junior4949

13 minutes ago, RavHuskr said:

We had that guy here.  It was Bill Callahan.  Guy could and still can coach offensive linemen.  The rest of it well maybe not so much.

While I acknowledge this is how he's for the most part made his living, I never could understand why our OL was so bad when he was here.  Poor Zac Taylor was running for his life back there.  We did not have any sort of dominating OL when Callahan was here.

1 minute ago, Guy Chamberlin said:

So what's the collective take on this?

 

A couple weeks ago the rumors about Frost's private behavior and lazy coaching habits were considered unfounded or unrelated sniping, even by folks who supported Frost's firing.

 

We get some post-firing corroboration and it seems like the Frost rumors are now starting to be accepted as fact. 

 

It's important inasmuch as we're debating whether the problem is the Nebraska football program, and the desirability of ever playing or coaching here. When it might just be the culture of the last coach, a culture that actually can change quickly with a new administration. 

 

Maybe, but isn't this the same crap we hear when we fire a coach?  Solich had a toxic culture and had to beg Crouch to rejoin the team.  Callahan had a toxic culture and tried to kill the walk-on program.  Bo had a toxic culture and had the players against the fans/world.  Mike had a toxic culture and fed players sprinkles on their ice cream.  Frost had a toxic culture and missed meetings or was late because he was drunk.  Did I miss anything?  I don't know about anyone else, but I feel like Bill Murray in Groundhogs Day.  

44 minutes ago, Hayseed said:

As far as these guys at Baylor whining about us recruiting their coach, .....Art Briles is still available, they could get back the guy they stole from Houston.
We should definitely go after Aranda.

Or, we could just simply hire Art Briles.  I mean everyone seems to be so high on Urban Meyer.  Is there really that much of a difference between the two?  If former Lancaster County Attorney Gary Lacey was still alive, we could ask him if either of the two are much different than a coach who once roamed the sideline. 

1 hour ago, Red Silk Smoking Jacket said:

 

There's not an available job or likely to be available job this year better than Nebraska. And that's not just me being a homer. Last year was a bad year to be hiring. This year does not appear to be stacking up that way at all.

I'm quite sure we have different opinions on better.  If I was an 18-22 year old highly skilled player, I would much rather play and practice in Phoenix, AZ than Lincoln, NE.  Arizona State has had four All Americans in the last decade.  Nebraska has had none.  I would venture to guess Deion would have better recruiting classes at Arizona State than he would have at Nebraska.  

2 minutes ago, Red Silk Smoking Jacket said:

 

Sark is in year 2 and just signed the best quarterback recruit in like the history of ever. Freeman is in year one. Short of either of them having some sort of off the field scandal or getting hired away by a better program (which also doesn't exist), Sark and Freeman aren't going anywhere this year. Period.

 

West coast like who? UCLA which isn't even the best program in town, let alone the state of Californa or the west coast. Oregon? Lanning is in year one, so see above.

 

So, again, name a better program even remotely likely to have an opening.

Maybe I misinterpreted what you were saying.  I thought you meant there isn't a job out there better than Nebraska.  Apparently, you meant there isn't a job that is open that is better than Nebraska.  I really only know of two openings at the moment being Arizona State and Nebraska because we are barely into the season.  Both fired coaches near the beginnings of their fifth year.  Herm Edwards was 26-20 at Arizona State while Frost was 16-31.  Arizona State made it to three bowl games in the past five years while Nebraska has made zero.  I guess it all depends on one's definition of a better program, but to some/many Arizona State might very well look like the better program.  I'm not sure I like our odds for Deion against Arizona State.  

Considering Sark has already been terminated once before during the season, I don't think it's impossible.  I also don't think it's impossible for him to be fired at seasons end if they implode.  Freeman probably doesn't get canned this year.    

1 hour ago, CyHawk said:

In the eyes of virtually everybody in the country (especially those that know that donors have kept it on life support) the sellout streak ended a couple of years ago. That is not a bad thing, as maybe the program needs to really turn the page. Call the sellout streak done, quit littering the countryside with 60,000 red balloons, and hang up the black shirts until such a time down the road that they mean something. Putting a black Siri on most of todays defensive players is an insult to many of your past great players.
 

