ladyhawke

I'm just curious to know when we are going to start holding Dr. Tom accountable...as an AD of course!

 

I never have nor will I ever question him as a coach and leader of young men. However, I will most certainly question him as an AD. There are a few topics which I would like to open for discussion:

 

1 - Didn't Dr. Tom request Watson to remain a part of the staff when he brought on Pelini?

 

2 - The more I look at the Big 10/Big 12 debacle the more I question his vision! He was very clear in the mid 90's that the power in football was shifting south, rightfully so!!! What is 4 or 5 going on 5 or 6 straight national titles from the SEC??? So then, why would he want to move to the rust belt? Before you say money and prestige, let me remind you, that when we were rolling right, no one cared how bad the Big 8 was, and we made plenty of money by winning! It is quite clear that winning the Legends division will be much more difficult than the North. I digress....

 

3 - Two words....Frank. Solich.

 

So whether or not you agree with me on the Big 10 move, what makes you want to keep Dr. Tom as the AD? I'm just curious what everyones' thoughts are since the topic has never been breached....

One of the reasons I would want to keep Dr. Tom as AD is that he's wicked smart. He thinks through things instead of making rash decisions. He knows the human condition, and knows how to motivate people to do their best. His character is above reproach as is his reputation. Those things are important when dealing not only with a football team but ALL of the sports he's responsible for. He also has his employees best interests at heart. The others have commented on #1. #2-Moving to the Big 10 was a brilliant move on NU's part. It wasn't just about sports-it was about what was best for the University as a whole. The educational plus that we will gain by moving to the Big 10 was alot more important than us moving the Huskers to the Big 10 conference. And the money-whoa baby! We will have significantly more money by moving to the Big 10 than we ever made by staying in the Big 8 (12). Tom tried to get the others to go his way when the Texas cancer came to the Big 8. He knew what would happen and he was right. Texas took over the Big 12 just like they did when they were in the SWC. Ask Arkansas.

As far as #3 is concerned, I wonder how we would've done had Frank stayed. I'm still bitter that Frank did what Pederson wanted him to-got rid of alot of staff that had been there for awhile and hired new people. We had just finished another good season. Then Pederson fired him. I remember how it not only shook up the NU community but also college football in general. If a coach could be fired after a 9-3 season who was safe?

That's my opinion.

 

But if he can change the culture and land some decent recruits in the short term to set up another guy, I'll take it.

What do you mean by 'change the culture?'

Sitting here watching the Orange Bowl and can't help comparing where our program is and where these two are. No sloppy fumbles, very few penalties(no back to back delay of games!). No questionable late hits, no obvious lack of disipline, good offenses and defenses, just 2 very good, well disciplined football teams executing good game plans. Quality all the way around....man we have a ways to go. Really like watching Tyrod scramble and making things happen.

I was remembering that just two short years ago how we lost to Virginia Tech by only one point.

In order to keep things in perspective, I urge you to go back and watch the seven bowl games in a row where we lost. We lost some of those bowl games so bad under TO that some of us wondered whether or not the team even got off the airplane. The 1991 season resulted in us playing Miami in a bowl where our outstanding offense put up zero points, 82 yards rushing, and 89 yards passing. The 1988 season resulted in up playing Miami in a bowl where our outstanding offense put up three points, 80 yards rushing, and 55 yards passing. I would say we already have that offense down pretty well. When people start being critical of coaches, I think it's always important to understand that even the greats faced their fair share of criticism. There were a lot of fans frustrated with TO. There were a lot of fans frustrated with TO's offenses.

 

Also keep in perspective T.O. was playing for National Championships too. There may have been grumbling but that got passed because T.O. could make to the top and capable. Bo hasn't reached that. They knew what T.O. could do we don't know how good Bo will turn out to be. Now think about this. It took Bob Stoops two years to turn around Oklahoma to win a National Championship. Oklahoma was bad during the 90's.

I guess my point was that it seemed that Osborne had alot of different things that he tried. They didn't always work but he just seemed to change things up more. I know that TO had his share of 'crabbers'. At one point he even considered leaving NU. Glad he chose not to.

Maybe there isn't really that much difference. Maybe I just need to give the team some time, Watson included. I do think there need to be changes made on the offense though.

I've also been wondering why Nebraska doesn't recruit more in state kids. Can you imagine how great our team would've been with Danny Woodhead at the helm? He's doing fabulous things in the NFL and NU missed him. How did that happen?

