NU's 12 year recruiting and results

Stumpy1 said:
I really enjoyed the people that said winning 9 games a year wasn't much of an accomplishment just to downgrade what Bo had done.   
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Getting blown out twice a year wasn’t fun either.  Blown out meaning we were never in the game and looked like we were in a lower league.

Although it is certainly better than what we have become (almost anything is) let’s not forget what it actually was.

 
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One thing we will never know, is how Bo would have fared if he would have had the support that from the administration that Frost did. Lots of different factors and its fun to speculate on what could have been with the ball bouncing the other way.

sigh

 
jager said:
If the former is the case, then why has it only been done once since Bo was fired? Legitimate question.
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Sorry, I phrased this poorly.

I didn't mean both are that easy - I mean, if you're winning 9 games a year (the hard part), then the top 25 recruiting classes part is sleepwalking easy. 

 
JoeHuskers! said:
One thing we will never know, is how Bo would have fared if he would have had the support that from the administration that Frost did. Lots of different factors and its fun to speculate on what could have been with the ball bouncing the other way.

sigh
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Well we kinda know. Bo left Nebraska for his hometown school Youngstown State, and his very forgiving and supportive ally Jim Tressell as his University President. Bo went 33-28 at YSU, ripped the fans, lost a game by arguing with the refs, recruited and played a convicted rapist against the wishes of almost everyone, including Tressell, and was gone after 5 seasons in an awkward mutual parting and cloud of recruiting violations. Bo then landed back at another friendly confine, his former position as DC at LSU, where he put together one of the worst defensive seasons in LSU history and was quickly chased out of town. At age 56, Bo Pelini is no longer coaching anywhere. If Nebraska made a mistake, not a single college was able to take advantage of it.

Bo Pelini also got contract extensions, increased recruiting budgets, and a big PR push at Nebraska. In addition to blaming the administration, Bo also blamed the fans and the media whenever things went south. He wanted out of Nebraska as early as 2011. For some reason loyalty only worked in one direction for him. He could have shut everyone up by winning the big games --- he had complete control over that -- but in his seventh year at Nebraska, only two P5 schools had worse records against ranked teams than Bo Pelini's Nebraska. At some point you can't keep making this a Perleman and Eichorst hissy fit. 

Transport yourself back to 2014 and declare yourself fine with 9-4 seasons, second tier conference status and no relevance in national college football for the foreseeable future because 9 win seasons are hard to come by. You'd be really lonely in that assessment. As it should be. 

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
Well we kinda know. Bo left Nebraska for his hometown school Youngstown State, and his very forgiving and supportive ally Jim Tressell as his University President. Bo went 33-28 at YSU, ripped the fans, lost a game by arguing with the refs, recruited and played a convicted rapist against the wishes of almost everyone, including Tressell, and was gone after 5 seasons in an awkward mutual parting and cloud of recruiting violations. Bo then landed back at another friendly confine, his former position as DC at LSU, where he put together one of the worst defensive seasons in LSU history and was quickly chased out of town. At age 56, Bo Pelini is no longer coaching anywhere. If Nebraska made a mistake, not a single college was able to take advantage of it.

Bo Pelini also got contract extensions, increased recruiting budgets, and a big PR push at Nebraska. In addition to blaming the administration, Bo also blamed the fans and the media whenever things went south. He wanted out of Nebraska as early as 2011. For some reason loyalty only worked in one direction for him. He could have shut everyone up by winning the big games --- he had complete control over that -- but in his seventh year at Nebraska, only two P5 schools had worse records against ranked teams than Bo Pelini's Nebraska. At some point you can't keep making this a Perleman and Eichorst hissy fit. 

