Come on Husker fans. A loss to Minnesota wasn't all that big of a deal

[kchusker_chris]

If everyone knew how to beat Bo, he'd be 0-13. You can call that Minnesota video a prediction if you like. He said what they would do based on how many we played in the box. I can't speak to other coaches respect to Pelini's scheme or coaching and my Spidey senses tell me you can't either. If you say he blames things on the players enough, you might start to believe it. He says we need to execute. My guess is whomever your favorite coach is (and I'm well aware it ain't Pelini) says the same thing. Someone will come here if we have an opening......don't get your comment about the light bulb. It's not about coaches not being bright.....they definitely are bright. It's about other places paying the same coin in better recruiting areas and not coming to the only school who fires a successful coach.....more than once. As far as you not wanting to see Pelini fired. Ok.

You seriously believe this? We could trot out there against all 120 schools and beat 70 of them 90% of the time without even bringing the coaching staff, and a chunk of the rest 50% of the time. We have better athletes, better facilities, better training, better everything than the vast majority of our competition. Should we expect to beat Wyoming? Heck yes we should. Bo's problem is when we no longer can fall back on those superiorities. Because he and his staff is rarely superiour than the staff lined up across from him.

(And if you don't get the comment about the light bulb you're burning a few watts short yourself)

 

[TheSker]

You seriously believe this? We could trot out there against all 120 schools and beat 70 of them 90% of the time without even bringing the coaching staff, and a chunk of the rest 50% of the time. We have better athletes, better facilities, better training, better everything than the vast majority of our competition.

I know.....we are Nebraska. Why will this be our 3rd coaching change in 15 years if the above is correct?

 

[kchusker_chris]

You seriously believe this? We could trot out there against all 120 schools and beat 70 of them 90% of the time without even bringing the coaching staff, and a chunk of the rest 50% of the time. We have better athletes, better facilities, better training, better everything than the vast majority of our competition.

I know.....we are Nebraska. Why will this be our 3rd coaching change in 15 years if the above is correct?

Because we've hired some mediocre coaches that have ridden the better athletes, better facilities, better training, and better everything else...topped off with a few of the easiest schedules in CFB to 8-10 win seasons for the last 15 years without winning but a handful of meaningful games against superior opponents?

How many coaches has Alabama had in the last 15 years? (Hint: more than we have). This is only an issue because our current one isn't adequately doing the job.

 

[skersfan]

Sker,

No secret that Pelini was not even a remote choice as far as I was concerned. I did not like him and his hot head, lack of control from his first stent here. More to the story but that states it pretty clear. I am not on the fire the coach squad. I agree it will not be good initially for Nebraska. But we have money to pay a top coach to over come the lack of recruiting area. We need a more dynamic approach to recruiting, and if changes need to be made to attract the kids, do so.

I would much prefer, the ship was righted. I have grown to like him, the way he runs a clean program, and takes a real interest in the kids and their graduating. I am not about the wins or losses or CCG or MNC. I am about playing the game hard, out work the other team, play by the rules and being happy with the end result, win or lose. All year long we have heard, we are not ready to play. Not interested, over confident, they were supposed to lay down for us. That comes from lack of leadership. That is Bo's responsibility. He needs to figure out what he is doing wrong and correct in these last 5 games. Get the effort out of them that they state they do not put out. I would rather watch 4th string kids giving it their all than some prima dona not wanting to work for it. The bench can be a real motivating factor.

 

[TheSker]

Sker,

No secret that Pelini was not even a remote choice as far as I was concerned. I did not like him and his hot head, lack of control from his first stent here. More to the story but that states it pretty clear. I am not on the fire the coach squad. I agree it will not be good initially for Nebraska. But we have money to pay a top coach to over come the lack of recruiting area. We need a more dynamic approach to recruiting, and if changes need to be made to attract the kids, do so.

I would much prefer, the ship was righted. I have grown to like him, the way he runs a clean program, and takes a real interest in the kids and their graduating. I am not about the wins or losses or CCG or MNC. I am about playing the game hard, out work the other team, play by the rules and being happy with the end result, win or lose. All year long we have heard, we are not ready to play. Not interested, over confident, they were supposed to lay down for us. That comes from lack of leadership. That is Bo's responsibility. He needs to figure out what he is doing wrong and correct in these last 5 games. Get the effort out of them that they state they do not put out. I would rather watch 4th string kids giving it their all than some prima dona not wanting to work for it. The bench can be a real motivating factor.

