Who's our next coach?

[HuskerNation1]

You know people keep saying that it is easier to turn around a program in the current era but I'm not sure anyone is objectively actually trying to figure out if that's true and just saying what they think would be true.

The current system allows a coach to more easily flip an entire roster in a season, whether that's in football or basketball. There are an unlimited number of EXPERIENCED players in the portal, and in some situations, nearly unlimited funding to go after such players. I don't believe every program has fully figured out how to operate in the portal era, but the system now is far different than it was 10 years ago and coaches have greater levers to make an immediate impact.

If I were a coach, I would spend far more time raising NIL funds and recruiting experienced portal players than going after high school players who will come for a year or two, gain marginal experience and then transfer out. Until the NCAA puts limits on NIL and the number of portal transfers allowed, coaches need to adapt to the situation at hand.

 

[PasstheDamnBallGuy]

The current system allows a coach to more easily flip an entire roster in a season, whether that's in football or basketball. There are an unlimited number of EXPERIENCED players in the portal, and in some situations, nearly unlimited funding to go after such players. I don't believe every program has fully figured out how to operate in the portal era, but the system now is far different than it was 10 years ago and coaches have greater levers to make an immediate impact.

If I were a coach, I would spend far more time raising NIL funds and recruiting experienced portal players than going after high school players who will come for a year or two, gain marginal experience and then transfer out. Until the NCAA puts limits on NIL and the number of portal transfers allowed, coaches need to adapt to the situation at hand.

There are not unlimited players or unlimited funding. Come on man you really cant believe that to be true. This is like the people that just say go spend money on dline and oline like no coach has ever thought of that before. The good players in the portal especially oline and dline are being heavily courted by any school that can and offered big salaries just like high school. It's different but I don't see how you can say its just easier. The only difference is now teams like Indiana and Texas Tech without the pedigree can compete and they have more money that us by a large margin.

Maybe its easier for certain coaches in certain situation but just saying its easy is ignoring a lot of reality and just dreaming of what you think it is like. There is no easier outright in a competitive environment. If its easier to do one thing for everyone then it is a wash.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

none of those names are cignetti

Here's the trick: let's say it's 2018 and instead of hiring Scott Frost, Nebraska hires the head coach of Elon and Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year, Curt Cignetti. Does the fanbase run our Athletic Director out of town immediately? How many years do they give this Cignetti fellow?

Or let's say it's 2022 and we want to find a better Frost replacement than Mickey Joseph. What if we turned to the coach who led James Madison to an 8-3 record in the Sun Belt, Curt Cignetti? Maybe the historically worst program in college football would take him, but Nebraska deserves better, right?

 

[lo country]

Here's the trick: let's say it's 2018 and instead of hiring Scott Frost, Nebraska hires the head coach of Elon and Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year, Curt Cignetti. Does the fanbase run our Athletic Director out of town immediately? How many years do they give this Cignetti fellow?

Or let's say it's 2022 and we want to find a better Frost replacement than Mickey Joseph. What if we turned to the coach who led James Madison to an 8-3 record in the Sun Belt, Curt Cignetti? Maybe the historically worst program in college football would take him, but Nebraska deserves better, right?

Too your point, Cig has shook up any future coaching searches. Just like Chambliss opened the door to go after zero star FCS players. Are they the exception or the new "rule". Cig makes any "long term" project look like a mistake. But look at Cig. Or a coach who can't develop or get talent. But Cig did it. Makes it hard for teams with "newer" coaches not having immediate success. Because Cig did it. Cig is simply a winner. An old school HC in the vein of TO and more recently Saban.

Indiana choosing Cig was a complete testament to his coaching. Production over potential. They got it right. Does it mean every coach with his pedigree will have his success? No. There's multiple coaches who moved up, but never captured the same win rate. And there are others who moved up and still kept winning. Jim Harbaugh is one....At college and the NFL. Norvell and Napier 2 who have struggled. Chris Klieman another one who did well.

Going back to production vs potential and Rhule:
College only (Temple and Baylor) 47-43
NFL 11-27
Prior to Nebraska his record was 58-70
Nebraska record 19-19
Total at all stops 77-89

We hired based on potential, even though production showed he was a sub par coach. People argue the 3rd year turn around. Great. But what would year 4 or 5 looked like? Where was the potential other than 2 winning seasons out of 9. Production was poor. Potential was poor 2-9 (season wise).

Nothin to do, but regroup and get ready for next season. He's our "ride or die" for the next few years. "If we die, we die".

 

[HuskerNation1]

There are not unlimited players or unlimited funding. Come on man you really cant believe that to be true. This is like the people that just say go spend money on dline and oline like no coach has ever thought of that before. The good players in the portal especially oline and dline are being heavily courted by any school that can and offered big salaries just like high school. It's different but I don't see how you can say its just easier. The only difference is now teams like Indiana and Texas Tech without the pedigree can compete and they have more money that us by a large margin.

