Benning on Banker

[LumberJackSker]

Hindsight is 20/20, but Riley trusted the coaches he brought with him. It may have been a stroke of naivety in regards to someone like Banker, or perhaps he trusted Banker to do a better job than he was doing. It's difficult to speculate.

the guy was getting run off the field by big sky conference teams and he had worked with him for years he knows what he's capable of.

 

[Apathy]

Remember when everyone was shocked when Valentine left early for the draft?

Sounds like Riley made the right move firing Banker

 

[Hunter94]

This makes me wonder where Riley was in all of this. I mean, I definitely blame Banker for being incompetent in some areas and losing the respect of a key player. And I know coaches don't like stepping on their coordinators toes but sometimes you have no choice. Two defensive coaches struggling with communication is a really bad look and should have been ironed out in meetings and practices.

exactly, it wasn't like Riley didn't know what Banker was all about.........he was a mess even in his interviews, Riley should have dumped his a$$ sooner.

 

[SuperBigFan69]

Every HC has guys on staff that are not all that good...but not every HC is at a school where you are "forced" to make a change. Riley loved the guy, those guys and most of that staff was/is tight. Think if you were working with like 4 or 5 of your best friends, you are close, your families are close...and to top it all off the "goals" you have to meet are pretty tame, pretty realistic, like they were at OSU...so you let some stuff slide because things are going "well enough".

I think I would have done the same thing for all those years. I think most of us would. He came to NU and things were very different.

 

[Enhance]

Hindsight is 20/20, but Riley trusted the coaches he brought with him. It may have been a stroke of naivety in regards to someone like Banker, or perhaps he trusted Banker to do a better job than he was doing. It's difficult to speculate.

the guy was getting run off the field by big sky conference teams and he had worked with him for years he knows what he's capable of.

And this was happening at a lower division one school with incomparable talent/resources to Nebraska. Perhaps he projected Banker would have more success at Nebraska, or perhaps he let his personal friendship with Banker cloud his decision making.

Humans often make irrational decisions when it comes to people they know.

 

[LumberJackSker]

Every HC has guys on staff that are not all that good...but not every HC is at a school where you are "forced" to make a change. Riley loved the guy, those guys and most of that staff was/is tight. Think if you were working with like 4 or 5 of your best friends, you are close, your families are close...and to top it all off the "goals" you have to meet are pretty tame, pretty realistic, like they were at OSU...so you let some stuff slide because things are going "well enough".

I think I would have done the same thing for all those years. I think most of us would. He came to NU and things were very different.

well its nice that banker, reed and maybe cav got paid. Riley's a great friend

 

[SuperBigFan69]

Every HC has guys on staff that are not all that good...but not every HC is at a school where you are "forced" to make a change. Riley loved the guy, those guys and most of that staff was/is tight. Think if you were working with like 4 or 5 of your best friends, you are close, your families are close...and to top it all off the "goals" you have to meet are pretty tame, pretty realistic, like they were at OSU...so you let some stuff slide because things are going "well enough".

I think I would have done the same thing for all those years. I think most of us would. He came to NU and things were very different.

well its nice that banker, reed and maybe cav got paid. Riley's a great friend

Oh yeah, those friends of him got to double their pay for two years.

 

[seaofred92]

phenomenal content Mav. Thanks for the post.

 

[LumberJackSker]

Every HC has guys on staff that are not all that good...but not every HC is at a school where you are "forced" to make a change. Riley loved the guy, those guys and most of that staff was/is tight. Think if you were working with like 4 or 5 of your best friends, you are close, your families are close...and to top it all off the "goals" you have to meet are pretty tame, pretty realistic, like they were at OSU...so you let some stuff slide because things are going "well enough".

I think I would have done the same thing for all those years. I think most of us would. He came to NU and things were very different.

well its nice that banker, reed and maybe cav got paid. Riley's a great friend

Oh yeah, those friends of him got to double their pay for two years.

nice little retirement fund

 

[SuperBigFan69]

Every HC has guys on staff that are not all that good...but not every HC is at a school where you are "forced" to make a change. Riley loved the guy, those guys and most of that staff was/is tight. Think if you were working with like 4 or 5 of your best friends, you are close, your families are close...and to top it all off the "goals" you have to meet are pretty tame, pretty realistic, like they were at OSU...so you let some stuff slide because things are going "well enough".

I think I would have done the same thing for all those years. I think most of us would. He came to NU and things were very different.

well its nice that banker, reed and maybe cav got paid. Riley's a great friend

Oh yeah, those friends of him got to double their pay for two years.

nice little retirement fund

Yes it was...

 

[Hunter94]

Every HC has guys on staff that are not all that good...but not every HC is at a school where you are "forced" to make a change. Riley loved the guy, those guys and most of that staff was/is tight. Think if you were working with like 4 or 5 of your best friends, you are close, your families are close...and to top it all off the "goals" you have to meet are pretty tame, pretty realistic, like they were at OSU...so you let some stuff slide because things are going "well enough".

I think I would have done the same thing for all those years. I think most of us would. He came to NU and things were very different.

wow. not a very good scenario to draw to?? our program has sunk to this level?? i guess he thought NU was just like OSU?

 

[SuperBigFan69]

Every HC has guys on staff that are not all that good...but not every HC is at a school where you are "forced" to make a change. Riley loved the guy, those guys and most of that staff was/is tight. Think if you were working with like 4 or 5 of your best friends, you are close, your families are close...and to top it all off the "goals" you have to meet are pretty tame, pretty realistic, like they were at OSU...so you let some stuff slide because things are going "well enough".

I think I would have done the same thing for all those years. I think most of us would. He came to NU and things were very different.

wow. not a very good scenario to draw to?? our program has sunk to this level?? i guess he thought NU was just like OSU?

I don't think he thought that, like another poster said, I think Riley thought that if Banker had "better toys" to play with the results would be much different.

 

[Caliborn72]

It's also just another WTH in what's become a string of wtfs lately. Even the Riley hating extremists would have to give him credit for being a vastly experienced coach who has not only run his own Power-5 team for many years, but also experienced both big time pressure jobs at USC and in the NFL. This whole ordeal feels like a rookie mistake.

I will say though that while it's not as easy to see, it's just as possible that the coaches were equally as exhausted after the Wisconsin game as the team was. It took a lot of willpower to get to that game undefeated and that game was a 12 round fight.

 

[Enhance]

That's one of the reasons I sometimes wish Nebraska had a tougher schedule out of the gate. Losing early still gives you a shot to make the CFP, and I think it can also generate a greater focus during summer workouts and fall camp.

 

[KingBlank]

I find this discussion fascinating in the fact that a few of us saw this in the BYU game and discussed the opinion that he had absolutely no idea how to coach defense. People would argue and argue that this was just an adjustment period and the quarter coverage was going to save the defense. I could find that thread somewhere, to see the defending of this idiot. We were going to look like Seattle or some rhetoric. Then when Mike makes the decision to fire him, everyone here agrees, and they knew it from the get go. THEY WERE SENDING IN CONFLICTING SIGNALS, that is absolutely the dumbest thing I have ever heard at a program of this caliber. They couldn't cover a hail mary. He should have been fired on the spot. If your star player who is clearly the best on the field doesn't understand your ramblings or your defense because you yourself don't, then he should have been fired. Some of this has to fall on the head coach. At the time when posters on here will attack everything you say, and then get proven correct, it is just that, fascinating.