"Never forget, we are Nebraska! no one can take away who we are and where we have been. And believe it or not no one can stop where we are going."
While I appreciate your enthusiasm, your sentiment is the problem with Nebraska football.
We were Nebraska because we won; we didn't win because we were Nebraska. This stuff doesn't happen just because we continue to label ourselves as something we were 20 years ago. There has to be a completely different mindset based on tradition but built into the new reality of present day NCAA football. We have convinced ourselves in this state that we are entitled to win again just because we did in the past. Forget recreating the 90's; that was then and this is now. Get back to Big Ten bruiser style runnning, monster offensive lineman and defense and a smattering of solid passing and we are back in the conversation. It will take an extremely special coach to do that. If we want to be in the conversation look no further than the Wisconsin model which is basically the old Nebraska model with modern adaptions.
As to nobody can take away who we are and where we have been. That has been accomplished already via Steve Petersen and Shawn Eichorst. We are now into rebuilding and recovering what has already been lost. We have dropped below the mediocrity point. We have hit the skids and are heading toward rock bottom. The earlier we recognize and accept this as a fan base and the earlier our large donors and administration recognize what has already occurred the quicker we get back to becoming the New Nebraska with all of the old traditions but with a new mindset on how to get there. Tunnel walks and Blackshirts are all great, but they don't build winners. They have to be earned with a lot of blood, sweat, tears and a group of young men lead by a great coach that believe in each other and have each other's backs. It has to be with a passion for the New Nebraska created by these young men based on "now"; not what is now a distant past. When we build on today measured by wins that is when we become "Nebraska" again.