Have people forgotten?

Tom also coached in a time where the talent was more concentrated to a few top tier teams. That was reduced when scholarship numbers were reduced and rosters were limited in number. It was a very different era, on many levels. Comparison is "apples to oranges".

 
307husker said:
Tom also coached in a time where the talent was more concentrated to a few top tier teams. That was reduced when scholarship numbers were reduced and rosters were limited in number. It was a very different era, on many levels. Comparison is "apples to oranges".
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this right here, back when tom first started to coach, there wasnt near the discrepancy in college football that there is today. you hardly ever seen a nobody team upset one of the big guys, now it happens all the time, it seems like almost on a week to week basis. bo is doing pretty well for what he has had to work with, especially giving the fact that he is fairly new at the head coaching gig and he doesnt have a plethora of assistant coaches that have been with him/the program for a long time.

 
I'm 37 years old this November and wasn't born in this country. Adopted and rasied as a Husker fan. Joined the US Army in 1995, served 7 years and Veteran, seen alot of the world and then some. I can still see images when Osborne lost those bowl games. He changed his practice time during bowl games in the '90s. Osborne new how to adapt. Just like on the field, when he counter teams. Time is different now since social media is the norm. I can go to YouTube to find a husker video clip. The Era of Tom Osborne will always be different compared to Bo Pelini. But what I saw with my own eyes when going to Memorial Stadium was a class act Coach in Tom Osborne. Today I see Bo getting his troops ready for battle for the second year in the B1G. Different style of coaching....however I'm still very pleased. He is hard nose coach that needs to fire up this team. Ok....done with my rant....

 
I want to see a steady progression. I know that serious injuries sometimes put a damper on that, and thats understandable. I just want to see improvements instead of regressing.

 
walksalone said:
I want to see a steady progression. I know that serious injuries sometimes put a damper on that, and thats understandable. I just want to see improvements instead of regressing.
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Agree. I would also like to see our team make improvements at overcoming adversity. That is what makes a good team great.

 
Husker from Kansas said:
307husker said:
Tom also coached in a time where the talent was more concentrated to a few top tier teams. That was reduced when scholarship numbers were reduced and rosters were limited in number. It was a very different era, on many levels. Comparison is "apples to oranges".
Click to expand...
this right here, back when tom first started to coach, there wasnt near the discrepancy in college football that there is today. you hardly ever seen a nobody team upset one of the big guys, now it happens all the time, it seems like almost on a week to week basis. bo is doing pretty well for what he has had to work with, especially giving the fact that he is fairly new at the head coaching gig and he doesnt have a plethora of assistant coaches that have been with him/the program for a long time.
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Not only this, but remember, Tom took over a train that was already stocked and moving down the tracks the right way. The program was a juggernaut when he took over. Severe recruiting restrictions did not exist. It took him awhile to figure out that he needed to continue to tweak the process in order to keep the program at the top. Thus the switch to defensive speed.

Bo, on the other hand, had to turn the train around and then had to get it moving again. He has done that, We should see the program pick up speed now. Our recruiting is getting better. the conference schedule gets easier beginning next year. He has made some good coaching changes (with one still needed). Everyone likes the "instant" success when it happens. But in most cases, steady improvement with an occasional leap forward is more likely to generate a long-term success story.

 
arkiehusker said:
Not trying to start a fuss. Just wondering. As a life long (46 years) Husker fan I remember TO's struggles, or perceived struggles. People always said " He cant beat Oklahoma" then it was " he cant win the big one". It wasnt until he made changes and got speed on speed with the defense and started making those historic runs, winning NC's that he became one of the greatest coaches of all time (according to some) and became loved by the fans.

I am a huge Bo Pelini fan. I think he tries to win the right way, with right kids. I just wonder if those not in the " Bo camp" are younger and dont remember TO's struggles.
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As another life long Husker fan (57 years) I remember Bob Devaney going through two consecutive 6-4 seasons, then a season ending with a Sun Bowl route of Georgia, then two consecutive NC's.

In his first stint as a head coach, Pelini has had four consecutive seasons with no less than 9 wins......and he's still learning about the job......I only see improvement with Bo

 
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All good replies folks! Like I said, I think Bo is trying to win the right way. I live in SEC country and I see the " win at all cost" mentality. I know its a process to get things back to where they used to be and I think ( hope) the Huskers are closer today than they were a few years ago.

