Interim Head Coach Mickey Joseph

[ColoradoHusk]

AGREE!! And the statement "no head coach experience" always makes me laugh. How much HC experience did Solich have? Pelini? SMH

The reason I think that head coaching experience is essential with this hire, is because this PROGRAM IS BROKEN!!  I want a guy who has built programs before and can get NU back in the right direction and expectations of winning.  Solich took over a program at its peak.  Bo took over a losing team, but I wouldn't call it a losing program, and there was a good amount of talent when he took over.  Mickey may be able to do that program rebuild, but I think there is more risk putting that task to a guy who doesn't have head coaching experience.

 

[Loe Doesnt Know]

The reason I think that head coaching experience is essential with this hire, is because this PROGRAM IS BROKEN!!  I want a guy who has built programs before and can get NU back in the right direction and expectations of winning.  Solich took over a program at its peak.  Bo took over a losing team, but I wouldn't call it a losing program, and there was a good amount of talent when he took over.  Mickey may be able to do that program rebuild, but I think there is more risk putting that task to a guy who doesn't have head coaching experience.

So... I think what you are saying is, Mickey reminds you of Devaney.. A coach that has the skills necessary "to do that program rebuild" but will have to find an offensive coordinator (i.e... TO - Per Wikipedia: After disappointing 6–4 seasons in both 1967 and 1968, Devaney named Osborne offensive coordinator for the 1969 season. Osborne immediately overhauled the offense, switching to a balanced attack operated from the I formation. The revamped offense sparked the 1970 Cornhuskers to the first national title in program history. Nebraska defeated LSU 17–12 in the Orange Bowl on New Year's night and finished first in the post-bowl AP Poll. Nebraska won the national title again in 1971, becoming the first champion ever to defeat the next three teams in the final AP Poll (Oklahoma, Colorado, and Alabama).) capable of winning championships. Is my conclusion correct?

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Whether it's MJ or another less experienced candidate, they've been around football their entire lives and watched it played and coached in every capacity. They've learned a lot from good mentors, and learned just as much watching more experienced superiors screw up, mail it in, or refuse to change. All these guys know the pressure of being a HC and that's why a lot of them are happy to stay in their well-compensated and less demanding staff positions. The guys who really want to be a head coach honestly think they can do better. I'm good with that. As long as they're football savvy, I'll take the energy, hustle and chip on their shoulder over the HC following a paycheck and plugging his system into a different campus. 

 

[ColoradoHusk]

So... I think what you are saying is, Mickey reminds you of Devaney.. A coach that has the skills necessary "to do that program rebuild" but will have to find an offensive coordinator (i.e... TO - Per Wikipedia: After disappointing 6–4 seasons in both 1967 and 1968, Devaney named Osborne offensive coordinator for the 1969 season. Osborne immediately overhauled the offense, switching to a balanced attack operated from the I formation. The revamped offense sparked the 1970 Cornhuskers to the first national title in program history. Nebraska defeated LSU 17–12 in the Orange Bowl on New Year's night and finished first in the post-bowl AP Poll. Nebraska won the national title again in 1971, becoming the first champion ever to defeat the next three teams in the final AP Poll (Oklahoma, Colorado, and Alabama).) capable of winning championships. Is my conclusion correct?

That's not what I am saying at all, but nice try.  You act like Devaney came to Nebraska without any coaching experience.  Devaney had a .750 winning percentage in five seasons at Wyoming, where he won or shared 4 straight conference championships.  He was also an assistant coach at Michigan State under some great coaches there.  He had  LOT of experience before coming to NU, including as a head coach.  Devaney had very strong years with 4 straight conference championships before the 67 and 68 seasons, when he turned to Tom Osborne as OC.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

So... I think what you are saying is, Mickey reminds you of Devaney.. A coach that has the skills necessary "to do that program rebuild" but will have to find an offensive coordinator (i.e... TO - Per Wikipedia: After disappointing 6–4 seasons in both 1967 and 1968, Devaney named Osborne offensive coordinator for the 1969 season. Osborne immediately overhauled the offense, switching to a balanced attack operated from the I formation. The revamped offense sparked the 1970 Cornhuskers to the first national title in program history. Nebraska defeated LSU 17–12 in the Orange Bowl on New Year's night and finished first in the post-bowl AP Poll. Nebraska won the national title again in 1971, becoming the first champion ever to defeat the next three teams in the final AP Poll (Oklahoma, Colorado, and Alabama).) capable of winning championships. Is my conclusion correct?

