247Sports Director of Recruiting: "Riley's vision at Nebraska coming together"

[Saunders]

Everyone talks about the early success of Meyer at OSU, Harbaugh at Michigan and Stoops at Oklahoma. You see Franklin busting through with a nice season in 2016. Was their respective roster situations as bleak as Nebraska's at their hires? People lauded the immediate success of our past HC but it was fools gold after the 4th season.

When does the statute of limitation end with Pelini's players as an argument in support of Riley?

When they are all Riley's players.

No, it doesn't take that long. By year 3, it's the current coaches team. If the players aren't his recruits, they're at least guys he's coached more than his predecessor. In year 3, you're very likely see what a staff is capable of. For example, James Franklin won the B1G in his 3rd year, after two 7-6 seasons.

Every situation is different.

In some ways, yes, but the data on successful coaches follows a familiar formula. I've brought this up numerous times. Hail Varsity did a study on it last summer in their preview magazine, covering the importance of year 2, and how year 3 is indicative of a coaches success. I'll see if I can find it for the exact numbers, but it was something like 90% of coaches that were successful coaches (championships, top 15 finishes, etc..) followed the formula. Bascially, hold serve in year 1, improve wins in year 2, and compete for (or win) a conference title in year 3.

 

[Saunders]

Dabo Swinney went 6-7 in his third year at Clemson. Lost the Meineke Car Care Bowl to South Florida.

Yup, and I love Dabo. But you also have to remember, he was a new head coach, still learning the ropes too. That offseason, he changed things up and went for top coordinator hires when he got Chad Morriss. The team made a jump (although they got blown out by WVU in the orange bowl), kicked off their top recruiting , and then made continual progress toward last years title.

 

[SuperBigFan69]

Are we doing that thing where some of us pretend that a 5 or 6 win season will be "okay".

Look, we did that...then we did the "well as long as there are no blowouts" thing...both were fails.

Why don't we just say what we really mean. Riley can't lose any of these games. Arkansas State,NIU, Rutgers, Illinois, Wisconsin, Purdue, Northwestern, Minnesota and Iowa.

If he blows one or more of those and gets beat at Oregon, by OSU and at PSU...that is a 4 plus loss season at least. No one will be happy or okay with that.

He needs to win the 9 listed above and 1/3 of th others. We need to stop changing what progress means.

 

[dspanther05]

Riley has to have a good 2017 as 2018's schedule is just brutal.

 

[Nebfanatic]

Do we though Teach? I feel like we are seeing things take place in the Riley era that we haven't seen really ever. I think it is fair to change the definition of progress when someone presents a new way of doing things. Riley is following a championship formula in a way past coaches haven't. To me that should count for something. Results on the field must mirror this perception, but I think it is fair to allow this method Riley has brought to work a little longer than what Billy C or Pelini was given. Just because they showed they weren't willing to change. They stuck with their methods that weren't yielding the results we needed. Riley on the other hand seems to evaluate as he goes and make changes where he sees fit to improve on his results. Will it work out in the end? I don't know but I sure do think his method has a much better chance of yielding favorable results than what we have seen the last 15 years

 

[DrunkOffPunch]

It's no coincidence that both Clemson and PSU both turned the corner when they started getting stellar QB play.

 

[SuperBigFan69]

Do we though Teach? I feel like we are seeing things take place in the Riley era that we haven't seen really ever. I think it is fair to change the definition of progress when someone presents a new way of doing things. Riley is following a championship formula in a way past coaches haven't. To me that should count for something. Results on the field must mirror this perception, but I think it is fair to allow this method Riley has brought to work a little longer than what Billy C or Pelini was given. Just because they showed they weren't willing to change. They stuck with their methods that weren't yielding the results we needed. Riley on the other hand seems to evaluate as he goes and make changes where he sees fit to improve on his results. Will it work out in the end? I don't know but I sure do think his method has a much better chance of yielding favorable results than what we have seen the last 15 years

If this was his third year coaching, sure. But it is his 25th year coaching. So he can't have a crap season...he can't lose to crap teams.

 

[ScottyIce]

Are we doing that thing where some of us pretend that a 5 or 6 win season will be "okay".

Look, we did that...then we did the "well as long as there are no blowouts" thing...both were fails.

