[Poll/Discussion] Are you optimistic or pessimistic in regards to the 2017 season?

[Hooked on Huskers]

9-10 wins with a decent bowl game (Capital One, Outback) would likely be a pretty good season.

8-5 or 7-6 with at least one win over OSU/PSU/Wisc and a win in the bowl game would also be pretty decent.

A 5 or 6 loss season would be terrible. This is Riley's 3rd year at the program. He has the QB to run his offense, and has had time to bring in other players at key positions. I don't get this mentality.

once again (see #98 post) ....

Callahan 1st season: 5W-6L. Riley: 6W-7L. Both inherited winning coaches (Solich 10W-3L & Pelini 9W-4L)

2nd season; Callahan .... 8W-4L. Riley: 9W-4L

3rd season; Callahan .... 9W-5L. Riley: ???

After 4th season, Callahan was canned.

never concerned (Déjà vu) ??? Myself, thinking about that time to time

...

If MR will be canned, TO returned? Too old? I think Bill Snyder and Tom Osborne are pretty close age.

 

[LumberJackSker]

For once I'm pessimistic, but I think it's a self preservation aspect so I can be surprised if we do better than I think. Why? Nothing tells me we should be better than last year at this point.

1. New defense

2. "New" QB

3. No clear #1 RB or what's going on with that situation

4. Losing our #1 secondary guy to injury for the season

5. Lots of new players and not sure what their role is going to be

I could see us going 6-6 very easily.

1. Arkansas State-Win

2. Oregon-Loss

3. Northern Illinois-Win

4. Rutgers-Win

5. Illinois-Win

6. Wisconsin-Loss

7. Ohio State-Loss

8. Purdue-Win

9. Northwestern-Toss-up (We'll probably lose one of these games and win the other)

10. Minnesota-Toss-up (We'll probably lose one of these games and win the other)

11. Penn State-Loss

12. Iowa-Loss

if it played out this way they probably wouldn't have beat a team with a winning record. That would be pathetic.

 

[Redux]

So in your opinion, AD's have one shot to get it right if the person that hired them is no longer around. Forget all other Athletics, they have one shot to hire a guy who can win championships in Football or they are fired along with that guy.

I'm not disagreeing that this happens. I'm not disagreeing that this could happen to ADSE. I am disagreeing that it's automatic.

I have always thought that was a pretty idiotic way to look at your AD.
Fans who think it should be like that are only looking at it through emotional fan base eyes.

No, it's looking at it from the bottom line of the business. Football pays the bills for pretty much everything in the athletic department, if that disappears then so does a lot of other things. If the manager can't keep a business's moneymaker going, then he's failed at his real job, no matter how great he is as a person or how much he supported all of the other parts of the business that aren't making money.

If football is the money maker and it isn't producing, you don't have to fire the boss and manager. Maybe just the manager. That's the point I've been trying to make anyways.

 

[Huskerfan55]

I voted pessimistic, I believe we will struggle to make a bowl. We have no Oline and no running game, LEE will spend a lot of time running for his life of on his kester! Riley gone after 3 years along with are AD!

 

[Enhance]

So in your opinion, AD's have one shot to get it right if the person that hired them is no longer around. Forget all other Athletics, they have one shot to hire a guy who can win championships in Football or they are fired along with that guy.

I'm not disagreeing that this happens. I'm not disagreeing that this could happen to ADSE. I am disagreeing that it's automatic.

No - that's a misrepresentation. And I agree it's not automatic.

My point is simply that this statement...

The two are not a package deal. This line of thinking is not how it works.

makes it all seem very black and white. It's not. Past evidence at our program (and others nationwide) supports the conclusion that a significant amount of gray area exists in these matters. To use your example, when a boss hinges the largest part of his/her business on one manager, and that manager fails, it doesn't reflect well on the boss. This is particularly true when said boss has not done himself/herself many favors in the PR dept. and their handling of the situation from the beginning. Does that mean the boss has to go? No. Does it mean it could cause them to lose their job? Absolutely.

 

[Enhance]

So in your opinion, AD's have one shot to get it right if the person that hired them is no longer around. Forget all other Athletics, they have one shot to hire a guy who can win championships in Football or they are fired along with that guy.

I'm not disagreeing that this happens. I'm not disagreeing that this could happen to ADSE. I am disagreeing that it's automatic.

I have always thought that was a pretty idiotic way to look at your AD.
Fans who think it should be like that are only looking at it through emotional fan base eyes. "If they can't get their prized trophy then heads are going to roll".

Never mind if the department is actually operating efficiently and being managed well.....and how other sports programs are doing.