Ahhhh......that's a stretch. 

Devaney had already rebuilt the program from scratch in 1962 and immediately made Nebraska NC contenders before the program took the 6-4 dip five seasons later. Bob came to Nebraska as the successful head coach at Wyoming and brought no previous Nebraska ties. Nebraska wanted to hire Michigan State's Duffy Daugherty, but he turned them down and recommended his former assistant Devaney, who also turned the job down twice before reconsidering. 

Who knows what Mickey can do?

But at the moment Bob Devaney and Mickey Joseph are/were bipedal mammals with careers in college football. That's about as far as the similarities should go. 

 

[Enhance]

AGREE!! And the statement "no head coach experience" always makes me laugh. How much HC experience did Solich have? Pelini? SMH

I've seen this take pop up a few times now and I have to admit that I don't understand it. Why is it that people assigning positive value to prior HC experience is 'laughable?' Trev Alberts has said he thinks prior head coaching experience would be "wonderful" in Nebraska's next head coach, even if it's not an absolute requirement.

Of all the qualifiers and KPI's people are looking at in Nebraska's next HC, prior HC experience is perhaps the least laughable one. Nothing is definitive in this whole process

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

I've seen this take pop up a few times now and I have to admit that I don't understand it. Why is it that people assigning positive value to prior HC experience is 'laughable?' Trev Alberts has said he thinks prior head coaching experience would be "wonderful" in Nebraska's next head coach, even if it's not an absolute requirement.

Of all the qualifiers and KPI's people are looking at in Nebraska's next HC, prior HC experience is perhaps the least laughable one. Nothing is definitive in this whole process

I don't think folks are saying having HC experience is a "laughable" qualification. I think they find it laughable that top flight assistants and coordinators would be dismissed for NOT having HC experience when college football is full of those success stories, including Tom Osborne, Dabo Swinney and many others. 

 

[Hagg]

The reason I think that head coaching experience is essential with this hire, is because this PROGRAM IS BROKEN!!  I want a guy who has built programs before and can get NU back in the right direction and expectations of winning.  Solich took over a program at its peak.  Bo took over a losing team, but I wouldn't call it a losing program, and there was a good amount of talent when he took over.  Mickey may be able to do that program rebuild, but I think there is more risk putting that task to a guy who doesn't have head coaching experience.

Yeah.  I agree.  But I do have an additional thought, that a deeply broken program can be fixed with great recruiting and chemistry between that new HC, his staff and the players, and that can be done by a coach who has never had to rebuild a program but by one who has it in him to do so.  <----- That's very hard to detect in a search process, and that's why the HC with that building experience is so attractive.  A sort of instant gratification for the fan base would be that guy with the experience, but the newer perhaps younger guy could do it just from the hunger of wanting to along with his own talent.  That says Mickey Joseph to some.  I'm not so sure about that but I'd be willing to give him 2023 season to do his thing.  I think.  He's probably going to be on the new coach's staff anyway.

 

[ColoradoHusk]

Yeah.  I agree.  But I do have an additional thought, that a deeply broken program can be fixed with great recruiting and chemistry between that new HC, his staff and the players, and that can be done by a coach who has never had to rebuild a program but by one who has it in him to do so.  <----- That's very hard to detect in a search process, and that's why the HC with that building experience is so attractive.  A sort of instant gratification for the fan base would be that guy with the experience, but the newer perhaps younger guy could do it just from the hunger of wanting to along with his own talent.  That says Mickey Joseph to some.  I'm not so sure about that but I'd be willing to give him 2023 season to do his thing.  I think.  He's probably going to be on the new coach's staff anyway.

I agree with a lot of what you say here.  One thing of note, Matt Rhule is 47 years old, nearly 7 years younger than Mickey.  I hope Mickey is able to stay on the new staff somehow, but I wouldn't be surprised if he has his agent push for a head coaching job at a G5 school, now that he has a taste of being a head coach.

