Wistrom Disciple

No doubt. I mean it was the right move to join the conference a decade ago, but this past year has only reaffirmed how different the average Nebraskan thinks versus the conference leadership. Thankfully, Nebraska was on the correct side of common sense.

Haha I agree, I was trying to give the other side of the argument the benefit of the doubt... it’s more sad when you remove the Michigan “title”

In what sense? If the argument is that the Big Ten is nationally relevant simply because they are 20% of the "Power Five," sure I'll accept that. However, that would also apply to the Big 12 and Pac-12 as they are also each 20% of the "Power Five." However, where it actually counts (on the field and court), the Big Ten is much closer to being the Pac-12 than it is the SEC or ACC and thus not relevant nationally as perennial title contenders. I hope these trends change but with the current conference leadership, I'm not so sure we'll be any better as a league. Please note: the Big Ten conference has won exactly one NCAA Basketball title in the past 30 years (Michigan State in 2000). In the same 30 years, members of the Big Ten have only won three football titles (Michigan '97, OSU '02 & '14). For reference, the lowly Pac-10/12 has won two titles in both basketball & football, not including '04 USC's vacated title, during the same 30 year period. ^^I am not including Nebraska's titles or Maryland's titles as these were won while members of different conferences.

The conference has an over-inflated sense of importance. Example: Cancelling the football season one week after releasing the schedule, under the assumption all the other conferences would fall in line. The other conferences didn't cower and our conference leadership looked foolish in the months following. As for being relevant nationally, there are only two sports (basketball & football) that carry the weight for the discussion. These two are the core money makers across the country for each school and conference. In college football, outside of Ohio State, no Big Ten program has been close to championship relevancy in 20+ years. Basketball is supposed to be the best in the country this year, though some of that has been due to the conference curving schedules into their favor in order to maximize the number of teams to qualify for the NCAA tournament. Smart from a financial perspectives but hard for me to agree that it's the best conference when they're forcing Nebraska to play 14 games in 29 days, including a back to back against a bad Maryland program just to boost the tournament profile. Sadly, the conference has been more known for scandals and controversies the past couple decades than they have been for on-field/court championships.

Wow, it only took the Big Ten nine months to reach a conclusion that the other power conferences had already implemented last year. It is wild to me that the Big Ten office holds as much sway over the schools as it does... no wonder the conference has struggled to be nationally relevant for decades.

Haha I was thinking more along the lines of leadership, internal accountability and teamwork but that doesn't sound like a bad alternative.

Think he'll come back for another year? I really hope he does. I've believed that Thor has been an underappreciated player for us the past three years. Makes a few boneheaded plays a game (as does most of the team) but is a great gel guy in terms of making good reads, playing unselfishly and playing with a steady demeanor. Will not light up the scoreboard and would benefit greatly if he could knock down the wide open shots beyond the arc consistently, but I think he would be a great keep for us. I'm really hoping Arop can pick up a lot of the tricks, reads and concepts that Thor has because he could be a great wing for us in the future.

Relax, we're six months from games so of course off-field topics will be discussed ad nauseam. @rocketlb's summary was solid. Sounds like the former players are going in with the right focus. Hopefully the players can pick up some intangible traits that will lead to on-field success in one way or another.

I don't believe that the strength & conditioning has been the issue at least reports of slacking were not nearly as frequent as they were for the previous staff. The team has the physical tools and skill to win, it was mental lapses that were the reason for our downfall last year. I think @Toeis correct that the current S&C staff already get reports back to the staff but the true measure of growth will come with more practice this spring and will need to show next fall.

When they were recruited, Iowa was not the better team versus Nebraska. By the time they left, Nebraska had assembled the unfortunate group of Mike Riley, Eichorst & Harvey P and Iowa was the better team. Would you have given a scholarship to Bazata over Maliek Collins? Or Ott over Vincent Valentine? The short answer is no. You're using the ends to justify the means which is unwise for this scenario. Both guys ended up being decent players for Iowa and likely could have been contributors here. That said, out of high school they were justifiably given walk-on opportunities here but instead pursued a scholarship at another school. Worked out well them which is what is most important.

Yes, hindsight is always 20/20. Ask yourself this question about that though... do they become all-conference and get drafted if they were coached by Mike Riley, Langsdorf, Bob MF Diaco? I don't think I'm discounting any of the players as they all turned out to be great talent for their schools. Although it is awesome to have the hometown heroes and Nebraska-born guys making great strides and representing our program, I think we need to have some perspective with regards to the talent coming out of high school. Example: 2010 - Kyle Emmanuel. Most didn't know him and he had little to no accolades. Turned into a great player at NDSU and was drafted. However, Nebraska offered one scholarship to a linebacker in 2010... Lavonte David. Nebraska also offered a walk-on spot to Trevor Roach who ended up playing briefly in the NFL as well. Did Nebraska miss by not signing Kyle Emmanuel? Based on your first question above, yes. I can understand that point but we also need to remember that the schools have ~20-25 scholarships to give out in any one cycle and likely only a few that can be handed out at any one position. Serviceable players, can't say they were better than the Davis twins, Maliek Collins, Vincent Valentine, etc. when they were high school seniors. Would have helped here but only so many scholarships to go around.