Maybe its easier for certain coaches in certain situation but just saying its easy is ignoring a lot of reality and just dreaming of what you think it is like. There is no easier outright in a competitive environment. If its easier to do one thing for everyone then it is a wash.

There were over 3000 players in the portal this year. Schools with great financial resources can have their pick of some of the best players in the portal. It's a different ballgame now than it was 10 years ago. Without NIL and the portal, there is no way a team like Indiana completes a 2-year turnaround as it has. To be successful in the current era of college football, you need strong funding, competent coaching and great player development. I would argue we are lacking in at least 2 of those categories.

Nebraska is not poor school from an athletics perspective.

 

[PasstheDamnBallGuy]

There were over 3000 players in the portal this year. Schools with great financial resources can have their pick of some of the best players in the portal. It's a different ballgame now than it was 10 years ago. Without NIL and the portal, there is no way a team like Indiana completes a 2-year turnaround as it has. To be successful in the current era of college football, you need strong funding, competent coaching and great player development. I would argue we are lacking in at least 2 of those categories.

Nebraska is not poor school from an athletics perspective.

3000 players out of what 12000? in the 12000 total players in fbs only the top percentage are ones you want to add that are actually a net positive and every top team is fighting for them. You don't get to just pick players. Nebraska is definitely not poor by any stretch but I think it's pretty clear some other schools have more to play with. Kentucky was shopping in the 5-7 mil range for a QB supposedly and I know we dont have the type of money for a single position.

You are correct that Indiana would never have happened outside this era but they really have had the absolute perfect set of events happen for them to get here. I also know that if Nebraska had hired a Sun Belt coach who brought his entire staff with him and a bunch of players from that level and then said they were going to have shorter practices people here would have been losing their minds. As far as school revenue goes we have a lot and we have donors with money but we don't have a Mark Cuban.

 

[BigRedBuster]

Here's the trick: let's say it's 2018 and instead of hiring Scott Frost, Nebraska hires the head coach of Elon and Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year, Curt Cignetti. Does the fanbase run our Athletic Director out of town immediately? How many years do they give this Cignetti fellow?

Or let's say it's 2022 and we want to find a better Frost replacement than Mickey Joseph. What if we turned to the coach who led James Madison to an 8-3 record in the Sun Belt, Curt Cignetti? Maybe the historically worst program in college football would take him, but Nebraska deserves better, right?

if Nebraska were to fire MR and hire someone like this, fans would revolt.

 

[HuskerNation1]

3000 players out of what 12000? in the 12000 total players in fbs only the top percentage are ones you want to add that are actually a net positive and every top team is fighting for them. You don't get to just pick players. Nebraska is definitely not poor by any stretch but I think it's pretty clear some other schools have more to play with. Kentucky was shopping in the 5-7 mil range for a QB supposedly and I know we dont have the type of money for a single position.

You are correct that Indiana would never have happened outside this era but they really have had the absolute perfect set of events happen for them to get here. I also know that if Nebraska had hired a Sun Belt coach who brought his entire staff with him and a bunch of players from that level and then said they were going to have shorter practices people here would have been losing their minds. As far as school revenue goes we have a lot and we have donors with money but we don't have a Mark Cuban.

I never said Nebraska could pick any player it wanted, but the reality is that the pool of experienced players available to a head coach are greater now than at any point in college football history. A new coach no longer needs to bring in two great high school recruiting classes and waiting a few years for those recruits to turn into meaningful performers on the field.

As for if Nebraska had hired a mid-major coach like Cignetti after the Riley years, if that mid-major coach had Rhule's record after 3 years, you are correct that fans would have been upset. However, if that mid-major coach came in and had results like Cignetti I don't think fans would be upset and in fact would be happy with the hire. At the end of the day all fans want to see is this program return to being competitive for conference and national titles. The last 3 coaches have been nowhere near the caliber needed to get Nebraska competitive on the national stage.

 

[commando]

i could be wrong...but this feels a little bit like solich. he was fired 1 year after making what seemed to be good firing and hiring decisions. i think the coaches Rhule has fired and hired this time might actually be good moves. would hate to see it go to waste before they can prove themselves

 

[lo country]

i could be wrong...but this feels a little bit like solich. he was fired 1 year after making what seemed to be good firing and hiring decisions. i think the coaches Rhule has fired and hired this time might actually be good moves. would hate to see it go to waste before they can prove themselves

I agree about Frank, 7-7 fired and hired and went 9-3 regular season then Bo got the 10th win in the bowl game. Ranked top 20 5 of 6 seasons. Dude needed to be here in 2004 for sure.

