Wistrom Disciple

I think his retirement will help Nebraska more off the field which could indirectly aid Nebraska on the courts/fields. He appeared to have quite a bit of influence with the conference office and commissioner which seemed to go against the benefit of Nebraska quite often. Would be a real shame if they went and hired Eichorst to replace Barry...

Definitely not a good feeling to not crack the top lists for several of the in-state guys, but the only thing that will fix it for us going forward is to win. We haven’t been in a conference title game since they were in 4th or 5th grade. Odd that several of the top schools are so far away from here (Miami, FSU, Arizona State)... I also can’t help but wonder if that is a Covid effect. Wouldn’t surprise me to see a couple of these guys commit far away and then transfer out a year or two later.

The defense points per game has a direct correlation to how the offense and SP are performing. Several quick three and outs, poor punting and poor field position defensively set us up too often. Agreed that shaky was a generous term. It’s March, a guy has to have hope. And true, my opinion but it helps not having a player needing a touch quota and also getting larger players in this league. Hope we use them correctly.

For starters, the defense seems to have become a strength for us again. With the addition of players more fitting the size profiles the staff wants, we will hopefully continue to be good on that side. The offense is a little more shaky but the hope is that larger receivers and lineman should help against the larger fronts seen across the Big Ten, especially our division. We need to rely on a steady running game more often but hopefully the offseason transfers will help Frost craft the offense to balance with the aggressive defense Chins wants to run.

Why let the conference dictate what you do within your own school/city for a scrimmage? The practice does not affect other teams within the conference and actually is a source of revenue with the TV network. So long as the school follows local/state health guidelines, why have a conference office 500+ miles away decide what that school does?

Thank you @FrantzHardySwag for the addition. I was very surprised by the Tier 3 statistics (teams falling between 26-75 in the country). That is where the difference lies between a winning record and bowl appearance versus staying home under .500. @lo country I hope we're going to see more reliance on the runningbacks to manage the clock and hopefully target the taller receiving group in the passing game. No more touch quotas for one player and a willingness to take 4-5 yards a play instead of hoping for home run plays each possession. We have to be able to grind out drives and manage the game better, we look good when we're able to do that (and of course not turn the ball over in the process).

I will assume my point was made in regards to Perlman overstepping his role as you brushed past those points. The lessons from the past were in regards to your "ironic" comment about learning from Perlman's follies of switching ADs and coaches every five or so years. By all means, fans can complain to the university until they're blue in the face if it makes them feel better. However, it was done several times in the past 20 years we have often lived in mediocrity with a revolving door of coaches during that period. Let's hope we've learned from it and stick with Frost/Moos through the rollercoaster next several years. Since we disagree on the subject and my evidence didn't sway your belief that Perlman & Eichorst "made the right decision" or were good for the athletic department, I will not be carrying on the discussion further.

I believe you must have skipped over the part: "Perlman the next day publicly admonished Pelini, something he now acknowledges may have been a mistake. Some thought he should have handled the matter internally. Perlman at the time thought it was important to make it clear to the public that the university did not condone Pelini’s behavior." Steve Pedersen was a bad call, but if you think firing Solich didn't include consultation with Harvey, you've got wool over your eyes. Yes, plenty of coaches get angry at reporters, officials, etc. Very few of them have their boss' boss releasing public statements to the media condemning the behavior like Perlman did on several occasions. I get that you obviously didn't like Bo and couldn't stand his attitude or demeanor. I come from a different breed I guess and would rather have a jerk for a coach that wins than the ice cream man who maybe wins half the games. Those who don't learn from their past are doomed to repeat it. Patience allowed for programs to thrive over time including our own from the late 60s to the 90s (also Iowa enjoying its' best all-time decade now, Notre Dame currently, Clemson, etc.) I agree that no one expected three years of underachieving but as the past 20 years have taught me, changing coaches every 5 or so years hasn't yielded good results either. Our best bet right now is to stay the course we're on, hope the continuity of the staff will help development and success will follow. Agreed completely, Moos had to have known about it in some context.

As far as public statements from the University about Bo, Henry Cordes (OWH reporter) nicely summed up Harvey's influence here. In hindsight, Harvey realized the error in going public instead of handling issues internally. His ego and desire to be the face of the university negatively impacted the athletic department during his tenure. As for Saban's anger, you can find several examples online including here, here, & here. Zero public statements from the school condemning the coach's comments or behavior. Dabo wasn't corrected or reprimanded by Clemson for his rants or behavior either (example or here). The short of it is that schools have their administration in sync with their athletic departments and coaches tend to perform well and handle matters internally... like we used to under Osborne & Byrne/Devaney. Examples where the schools haven't been in sync the past several years or more include USC, Tennessee, Texas, Florida State, etc. Winning is the only cure for a lot of the drama and frustrations for the local media and fan base. I think we're on our way to being a consistent winner but it will take time to become an annual favorite to win the division again. Regarding the mishandling of the potential schedule last week, hopefully this is the last lesson Scott and Bill need for maintaining fan expectations. Let's just hope the average fan has patience.

If this is the case, why has Alabama had so few public statements from their AD and Chancellor when Saban goes on a rant almost every year? The answer is that the school administration supports their coach. Same goes for Clemson when Dabo was getting critical of Clemson fans. When the school admins stand by their coach and have unity, the program tends to do pretty well (examples: Oklahoma, Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, etc.). The Hoffman run was done with Osborne as AD, same with the facility upgrades and expanded budgets. It takes time to rebuild a program that lost its way. I believe Moos & Frost will steer the ship correctly, I just hope the fan base is patient enough to stick with it.