Why don't we just say what we really mean. Riley can't lose any of these games. Arkansas State,NIU, Rutgers, Illinois, Wisconsin, Purdue, Northwestern, Minnesota and Iowa.

If he blows one or more of those and gets beat at Oregon, by OSU and at PSU...that is a 4 plus loss season at least. No one will be happy or okay with that.

He needs to win the 9 listed above and 1/3 of th others. We need to stop changing what progress means.

I don't agree with that being the only way progress is made.

Progress in that sense, to me would be: Beating Arkansas State, NIU, Rutgers, Illinois, Purdue, Northwestern, Minnesota and either Iowa or Wisconsin. Not necessarily both. I then think we need to beat 1 of Oregon, Penn State or Ohio State. I reserve final judgement until I've seen all of these games first, but at this point, I'd say these things need to happen for me to think we are continuing to progress as a team, other than the amazing recruiting that is happening.

 

[Nebfanatic]

Do we though Teach? I feel like we are seeing things take place in the Riley era that we haven't seen really ever. I think it is fair to change the definition of progress when someone presents a new way of doing things. Riley is following a championship formula in a way past coaches haven't. To me that should count for something. Results on the field must mirror this perception, but I think it is fair to allow this method Riley has brought to work a little longer than what Billy C or Pelini was given. Just because they showed they weren't willing to change. They stuck with their methods that weren't yielding the results we needed. Riley on the other hand seems to evaluate as he goes and make changes where he sees fit to improve on his results. Will it work out in the end? I don't know but I sure do think his method has a much better chance of yielding favorable results than what we have seen the last 15 years

If this was his third year coaching, sure. But it is his 25th year coaching. So he can't have a crap season...he can't lose to crap teams.

I agree with that but we need to assess progress differently in this case because while on the field we have made no progress over our last HC I would argue as a program we have definitely moved the needle.
I do agree we cannot justify a 6 win season and that is not acceptable, but I think we can't label a 9 win season as more of the same because as a program we seem to be doing more of the things the champions do

 

[Saunders]

Do we though Teach? I feel like we are seeing things take place in the Riley era that we haven't seen really ever. I think it is fair to change the definition of progress when someone presents a new way of doing things. Riley is following a championship formula in a way past coaches haven't. To me that should count for something. Results on the field must mirror this perception, but I think it is fair to allow this method Riley has brought to work a little longer than what Billy C or Pelini was given. Just because they showed they weren't willing to change. They stuck with their methods that weren't yielding the results we needed. Riley on the other hand seems to evaluate as he goes and make changes where he sees fit to improve on his results. Will it work out in the end? I don't know but I sure do think his method has a much better chance of yielding favorable results than what we have seen the last 15 years

If this was his third year coaching, sure. But it is his 25th year coaching. So he can't have a crap season...he can't lose to crap teams.

I agree with that but we need to assess progress differently in this case because while on the field we have made no progress over our last HC I would argue as a program we have definitely moved the needle.
I do agree we cannot justify a 6 win season and that is not acceptable, but I think we can't label a 9 win season as more of the same because as a program we seem to be doing more of the things the champions do

Depends how the 9 wins happen. If we have blowout losses (ala '16) or lose to bad teams ('15), then it's pretty easy to say it's more the same. But close losses to say, @ Oregon, OSU, and @ PSU could be a positive thing, depending how their seasons go.

So far, we're hanging our hat on improved recruiting, which is important, but you gotta win games too.

 

[BigRedBuster]

I'm really hoping Riley is successful here for both him and the program. Will he be? It's anyone's guess.

However, one thing is for sure.....it's a lot more fun seeing these things happening in the program even in the off season.

 

[Nebfanatic]

Do we though Teach? I feel like we are seeing things take place in the Riley era that we haven't seen really ever. I think it is fair to change the definition of progress when someone presents a new way of doing things. Riley is following a championship formula in a way past coaches haven't. To me that should count for something. Results on the field must mirror this perception, but I think it is fair to allow this method Riley has brought to work a little longer than what Billy C or Pelini was given. Just because they showed they weren't willing to change. They stuck with their methods that weren't yielding the results we needed. Riley on the other hand seems to evaluate as he goes and make changes where he sees fit to improve on his results. Will it work out in the end? I don't know but I sure do think his method has a much better chance of yielding favorable results than what we have seen the last 15 years

If this was his third year coaching, sure. But it is his 25th year coaching. So he can't have a crap season...he can't lose to crap teams.