With a new coaching staff, begin some new traditions that todays students and fans can really get ahold of and move forward with. Maybe time for some BIG changes.
 

When Hayden Fry came to Iowa, he changed it all, including the logo. The Pittsburgh Steelers were winners, so he copied the jersies down the the size of the pinstripes. This was after lots of years of bad football during the Bob Cummings era. 
 

Don’t kid yourselves, there will be plenty of top tier coaches that would love the job. I am betting that a few years from now, the past 20 will be distant history. Trev is a standup guy and I would guess that there is plenty of administration and booster support.

To the bolded:  if past performance is indicative of future results, we are essentially screwed.  This is basically what we've been telling ourselves for the last two decades.  Pud had people convinced that there were plenty of top tier coaches that would love the job.  Then, he went out and hired his eighth or so choice because everyone else told him no.  I still can't believe that top tier coach Houston Nutt turned us down.  I'd love to be optimistic, but we've been the program where each step forward seems to be followed by ten backwards.    

19 minutes ago, Hagg said:

 

Plus 1.  But that keeps bumping up against the fact that Nebraska fielded an African American Head Coach for any sport for the first time when we fielded Micky Joseph.  Startling and shameful, especially in a sport wherein about half the players are Black (seems to depend on whose stats we look at, could be 67% and could be 42%, etc).  Nebraska does seem to have a race problem when it comes to football coaches (perhaps basketball as well).  "Proven" coaches are those who have been in environments where they could flourish, from their bosses to their assistants and their players.  Rare for a Black coach with the notable exception of schools in the UNCF universe or other schools that receive support akin to some sort of affirmative action. 

 

I think that our AD and Regents should be looking long and hard at those facts.  Perhaps they are, it's been brought up.  Of course they run into the "reverse" racism noise once they begin openly a process of seeking a Black Head Coach.  Well, tough luck, in my opinion;  it's too overdue for White people to pretend like they have not been represented as college football Head Coaches. 

 

Deion Sanders does come to mind, as upward mobile in his career.  But what grinds me about him is his seeming lack of a center;  he's got irons in all sorts of fires, including singing, acting, and other endeavors.  Would he be fully focused on what we need here?

 

Lovie Smith is a bit long in the tooth, and has left college coaching.

 

Tony Elliot?  Marcus Freeman?  Stan Drayton? 

To the bolded, are you kidding me?  Tell me throughout each of the coaching changes Nebraska made where there was a minority coach that was passed over.  If one really thinks logically about this, we'd more than likely have a minority coach had Pud not screwed everything up.  I have no doubt that Turner Gill was the next head coach in waiting when Solich was here.  

I wouldn't have a problem with Deion being named our next head coach, but it has absolutely nothing to do with his race.  He would bring immediate interest in the program.  I would argue he could very well bring more player interest to the program than Urban could.  He is a bit lacking in experience, but I don't think he should be overlooked because of it.  

Is this really going to be Trev's decision to make?  I wonder how much influence the boosters and regents will have?  Callahan was all Pud's decision.  I've always been a bit skeptical that Bo was all TO's decision.  Riley would have been all Eichorst.  Moos was hired just to lure and hire Frost.  If I'm in TA's shoes given his history as AD with football programs, I would want as many especially those with any power at all involved as possible.  If things don't work out, he then won't be the only one with egg all over his face.  

3 minutes ago, TonkaSker said:

 

I literally linked to their website. Parker, CSA, and Eastman are the three I know of that are solid. Most ADs with experience just do it themselves and use independent guys they contract to conduct the searches.

 

 

To keep a hire like that a complete secret in the current media market is a massive accomplishment. Not only that, but they have the blueprint to do so.

 

To your second point, it's also not like OU was a poverty program. Dude had it relatively made there and could have flirted with other jobs to get his way, which is what these guys typically do.

 

ADs/Media guys all agree that it was a huge deal, especially in the way it went down. Hindsight is 20/20 but at the time it had as much basis as Lane Kiffin to NU, for example.

