on the sidelines sells the kids with a staff coaching who will be gone soon. What will AD Tommy-Boy say to them? Will he have them up to his office and take a spin on the sweet chairs at the desk? Is it against the rules for him to get a #facebookpicture with them?

 

[WHCSC]

We don't need them unless they walk on.

Show them UCF film.

 

[Huskercigar]

Show them UCF film.

Ouch.....but funny

 

[nebcountry]

We tell them:

"Some of our fans value particular coaching staffs over everything else related to the program. If their coach gets fired, or their coach doesn't get hired, they will be whiny babies and lash out at everyone. By coming to Nebraska, you will have a life opportunity to witness grown adults acting like spoiled brats, and how you (the recruit) learn to deal with this will be an invaluable skill that will be indispensable after your college days are over."

 

[swissticuffs]

You sell, sell, sell......and hope and pray you win this game.

 

[JohnRossEwing]

The truth...coaches come and go. The school is here forever.

 

[HuskerDana]

I have wondered how you handle this myself. I think you have to sell them that this staff is going to get it turned around....and they could immediately help in being a big part of that. Then pray that we don't get boat raced again in a big game....and that the rest of the season doesn't go in the tank after that.

Like it or not, recruiting has a lot more to do with relationships than just the school they are going to alone.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

The truth...coaches come and go. The school is here forever.

Players from out of state or no real tie to the state aren't normally coming to Nebraska to play football because its "Nebraska" in this day and age. Times have changed. In order to get kids to come to Nebraska for anything else than the player's relationship with the coach is probably 3-5 years away. The coaches recruit the players, the coaches coach a system, the coaches develop relationships. People who are fans have a tie to the school and generally overvalue the pull to play for that particular school. They think it's the greatest place in the world so everyone else should see it from their point of view. You aren't getting a guy like Bookie or guy like Parsons if you tell them it's just about the school.
In a perfect world, you tell kids to make a decision based on the thought process that if they get injured their freshman season and are unable to play football. Would you still choose this college? But the reality is, they don't have a 2 year relationship with the professors in the engineering department or the dean of social sciences, so the relationship with the coaches is the most influential relationship they have.

If Bounds or Green or anyone else gives the indication that these coaches are on their way out, or the chances they return is slim, players who do not have a tie to the state or the school will have to be re-recruited and the odds of getting them is significantly reduced.

 

[coleastherb]

You tell them to commit to the school and not the coaches. This is a discussion that should be had at the very start of a recruitment process. Coaches come and go, the football program remains.

 

[Harry Caray]

I imagine that Bounds and Rimington will tell them that we expect to compete for championships, and we have all the resources needed to compete at the highest level and train them to get to the next level.

 

[jlb321]

very little will need to be said if you win

 

[JohnRossEwing]

Players from out of state or no real tie to the state aren't normally coming to Nebraska to play football because its "Nebraska" in this day and age. Times have changed. In order to get kids to come to Nebraska for anything else than the player's relationship with the coach is probably 3-5 years away. The coaches recruit the players, the coaches coach a system, the coaches develop relationships. People who are fans have a tie to the school and generally overvalue the pull to play for that particular school. They think it's the greatest place in the world so everyone else should see it from their point of view. You aren't getting a guy like Bookie or guy like Parsons if you tell them it's just about the school.
In a perfect world, you tell kids to make a decision based on the thought process that if they get injured their freshman season and are unable to play football. Would you still choose this college? But the reality is, they don't have a 2 year relationship with the professors in the engineering department or the dean of social sciences, so the relationship with the coaches is the most influential relationship they have.

If Bounds or Green or anyone else gives the indication that these coaches are on their way out, or the chances they return is slim, players who do not have a tie to the state or the school will have to be re-recruited and the odds of getting them is significantly reduced.

I agree, that is why you tell them the truth. Coaches come and go...the school is there forever.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

I agree, that is why you tell them the truth. Coaches come and go...the school is there forever.