Transport yourself back to 2014 and declare yourself fine with 9-4 seasons, second tier conference status and no relevance in national college football for the foreseeable future because 9 win seasons are hard to come by. You'd be really lonely in that assessment. As it should be. 
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I'm not saying we should have kept Bo. He burned the bridges on his own. I just remember that most people thought anyone could win 9 games a year at Nebraska (I thought it was easier than it seems). Ruhle was not my first choice for the new coach, but I'm not disappointed by the hire. He was near the top when he became available. I have a better feeling about him than SF. just my two cents.

 
jager said:
I'm not saying we should have kept Bo. He burned the bridges on his own. I just remember that most people thought anyone could win 9 games a year at Nebraska (I thought it was easier than it seems). Ruhle was not my first choice for the new coach, but I'm not disappointed by the hire. He was near the top when he became available. I have a better feeling about him than SF. just my two cents.
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Oh yeah. That's true. I think Nebraska fans have every right to want a return to excellence and relevance rather than patting ourselves on the back for a mere bowl invite, but the fact is it has gotten harder to win 9 games, much less maintain that streak. There are just too many college football programs that have raised the bar and resources to compete on that level. Outside of three or four dynasties I think it's going to be cyclical. Rhule is doing all the right things and the bar has never been lower. So I'm optimistic.

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
Well we kinda know. Bo left Nebraska for his hometown school Youngstown State, and his very forgiving and supportive ally Jim Tressell as his University President. Bo went 33-28 at YSU, ripped the fans, lost a game by arguing with the refs, recruited and played a convicted rapist against the wishes of almost everyone, including Tressell, and was gone after 5 seasons in an awkward mutual parting and cloud of recruiting violations. Bo then landed back at another friendly confine, his former position as DC at LSU, where he put together one of the worst defensive seasons in LSU history and was quickly chased out of town. At age 56, Bo Pelini is no longer coaching anywhere. If Nebraska made a mistake, not a single college was able to take advantage of it.

Bo Pelini also got contract extensions, increased recruiting budgets, and a big PR push at Nebraska. In addition to blaming the administration, Bo also blamed the fans and the media whenever things went south. He wanted out of Nebraska as early as 2011. For some reason loyalty only worked in one direction for him. He could have shut everyone up by winning the big games --- he had complete control over that -- but in his seventh year at Nebraska, only two P5 schools had worse records against ranked teams than Bo Pelini's Nebraska. At some point you can't keep making this a Perleman and Eichorst hissy fit. 

Transport yourself back to 2014 and declare yourself fine with 9-4 seasons, second tier conference status and no relevance in national college football for the foreseeable future because 9 win seasons are hard to come by. You'd be really lonely in that assessment. As it should be. 
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I'm well aware of your thoughts on Pelini and really who cares any longer.  Once he was fired, that was it.

With Perlman however, he got rid of both his nemeses Pelini and Osborne and then had every opportunity at his disposal to put in place first the athletic director then the head coach to help Nebraska football take the next step....which was not just playing for,  but winning conference championships.

You can spend pages letting us know for the umpteenth time how you feel about Pelini.  Perlman let us know in his retirement speech how well he handled Nebraska football.

......and this was after asking Osborne to save his arse after the Pederson debacle.

 
TheSker said:
I'm well aware of your thoughts on Pelini and really who cares any longer.  Once he was fired, that was it.

With Perlman however, he got rid of both his nemeses Pelini and Osborne and then had every opportunity at his disposal to put in place first the athletic director then the head coach to help Nebraska football take the next step....which was not just playing for,  but winning conference championships.

You can spend pages letting us know for the umpteenth time how you feel about Pelini.  Perlman let us know in his retirement speech how well he handled Nebraska football.

......and this was after asking Osborne to save his arse after the Pederson debacle.
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I will keep posting my thoughts as long as the subject keeps coming up. Which, as we know, is forever. 

By the way, which part of that last post do you find inaccurate?

Anyway, we did get to see what happens when Nebraska got a new President, a new AD, and the perfect coach to help Nebraska football take the next step. It wasn't anything like you promised in umpteen posts. 

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
Well we kinda know. Bo left Nebraska for his hometown school Youngstown State, and his very forgiving and supportive ally Jim Tressell as his University President. Bo went 33-28 at YSU, ripped the fans, lost a game by arguing with the refs, recruited and played a convicted rapist against the wishes of almost everyone, including Tressell, and was gone after 5 seasons in an awkward mutual parting and cloud of recruiting violations. Bo then landed back at another friendly confine, his former position as DC at LSU, where he put together one of the worst defensive seasons in LSU history and was quickly chased out of town. At age 56, Bo Pelini is no longer coaching anywhere. If Nebraska made a mistake, not a single college was able to take advantage of it.