 

The Danny Woodhead Saga has been talked about for years. Short version: He was recruited by Solich, got dropped when Solich was fired, committed to Chadron State, was recruited VERY late in the game by Callahan, but stuck to his commitment to play at Chadron.

Thanks for the short version

The offensive line, thats where it all starts. I'd love to see Bo recruit and develop an O-line like the one Osborne put together in the championship years. It would take this offense miles ahead.

Now that he has the defense pretty well in hand do you think he'll probably go in that direction? Does he do the recruiting with offense or is that left totally up to the OC? Does Dr. Tom ever go on those recruiting trips?

I've also been wondering why Nebraska doesn't recruit more in state kids. Can you imagine how great our team would've been with Danny Woodhead at the helm? He's doing fabulous things in the NFL and NU missed him. How did that happen?

I'm watching a replay of the 1995 championship game against Miami. Man those boys were good. Miami was good too but Wow-that offensive line didn't let much get through. Glad to see ESPN show games that the Huskers have won. I don't know about anyone else but it's like ESPN really doesn't like Nebraska. I think that's particularly true of Chris Fowler. Is this just my perception? I know Collin Cowpoop doesn't like us. I remember him crabbing about how he hated the 'option play' that Nebraska would play and how it didn't prepare those boys for the NFL.

Anyway, I love those old games. I was also surprised to hear that Osborne had not won a bowl game since 1987. He had won every thing else but those bowl games just seemed to elude him until this game.

I think what frustrates me about the Osborne years vs. the way our boys are playing now is that those old NU teams, if they lost, they didn't lose by lack of trying. The coaches were always changing things up. It seems like our current coaches don't even try other things. THAT is what's the most frustrating for me. (Alright! Schlessinger just made a touchdown! Gotta love those legendary Huskers!!)

Considering two players have already decided to go somewhere else, I could see Bo not wanting to lose more players in our top 15 class.

OR this psychs the recruits up because they believe that THEY could make a difference. I know Jamal Turner stated that when he was interviewed after he committed to NU.

I'm not familiar with where these coaches are from. What types of offenses do they run?

 

I'm not real familiar with them either.

 

Strudrawa is LSU's OL coach and I believe he has been OC in the past. I think his reputation on OL is supposed to be rock solid. Unlike the OL coach we 'went out and got' the first go-around in '07. Has the obvious connection with Bo.

 

Chad Morris is Tulsa's OC but I don't know much about them. He actually coached at Stephenville (TX) HS in 2006 and 2007 - while Kody Spano was there. He has one year of coaching CFB, it seems like. Could have serious interest (and it would be a big jump for him).

 

Klenakis has been Nevada's OC. Pistol attack, he was there in '08 I believe when they had the three 1000-yd rushers in one season. Not sure on the interest here. He probably has quite a few teams looking to lure him away. This would be the biggest hire of these three, if we want to go in this 'clean house' direction.

 

I am always wary of that though. I would not mind too much if we gave Beck a shot and brought in some promising guys to replace the position coaches leaving. But that is the change-resistant guy in me. There are probably dozens more names tossed out there. I don't think any of these are like Doug Colman, who probably IS going to be our next LBs coach, but just some names I recall off the top of my head. Again, I'm not very familiar with any of these guys.

What do you think about Jay Norvell? I know he was part of the Callahan years but he wasn't here for very long. Oklahoma looked really good tonight-much better than when we played them-I know he's a 'Co-OC' there. Offense wasn't a problem when Callahan was here-it was the other side of the coin. Now that we have such a great defense, I would really like to see us have a great offense to go with it.

I know...I started one of the first ones...I was mostly interested in what people thought about Jay Norvell as an OC

When Bo changes his offensive staff, I wonder who he would pick to replace Watson/Gilmore/Cotton? As I watched Oklahoma-UConn (OU is killing them) I saw Jay Norvell on the sidelines and wondered what it would be like to have him back as our OC? I know he was part of Callahan's staff but he left because he wanted to be an OC. Well, he's doing a nice job for Oklahoma but he's only a 'Co-OC' Would he be a good fit?

I would like to see Scott Frost come back in some capacity, maybe as quarterback coach? Ron Brown can take Gilmore's place. Who would you pick to replace Cotton?

This was very cool! Of the 52 top college football teams look where NU came in!