Harvey & Bo came up because of your post yesterday at 1:44pm where you said Perlman & Eichorst "made the right call." If Perlman and Eichorst were so busy, why did they feel the need to issue public reprimands so often? You don't see that kind of embarrassing stuff coming from Alabama, Clemson, etc. when they have winning (and whining coaches). You cannot it both ways where they were too busy to issue support but yet not too busy to issue public reprimands. As for social media, no the AD does not get involved with minor social media posts. For the bolded, Frost would not have came here if Eichorst & Perlman remained. He said as much in his introductory press conference. I am supportive of the program and coach. Riley was a bad call and I still believe firing Pelini was the wrong decision. For his antics and words, Bo was still a winner. Hopefully Frost can get up to Bo's level and surpass it soon.

I think your comparison for Michigan & Nebraska is pretty solid. Michigan seems to be flailing is that they keep having a revolving door of assistant coaches so continuity is difficult. In addition, the success of the program is based almost exclusively on how they perform against their rival, Ohio State. The problem is that a lot of their fanbase does not have the patience needed. I mean looking at Harbaugh's record, he has done a pretty solid job except for last year's weird setup, 49-22 overall. Nebraska canned Bo for similar numbers (66-27) and it didn't work out too well for us afterwards.

I think you are incorrect in your assessment. A single year contract extension matches what we gave Tim Miles for making the NIT and Mike Riley for getting hammered by Tennessee in the Music City Bowl. Bo played in conference title games nearly half his career here. I'm curious about the constant facility upgrades you speak of... All the upgrades I'm aware of were funded/completed with Osborne at the helm. You think Perlman and Eichorst had any hand in the social media antics? Zero chance. Those two were as tone-deaf as me trying to sing on key. Alright so you're sidestepping the support versus tolerance question. There is a big difference between an athletic department, chancellor, administration, etc. being supportive of a head coach versus being tolerant. The past nine months are a prime example of a university being supportive of a head coach and program with the unity from the University President, Regents, Moos, Frost, etc. displayed despite the onslaught from national media. The united front is night and day from what we had in 2013-2014 with public reprimands and non-committal talks regarding extensions for over a year. I understand you don't like Bo and there is nothing I can say to change it. That's fine. However, please don't continue thinking Eichorst & Perlman did anything to help our program.

It's worked out alright for us with Honas and did with Deontai Williams too. It's going to be a crapshoot though, I envision the next year or two being especially difficult to evaluate JUCOs with the Covid disruptions and all the transfers who will be looking for a spot. Going to be a lot of names trying to get attention, hopefully our staff will be very picky.

Yes, Bo had seven years though it was split between two very different conferences. It is quite a style/speed/size difference between the Big Ten and the Big 12. In addition, the recruiting footprint adjusted as we went from playing 4 games a year in either Oklahoma or Texas to playing in Indiana, Illinois, etc. That shift was remarkably different and to Bo's credit, his staff still made the conference title game three out of his seven years. Would you consider that Perlman or Eichorst were supportive of Bo Pelini or were they just tolerant? I will strongly disagree with the bolded above. Perlman and Eichorst were self-serving and ego-driven. They did not "make the right call" in any sense. I cannot point to anything specific that Eichorst did that was a positive for our athletic department. Perlman should only get credit for bringing back Tom Osborne as AD to fire Callahan and bring in Pelini. Tom negotiated us into the Big Ten during the turmoil, Perlman was along for the ride. Perlman has been the key cog in the downfall of our athletic department the past 20 years as @TheSker pointed out. His ego and the desire to not let Tom Osborne be the face of the University any longer had a directly negative impact on the entire program. Remember, Perlman went to hire Eichorst without any input from the soon to be retiring Osborne. TO was so pissed about it that he didn't even attend the press conference welcoming Eichorst. Pelini mentioned something about that in the first interview, I believe with Sip in the LJS, where he questioned why Tom hadn't been included in any discussions. It was essentially Bo & Tom vs. Harvey & Shawn and it was doomed from the start.

Hired two coaches who revived hope in the two sports that generate the most revenue that were going through some rather depressing periods. Also brought in Bolt, a quality baseball coach after Erstad stepped down. In addition, he's brought stability to the department post-Eichorst/Perlman and had the cajones to publicly stand by his coach when the conference and sports media were against us last fall. 100% believe Perlman & EIchorst would not have the guts to push back against the conference. He hasn't been perfect (who has?) but I think his intentions have been to help the program build towards being a top 10-25 program again. Today's news wasn't ideal and obviously looks bad but I'm in the camp that he's done far more good for the department than bad.

No Nebraska statement yet. That they haven't yet is only adding fuel to the fire unfortunately.

No, I was trying to lighten the mood on a Friday. Relax. Sandusky retired from coaching in 1999, scandal came out a decade later.

*Jerry Sandusky has entered the chat*

Good point though Nebraska's dominance didn't have them skirting the best team in the conference as often as Iowa has avoided the conference's best team. Iowa's played Ohio State only four times since 2007. For a comparison, Nebraska has played them seven times since 2011. I agree that we should do everything we can to play as is though. @runningblind, thank you, I didn't know if OU was expecting full capacity or not. Hopefully they do and we don't back out.

To be fair, it's worked for Iowa for decades

Just tossing this out there... is it possible that whoever is allegedly seeking to postpone the matchup is doing so because of stadium capacity questions? As in they want full houses for the games and don't want to have the big matchup played at 20-50% capacity? I'm in favor of playing the game regardless but I have to wonder why this now. I don't think we'd be looking to postpone out of fear of a loss... I believe Frost and Moos want us on the big stage more, not less.

*Harvery Perlman has entered the chat*

Not a good look but I think @gorp512 is correct, something more behind it. I was actually thinking we might surprise others with the game against them this year... Oklahoma is having their own internal issues with the number of big name transfers leaving their program.

@GSG thank you!