What is the truth? Your opinion of what is going to happen or what the powers have actually told Riley?

 

[timnsun]

You tell them to commit to the school and not the coaches. This is a discussion that should be had at the very start of a recruitment process. Coaches come and go, the football program remains.

Is that what the coaches who are recruiting them tell them? I agree with you, but I don’t think coaches typically say that...

 

[JohnRossEwing]

What is the truth? Your opinion of what is going to happen or what the powers have actually told Riley?

The truth is like I said. Coaches come and go...the school will be there forever. If one of the recruits asks Riley "Coach, what if you are not here next year" I would imagine Riley would say "I plan on being here next year and the next and the next, but even if I am not here, this school is a great place because of..."

So no, not my opinion...

 

[anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi]

Is that what the coaches who are recruiting them tell them? I agree with you, but I don’t think coaches typically say that...

Yeah I am sure that reels em in. Maybe tell them "so you know... that guy Frost? He is our next coach. Our fans are very passionate, they would never boo a guy that played here (except that time they booed him WHILE he was playing here)"

 

[JaySker402]

You tell them to commit to the school and not the coaches. This is a discussion that should be had at the very start of a recruitment process. Coaches come and go, the football program remains.

except their relationships are with the coaches. The coaches are selling the school and program, but a lot of times, the "winning" factor is the relationship with the coach recruiting them. Otherwise, it wouldn't matter as much who is recruiting them.

 

[mwulf]

Do you tell them this is the best place for them regardless of coaches (the adult thing to do)? Would they believe it?
Curious to what others think. And before the TC goes full potato in here saying "we don't need those guys, they won't matter if Frost comes and coaches mediocre talent up, etc." Or whatever other nonsense makes you feel better.
Just curious how Bounds on the sidelines sells the kids with a staff coaching who will be gone soon. What will AD Tommy-Boy say to them? Will he have them up to his office and take a spin on the sweet chairs at the desk? Is it against the rules for him to get a #facebookpicture with them?

Hopefully they are a little more mature than this nonsense and in the end they realize they commit to a school first and a staff second. It might be too much to ask of an 18 year old but its what you do.

 

[coleastherb]

I'm not sure why this is even a topic of discussion. This is stuff that is handled throughout and entire recruitment process. You are not just committing to a coach, you are committing to everything that comes with it - the degree, the academic help, the facilities, the passion, the support, etc.

Besides, recruiting classes don't fall apart as much as they used to when a head coach change happens. We have seen plenty of cases of Nebraska trying to flip recruits of a school that had a coaching change and the recruit ends up staying at that school and Nebraska has been able to retain plenty of commits after a coaching change. Several of the commits when Bo was let get are now playing or starting.

Scholarships are not easy to get and there aren't that many spots open at other schools when it gets this late into a recruiting cycle.

Years ago when classes filled up later you had more turnover, not the case anymore. And in two months the first group of commits can sign on the dotted line.

 

[Wasker77]

Players from out of state or no real tie to the state aren't normally coming to Nebraska to play football because its "Nebraska" in this day and age. Times have changed. In order to get kids to come to Nebraska for anything else than the player's relationship with the coach is probably 3-5 years away. The coaches recruit the players, the coaches coach a system, the coaches develop relationships. People who are fans have a tie to the school and generally overvalue the pull to play for that particular school. They think it's the greatest place in the world so everyone else should see it from their point of view. You aren't getting a guy like Bookie or guy like Parsons if you tell them it's just about the school.
In a perfect world, you tell kids to make a decision based on the thought process that if they get injured their freshman season and are unable to play football. Would you still choose this college? But the reality is, they don't have a 2 year relationship with the professors in the engineering department or the dean of social sciences, so the relationship with the coaches is the most influential relationship they have.

If Bounds or Green or anyone else gives the indication that these coaches are on their way out, or the chances they return is slim, players who do not have a tie to the state or the school will have to be re-recruited and the odds of getting them is significantly reduced.

