An interesting article about the recent success of Stanford and how they (IMO) mimicked NU of old.
Stanford hired Jim Harbaugh, a high-profile coach with zero experience at the FBS level. What Harbaugh did have was a chip on his shoulder. A nasty side. He looked at Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly and decided the best way to beat ‘em was to beat ‘em up. And he built the most physical program in the country. At Stanford of all places. Flabbergasting.
What’s it mean? You can win big anywhere — ANYWHERE — with the right coach and the right vision. If I were Shawn Eichorst, I’d take a long, hard look at the Stanford blueprint. Eichorst surely has an appreciation for it; he worked for Barry Alvarez at Wisconsin, who ran basically the same system.
Both those programs recognized over the past 20 years that they probably couldn’t out-run college football’s big dogs. But they could recruit power. I like watching Kenny Bell and Jamal Turner. But the identity of this program needs to be toughness.
That’s exactly what Bo Pelini intended when he took over. He talked about it all the time. Physical, physical, physical.
But something went wrong the past few years. Nebraska’s defense consistently loses the battle at the line of scrimmage. And its offense, when the going gets tough, too often leans on its quarterback’s arm rather than its running backs’ legs. Doesn’t help when it also loses its best in-state lineman — Harrison Phillips — to the school that has seized the very identity Nebraska once perfected.
I have to agree. Get back to mean and nasty, on both sides. I remember hearing about by the 2nd half the opposing DL was already beat, no desire to get hit anymore. I still have no idea what our identity is on either side.
For the record, I think are receivers are some of the toughest on the team if not the country.
Link
http://sports.omaha....-calvin-strong/
Stanford hired Jim Harbaugh, a high-profile coach with zero experience at the FBS level. What Harbaugh did have was a chip on his shoulder. A nasty side. He looked at Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly and decided the best way to beat ‘em was to beat ‘em up. And he built the most physical program in the country. At Stanford of all places. Flabbergasting.
What’s it mean? You can win big anywhere — ANYWHERE — with the right coach and the right vision. If I were Shawn Eichorst, I’d take a long, hard look at the Stanford blueprint. Eichorst surely has an appreciation for it; he worked for Barry Alvarez at Wisconsin, who ran basically the same system.
Both those programs recognized over the past 20 years that they probably couldn’t out-run college football’s big dogs. But they could recruit power. I like watching Kenny Bell and Jamal Turner. But the identity of this program needs to be toughness.
That’s exactly what Bo Pelini intended when he took over. He talked about it all the time. Physical, physical, physical.
But something went wrong the past few years. Nebraska’s defense consistently loses the battle at the line of scrimmage. And its offense, when the going gets tough, too often leans on its quarterback’s arm rather than its running backs’ legs. Doesn’t help when it also loses its best in-state lineman — Harrison Phillips — to the school that has seized the very identity Nebraska once perfected.
I have to agree. Get back to mean and nasty, on both sides. I remember hearing about by the 2nd half the opposing DL was already beat, no desire to get hit anymore. I still have no idea what our identity is on either side.
For the record, I think are receivers are some of the toughest on the team if not the country.
Link
http://sports.omaha....-calvin-strong/
Last edited by a moderator:
