'SkersRule

That's really dumb. Making contact with the head, hello concussion and more head injuries. Also, allowing a OL to get into your body makes it easier for them to hold you and get away with it. Our DL should be firing off the ball and using their hands to keep blockers off of them. It's no wonder our DL essentially sucked last season.

Bo says there's "no hurry" to finding a new DB coach?

You obviously missed this from my previous post: "Now admittedly the line isn't always that straight..." In other words, there certainly are exceptions and I didn't want to weigh down the post trying to account for every conceivable variance.

Hell, I'd do it. So would I. But we're hardcore Husker fans not professional coaches looking to move up and on.

Let's also not forget that MSU lost DT Jerrell Worthy to the NFL which will soften the Spartan D considerably. I certainly see and conceed your point that Nebraska could lose in East Lansing this year but I don't think they will. The Spartans lost a ton of seniors who were two and three year starters. No college football team loses that many starters and doesn't take a step back the following season.

Good post overall. If by "last year" you mean the 2010 season where we had Prince, Gomes, and Haag then I agree. But 2011 was the year where replacing 3 guys, who are all now playing in the league, is a tall order to fill for any school.

Bo will hire who he thinks is the best person for the job. It always cracks me up to hear some of our fans act like they know more than Bo does. I'm not saying Bo walks on water or that he can't be wrong--I'm just saying that any hire he makes should be given two or three years to see the results before it is scoffed at as a bad hire. Is that so unreasonable? To the point of the OP, I honestly don't know who Bo is looking at, interviewing, or considering for the open DB position. But I do know that whoever is hired will meet or exceed Bo's standards and that's good enough for me. Bo has more than earned a little benefit of the doubt.

zoogies...lol. I wonder if Alabama fans are whining that their program is a "stepping stone" since their OC left to become a head coach at another school?

Some of you guys are hilarious. Nebraska, along with every other major BCS school, is a stepping stone. A graduate assistant at Nebraska, or any other school for that matter, uses that position to become a position coach at another school. Once he's a position coach it's a stepping stone to becoming a coordinator. Once he's a coordinator it's a stepping stone to becoming a head coach. And a head coach at a MAC or Sunbelt school can use success there to be a stepping stone to a BCS school. Now admittedly the line isn't always that straight, for example a graduate assistant at Nebraska may take a position coach at a school like Toledo and then take another position coach at a BCS school. But this whole whining about how Nebraska has become a mere "stepping stone" job is ludicrous and demonstrates a severe lack of understanding at how the coaching profession really works.

Ekler...was the LB coach at NU and left for Indiana to be the DC...no surprise there. Watson/Gilmore...encouraged to "move on" after it was clear they were coasting. Sanders...off the field issues/behavior caused his ouster. Carl...left to become a head coach. Raymond...I guess he couldn't turn down his alma mater after all. So while Bo has had several coaches leave none of them "left" because they couldn't "get along" with Bo.

Uh, what? The only other team I've heard that uses it is Alabama. Other teams I've noticed attempting to use the match-up zone include Texas, Oklahoma, USC and others. I can't quantify the exact numbers but more and more teams in college football are using Bo's defensive schemes and ideas. I know because as I watched college football through the '11 season I saw more and more teams emulating defensively what Bo does. Urban Meyer essentially invented the inverted option or zone read, Chris Ault invented the pistol formation. And now, just like those two coaches, Bo's match-up zone principles on defense are now being used more and more.

How can you have a screen name of "The Architect" and not have this: As your avatar?

Hey good call!! don't be butthurt bro There's no "butt hurt" at all fella, you're saying "told you so" after the fact and after you posted, rather cynically, that LSU wouldn't offer a job to a coach who was here one year and on a 49th "ranked" team. In hindsight my comments above were wrong. Check that, LSU did want him to interview, he did interview, stated publically that he's "not interested," and now he's gone to Baton Rogue. You know for Nebraska supposedly having bad coaches it seems that an awful lot of programs want our "bad coaches."

I have two questions that I would like to pose to my fellow Nebraska fans about recruiting in general. 1) Should the Big 10, as a conference, take a more SEC approach to recruiting and begin looking the other way and allow programs to violate every conceivable rule? And 2) only intervene when sanctions from the NCAA are imminent? That would give the conference what's called plausible deniability. Thoughts?

I think the NCAA would be better served to stop the SEC's oversigning, which is cheating being done right out in the open for all to see.

LOL exactly. Purdue signs 4 QB's so they're "#1"?

I don't either.......................yet. Let's see what happens when Moore, Reeves, Rodriguez, Thurston, and some of these other highly touted kids are at the combine as seniors which is still three to four years away.

Your first sentence is factually flawed. Nebraska is still known for developing kids who are under the radar and sending them to the NFL, hence the #1 ranking in the linked article. As for your comments about the former AD and coaching staff it's in the past and it's time to move forward. I do agree though that Nebraska is now at the stage where development of depth is starting to take root. We'll probably have to sit through at least 2-3 more 9 and 3 or potentially worse seasons though before we break through.

Coaching vs talent is the ultimate chicken or egg question. Great coaching can make decent talent look all-world and poor coaching can make even elite talent look terrible. To the point about Nebraska, are there coaching issues? I don't know. From a technical standpoint I think Nebraska has some pretty good, maybe borderline great coaches. But as Vince Lombardi said, and I'm paraphrasing here, "Coaches who can diagram plays on a black board are a dime a dozen, but coaches who can get inside their players head and motivate them to excel is a rarity." That's where I see Nebraska's biggest glaring deficiency is that they lack the motivation or desire to be the best. They seem to think they can just show up and win, i.e. the Northwestern game. When a team has that type of attitude they will generally quit at the first sign of adversity. Which is what we saw too many times last season.

And I want to clarify one particular point: I think when we're talking about elite NFL 1st round draft pick type of talent then yes we are absolutely on a lower level than Alabama. I watched most of the NFL combine thus far and it is perfectly clear that Nebraska really doesn't have any elite players and that is historically the case. Now in recent years with Suh and Prince we've had one elite player each season, and maybe Alphonso Dennard will make it one "elite" 1st rounder for the 3rd year in a row. There seems to be some mixed reviews of his performance from the Senior Bowl. But back to the present, Nebraska has enough talent to compete and beat nearly everyone they play. Where I sincerely doubt the Huskers is in their mental game. Too often last season they literally sabtogaged themselves with stupid unforced errors. It's that kind of stuff that makes me doubt the Huskers and thus far I haven't seen anything that makes me think they're getting better. In my opinion Nebraska might even have an over-inflated sense of themselves because they seem to think that with minimal work or effort they can just show up and win.

Texas okay, but Kansas State? Since when?

Ahhh thanks for the correction.

Taking a very early look at the 2012 schedule here's how I forsee it going. Please note that I have done zero research and I'm just going off of what I remember from last season and projecting towards '12. Southern Miss...Win--95% probability. The Golden Eagles looked very impressive in their drubbing of Houston in the bowl game. But the Eagles lost their head coach to another team, their starting QB to graduation, along with a host of other players who had started for several seasons. In short, So Miss will essentially be starting over from scratch. @ UCLA...Win--90% probability. New coach, new system and more than likely it will be a pro-style. Which plays right into the kind of defense Nebraska likes to play, meaning rush the front four, drop seven into coverage and play a match-up zone. The questions I have are, how will Devin Fuller be used, will he redshirt, or will new head coach Jim Mora roll the dice and play a true freshman? If I were Mora, I'd design an offense around what Fuller can do and take the lumps with a true freshman starting at QB. Arkansas St...W--99.999999999999% probability. The only way the Red Wolves win, or even have a shot, is if Nebraska has another -8 turnover day like they did against Iowa State a couple of years ago. Idaho St...W--99.999999999999% probability. See Ark st. Wisconsin...W--50% probability. There are two upsides, 1) the game is in Lincoln and 2) no more Russell Wilson. Even still this will be a tough physical game for the Huskers. One thing is certain though Nebraska's DL and indeed whole defense will have to step up big time in the tough and physical department. @ Ohio St...L--60% probability. On the road, versus a shifty, agile, mobile, QB and a defense that well, quite frankly, gets embarrassed too frequently by mobile QBs. If Nebraska can contain Braxton Miller and avoid turnovers they can pull it out, but it will be an intense uphill climb. @ Northwestern...L--50% probability. The biggest question I have is will Nebraska actually take the Wildcats seriously this time around? Sadly, I doubt it. And while Northwestern loses a lot of people their biggest difference maker, Cain Kolter, returns. Michigan...L--75% probability. Unless Bo changes or tweaks his defensive philosophy, this is another probable loss. I hate to harp on it but look at the way Michigan State played Michigan and then contrast it with the way the Huskers played the Wolverines. The Spartans blitzed and pressured Robinson and the Huskers played a soft coverage. Well the results of those two games are a stark reminder of why I do not really like Nebraska's chances here. @ Michigan St...W--75% probability. Kirk Cousins, their two top WRs, and one RB are gone so there will be some retooling. This is another on the road dangerous game that if Nebraska doesn't take seriously they could lose. Penn St...W--85% probability. This is a program in shambles. The new head coach for the Lions has his work cut out for him to say the least. This could be an ugly year for them. Minnestoa...W--96% probability. The Gophers just don't have the personnel to compete. @ Iowa...W--65% probability. Nebraska typically doesn't struggle against Iowa the way other Big 10 teams do, although now that we're in the Big 10 there will be much more familarity as we'll play every season. But for now, the Huskers have the edge. Best case scenario: Undefeated season with a conference and national title as well. Okay, now that the laughter has subsided, I think the best case scenario for '12 is a 10-2 regular season. I see Nebraska more than likely losing to Michigan and Ohio State. I think that Nebraska loses due to how Bo plays his defensive scheme not because I think the Huskers aren't talented enough to compete or win. Worst case, and this could get real ugly real fast, Nebraska loses to Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Michigan State, and Iowa and tanks to 6-6. I'll sort of split the difference and say 9-3 in the regualr season with losses to MU, OSU and some unranked team at home. What say you my fellow revelers of the Red?

I haven't been here on this site long enough to get a sense of what people have said about this year's class. But some of the negative posts I've read on other supposed Nebraska sites regarding this year's class are the equivalent of toxic manure. In fairness the extremely negative types of posts are thankfully a small percentage compared to the overall aggregate.

LSU did want Raymond to interview and he said no.