I agree with that but we need to assess progress differently in this case because while on the field we have made no progress over our last HC I would argue as a program we have definitely moved the needle.
I do agree we cannot justify a 6 win season and that is not acceptable, but I think we can't label a 9 win season as more of the same because as a program we seem to be doing more of the things the champions do

Depends how the 9 wins happen. If we have blowout losses (ala '16) or lose to bad teams ('15), then it's pretty easy to say it's more the same. But close losses to say, @ Oregon, OSU, and @ PSU could be a positive thing, depending how their seasons go.
So far, we're hanging our hat on improved recruiting, which is important, but you gotta win games too.

Still don't think that should take away from the improvement in the program image and culture as a whole.

 

[Husker from Kansas]

I wonder if Riley being Eichorst's guy if he will be given more time than Bo was. HCMR seems to be much more welled like amongst the boosters and athletic department than Bo was. (Outsiders perspective, it's obviously an assumption as I'm neither a booster or in the a.d.). Also the total perspective of the Nebraska Football program across the nation is way better than it was under Bo. The only reason we were ever on ESPN was to show Bo throwing a fit on the sideline, or being an a$$ to the media after a game. With HCMR it's upbeat and mostly about the positive trend in our recruiting.

Unless we have back to back terrible losing seasons, I think Riley will be here until 2019 and that is when our play on the field will really go through the roof and we will be a legit contender for conference titles, and possibly even a playoff bid

 

[Saunders]

Do we though Teach? I feel like we are seeing things take place in the Riley era that we haven't seen really ever. I think it is fair to change the definition of progress when someone presents a new way of doing things. Riley is following a championship formula in a way past coaches haven't. To me that should count for something. Results on the field must mirror this perception, but I think it is fair to allow this method Riley has brought to work a little longer than what Billy C or Pelini was given. Just because they showed they weren't willing to change. They stuck with their methods that weren't yielding the results we needed. Riley on the other hand seems to evaluate as he goes and make changes where he sees fit to improve on his results. Will it work out in the end? I don't know but I sure do think his method has a much better chance of yielding favorable results than what we have seen the last 15 years

If this was his third year coaching, sure. But it is his 25th year coaching. So he can't have a crap season...he can't lose to crap teams.

I agree with that but we need to assess progress differently in this case because while on the field we have made no progress over our last HC I would argue as a program we have definitely moved the needle.
I do agree we cannot justify a 6 win season and that is not acceptable, but I think we can't label a 9 win season as more of the same because as a program we seem to be doing more of the things the champions do

Depends how the 9 wins happen. If we have blowout losses (ala '16) or lose to bad teams ('15), then it's pretty easy to say it's more the same. But close losses to say, @ Oregon, OSU, and @ PSU could be a positive thing, depending how their seasons go.
So far, we're hanging our hat on improved recruiting, which is important, but you gotta win games too.

Still don't think that should take away from the improvement in the program image and culture as a whole.

That's fine, but it's not reality. The fans show up to see a winning product.

 

[Saunders]

I wonder if Riley being Eichorst's guy if he will be given more time than Bo was. HCMR seems to be much more welled like amongst the boosters and athletic department than Bo was. (Outsiders perspective, it's obviously an assumption as I'm neither a booster or in the a.d.). Also the total perspective of the Nebraska Football program across the nation is way better than it was under Bo. The only reason we were ever on ESPN was to show Bo throwing a fit on the sideline, or being an a$$ to the media after a game. With HCMR it's upbeat and mostly about the positive trend in our recruiting.

Unless we have back to back terrible losing seasons, I think Riley will be here until 2019 and that is when our play on the field will really go through the roof and we will be a legit contender for conference titles, and possibly even a playoff bid

Eh, I kinda agree, but it really didn't after 2012. Until the A&M game in 2010, NU was getting lots of local love, and NU was seen in a positive light nationally. That game started the turn of the fanbase. Hell, even after that, the vast majority of the fanbase was still in love with Bo for awhile. It wasn't until after we started getting housed by Wisconsin in 2011 and the lovely 2012 B1G CCG that people started really turning.