Fant is the key one. Also "missed" on the Johnson brothers, Easton Stick, Nick Leduca & Kyle Emmanuel at NDSU. Fant had the most fanfare for snubbing Nebraska largely because it was believed that Riley's staff didn't put enough effort into trying to land him. Most others grew to be studs at their schools of choice but were not as sought after as others out of high school. Turned out to be really good players but difficult to say they would have been as successful had they came here under some of the coaching we had the previous years, especially under Riley's staff where development really was a struggle.

I'd like to think it will be one of the Hays, KS guys (Meyers or Kanak). Both would be great additions for us.

I think your stance is a little misguided. True, coaches have to put in more effort with kids from Omaha but I don't think that it's just an Omaha problem. Kansas City is tough and St. Louis especially where we are 0 for 50-75 since we signed Tre Bryant in 2016. It isn't that Omaha or big city kids loathe Nebraska, it's that bigger city kids generally get more attention than a kid from Crete, Norfolk or Hastings. And with more attention from other programs, generally it means more recruiting effort is needed from the coaches. @ColoradoHusk and others hit the nail on the head that winning cures a lot of the ailments. The roster has turned over enough, the staff has stayed intact for long enough, this year is where progress must come. I'm not saying there's a hot seat but the team, staff, playbook, etc. are all in place by now. Results must follow and then the recruiting efforts will likely be rewarded more often.

To be fair, many players may be waiting until after spring practices to make decisions. His brother stepped away at Michigan before the season started and decided to transfer to Northern Colorado after the semester finished. Luke may be taking the same approach. Agreed though, many players are transferring and most will soon find out that the outcomes will not likely be favorable.

@TheSker, I'm not sure his comments were directed at his fellow linemen necessarily. @jjhusker is right in his response, this isn't anything new. I would believe that he might have been referring to the younger guys (notably the receivers group) who have since removed a number of players at that position. There was really no excuse for not knowing the playbook by the time we started the season in late October. Reportedly, we had to deal with that for a lot of the season along with a host of other off the field issues. It may also help that instead of force-feeding the ball to the smallest player on the field XX times per game. We won't know if this team is turning the corner until we play games again. It should help knowing who the bulk of our starters will be already and adding quite a bit of talent but until the games kick off, we're stuck waiting to see the development.

Hey by all means be ignorant. His addition is big for us. With Fisher flirting this past off season with Georgia, he may be on the lookout for the next stop soon. Busch is a proven recruiter and would be able to step into a role if needed. As for guys he recruited here previously: Bowman, Amukamara, Burkes, Hagg, Marcel Jones, among others. In short, the guy knows how to sell Nebraska to recruits. Analyst roles obviously have limitations but they seem to be working for Alabama and their seemingly unending rolodex of analysts. I’m not obsessed over it but I do believe it is a great addition for the program.

Take a look at Bill Busch's resume and recruiting record. Add in the home state pride factor and the addition is a big deal.

Bill Busch is a massive addition to the staff. Also becomes a big asset if Fisher were to be lured away after the season. Despite the slow pace of on-field progress which is obviously the major concern, Frost is proving to be a great with his hires off the field. We need the wins to follow but he's assembling a mix of coaches and people to be great again.

Also interesting that Aaron Donald had his best year by far when playing next to Suh (2018). It was much easier for him to accumulate a lot of those stats by having Suh taking two guys while Donald only had one guy to beat every play. Similar situation to Von Miller coming back down to earth after losing Shaquil Barrett opposite him for the Broncos. Both guys are still great players but neither are as effective without other studs to take attention away.

It will depend (in part) on when Suh retires. If he retires this offseason, I think @BIGREDIOWAN's take is correct that it will take a few ballots. If he can go another year or two and play at a decent level, he solidifies his case based on early career accolades and longevity. Lavonte's case is much weaker where he would need to stack stats and/or accolades quickly to get into the HOF conversation. Though his importance to his team is noticeable when watching, not many people watched for so long that he's really got an uphill climb. I hope he can get into the mix, however I think he will end up short of the HOF but still have a great NFL career.

My hunch would be no, but maybe they would convince him to try a Taysom Hill role where he's placed all over the field and only QB part time.

Should Luke not get an opportunity he wants and decides that he doesn't want to play at Northern Colorado with his Dad, do we open the door for him to return?

Thank you! Great insights