Bo Pelini also got contract extensions, increased recruiting budgets, and a big PR push at Nebraska. In addition to blaming the administration, Bo also blamed the fans and the media whenever things went south. He wanted out of Nebraska as early as 2011. For some reason loyalty only worked in one direction for him. He could have shut everyone up by winning the big games --- he had complete control over that -- but in his seventh year at Nebraska, only two P5 schools had worse records against ranked teams than Bo Pelini's Nebraska. At some point you can't keep making this a Perleman and Eichorst hissy fit. 

Transport yourself back to 2014 and declare yourself fine with 9-4 seasons, second tier conference status and no relevance in national college football for the foreseeable future because 9 win seasons are hard to come by. You'd be really lonely in that assessment. As it should be. 
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So you're saying you miss the guy? ;)  

 
The Dude said:
First off yes, we should start playing like a program that consistently brings in fringe top 25 classes.  At some point though we should raise the bar and stop pretending fringe top 25 is good enough for a historically top 10 program.
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:yeah
Been saying for years. If we can’t recruit top 15 classes we can’t expect to play for conference championships. That simple. Rhule needs to get in top 15 and then develop into top 10. This is the way.

 
I have not seen anyone argue fringe top 25 is “good enough” that I recall.  I think most agree top ten is the target zone.  But some of us feel you don’t go from fringe top 40 classes with bottom forty team results for five consecutive seasons to top ten with the signing of a new HC.  That was only hoped for If Urban Meyer was hired.  He wasn’t and obviously isn’t a HC candidate anywhere. 
 

We need to recruit better balanced, all around, classes and then play like a team with top 40 talent ((I.e. win 6-8 games at least, not 3 or 4). Show real progress with competitive games vs teams with top 40 talent and defeat the bottom half of the competition consistently.  
 

Step 1  Was finding a HC with the desire to earn his pay (at least as much of it as any HC actually does anyway).  Hire him and help him recruit and coach the team up so we can actually play top 40 football.  After a couple successful seasons demonstrating that Nebraska has a real HC with winning football in the works, better recruiting results are possible. Perhaps top 20 instead of top 40.
 

Step 2  Recruit and recruit some more, with renewed vigor, restored facilities, NIL cash, continued Ath Dept support and improve the weakest areas of the team, motivate and play better football.  
 

Step 3  Over time, the natural order of things can return Neb football to its rightful place as a blue blood top tier, perennial top 10 program.    But this process of restoration is a 3-5 year timeline, minimum.  Even a Cinderella season in 2023 and or 2024 won’t mean the order is restored.
 

 I don’t expect 10 plus wins anytime soon but I do expect the ‘eye test’ and wins and losses and recruiting and development to indicate positive progress, team wide.  One difference maker at QB or WR is fine but not a solution.  Rhule needs to improve every position significantly.  The Raiola obsession crowd may be quite disappointed even if he turns out to be the best QB Nebraska ever had.  I’m not so hopeful I guess but he will be the most ballyhooed one. 
 

I like the things Rhule has already done in recruiting and he sure talks a good game.  I’ve heard prior coaches say some good things but never follow through.  He and his new staff are working harder than previous ones, per reports and observations.  I had hoped for top 35 recruiting and we did better in just a few weeks.  They’re still bird dogging 2024 & beyond.  They’re bringing in guys by the planes, trains and automobiles!  Many of them appear to be better suited to help the team get better over time.  I think we can safely say Rhule has a plan and he works very hard with focus, details matter greatly, and by all accounts he is honest, sincere, frank and is appears to be happy and excited in his new job.  That’s a great start, imo.  
 

Ultimately, does he know how to coach a team to win games?   It appears he can assemble staff and players. Can he teach them

the fundamentals and the X & Os stuff?  Can he motivate, encourage and discipline young adults in 2023?   Are they willing and able to play hard and smart and make the sacrifices needed to be teammates not individuals?  Can Rhule judge character as well as speed and toughness?  
 

Time will tell but so far so good.  

 
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