Riley is still our coach

[MyBloodIsRed16]

Who was that avenger that was green and fought with a mop?

[Frost Advisory]

It's hard not to like Mike Riley, he's a damn good dude.  Unfortunately, that doesn't make you a good football coach.  I think it's pretty clear he's not the man for the future of our program.  Realistically the guy will be retiring soon regardless.  He came and gave it his best shot, it didn't work.  No shame at all in that.

[Mavric]

Riley #2 in ESPN's new Hot Seat rankings - Sumlin #1

[khaake]

I understand the desire and passion to win, and win now, but at this point I think it would be very damaging to the institution to get rid of Riley.

 

NU has already had 5 coaches over the past two decades. This revolving door has weakened the program substantially: if a fan does not feel they can become invested in the coach, they cannot really become invested in the team, at least not significantly. We should not add yet another coach to the list unless it is absolutely and most definitely necessary. Would Nebraska still be Nebraska had this revolving door mentality been in place during the 80s when there were many calls to get rid of Osborne? I'd argue no.

Riley is a very good ambassador for the program, somebody that the fan base, the media, and potential recruits can connect with. Let him finish building the program the way he feels it should be built. Either the wins will then come, or it will be apparent that they will not, but don't drop him now. My 2-cents.

[billdozer15]

Every time I read the title for this thread I throw up in my mouth a little bit. Can we change it to something a little less grotesque? Ideas welcome.

[Pedro Guerrero]

42 minutes ago, billdozer15 said:

Every time I read the title for this thread I throw up in my mouth a little bit. Can we change it to something a little less grotesque? Ideas welcome.

 

How about: Mike Riley is the Head Football Coach at the University of Nebraska

[Saunders]

59 minutes ago, khaake said:

I understand the desire and passion to win, and win now, but at this point I think it would be very damaging to the institution to get rid of Riley.

 

NU has already had 5 coaches over the past two decades. This revolving door has weakened the program substantially: if a fan does not feel they can become invested in the coach, they cannot really become invested in the team, at least not significantly. We should not add yet another coach to the list unless it is absolutely and most definitely necessary. Would Nebraska still be Nebraska had this revolving door mentality been in place during the 80s when there were many calls to get rid of Osborne? I'd argue no.

Riley is a very good ambassador for the program, somebody that the fan base, the media, and potential recruits can connect with. Let him finish building the program the way he feels it should be built. Either the wins will then come, or it will be apparent that they will not, but don't drop him now. My 2-cents.

I completely disagree.

 

The revolving door hasn't weakened the program. Bringing in weak coaches has. Wisconsin has had 3 coaches in the time since we hired Bo, and they've been vastly more successful.

 

Riley is a wonderful person, and I'd love to shoot he breeze with him, but he's not going to be around for 5-10 years, even with success this year. He's already replaced half his staff because they weren't good, and the reality is, if it doesn't get substantially better this year, the odds say it's not going to.

[brophog]

1 hour ago, khaake said:

Either the wins will then come, or it will be apparent that they will not, but don't drop him now. My 2-cents.

 

The question debated is when do you decide this? In the old days, almost universally it was 5 years. The money, the business side of things, wasn't what it now, though. A 5 year cushion is not something you really see at a mid major these days, much less a school like this.

 

What should we be waiting to see? In Year 3, without any unexpected losses to the NFL (a common concern), our play calling and substitution patterns are being affected by lack of depth at receiver. Does this improve in year 4, 5? This is the sort of program building question that has to be asked.

[khaake]

17 minutes ago, saunders45 said:

I completely disagree.

 

The revolving door hasn't weakened the program. Bringing in weak coaches has. Wisconsin has had 3 coaches in the time since we hired Bo, and they've been vastly more successful.

 

Riley is a wonderful person, and I'd love to shoot he breeze with him, but he's not going to be around for 5-10 years, even with success this year. He's already replaced half his staff because they weren't good, and the reality is, if it doesn't get substantially better this year, the odds say it's not going to.

Bringing in weak coaches has certainly not helped, but I'd argue that the revolving door will be more damaging to the fan base, long term. You have to be able to develop young fans, and you don't do that by turning over the coaching staff every few years.

[ColoradoHusk]

Just now, khaake said:

Bringing in weak coaches has certainly not helped, but I'd argue that the revolving door will be more damaging to the fan base, long term. You have to be able to develop young fans, and you don't do that by turning over the coaching staff every few years.

You develop young fans by winning.  Young fans aren't going to care or even know who the coach is.  They just like seeing the team in the red uniform wins games and championships.  Even as kids develop into teenagers and prospective students at UNL, they are still only going to care how good the program is playing and whether it's a fun atmosphere on Saturdays.

[Saunders]

Just now, ColoradoHusk said:

You develop young fans by winning.  Young fans aren't going to care or even know who the coach is.  They just like seeing the team in the red uniform wins games and championships.  Even as kids develop into teenagers and prospective students at UNL, they are still only going to care how good the program is playing and whether it's a fun atmosphere on Saturdays.

Bingo. Kids don't know or care who the coach is. Mine don't. They just want to watch the Huskers play, and win.

[Mavric]

11 minutes ago, khaake said:

Bringing in weak coaches has certainly not helped, but I'd argue that the revolving door will be more damaging to the fan base, long term. You have to be able to develop young fans, and you don't do that by turning over the coaching staff every few years.

 

Do you know when the revolving door stops?  

 

When you find the right coach with sufficient success to keep.

[khaake]

4 minutes ago, ColoradoHusk said:

You develop young fans by winning.  Young fans aren't going to care or even know who the coach is.  They just like seeing the team in the red uniform wins games and championships.  Even as kids develop into teenagers and prospective students at UNL, they are still only going to care how good the program is playing and whether it's a fun atmosphere on Saturdays.

The two things aren't necessarily the same thing. I'd argue that a healthy young fanbase cares about the program because the team is Nebraska. It's a much easier sell if the program is also performing at a championship level - you will be able to mobilize a lot more fair-weather fans that way - but a healthy fan base is a loyal fan base.

I'm not trying to argue that the program doesn't need to win. It absolutely does, but I'm not convinced it has to be a consistent 10 or 11 win program in order to have a strong fan base. There are many who say that Riley cannot bring us to that level of winning. They might be right, but I do not think we have given him enough time for that evaluation given what else he brings to the table, ambassador-wise.

[ColoradoHusk]

2 minutes ago, khaake said:

The two things aren't necessarily the same thing. I'd argue that a healthy young fanbase cares about the program because the team is Nebraska. It's a much easier sell if the program is also performing at a championship level - you will be able to mobilize a lot more fair-weather fans that way - but a healthy fan base is a loyal fan base.

I'm not trying to argue that the program doesn't need to win. It absolutely does, but I'm not convinced it has to be a consistent 10 or 11 win program in order to have a strong fan base. There are many who say that Riley cannot bring us to that level of winning. They might be right, but I do not think we have given him enough time for that evaluation given what else he brings to the table, ambassador-wise.

I get it, Riley is a nice guy, but he has shown the entire state that he isn't really a good coach.  Now, things could end up very differently than we think right now, but he's on his way to another losing season, or best case scenario 6-6 or 7-5 season.  That's a lot of losing!!!

[Pedro Guerrero]

6 minutes ago, unlfan said:

 

Bingo.

 

How many coaches has USC had in last 20 years? Like 8? They seem to be doing just fine.

 

Need to bring in strong, proven coaches. Not coaches that establish losing cultures.

 

5 (hack, stud, hack, drunk and still progress) I didn't count Orgeron and his interim games.