I agree. I don't think we're that far from making it to the next level in our performance. We are paying for Pelini's recruiting inexperience now, but I think he's got a better handle on that. I very much agree with you that he's had to learn on the job.....that's actually one reason I want him to stay. I think he's learned a lot and we should beneficiary of that, not another university. I know you and I are on the same page about not wanting to go through another coaching change. I'm just not interested in attacking Pelini right now. I'm more interested in specifically what we are doing at LB, safety and QB than taking jabs at Pelini.

 

[TheSker]

How many coaches has Alabama had in the last 15 years? (Hint: more than we have). This is only an issue because our current one isn't adequately doing the job.

Well that and perhaps because the only coach Alabama had between Stallings and Saban with a winning record was Coach Fran.

 

[JJ Husker]

If everyone knew how to beat Bo, he'd be 0-13.

yup. or 0-7 instead of 5-2.

And something tells me there would still be people giving him a pass and making excuses for it. I mean we just simply cannot ever have another coaching change. *gasp* What if it turned out like Callahan again? We can't ever risk that. I guess this is what it takes to accept mediocrity; Each year, lose 1 or 2 that you should never lose, get blown out once or twice by teams that are no better structurally but who have only prepared and are coached better, and then have the gall to consistently blame it on player execution and player effort. There will still be people who say "yeah, but he wins 9 games per year". I look at out schedule and I see 10 games minimum we should win (7 or 8 without breaking a sweat) and two games where the opponent is not daunting in the least but does have a reasonable chance at beating us if we don't bring it.

I am not a big W-L guy. I am much more interested in how the game is played and coached. I would much rather lose by 14 to a team like Bama while playing a hard fought, respectable game than beating a team like SDSU or Wyoming or Illinois while playing poorly. Our schedule and conference alone gives us 7 wins per year. Going 2 of 5 or 3 of 5 on the other games is not impressive, it should be considered a bare minimum.

Which team(s) on our schedule should we be lining up behind and readily accepting that they are hands down the superior team? I don't see one this year, and that includes if we made it to the CCG and faced tOSU. I would love it if Bo were the guy to get us out of this funk and take the next step. I see absolutely no indication that is or could happen now.

 

[Husker66]

If the author is happy with 9 wins a season, that's fine. But his arguments for why Nebraska isn't able to go any higher are simply false.

Here is him expounding his argument in a comment:

what resources, outside of history, does Nebraska have that everyone else doesn’t? Money? You can’t pay players. Facilities? Everyone has weights and practice fields (unless you are Grambling.) The landscape has changed.

This is clearly faulty logic. You could never (legally) pay players. Everyone has always had practice fields and weights. That has never stopped programs from being elite.

Money is hugely important. Money buys:

1. Superior coaches
   
2. Superior facilities
   
3. Superior marketers/brand managers
   

And those things in turn attract superior players. And furthermore, (1) creates superior players by taking already talented players and getting the most out of them.

So it's perfectly fine to be happy with where we're at. But it's also perfectly reasonable to want more, given our resources.

look no further than Oregon to prove this point...10 years ago, nobody knew who Oregon was let alone they were the ducks...now with 100's of millions of Phil Knights Nike money AND MARKETING...id say they have done quite well for themselves and now earned it..

 

[TheSker]

If the author is happy with 9 wins a season, that's fine. But his arguments for why Nebraska isn't able to go any higher are simply false.

Here is him expounding his argument in a comment:

what resources, outside of history, does Nebraska have that everyone else doesn’t? Money? You can’t pay players. Facilities? Everyone has weights and practice fields (unless you are Grambling.) The landscape has changed.

This is clearly faulty logic. You could never (legally) pay players. Everyone has always had practice fields and weights. That has never stopped programs from being elite.

Money is hugely important. Money buys:

1. Superior coaches
   
2. Superior facilities
   
3. Superior marketers/brand managers
   

And those things in turn attract superior players. And furthermore, (1) creates superior players by taking already talented players and getting the most out of them.

So it's perfectly fine to be happy with where we're at. But it's also perfectly reasonable to want more, given our resources.

look no further than Oregon to prove this point...10 years ago, nobody knew who Oregon was let alone they were the ducks...now with 100's of millions of Phil Knights Nike money AND MARKETING...id say they have done quite well for themselves and now earned it..

They have done well. Except for that one prize.

 

[clone]

If everyone knew how to beat Bo, he'd be 0-13.

yup. or 0-7 instead of 5-2.

And something tells me there would still be people giving him a pass and making excuses for it.

If Bo was 0-7, they'd be giving him a pass by long distance phone call...

He'd be fired.