I can live with some 9-10 win seasons with some conference championships thrown in and some BCS appearences. NC contenders as well as long as things are done the right way.

 
TO was a genius. Pure and simple. I admit I screamed for his head numerous times. BUT he also coached at a school where he had been at as an assistant, inherited the same staff, same system, reputation, mind set and culture etc...........

Bo came in with a patchwork staff, some system that was WCO, meets spread, meets option meets I have no idea, with kids who didn't have the "mentality or culture" he wanted that were recruited for a different kind of system. Look at what he inherited and what he has accomplished. He hasn't done bad. We finally beat a rank team under him so we are out of the whole "only NU and Duke" crap. One of only 5 coaches (IIRC) who has won 9 games the past four seasons. This is also his 5th year and still has yet to have the same staff as the previous year. He isn't doing bad at all.

The ability to have Twitter, Facebook and the internet doesn't help. A rumor can reach several million folks in the matter of minutes or hours.

Different times, different era. Will Bo ever be as good as TO? IMO no. TO was a different level of coach like SUH as a DL. Can Bo have just as much success? IMO, yes. (depends if you judge that with 1 MNC or 3) Might just take a while. I mean TO won the MNC in what like 20+ yrs after he got the keys to the car (Although it seems like he played for it every year!)

 
Power-I said:
TO wasn't making 3 million dollars a year, complaining about the attitude of the people who were paying him. He also didn't regularly lose games by 30 points, and drop a game per year to some cellar dweller.

In his first 7 seasons, TO lost 4 total games by more than 2 TD's. Pelini lost 3 by more than 2 TD's last year alone.

Times aren't the same, and those two coaches certainly aren't the same.
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Tom kept the train rolling. Bo is trying to rebuild the entire rail line from scratch.

Have people forgotten? The four years prior to Dr. Tom taking the helm Nebraska went:

1968-1971: 39-6-1 with back-to-back national championships in the final two years

The four years prior to Bo taking the helm Nebraska went:

2004-2007: 27-22, not even going to a bowl game two of the last three years

Nobody disputes that Dr. Tom is a genius, and nobody disputes that Bo's rebuilding project is taking longer than anticipated. But let's not pretend that they inherited similar programs. Tom got a Ferrari. Bo got a parts car on blocks.

 
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Husker from Kansas said:
307husker said:
Tom also coached in a time where the talent was more concentrated to a few top tier teams. That was reduced when scholarship numbers were reduced and rosters were limited in number. It was a very different era, on many levels. Comparison is "apples to oranges".
Click to expand...
this right here, back when tom first started to coach, there wasnt near the discrepancy in college football that there is today. you hardly ever seen a nobody team upset one of the big guys, now it happens all the time, it seems like almost on a week to week basis. bo is doing pretty well for what he has had to work with, especially giving the fact that he is fairly new at the head coaching gig and he doesnt have a plethora of assistant coaches that have been with him/the program for a long time.
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This. TO coached in a day where football wasn't the money-making business it is today, and football teams were limited by finances (imagine that!). The big spenders got the big-time players, and everyone else got walloped. Almost no chance of an upset. Also, back then, you didn't have NFL-ready made QBs and other skill positions coming out of the high school football factory. Now there are so many of them, any no-name team can get a top-shelf player (read- David Carr, Fresno St.), because the big-time schools already have their rosters filled. Like others have said, you can't compare TO and Bo. Would you rather have a keyboard or a typewriter? There is no difference in function, they just work in different ways, and were used in different eras.

 
First of all, Bo has re-built Nebraska back to respectibility (Funny how we soon forget 04-07). Secondly, he's had to change confereneces and in doing so still managed a respectful showing. Thirdly, if there's a problem with a player (or the program) you hear about it when he's disciplined by Bo not from the media who found out about it after the fact. Lastly, if Coach Osborne felt like a changed was needed to be made it would be done. Since everything has compared Tom to Bo or vice-versa I say give Bo 25 years and let's see what happens. I personally don't want another Coach in the country leading the Huskers. He's about the tradition and doing things the right way!

 
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