Big Ten Confidential - Nebraska

knapplc said:
I'm quite certain it is, having seen the media we show recruits.
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And a more skeptical part of me wonders if this causes us to bring in more of the type of kid that's lower on work ethic and higher on notoriety/glammer/something?

I mean like that's probably some kind of oversimplification at best and at worst completely wrong...but it still makes me wonder.

 
knapplc said:
Selling this to recruits as that Nebraska hasn't worked for 20 years. It's time to stop pretending that's who we are. That's who we were. 
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I'm pretty sure our coaches aren't going into recruits and saying..."Look, we won NCs in the 90s, we are the same team, come play for the defending national champion.".

But, going into a recruit and saying, "look, Nebraska can be national champs because we were in the 90s.  We need you to help us get back to that".....is not living in the past, it's reality, we were great once, we aren't now.....but we can be again....with the right attitude and players.

 
BigRedBuster said:
I'm pretty sure our coaches aren't going into recruits and saying..."Look, we won NCs in the 90s, we are the same team, come play for the defending national champion.".

But, going into a recruit and saying, "look, Nebraska can be national champs because we were in the 90s.  We need you to help us get back to that".....is not living in the past, it's reality, we were great once, we aren't now.....but we can be again....with the right attitude and players.
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IF that's the pitch, it seems logical. We can't pretend we didn't win back in the day, but it shouldn't be a focus of our recruiting.

To @Mavric's point, I know we reference the Nebraska we were in the 90s, but I don't know that it's a focal point of recruiting. 

Mostly what I'm getting at is there's merit to changing our team's attitude toward itself. Viewing yourself as a hungry up-and-coming team is a mentality we should embrace.

 
knapplc said:
Mostly what I'm getting at is there's merit to changing our team's attitude toward itself. Viewing yourself as a hungry up-and-coming team is a mentality we should embrace.
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The type of stuff this makes me think of is after the Northwestern game last year, Frost said in his on-field interview, "This is how it's supposed to be."

That type of narrative isn't helpful for success. Whether it's true or not, it seeps entitlement and expectation of greatness into the locker room just by virtue of being Nebraska.

 
Lorewarn said:
The type of stuff this makes me think of is after the Northwestern game last year, Frost said in his on-field interview, "This is how it's supposed to be."

That type of narrative isn't helpful for success. Whether it's true or not, it seeps entitlement and expectation of greatness into the locker room just by virtue of being Nebraska.
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Eh, that's a lot of reading into it what you want to read.

He could have also meant that how well they can play when they play up to their potential.

 
Mavric said:
Eh, that's a lot of reading into it what you want to read.

He could have also meant that how well they can play when they play up to their potential.
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That’s the a way I took the comments at the time. 

 
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knapplc said:
Big Ten West, but we have been terrible in our division in part because we approach games as if we are Nebraska of the 90s.
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Actually, I don't think we approach games as if we are Nebraska of the 90s.  Those guys thought they were unbeatable.  I haven't seen that kind of belief on Nebraska teams since the days of SUH  - that primarily on the D as the offense was inept.  Then we have to go back to Pre-Colorado 2001.  I think we have approached games too much like:  "lets not lose this game" or as "let's not get blown out" - speaking of Bill Callahan vs USC. 

I understand what you are trying to say - it is hard to get away from the history when you step on campus.  The trophies, the flags, the great facilities that the 1990s basically built and the enduring fan support - there because of the 90s , 80s, 70s, & 60s (it all started then)  5 decades of excellence is something no one wants to erase but it is also a hard place to get back to - especially overcoming unreasonable expectations.   No one wants to burn it all down and rebuild.  But perhaps, a force of personality can come in and put a whole new stamp on the program that would reconnect to the excellence of the past but look nothing like the past.  If Frost doesn't make it happen  beginning this year, then it is time to find a creative mind with a whole new vision of what can be.   There are other ways of becoming excellent once again. 

 
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knapplc said:
IF that's the pitch, it seems logical. We can't pretend we didn't win back in the day, but it shouldn't be a focus of our recruiting.

