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Year 3 coaches that need breakthroughs in year 3 Sports Ill article

Huskermutant

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Jan 12, 2005
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http://www.si.com/college-football/2017/02/28/year-three-coaches-nebraska-florida
http://www.si.com/college-football/2017/02/28/year-three-coaches-nebraska-florida

Nebraska’s Mike Riley
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Nebraska remains one of the most confounding jobs in 21st century college football, and Riley may (again) not be the coach the fans want. After struggling to a historically unlucky 6–7 season in his opening year, Riley led the Cornhuskers to seven consecutive wins to start the 2016 season to, briefly, assuage a nervous and delusional fan base. Nebraska’s fans expect to contend for national titles because of their historical dominance in the Tom Osborne era, but recruits and all of the current players weren’t cognitively developed to remember when Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch led the last great Nebraska team—which was routed by Miami in the 2001 Rose Bowl. Add in the fact that the Big Ten has two perennial powerhouses (Ohio State and Michigan), one usually in the hunt for a conference title (Wisconsin) and a re-emerging threat (Penn State), and there’s no clear path for Nebraska to return to any kind of glory.

Riley may have an ace in the hole, however, and his name is Tanner Lee. The quarterback transfer from Tulane immediately received pro buzz when he arrived in New Orleans, and the opportunity to work under one of the most experienced pro-style minds should aid his development. Riley’s work with Tommy Armstrong—turning a turnover-prone dual-threat into one of the nation’s most efficient QBs in the first half of the season—proves he can still maximize players’ abilities about as well as any coach in the nation.

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The problem is that Riley may, in some sense, love coaching a little too much. He’s accustomed to finding the under-recognized players and turning them into the best they can be. The question is whether he’ll recruit to a level that a forever demanding fan base wants. The truth is Riley is a great fit at Nebraska, given its modern constraints, but fans may think otherwise. If he logs another five-win season at any point, he’ll be run out of town even if he is the nicest guy in college football.
 
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