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/554716-the-top-50-coaching-jobs-in-college-football#page/45

I'm watching the Wisc-TCU game and they had a commercial during halftime that presented the Legends/Leaders logo and there was our red 'N' under the Legends side then it said, "Coming Fall 2011". It was so COOL to see us as part of the Big 10. If Bo will just do some house cleaning and get the NU house in order then we can be a powerful addition to the Big 10.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5978467

Steve Pederson should hire Watson. He did it before-right? He should do it again.

Cody Green is the leader we will need next year. We need a leader that is ready to roll up their sleeves and start kickin some a$$ and motivating teammates in order to compete in the Big Ten next year. There was a thread about accountability on the board earlier and Green defines accountability. He has always been willing to talk with the media even after disappointing losses when other players seem to shy away. He doesn't point fingers or make excuses and knows what it takes to be a leader. At quarterback you need the guy that is willing to put those extra hours in film study and preparation and I think Cody is a guy the offense can rally around next year. I think he has gained enough experience over the past two years to be a confident starter and I don't want to relive another season with a freshman quarterback without leadership skills. I hope Bo gives Cody a chance next year and uses Martinez's talent in a different way because he is too explosive to keep off the field.

I agree. When he is prepared for a game (Colorado this year) and when the coaches are committed to him, he does really well.

perhaps we can offer a package deal.......3 for the price of 1

I vote yes!!

Check out this link: http://www.footballandcoaching.com/

There are alot of head coach jobs open. I hope that Watson takes a look at them. He could be a great match for alot of them! Just because he didn't get the Miami of Ohio job doesn't mean he can't apply for any of these jobs. And given the recent arrest of Pitt's new head coach, Watson should apply there!

I think one thing that was missing this season was accountability. Sometimes guys on defense were held accountable for bad showings, but on offense? Not that I saw.

 

After the Texas game, Smith and Thenarse didn't see the field again. Their poor tackling in the UT game had a consequence, and we changed safeties.

 

Poor offensive showings against SDSU, Texas, aTm, Iowa St, OU and now UDub. Where is the accountability?

 

Martinez sucked but stayed in. Excuses came fast and furious from Watson. He needs to play through things, he needs to time. It seemed like we babied him and there weren't consequences when he performed poorly. That kind of treatment can really destroy team chemistry. How about you pull the plug when the guy doesn't have things going? Another post pointed out that Muschamp had figured that Martinez didn't read defensess. I can't believe Martinez was still in the game after those two underhand passes in the first half!!! WTF???? That was junior high execution!

 

Sirles holds in the end zone after getting beat. Was he in the next series? The offensive line was supposed to have depth, but they couldn't keep 3 DL's from sacking the qb. Did we switch guys out? I don't know.

 

You got one of the best receivers coaches in Ron Brown, but he's coaching tight ends. The receivers seemed out of it under Gilmore.

 

Totally unnecessary facemask penalties on special teams??? WTF???

 

:koolaid2:I drank the Koolaid at the beginning of the season. My fault, but man the expectations were so high, and the potential seemed to be there. That's why the disappointments were so tough to take.

There was accountability on Offense-When Cody messed up they pulled him out immediately. Why didn't he get time, why didn't he get to 'play through those things'? Same thing happened with Zach Lee. I know they weren't our 'starting quarterbacks' but because they didn't get the time and coddling that Martinez got, they weren't ready when we needed them. I'll take Cody Green any day. He has poise in the pocket and I think that with some mentoring, he could be a stong leader on offense.

I voted status quo but I hope to god I'm wrong.

Me too. I just have a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach that he won't do anything.

I know we had a bummer 'last game' but it's a brand new year 1-1-11! We go into the Big 10 'undefeated'. Here are my hopes for 2011 as we enter the Big 10:

>That Bo and the boys put 2010 behind them. Bo has done some very good things since he took over (Whenever I think about how bad things are right now I think of how Callahan and company came in and destroyed our program. All of the traditions that were trampled. UGLY!) Bo gave us some hope and I refuse to believe he's done yet.

>That Bo will take advantage of one of the most brilliant offensive minds in college football-Dr. Tom Osborne- and have Tom come in and help Bo go over the offensive staff with a fine toothed comb to see what specific changes need to be made to turn us from a mediocre team into a great team.