 

[Kentmick]

The reason I think that head coaching experience is essential with this hire, is because this PROGRAM IS BROKEN!!  I want a guy who has built programs before and can get NU back in the right direction and expectations of winning.  Solich took over a program at its peak.  Bo took over a losing team, but I wouldn't call it a losing program, and there was a good amount of talent when he took over.  Mickey may be able to do that program rebuild, but I think there is more risk putting that task to a guy who doesn't have head coaching experience.

I love Mickey and think he is a great coach. That being said, I feel like all the "Frost needs more time" crowd migrated over to the "Let's hire Mickey" crowd with no concept of why and what a huge transition it would be. We can all point to Dabo but the names of failures are vast and forgotten.

That being said, we could do worse than MJ.

 

[ColoradoHusk]

I love Mickey and think he is a great coach. That being said, I feel like all the "Frost needs more time" crowd migrated over to the "Let's hire Mickey" crowd with no concept of why and what a huge transition it would be. We can all point to Dabo but the names of failures are vast and forgotten.

That being said, we could do worse than MJ.

Agree 100%.  It's all about NU fans wanting familiarity.  They transferred their "good feeling" thoughts from Frost to Mickey.  They are afraid of having someone "new" come in who might do things differently than what they are used to, no matter how successful the new guy may be.

 

[Hagg]

I agree with a lot of what you say here.  One thing of note, Matt Rhule is 47 years old, nearly 7 years younger than Mickey.  I hope Mickey is able to stay on the new staff somehow, but I wouldn't be surprised if he has his agent push for a head coaching job at a G5 school, now that he has a taste of being a head coach.

Plus.. well, heck.. thinking like a strong prospect for the HC job for 99 Trillion Dollars at Nebraska with a 10 Trillion Dollar buyout etc... do I want to vacate one of my staff positions for the interim at Nebraska?  .. Do I negotiate that?  Or just try to live with it?

 

[Loe Doesnt Know]

I love Mickey and think he is a great coach. That being said, I feel like all the "Frost needs more time" crowd migrated over to the "Let's hire Mickey" crowd with no concept of why and what a huge transition it would be. We can all point to Dabo but the names of failures are vast and forgotten.

That being said, we could do worse than MJ.

I think all the "Fire Frost" crowd migrated to the "Mickey isn't capable/qualified" crowd with no real concept of why and what Mickey and Trev have discussed. We can all point to both successes and failures regardless of the given sides and still, without knowing what's already being placed into position by the current staff and administration it's all simply speculation. Trev will do what he thinks is best and he'll do it because it's his job. All these wannabe decision makers haven't an inkling of influence on the decision making progress and that's why I've enjoyed this thread so me much. Regardless of whom Trev hires there will be a meltdown... Best to grab some popcorn and watch it all unfold

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

I think all the "Fire Frost" crowd migrated to the "Mickey isn't capable/qualified" crowd with no real concept of why and what Mickey and Trev have discussed. We can all point to both successes and failures regardless of the given sides and still, without knowing what's already being placed into position by the current staff and administration it's all simply speculation. Trev will do what he thinks is best and he'll do it because it's his job. All these wannabe decision makers haven't an inkling of influence on the decision making progress and that's why I've enjoyed this thread so me much. Regardless of whom Trev hires there will be a meltdown... Best to grab some popcorn and watch it all unfold

Eh, I think a lot of people fall into the great big middle where they want to believe Nebraska is worthy of a top HC candidate but could also live with Mickey. 

What's interesting to me is how Mickey made the Frost defenders virtually evaporate. And there were quite a few of them. 

 

[ColoradoHusk]

Eh, I think a lot of people fall into the great big middle where they want to believe Nebraska is worthy of a top HC candidate but could also live with Mickey. 

What's interesting to me is how Mickey made the Frost defenders virtually evaporate. And there were quite a few of them. 

Mickey was smart and noticed what was making Frost a failure (non-physical practices, poor press conferences, lack of accountability, not practicing on Sunday, etc.) and after taking over as Interim HC, Mickey has made a concerted effort to try and be as "opposite as Frost" as possible.  Yes, a lot of that comes naturally to Mickey, but it's also a calculated decision on his part.  It has worked to win over a lot of the fan base who were struggling with how/why Frost was unsuccessful.