 

[sd'sker]

How many times have lesser opponents beat us? How many times have we been embarrassingly blown out? Where are the hallmark wins? Where's the game(s) we look to and hang our hat on the excellent victory?

this is really the only point that needs to be made when it comes to the state of nebraska football. i was talking to some friends about our loss to minny and one mentioned how we can't recruit to neb. anymore. that might be a good excuse as to why we lost to georgia, but otherwise it is a terrible point. clearly we have enough talent to beat minny and play better than we did. this program is obviously under-performing and we should be upset about that.

 

[Red Stripe]

I don't get this "sense of entitlement." Disaproving of lackluster recruiting coupled with poor player development / S&C, bad PR, nepotism, not putting your players in a position to win, and the head coach telling the fans to "f" themselves is not entitlement. My favorite football team is a national laughinstock (mostly due to the 6 year constant soap opera that we have endured), and you're saying I shouldn't expect / demand better.

Why is demanding excellence / accountability / professionalism = entitlement? Can you honestly look at the current coaching staff and say that they have achieved any of these? When did accepting mediocrity become acceptable?

Some fans have put the perosona / the coach above the program. Nebraska football is much bigger than Bo Pelini.

 

[AFhusker]

I don't get this "sense of entitlement." Disaproving of lackluster recruiting coupled with poor player development / S&C, bad PR, nepotism, not putting your players in a position to win, and the head coach telling the fans to "f" themselves is not entitlement. My favorite football team is a national laughinstock (mostly due to the 6 year constant soap opera that we have endured), and you're saying I shouldn't expect / demand better.

Why is demanding excellence / accountability / professionalism = entitlement? Can you honestly look at the current coaching staff and say that they have achieved any of these? When did accepting mediocrity become acceptable?

Some fans have put the perosona / the coach above the program. Nebraska football is much bigger than Bo Pelini.

Two words for you....Frank Solich.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

I don't get this "sense of entitlement." Disaproving of lackluster recruiting coupled with poor player development / S&C, bad PR, nepotism, not putting your players in a position to win, and the head coach telling the fans to "f" themselves is not entitlement. My favorite football team is a national laughinstock (mostly due to the 6 year constant soap opera that we have endured), and you're saying I shouldn't expect / demand better.

Why is demanding excellence / accountability / professionalism = entitlement? Can you honestly look at the current coaching staff and say that they have achieved any of these? When did accepting mediocrity become acceptable?

Some fans have put the perosona / the coach above the program. Nebraska football is much bigger than Bo Pelini.

Two words for you....Frank Solich.

1998. Transition year from Osborne. Nebraska goes 9 - 4, ends year ranked #19 after 3 pt. loss to #5 team in the nation.

1999. Nebraska goes 12 - 1, ranked #2 in the nation.

2000. Nebraska goes 10 - 2, ranked #7, beats Northwestern 66 - 17 in the Alamo Bowl.

2001. Nebraska goes 11 - 2, loses the national championship game to Miami, a rival to the '95 Huskers for the best college football team of all time. Ends season ranked #7.

2002. Wheels fall off. Nebraska goes 7 - 7.

2003. With same middling talent, Huskers rebound to go 10 - 3, end season ranked #18.

So other than 2002, which one of these Frank Solich seasons would you consider unacceptable?

 

[Sparker]

I don't get this "sense of entitlement." Disaproving of lackluster recruiting coupled with poor player development / S&C, bad PR, nepotism, not putting your players in a position to win, and the head coach telling the fans to "f" themselves is not entitlement. My favorite football team is a national laughinstock (mostly due to the 6 year constant soap opera that we have endured), and you're saying I shouldn't expect / demand better.

Why is demanding excellence / accountability / professionalism = entitlement? Can you honestly look at the current coaching staff and say that they have achieved any of these? When did accepting mediocrity become acceptable?

Some fans have put the perosona / the coach above the program. Nebraska football is much bigger than Bo Pelini.

Two words for you....Frank Solich.

1998. Transition year from Osborne. Nebraska goes 9 - 4, ends year ranked #19 after 3 pt. loss to #5 team in the nation.

1999. Nebraska goes 12 - 1, ranked #2 in the nation.

2000. Nebraska goes 10 - 2, ranked #7, beats Northwestern 66 - 17 in the Alamo Bowl.

2001. Nebraska goes 11 - 2, loses the national championship game to Miami, a rival to the '95 Huskers for the best college football team of all time. Ends season ranked #7.

2002. Wheels fall off. Nebraska goes 7 - 7.

2003. With same middling talent, Huskers rebound to go 10 - 3, end season ranked #18.

So other than 2002, which one of these Frank Solich seasons would you consider unacceptable?

Remember how bad those losses hurt back then? I remember having trouble believing we were losing (I was 12 in 1995). I'm numb to it now.