What Hot Seat? Tim Miles Is Trying To Turn Things Around At Nebraska In His Unique, Entertaining Way

[seaofred92]

This article is from January 8 but I just came across it here. Absolutely phenomenal read from CJ Moore of The Athletic: 

 

Quote

Miles points to a collection of photos on his office wall — each of the 22 teams he’s coached. “I can put another 20 up there,” he says. “I’m 51. They’re not going to stop me. I might just have to change area codes.”

 

That’s the coping mechanism coaches in his position have to use. After dinner, Miles talks about how he’s never really felt part of a community since he left Doland (pop. 185). He’s never been at a stop long enough for it to feel like home.

 

Lincoln could be that. This is his sixth season, and he’s been there longer than any previous job. Ava, a high school senior, plans to attend Nebraska. He’s ingrained himself into the Big Red culture.

 

The guy likes his hash browns in the shape of an N, for goodness sake, although that was something the staff at the country club started to put a smile on his face. Now the hash browns always arrive in an N, and when the bill comes, he tells his server to add on the Miles special — a round of shots for the staff.

 

Nebraskans want to love him in return. Unlike new football coach Scott Frost, he’s not one of their own. But he’s about as close as he can be, hailing from the state that borders Nebraska to the north. “He’s one of those people, right?” says Niko Medved, his former assistant at CSU and now the coach at Drake. “He’s a small-town Midwest guy. You couldn’t find a better fit at Nebraska than Tim Miles.”

 

Miles, however, knows as well as anyone that’s not enough. “Likability only goes so far,” he says. “You need to produce too. I know that. We’re not where I want to be.”

 

https://theathletic.com/204784/2018/01/08/what-hot-seat-tim-miles-is-trying-to-turn-things-around-at-nebraska-in-his-unique-fun-loving-way/

[Minnesota_husker]

Great article. I must have missed that when it came out but worth the read.

 

I like Miles a lot. I am rooting for Miles to figure it out but before this season and the magical run a few years back, he has just not got the job done.

 

The offensive system has always confused me because it is so reliant on a guy creating his own shot. You would assume with the programs he has been at before he would have a strategy that would be focused on the team game and working the ball around to create high percentage shots.

 

Miles has brought in some great talent but seems like he cant find true shooters or big men. Slashers all over the place but balance has been an issue.

 

This years team is awesome to watch and if we can keep the core guys, next years team will be even better... after that, not so sure. Havent seen a whole lot out of some of the future guys to know what they will be in a few years. 

 

Regardless if Miles is our coach or not in the next few years, I will root for the guy and still think he was a good hire. He created expectations and also plenty of smiles.

 

Hopefully this years team can keep winning and find their way in to the dance. With the talent we have, it could be a fun march.

[gobiggergoredder]

I was expecting this to be Miles last year.  I can't say that I'm still 100% on board, but I really like the way he has this team playing and I hope he can keep it going.

Edited February 1, 2018 by gobiggergoredder

[Cdog923]

My mind was blown when we saw actual rotation and defensive adjustments against Wisconsin. 

[teachercd]

Man...he puts a round of shots on his bill...NICE!

[Minnesota_husker]

30 minutes ago, Cdog923 said:

My mind was blown when we saw actual rotation and defensive adjustments against Wisconsin. 

The 1-3-1 zone is his ace in the hole.

 

I will give Miles this, we have really cut down on opposing teams 3-point shots against us. That killed us the last two years and this year we are attacking open shooters a lot better.

 

I still wish we ran a more traditional offense but it is working right now.

[Cdog923]

Just now, Minnesota_husker said:

The 1-3-1 zone is his ace in the hole.

 

I will give Miles this, we have really cut down on opposing teams 3-point shots against us. That killed us the last two years and this year we are attacking open shooters a lot better.

 

I still wish we ran a more traditional offense but it is working right now.

 

I can't remember if it was here, or an article, but someone pointed out the amount of length we have on the floor compared to years past. With Roby/Palmer/Copeland, you have a ton of length to be able to guard the arc. Had he pulled the 1-3-1 out sooner against Penn St., we might have won that in regulation. 

[Minnesota_husker]

4 minutes ago, Cdog923 said:

 

I can't remember if it was here, or an article, but someone pointed out the amount of length we have on the floor compared to years past. With Roby/Palmer/Copeland, you have a ton of length to be able to guard the arc. Had he pulled the 1-3-1 out sooner against Penn St., we might have won that in regulation. 

That game was a mixture of the Jordy news and them jumping all over us early. That game and the last 2 minutes of the kansas game are two I want back.

[Cdog923]

34 minutes ago, Minnesota_husker said:

That game was a mixture of the Jordy news and them jumping all over us early. That game and the last 2 minutes of the kansas game are two I want back.

 

That Kansas game is going to haunt this team if they don't make the tournament. 

[Minnesota_husker]

1 hour ago, Cdog923 said:

 

That Kansas game is going to haunt this team if they don't make the tournament. 

Correct. That and some of the early non-con games. St. Johns has fallen on their face in the Big East and that loss looks really bad now.

 

My hope is the committee looks at where we are now and not where we were a few weeks back.

 

Every since the MN game we have been pretty good. Creighton and Kansas are not bad losses. Of our last 6 losses, only 1 is to a non-tournament(expected) team(Penn State).

 

If we beat St. Johns and UCF, I think we would be in but outside of a few B1G teams, we just dont have any non-con wins that prove we didnt just take advantage of a garbage B1G. 

 

If you look at KenPom we are still behind a couple teams we play(we are at 56): Penn State(53) and Maryland(36). Those two wins can help the cause.

 

[Blackshirt316]

I don't get how St. Johns is a bad loss. That was a road game and at that point they still had their star player Marcus Lovett. They suck mostly because he's out for the year.

 

When Lovett went down they were 7-1 with a close neutral site loss to Missouri. 

[B.B. Hemingway]

14 hours ago, Blackshirt316 said:

I don't get how St. Johns is a bad loss. That was a road game and at that point they still had their star player Marcus Lovett. They suck mostly because he's out for the year.

 

When Lovett went down they were 7-1 with a close neutral site loss to Missouri. 

 

It's a bad loss because they're 11-13, and 10th in the Big East, but they just beat Duke, which does nothing but help Nebraska.

 

 

[ECisGod]

18 hours ago, Blackshirt316 said:

I don't get how St. Johns is a bad loss. That was a road game and at that point they still had their star player Marcus Lovett. They suck mostly because he's out for the year.

 

When Lovett went down they were 7-1 with a close neutral site loss to Missouri. 

It's a bad loss because St John's destroyed the Huskers. If Nebraska had kept it close it wouldn't be bad.

[SouthLincoln Husker]

53 minutes ago, ECisGod said:

It's a bad loss because St John's destroyed the Huskers. If Nebraska had kept it close it wouldn't be bad.

I will help our strength of schedule. 

[seaofred92]

from CBS Sports today: 

 

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/college-basketball-coaches-on-the-hot-seat-who-has-work-to-do-to-keep-their-jobs/

 

Quote

NEBRASKA

Coach: Tim Miles Miles is in a similar situation to Christian at Boston College. He was an obvious hot seat candidate heading into the season, but at this point he's won enough to just about be out of consideration for a list like this. However, if Nebraska were to absolutely crater, Miles' job could be in peril and so that's the only reason why he's listed. I don't see a big losing streak happening, though. The Cornhuskers are 18-8 and have a 9-4 mark in the Big Ten. It's the team's best season since 2013-14, when they made the NCAAs. NU has home games upcoming against Rutgers and Maryland. Two more victories there and there is no way the school could justify making a coaching change.