I agree with everything you wrote, BUT, it is as if you expect Bounds and Green to hire another average coach. If they make a good hire this time won't good recruiting go hand in hand?

I also think these kids that are coming in have also heard the talk that Riley may not return. It hasn't exactly been a secret. Riley is Number 8 on the Coaches Hot Seat Ranking. Their coaches and parents I assume are smart enough to gather this information.

Should the Huskers keep Riley just because he is a nice guy and some recruits may or may not come to Lincoln?

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

The truth is like I said. Coaches come and go...the school will be there forever. If one of the recruits asks Riley "Coach, what if you are not here next year" I would imagine Riley would say "I plan on being here next year and the next and the next, but even if I am not here, this school is a great place because of..."

So no, not my opinion...

You still believe kids are coming here for the education or the environment or the tradition, many of these kids can go anywhere they want to go, the education, the tradition, and the environments are not going to be the deciding factor. It just simply isn't. Throwing the bones is cool because the fans love it, but every top school has something that is cool. Most top programs are selling out their games, most top schools have tons of tradition. The coach is the tiebreaker. Nebraska will still get some good recruits if they make a change, but Bookie and Parsons won't be in this class if Riley and staff is gone.

 

[timnsun]

Hopefully they are a little more mature than this nonsense and in the end they realize they commit to a school first and a staff second. It might be too much to ask of an 18 year old but its what you do.

This is pretty naive.

If that were the case, why weren’t the top recruits committing to Alabama before Saban? Clemson before Dabo? USC before Pete Carroll?

I would say there are exceptions, like OSU, Penn St, Michigan, Florida St, but that’s not where we are at now.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

I agree with everything you wrote, BUT, it is as if you expect Bounds and Green to hire another average coach. If they make a good hire this time won't good recruiting go hand in hand?

I also think these kids that are coming in have also heard the talk that Riley may not return. It hasn't exactly been a secret. Riley is Number 8 on the Coaches Hot Seat Ranking. Their coaches and parents I assume are smart enough to gather this information.

Should the Huskers keep Riley just because he is a nice guy and some recruits may or may not come to Lincoln?

Nope you are guessing. I have no idea who Bounds or Green will hire for AD or potentially head coach. I do believe that Bounds and Green will be pressured to hire an AD with Nebraska ties by some of the power brokers.

I do know that the odds of a potential new coach having a relationship with Bookie or Parsons that is strong enough to keep Nebraska in the running is slim and none. As I said before, 4 and 5 star guys are making their decisions on relationships with coaches, all the top programs have tradition, rabid fans and great environments. Unless you get the DC at Penn St or Ohio St, Parsons isn't coming here.

 

[mpbrown27]

Question for the board - do you think the quality of the verbal commits this staff is able to acquire before the end of the season will have any impact on the decision to keep Riley as the head coach?

Also, how will the early signing day impact the decision? Could we see Riley sign a stellar early signing day class and then see him get fired? I imagine something like that will be used as an example for why recruits should choose not to sign early under any circumstances.

 

[coleastherb]

Nope you are guessing. I have no idea who Bounds or Green will hire for AD or potentially head coach. I do believe that Bounds and Green will be pressured to hire an AD with Nebraska ties by some of the power brokers.

I do know that the odds of a potential new coach having a relationship with Bookie or Parsons that is strong enough to keep Nebraska in the running is slim and none. As I said before, 4 and 5 star guys are making their decisions on relationships with coaches, all the top programs have tradition, rabid fans and great environments. Unless you get the DC at Penn St or Ohio St, Parsons isn't coming here.

You have this completely wrong. Recruits speak to their main recruiter the most and the head coach the least amount. In the old days a class could become depleted when a coaching change was made, but these days that isn't the case. Heck, I have seen schools get commits WITHOUT A HEAD COACH. If a school (schools where the player is not committed to) is not communicating with a recruit and a school announces a coaching change, the schools reaching out to that prospect are starting off cold.