I don't think the bolded is an accurate depiction of why some people would think an athletic director would need to leave.
Consider it all from this perspective:

- SE was shadowy hire whose hiring process rubbed some people the wrong way

- SE did not do a good job of publicly supporting BP

- SE fired a nine win coach (for the record, I still believe releasing BP was the right call)

- SE hired a (relatively speaking) obscure coach from the west coast to run the most profitable part of his company

- SE then broke many of the previous rules he set with BP by talking about Riley's job status during the season, going out in the public to support him regularly, etc.

I'm totally on board with your perspective. In fact, SE has done quite well with many areas of the department. I'm just saying, should Riley tank as the head coach under SE's watch, the people pissed off at SE (and wishing to see him removed) would have a fair argument.

 

[SuperBigFan69]

#9Wins

A certain assistant coach was mocked relentlessly for celebrating the 9-win streak, and now a 7 or 8 win season is supposed to be decent or acceptable.

Well, you got to remember that 5 years ago these teams were all easy wins:

Purdue

Illinois

Minny

NW

Iowa

But now, I guess, going into this season they are either possible "trap games" or games that we "hope" to win.

 

[Hunter94]

#9Wins

A certain assistant coach was mocked relentlessly for celebrating the 9-win streak, and now a 7 or 8 win season is supposed to be decent or acceptable.

Well, you got to remember that 5 years ago these teams were all easy wins:

Purdue

Illinois

Minny

NW

Iowa

But now, I guess, going into this season they are either possible "trap games" or games that we "hope" to win.

yes, we have fallen a long way down........

 

[RedDenver]

#9Wins

A certain assistant coach was mocked relentlessly for celebrating the 9-win streak, and now a 7 or 8 win season is supposed to be decent or acceptable.

Well, you got to remember that 5 years ago these teams were all easy winsurdue

Illinois

Minny

NW

Iowa

But now, I guess, going into this season they are either possible "trap games" or games that we "hope" to win.

Those teams weren't easy wins 5 years ago either.

 

[SuperBigFan69]

#9Wins

A certain assistant coach was mocked relentlessly for celebrating the 9-win streak, and now a 7 or 8 win season is supposed to be decent or acceptable.

Well, you got to remember that 5 years ago these teams were all easy winsurdueIllinoisMinnyNWIowa But now, I guess, going into this season they are either possible "trap games" or games that we "hope" to win.

Those teams weren't easy wins 5 years ago either.

Well, all the talk was that they were easy wins.

 

[B.B. Hemingway]

Let's just get back to the B1G Title game....

 

[In the Deed the Glory]

Let's just get back to the B1G Title game....

This would cause me to smile.

 

[Landlord]

#9Wins

A certain assistant coach was mocked relentlessly for celebrating the 9-win streak, and now a 7 or 8 win season is supposed to be decent or acceptable.

Well, you got to remember that 5 years ago these teams were all easy winsurdueIllinoisMinnyNWIowa But now, I guess, going into this season they are either possible "trap games" or games that we "hope" to win.

Those teams weren't easy wins 5 years ago either.

Well, all the talk was that they were easy wins.

The talk is from uneducated fans. If the talk is wrong, that's on the fans, not on the team.

'The talk' was also that we would be the new bully of the B1G and come in and dominate everybody. Obviously that 2011 team wasn't that good. That's on the talk more than that's on the team.

Also, northwestern and iowa have never been easy games.

 

[moveitforward]

Let's just get back to the B1G Title game....

You are referring to the single one that we have played in, 2012, and lost 70-31? I say let's first come to grips with the fact that there are no easy games on our schedule, and take them one at a time.

 

[Mavric]

#9Wins

A certain assistant coach was mocked relentlessly for celebrating the 9-win streak, and now a 7 or 8 win season is supposed to be decent or acceptable.

Well, you got to remember that 5 years ago these teams were all easy winsurdueIllinoisMinnyNWIowa But now, I guess, going into this season they are either possible "trap games" or games that we "hope" to win.

Those teams weren't easy wins 5 years ago either.

Well, all the talk was that they were easy wins.

The talk is from uneducated fans. If the talk is wrong, that's on the fans, not on the team.

'The talk' was also that we would be the new bully of the B1G and come in and dominate everybody. Obviously that 2011 team wasn't that good. That's on the talk more than that's on the team.

Also, northwestern and iowa have never been easy games.

Obviously it's from the fans but I don't think it's accurate to waive it off as "uneducated" fans. There was a lot of talk about how easy it was to win nine games and losses to Northwestern and Minnesota were looked at as "losing a game you shouldn't lose."