To @Mavric's point, I know we reference the Nebraska we were in the 90s, but I don't know that it's a focal point of recruiting. 

Mostly what I'm getting at is there's merit to changing our team's attitude toward itself. Viewing yourself as a hungry up-and-coming team is a mentality we should embrace.
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So, Callahan had it right when he took all the pictures of our past All Americans down because recruits shouldn't see that's what we used to be?

 
Mavric said:
Eh ... does it reference that?  Why wouldn't it?

Is that the main focus, I'm not really sure.  I am pretty sure that's not something that recruits really ever bring up as the main point that is drawing them to Lincoln.
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Mavric said:
Eh, that's a lot of reading into it what you want to read.

He could have also meant that how well they can play when they play up to their potential.
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I want to start a drinking game where you drink when you start a post with "Eh".  Participants will be dead by the end. 

 
Mavric said:
Eh, that's a lot of reading into it what you want to read.

He could have also meant that how well they can play when they play up to their potential.
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Eh, he could've, but when you look at the full picture of who Frost is, his history, and plenty of other comments he's made through the years, I don't think that's a lot of reading into it at all. I think it's a reasonable simple accurate perception. And even if it isn't, that's one specific instance I picked randomly; disproving that doesn't discredit the "entitlement" attitude that has permeated the program and that's been present for years and admitted to by recent players.

 
knapplc said:
Selling this to recruits as that Nebraska hasn't worked for 20 years. It's time to stop pretending that's who we are. That's who we were. 
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I really don’t get the feeling that is the problem, maybe to some degree with Frost himself. The players have absolutely no reason to rest on the laurels of years gone by unless it comes from the staff. And we aren’t recruiting players for the 90s teams. By all accounts we’re recruiting the right bodies (maybe not minds) for the current system. Every coach since Solich has recruited to their own system and needs.

The problem in a nutshell is we broke the machine and have changed direction too many times. And two of the coaching hires have been extremely detrimental. One went 180 degrees from what made Husker football great and the other instilled too soft of a culture. I think Frost’s biggest failure has been not recognizing how bad things really were. But I also think he still believes we’re Nebraska and opponents should cower. Unfortunately he has been unable to turn it into action.

Some fans may be living in the past but how on earth can the program? It’s been mediocre horses#!t as long as these players have been alive. I think the thoughts in that article are off the mark…except, like I said, with HCSF.

 
The comment about whipple coming over here sounds like a biased assessment from a kirk ferentz assistant coach who's been there for 20 years.  Assistant coaches move around all the time, feel like this day in age, anything beyond 2-3 years seems rare unless they're a shoe in to be the next coach or moving up within a progrum.

The living in the past comment is an oversimplification and ive grown tired of hearing it.

I think a more plausible explanation is that for the past 4 years the vast majority of our coaching staff had minimal qualifications to hold the jobs they did and the product on the field reflected that... Our previous co-oc and wR coach was a dagnabit financial advisor before coming here.  How many of our assistants had never held a P5 assistant role before?  Frosty was given a budget commensurate with a top 20 job and largely spent that money on his buddies that were barely qualified beyond a group of 5 level.

And again, im tired of the "we have the better recruiting rankings" over the big 10 west including wisconsin and iowa... this isnt true- so many of our class rankings the past 10 years were inflated by skill position players that barely stepped foot on campus.  Iowa and wisconsin out here recruiting 4 and 5* guys on the lines that for the most part stay with their progrum.  

Our players arent living in the past.  Our players just arent at the level of wiisconsin and  iowa to win consistently.  Our only difference makers on offense under frosty was an undersize wide out that we ran at running back and an oft injured qb who made horrendous decisions consistently in the passing game.  I couldn't tell you  who our biggest difference maker was on defense.  We havent had a dude that can get to the qb since randy gregory.  Football today is pretty much decided by pressuring the qb and having playmakers to put up points.  We havent had this defensively since 09-2010, we havent had it offensively since glimpses of t martinez and the rex/ameer years and we havent put both together on the field at the same time since 2001.

 
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