Commits going to the likes of Northwestern and Wisconsin are not going to jump ship. They stay for the degree.

 

[huskerfan830]

I think you straight shoot with them. Let them know the AD search is ongoing, the culture is to compete and strive to win big, Riley is the coach, and don't make promises on his future. This is a big recruiting weekend, but none of these decisions are based on the possibility of getting recruit A or B.

BTW the assumption is if Riley is dismissed, the class will take some casualties, but his replacement will kill it on the recruiting trail and field. Short term losses for big returns in the near future.

 

[mwulf]

This is pretty naive.

If that were the case, why weren’t the top recruits committing to Alabama before Saban? Clemson before Dabo? USC before Pete Carroll?

I would say there are exceptions, like OSU, Penn St, Michigan, Florida St, but that’s not where we are at now.

I dont disagree...its more the passive aggressive crap that gets old...If in the end we do go with a new coach there is a decent chance some of the current guys stay...hopefully the Williams and Diaco

 

[Wasker77]

Nope you are guessing. I have no idea who Bounds or Green will hire for AD or potentially head coach. I do believe that Bounds and Green will be pressured to hire an AD with Nebraska ties by some of the power brokers.

I do know that the odds of a potential new coach having a relationship with Bookie or Parsons that is strong enough to keep Nebraska in the running is slim and none. As I said before, 4 and 5 star guys are making their decisions on relationships with coaches, all the top programs have tradition, rabid fans and great environments. Unless you get the DC at Penn St or Ohio St, Parsons isn't coming here.

Yes all coaching hires are a crap shoot with the exception of someone like Saban or Meyer. So yes I don't know who will be the next AD and coach.

I also agree Parsons and Bookie will come to Nebraska based on their relationship with the current coaches. I find kids today don't care what happened last year so why would they care about anything that happened with the Huskers 20 years ago? (Maybe it has always been this way and I am just becoming an even bigger old curmudgeon).

Here's where I differ with you and this is why I think the next two games are so important. If the team does not play well these kids are not coming to Nebraska with or without Mike Riley.

 

[timnsun]

I dont disagree...its more the passive aggressive crap that gets old...If in the end we do go with a new coach there is a decent chance some of the current guys stay...hopefully the Williams and Diaco

Only if the next coach wants to keep them on, IMO.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

You have this completely wrong. Recruits speak to their main recruiter the most and the head coach the least amount. In the old days a class could become depleted when a coaching change was made, but these days that isn't the case. Heck, I have seen schools get commits WITHOUT A HEAD COACH. If a school (schools where the player is not committed to) is not communicating with a recruit and a school announces a coaching change, the schools reaching out to that prospect are starting off cold.

Commits going to the likes of Northwestern and Wisconsin are not going to jump ship. They stay for the degree.

Please don't tell I have this completely wrong. You have no idea. The generic use of the word coach or Riley, should be considered as the whole staff. If Riley is fired, the assumption is that the whole staff will be replaced. The Diaco/ Frost dream team concept is a pipe dream. The next coach, if that coach has previous head coaching experience, will bring in his staff and guys he is familiar with.

Players who commit to a school without a head coach are doing so because they are going to their dream school and would have gone there regardless of head coach. I have already excluded those players from my example.

If Paul Chryst or Pat Fitzgerald were fired today, everyone of the 4 and 5 star recruits, would be on the open market. That is a fact. You can choose to believe it or not. I know it to be true.

 

[WHCSC]

I would hope they have no contact at all with Bounds and Rimington

 

[GeauxBigRed]

"Hey we are going through major transitions on both offense and defense. Defense is already showing it is a few playmakers away from being top level. Offense just needs time to gel.

Even though people just assumed 3 years in, Coach Riley would compete for a nation title but it's taken slightly longer to transistion into a prostyle offense, even though we have had a pro style quarterback for a grand total of 5 games in 3 years.

Roster is SUPER young across the 2 deep, with a few studs, we can take this thing to the next level.