>That we would choose an offensive identity and stick with it. I was watching College Game Day this morning and they were interviewing the coach from Wisconsin. I like Wisconsin because Barry Alverez, their A.D. was a former Husker. Wisconsin looks like the Huskers looked like under Osborne. Why wouldn't they? Alverez coached the way Osborne coached. I would like to see the Huskers look like that again. I miss the power that the Huskers had. When folks hated Huskers they did so because the Huskers were SO GOOD. They didn't depend on a star qb their O Line was lights out. I remember when Tommie Frazier got hurt, the put in Brooke Berringer and when Brooke got hurt they put in someone else and it didn't matter because the rest of the team filled in the holes. I really miss that power.

>That the fans would embrace our team EVERY TIME THEY PLAY-not just when they win. (I'm guilty of this too but man! It makes us look like a bunch of cry-babies!)

What's on your 'bucket list' for 2011?

I love Taylor I think if he stays his head out of the clouds he could be a great QB!

"I guess that I am kind of on the perverbial fence about T-Mart, but I have convinced myself that he has shown enough potential to be molded into a very good qb at NU..."

As I read these two statements I thought: "But WILL Taylor open himself up to BE molded." One of the things I wonder is does he have enough experience to be an effective quarterback. From what I read, he has only been playing football since his Junior year in high school. Is that correct? If so, then he's only been playing football period for 4 years. Vs other kids that will come into the program who have been playing football most of their young lives.

My hope is that Taylor will grow up, that his Dad will get out of his way (nothing worse than a 'hover-parent', and that he will begin to mend fences with the rest of the team. It's not his fault that he was 'handed the reins'. However, it IS his fault that he hasn't stepped up and at least tried to interact with the other players. But maybe he just doesn't know how.

He will have his work cut out for him next year. Just listening to that Turner kid-wow! He just reeks of self confidence and WANTS to make a difference. That kind of attitude is what our team needs right now. I just hope that he can walk the walk (play the play!)

A friend of mine says that she feels that Bo still doesn't understand the Nebraska culture-what kind of coach we want and what kind of game we expect. I don't know if I agree. I just think that Bo is green where being a head coach is concerned. He had an awful mess to clean up when he first got here. He's done a great job on defense now he needs to work on the offensive side of the team. I say, give the guy some time. Osborne was given years to develop his team. I often feel that we Husker fans are too impatient and our expectations are through the roof. I remember just a few short years ago when Bo came and we started winning again how excited the fans were. We were even saying things like if we win at least 6 games we would be happy. Now we're whining like spoiled brats-me included. Blah!

Bo needs to be mentored by Dr. Osborne and time to create a total team. I say give the guy some time.

Now that we've all had our 'rants' and we've had some sleep, where DO we go from here?

>Offense: We obviously need to see some 'house cleaning' with regards to offense but is there anything that IS working offensively that we need to keep?

>Defense: What's not working here? I thought our D did some very good things last night. Are there things they need to improve on?

>Return Team: I would like to see some folks put in who can actually field the ball and run it back for decent field positioning.

>Penalties: Wow...I've been watching NU football for a long time. I don't remember ever having so many penalties and stupid ones too. Blah! This area HAS to change.

NU is at such a critical juncture. We will go into the Big 10 'undefeated' as we haven't played any games in that conference yet. We're in a great position to make significant changes in the off season that will make a huge impact as we enter the Big 10. It's exciting really, and scary...your turn-what would you like to see?

Really disappointing. Blame Watson if you want, but this is on Bo, too. Name one big win of the season. Name one important game we took away. UT, A&M, OU, and now this. Lame. Worst season ever.

This season is the WORST season? Really? REALLY? You gotta short memory there, Sparky. I'll name one important game we took away: Missouri.

The Big 12 is now 1-4 in their bowl games. Even though this includes us in the loss column I am extremely pleased to see the Big 12 sitting at 1-4. It just makes the conference look pathetic and that makes me happy. Screw the Big 12.

 

Those Big 12 refs had it out for Nebraska again last night, 12 penalties to 3. Bebe sure does hate the Huskers!

 

What's that? Those weren't Big 12 refs? Your unimaginative play calling and lack of offensive play makers is the reason you failed to score more than 7 points again?

 

Ya'll run along now and enjoy playing against schools you have no historical rivalries with in places like Champagne, Iowa City and West Layfayette. Thanks for leaving the conference by crying, pouting and screaming (just like your coach) the whole year. You left us all with a lasting impression of a bunch of cry babies. I guess If you can't beat 'em, leave 'em. Bye bye

ROFLOL!! This is funny! Who's the REAL whiner? Sounds like sour grapes to me! Actually, we're leaving feeling VERY smart because we know what's coming-Best wishes to ya'll when the Big 12 dissolves and you are without a conference