According to the local sports writers for the program, the bolded just isn't correct.  For whatever reason, Riley was having a lot of trouble getting the things he wanted/needed financial support for.  A lot of them even said that Riley moving on might have been the best thing long term for the OU program because the boosters and such have finally stepped up and opened the purse strings.    

Does anyone else find it a bit ironic that we're to hold Bill O'Brien's job hopping against him while people are clamoring for Lane Kiffin?  I realize I haven't seen Kiffin's name come up much in the last few days, but his name popped up right after Frost was fired.  I really don't want to see either one of them on the Nebraska sideline next year.  

4 minutes ago, TonkaSker said:

Nebraska's working with the same search firm that helped USC land Lincoln Riley, FYI

The more I've read about and thought about it, I doubt luring Riley away from OU to USC was that big of a challenge.  Apparently, the OU boosters and such weren't really interested in opening up the purse strings for Riley while he was at OU.  This has now changed with Venebles.  I'm also quite sure Riley wanted absolutely no part of the SEC.  I have a gut feeling OU will do about as well in the SEC as Nebraska has done in the B1G.  Riley seems to be a younger version of Urban in that he's a very opportunistic coach.  The Pac is primed for the taking in terms of top notched coaches.  California has a lot of talent.  Even when USC joins the B1G, they really only have to deal with one maybe two big dogs.  

1 hour ago, Red Silk Smoking Jacket said:

 

Not even remotely close to asking for Saban. He's set at Alabama.

 

Urban isn't coaching and if he wants to coach again, there's not a better job in the country.

 

Deion is coaching in the SWAC and living in Jackson, Mississippi where they barely have indoor plumbing. He's on record as wanting to coach at a higher level.

 

Nebraska is one of a handful of blue blood football program and highly likely to be the only one with a head coaching opening this year. We don't have any less than ideal resources or any higher expectations than any other blue blood program. Guys like Urban and Deion understand and thrive in that kind of environment.

If you continue to say the bolded, does it eventually make it true?  While it might be premature, if Sark doesn't get it turned around at Texas they might have an opening.  Texas is a better job than Nebraska.  Notre Dame might be looking to make a change as well, and I would say it is a better job than Nebraska.  Urban has already turned Notre Dame down once before when he accepted the job at Florida.  Urban is a very opportunistic coach.  He chose Florida over Notre Dame because Zook left Florida with a lot of athletic talent.  Plus, the SEC then wasn't the SEC now.  The SEC had only won two NCs the previous decade when Urban started at Florida.  Tennessee had already fallen on hard times, and LSU didn't have Saban any longer.  The conference was primed for a coach to take over.  The same can be said about the B1G when Urban started at Ohio State.  Ohio State was loaded with talent, and there weren't any big time coaches in the conference.  This is what makes Nebraska quite a bit different than his last two jobs in college football.  We aren't exactly stacked with talent, and we're not in a recruiting hotbed like Florida or Ohio.  While Nebraska might be a better job than most, there are still several jobs better than Nebraska.  If Urban is looking for redemption, I wouldn't be shocked to see him take a job of the west coast.

41 minutes ago, Red Five said:

 

He has between 8,000,000 and 10,000,000 reasons to come here.

Fickell's 2011 season as HC is somewhat similar to Mickey Joseph's 2022 season with the exception that Fickell was handed the keys to a ferrari and Joseph was handed the keys to a Ford Pinto.  Cincinnati was doing relatively well with the exception of the last year before Fickell was named HC.  Sounds similar to UCF don't you think?    

2 hours ago, The Scarlet Pimpernel said:

The main thing I don't like about Campbell is the inconsistency with his teams. One week they'll beat a top 10 team, and then the following week lose to a cellar-dweller. 

Is the bolded actually correct?  I looked at his record from his record from his fourth year on because the majority of the players should have been his players.  In 2019, he went 7-6.  All but two of the teams he lost to were ranked in the top 15 at seasons end but two.  Those were KState who finished 8-5 and Okie State who finished 8-5.  I wouldn't call either of those two teams cellar-dweller.  All games lost in 19' were close games with the exception of Notre Dame in the bowl game.  In 2020, he went 9-3.  The three teams he lost to all finished in the top 20 at seasons end.  In 2021, he finished 7-6.  All but two of the teams he lost to were ranked in the top 25 at seasons end but two.  Those were West Virginia who finished 6-7 and Texas Tech who finished 7-6.  At Iowa State with his players, he has yet to lose to a team that wasn't bowl eligible.  He has only lost once to a team that finished the season with a losing record.  He has one top 10 finish.  Iowa State won just four conference games in the three seasons before Campbell became their coach.    