 

[TGHusker]

A difference in culture starts at the top. Cignetti's coaching style is hard nose. Nothing warm and fuzzy about it. The result - workman, take no prisoners like performance on the field.
Culture: starts with the coach

Cignetti is determined to keep his players focused on the task at hand rather than the praise they are receiving. He noted that the team needs to ignore the external validation that often softens a competitive edge.

"There's a lot of pro-Indiana hype, a lot of 'rat poison,'" Cignetti told reporters. "It's time to sharpen the saw now, throw those warm fuzzies out the door. You don't go to war with warm milk & cookies."

This mindset has been the foundation of the Hoosiers' identity since Cignetti arrived and told fans to Google him. His refusal to smile or celebrate prematurely has gone viral online. Defensive lineman Hosea Wheeler recently shared a meme comparing his coach to the scowling insurance boss from The Incredibles.

our coach: - the picture says it all

 

[lo country]

A difference in culture starts at the top. Cignetti's coaching style is hard nose. Nothing warm and fuzzy about it. The result - workman, take no prisoners like performance on the field.
Culture: starts with the coach


our coach: - the picture says it all

View attachment 23472

Have to agree with his old school approach. Watching Game Day and they asked Saban what did he teach the final 4 coaches in the CFP as they were all under him at one time. His reply? "How to take an a$$ chewing"....

Wish I could remember which player or talking head said that watching NU practices he saw no coaches getting into players asses.... I'd like to see a lot more fire on the sidelines and dudes getting lit up for making mistakes. I miss Bo's fire/passion/anger tbh.

TO was cool and calm under pressure, but had McBride and Darlington...From a former player, “Osborne was the conscience of the program. Darlington and McBride were the conscience of the practice field.”

Hoping Geep and Aurich can reprise those rolls this season. And no, I am not saying Rhule is TO. Cig in interviews reminds me of TO. Laser focus. Super knowledgeable for sure.

 

[Undone]

There were over 3000 players in the portal this year. Schools with great financial resources can have their pick of some of the best players in the portal. It's a different ballgame now than it was 10 years ago. Without NIL and the portal, there is no way a team like Indiana completes a 2-year turnaround as it has. To be successful in the current era of college football, you need strong funding, competent coaching and great player development. I would argue we are lacking in at least 2 of those categories.

Nebraska is not poor school from an athletics perspective.

I'm just now seeing this post and maybe this was already covered, but there's a huge difference between valuation and cash flow.

It's very similar to how a corporation's market capitalization can be this massive figure but the company itself doesn't have much of a cash flow (hello, OpenAI).

It's relatively similar, but not necessarily a one-for-one thing.

 

[TGHusker]

Have to agree with his old school approach. Watching Game Day and they asked Saban what did he teach the final 4 coaches in the CFP as they were all under him at one time. His reply? "How to take an a$$ chewing"....

Wish I could remember which player or talking head said that watching NU practices he saw no coaches getting into players asses.... I'd like to see a lot more fire on the sidelines and dudes getting lit up for making mistakes. I miss Bo's fire/passion/anger tbh.

TO was cool and calm under pressure, but had McBride and Darlington...From a former player, “Osborne was the conscience of the program. Darlington and McBride were the conscience of the practice field.”

Hoping Geep and Aurich can reprise those rolls this season. And no, I am not saying Rhule is TO. Cig in interviews reminds me of TO. Laser focus. Super knowledgeable for sure.

agreed. Tom had his 'enforcers' in McBride and Darlington but even under that calm demeanor, he demanded toughness. QBs or RBs who would rather run out of bounds versus putting in the last hit on a would-be tackler, quickly heard from Tom or one of his assistants. His non-nonsense workman like approach is the same path that Cig is taking. Rhule has been a cheerleader, podcaster, mr fun guy friend, but he's not an enforcer.
Rhule is still Coach Yoast before he caught the vision that you can't be both friend and disciplinarian. Finally Yoast has a change of mind
and it is all about toughness






Cig is Coach Boone - toughness demanded.

 

[lo country]

agreed. Tom had his 'enforcers' in McBride and Darlington but even under that calm demeanor, he demanded toughness. QBs or RBs who were would rather run out of bounds versus putting in the last hit on a would be tackler, quickly heard from Tom or one of his assistants. His non-nonsense workman like approach is the same path that Cig is taking. Rhule has been a cheerleader, podcaster, mr fun guy friend, but he's not an enforcer.
Rhule is still Coach Yoast before he caught the vision that you can't be both friend and disciplinarian. Finally Yoast has a change of mind
and it is all about toughness






Cig is Coach Boone - toughness demanded.

Agree for sure. Gotta get tougher. Tired of getting "beaten up". Ready to be the most physical team on the field again.

Remember the Titans is one of my fave movies for sure.