P.S. - don't go online to read what Fred the Mailman thinks of our transition. They gave a guy who told the fan base to go f#ck themselves 7 years."


Something close to that.

 

[Huskercigar]

We tell them:

"Some of our fans value particular coaching staffs over everything else related to the program. If their coach gets fired, or their coach doesn't get hired, they will be whiny babies and lash out at everyone. By coming to Nebraska, you will have a life opportunity to witness grown adults acting like spoiled brats, and how you (the recruit) learn to deal with this will be an invaluable skill that will be indispensable after your college days are over."

Yea that's right.....blame the fans for going .500

 

[JohnRossEwing]

You still believe kids are coming here for the education or the environment or the tradition, many of these kids can go anywhere they want to go, the education, the tradition, and the environments are not going to be the deciding factor. It just simply isn't. Throwing the bones is cool because the fans love it, but every top school has something that is cool. Most top programs are selling out their games, most top schools have tons of tradition. The coach is the tiebreaker. Nebraska will still get some good recruits if they make a change, but Bookie and Parsons won't be in this class if Riley and staff is gone.

No...I don't believe that. But the question was "what do you tell them" and I think you tell them the truth, which I think we both agreed.

 

[Tuco Salamanca]

Yes all coaching hires are a crap shoot with the exception of someone like Saban or Meyer. So yes I don't know who will be the next AD and coach.

I also agree Parsons and Bookie will come to Nebraska based on their relationship with the current coaches. I find kids today don't care what happened last year so why would they care about anything that happened with the Huskers 20 years ago? (Maybe it has always been this way and I am just becoming an even bigger old curmudgeon).

Here's where I differ with you and this is why I think the next two games are so important. If the team does not play well these kids are not coming to Nebraska with or without Mike Riley.

Not sure that is a disagreement, because I have never said they are coming here to begin with. I am only saying that without Riley and staff they aren't coming at all.

 

[Huskercigar]

Y

Here's where I differ with you and this is why I think the next two games are so important. If the team does not play well these kids are not coming to Nebraska with or without Mike Riley.

Bingo. And that probably goes to many of our commits right now. If we tank they know the coach is gone.

 

[TheBeav815]

You tell them they don't want to come here, good recruits don't want to be in Lincoln, NE. They'd rather go someplace exciting like Boise or Tuscaloosa.

 

[Harry Caray]

I dont disagree...its more the passive aggressive crap that gets old...If in the end we do go with a new coach there is a decent chance some of the current guys stay...hopefully the Williams and Diaco

If we hire a current head coach, chances are much greater he will bring his current staff with him and not retain any of Riley's assistants. Most coaches are going to hire assistants they know and trust. If it's Frost I'd say there's a 0% chance Diaco is retained (the Civil Conflict deal).

 

[nebcountry]

I figure that Riley will be the HC until he's not, meaning, no decision has been made otherwise. Maybe that's me being naive.

So, I would guess the recruits will be given the relatively same song and dance independent of the "hot seat". If we were winning, "come be a part of the success". If we were losing, "come be a part of turning this around".

Riley seems like the optimistic type. So I would guess he hasn't given up and his message to recruits would reflect that optimism.

One thing that hasn't been brought up, early signing day. Will admins delay decisions until after early signing day (around Christmas I think).

 

[timnsun]

I figure that Riley will be the HC until he's not, meaning, no decision has been made otherwise. Maybe that's me being naive.

So, I would guess the recruits will be given the relatively same song and dance independent of the "hot seat". If we were winning, "come be a part of the success". If we were losing, "come be a part of turning this around".

Riley seems like the optimistic type. So I would guess he hasn't given up and his message to recruits would reflect that optimism.

One thing that hasn't been brought up, early signing day. Will admins delay decisions until after early signing day (around Christmas I think).

I hope they won’t delay if a change is in the works. I don’t want to bring in recruits disingenuously. I don’t think the recruit would appreciate that, and I don’t think it would be a good look for the university long term.

If we make a change, do after Black Friday.