Since he's been at Iowa State, they've pretty much fallen into the 50th-60th ranked recruiting class per 247.  In terms of coaching, he's doing a really good job with the talent he has.  Now, here's where the arguments could be had.  Can he recruit better to Nebraska than he has at Iowa State?  Only time will tell, but it appears he's a much younger version of Bill Snyder.  I think it is also a positive that he played defensive lineman, and he has coached offensive linemen.  These are the two areas where we are the most lacking.  I wouldn't be disappointed if he's named the next coach.    

1 hour ago, The Scarlet Pimpernel said:

The more I hear from supposed "insiders" about who TA's top targets are, the more I hope that Mickey Joseph is successful. At least he can recruit and has connections to solid coordinators.

I agree.  I would venture to guess that a guy that is a great recruiter of 18 year olds is also a pretty good recruiter of 30-65 year olds.  I would guess he would bring in some great coordinators and position coaches.  

On 9/1/2022 at 5:43 AM, BigRedBuster said:

I agree with your general premise. But, UNL is $259 per credit hour. So, 130 credits would be $33,670. 

Is this the correct cost per credit hour?  If so, was someone's daughter taking 130 credits per year?  The math isn't coming out right.

2 minutes ago, Archy1221 said:

Kids and parents at the Greek houses came from all walks of economic status and many backgrounds, though majority were from in-state or surrounding states.   

When I attended UNL, I lived in a frat. the first semester and in the dorms the second semester as the frat. life just wasn't for me.  Unless things have changed, it was more expensive to live in the dorms than in a frat.  Unless things have changed, freshmen were required to live in one or the other unless they lived at home or with a guardian.  

2 hours ago, Guy Chamberlin said:

Seriously. Let's have a legit national discussion about the cost of higher education. There actually is a sea change going on. The stigmas against trade schools and community colleges are falling, and the "value" of expensive four year universities are being openly questioned by folks of all political persuasions. You don't need anecdotal observations to know college costs are vastly greater than they've been for previous generations, and college loans have taken on a predatory nature they didn't have before. Student loan forgiveness may piss some people off, but at the very least we can take it as a flash point to start figuring out better alternatives. 

Is the bolded actually true?  Someone earlier in this thread stated it would roughly cost $33,000.00 to attend and graduate from UNL.  I started UNL roughly three decades ago.  One of my college roommate's dad bought him a brand new Chevy 1/2 ton extended cab fully loaded pickup in 94'.  It cost roughly $6,000.00 more than what it cost me to attend and graduate UNL.  Dinsdale Chevrolet in Grand Island has a comparable pickup listed for sale at roughly $50,000.00.  It doesn't really seem to me that college costs are vastly greater than they've been for previous generations.   

It has been stated that college shouldn't be a gamble.  I realize there are kids who graduate high school and really don't know what they want to do.  This is fine, and there's no shame in that.  However, there are other options than just borrowing a buttload of money for a degree that may or may not be useful in the future.  I read a month or so ago how the military is paying as much as $50,000.00 or more in signing bonuses as recruitment has really fallen off a cliff since covid.  I would assume there is still the GI Bill where schooling is paid for once the military term is up. 

This student loan forgiveness program is a swift kick to the groin to anyone that found other means to pay for college instead of loans and to those who worked really hard after graduation to get those loans paid off.  

2 hours ago, BigRedBuster said:

I roll my eyes at stories like this too.  There are companies all over the place begging for employees in better jobs than cashier at Hy-vee.  And...a college graduate can't find one?

Crete Carriers and Walmart both have ads. on the radio offering $2,000.00+ a week driving a truck.  I'm probably just out of the loop, but I highly doubt those working in retail are making this amount.  At some point in time, we have to admit that we've been fed a line of crap with regards to the importance of a college degree.  Many economists have already predicted that this recession will primarily affect white collar workers because there is and will continue to be a shortage of blue collar workers.  Locally, a plumber; electrician; welder; etc. can pretty much name their price.  After I graduated UNL, I was in the finance industry for a couple of years.  It didn't take long to figure out I could make a lot more money with a blue collar job in the transportation industry. 

If I had a dollar for every time in the last two years I heard someone say people just don't want to work anymore, I could probably retire.  My comment each and every time has been, who do you know that doesn't have a job?  Here, it is not difficult at all to get a job.  It has gotten so difficult to hire medical workers that local hospitals will pay all student loans of new workers if they sign a five year contract.   

14 hours ago, 84HuskerLaw said:

In deed.  Possible, especially if the roster is ‘close’.   This team is not bereft of talent.  It’s short on experienced, multi year starter type talent at a number of positions.  The scholarship numbers put a limit in numbers as well.  However, with the NIL booster $, scholarships are not as valuable either.  You can get big recruits without scholarships effectively. 
 

 A big splash nationally ‘top’ coach can pull in big recruits and turn a struggling program like NU or UT or Tennessee or FSU quickly.  But there are limits on the booster bucks I suppose.  It’s hard to know.  

To the bolded:  is this how things are going to go?  Can a team like Alabama that has their scholarship limits filled start poaching "walk-on" players through the portal where they ink high dollar NIL?  

8 minutes ago, Hilltop said:

No offense but this take gets old.  The Big12 as a whole actually runs the ball more than the B1G.  Last season there were 7 B1G teams that averaged under 150 rushing yards per game and 1 that averaged under 100 (Purdue).  The Big12 only had 2 teams under 150 yards per game average - Kansas and West Virginia.

 

Average rushing yards per game in 2021 by conference -

Big12 = 173.07

B1G = 156.04  

Just for clarification, how did the rushing attempts compare?  Rushing yardage isn't really an apples to apples comparison when one league is known for porous defenses.  

1 hour ago, ladyhawke said:

I read this on Facebook today. Wondered what folks here think? Part of me agrees with the poster but another part of me thinks the over 21 adults (coaches) need to step up their game as well. Here’s what I read:

We Husker fans need to do better. 

We are all the talk right now in college football, and it's not positive attention. 

But I'm not here to complain about Frost, the players, the staff, the program, the way it once was...

I'm here as a genuine concerned fan.

A bit of a momma bear if you will. 

As a college instructor, I am with 18 to 22 year olds daily. 

These. Are. Kids. 

Trust me, they think they're adults. Remember when you did too at their age? How'd that go for ya? 

You are tearing these kids up game after game, expectation after expectation, pressure after pressure.

And now, we've managed to put a man's job, one he loves, respects, and works his butt off for, on the literal shoulder pads of 18 to 22 year olds. 

Step up, Husker fans. 

There has been a fall from grace, but it's not only on the shoulders of this coach, these kids, or this program. 

It's on us, too. 

So we either learn how to cheer louder, in both wins and losses, or continue watching the weight of the world crush a program we all love so much. 

Let's take on some blame and become the world's greatest fans once again. 

Go Big Red.

Nebraska Huskers

I agree with Cdog.  This facebook post is trash.  We've been sending 18-22 year olds off to war for decades.  With the deals some 18-22 year olds are signing, they aren't amateur athletes anymore.  This is big boy football now.  It's also a bit shocking to read something like this coming from a college instructor.  They're job is also tied to how well 18-22 year olds do.  I'm sure there have been plenty of college instructors fired for nonperformance.  

How much of our recruiting ranking is based off of skill players rather than OL and DL?  This isn't 6 man football.  Winning occurs in the trenches.  It seems to me that so much of our recruiting ranking comes from the QB, RB, and WR positions.  

The biggest reason I could see for a mid-season firing would be if we're targeting a coach who isn't currently employed.  If the recruiting class sees we landed a big fish like Bob Stoops or Urban Meyer, we have a better chance of retaining them.  I highly doubt it plays out this way.