Guy Chamberlin

This came up before. Something about those fancy high-octane offenses working at other schools, but being beyond the simple minds and talents of our home grown team. I don't think that's fair. It's also not that fancy. A more cohesive offensive line, a quarterback with a 5% better completion rate, and hey, maybe even a stalwart defense, and the exact same Nebraska offense is neither gimmicky nor overly-sophisticated. As it stands, the Nebraska offense was pretty damned exciting and genuinely feared by opposing DCs, but tended to lose focus and execution in big games, typically at the exact same time as defense and special teams. Nebraska's problem has been more about mindset than scheme, and why I preferred throwing Bo Pelini under the bus before Tim Beck.

I don't think there's a lot of negativity about Riley and his hires. Just a handful of people who make a lot of posts. Some clearly think we made a mistake firing Bo. Some are merely preaching caution, which is hard to argue. They get a little predictable, and occasionally verge into the idiotic, but I don't think they taint the general optimism. The truth is we won't know anything beyond speculation for 9 months. 9 excruciatingly long months.

If a coach is demonstrating his skills at UConn or Colorado State or San Diego State, you grab him quick. By the time he's doing the same thing at a bigger school, he's a lot more expensive and wants to be an HC. This is how the coaching ladder works. I'm good with Hughes.

People pay to see Aaron Rodgers in the playoffs. They don't pay to see Matt Flynn. If Suh intentionally injures Aaron Rodgers, it costs the NFL. A fine is appropriate, something along the lines of Aaron Rodgers' single game salary. It's also a dick move.

When you "guarantee" that Nebraska made its first offer to Jim Harbaugh, you force the issue, chief. One of the opinions I have is that your opinions have been pretty short on merit. "What if" you backed your guarantee with something slightly more substantial than an Athletic Director being in San Francisco?

Here's the clip of Finebaum on ESPN. He makes no excuses. He eats all manner of crow, and recommends that the SEC chest thumpers do the same because the vaunted SEC West was beaten decisively on the field. He mentions that Alabama was beaten by a third string quarterback. He says Saban was out-coached by Meyer. He reported that Bama fans didn't want Lane Kiffin allowed on the bus. Both Finebaum and ESPN clearly acknowledge that the Big 10 was undervalued this season, and suggest this may even be a tipping point for the supposed SEC dominance. It was a bad day for the SEC and a good day for the rest of college football, says Finebaum and ESPN, noting that everybody outside the south was rooting for Ohio State and Oregon. Finebaum is keenly aware of SEC arrogance and ESPN had no trouble reporting the conference-wide humiliation. The word shaudenfreude was used. What changed? The games were played and the evidence was on the field. It was good football and great drama and ESPN wins regardless. http://espn.go.com/college-football/

There was nobody for Nebraska to throw money at. Harbaugh had to wait until the NFL season was over. Well before that, any college suitor, including Nebraska, would have contacted Harbaugh's agent and been told there was absolutely no chance Jim Harbaugh was interested in anything other than staying in the NFL or coming home to Michigan. Better save your time and money. This process would have been repeated with every supposed splash hire from Jon Gruden to Gary Patterson. Hats off to Michigan. They were very lucky with their timing. Nebraska did alright, too. Should be an exciting Big 10.

It says Reggie Davis and his wife have TWO sets of twins, so you know he'll be spending extra time at the practice facility working with the players.

Probably because his contract is up this year And both parties are no longer fond of each other. he would fit right in with the Raiders. He would. And they should have money to spend.

USC, UCLA and Alabama all approached Riley about becoming their head coach. Although he flew under our radar, Mike Riley is one of the most respected coaches in football, with friends, advocates and potential staff throughout the NCAA and NFL. For some reason, apparently desiring a late-life challenge, Riley said yes to Nebraska. The move surprised and impressed almost everyone inside the college football community. If you're willing to open your mind and squint your eyes a little, it's entirely possible that Shawn Eichorst scored a coup.

Probably because his contract is up this year And both parties are no longer fond of each other.

I'm a 49ers fan, and also got a lot of local Harbaugh scoop when he was at Stanford. Between my Saturday and Sunday football loyalties, it was funny how often the criticism of Harbaugh echoed the criticism of Tim Beck: why doesn't he use Frank Gore more? Why does he go away from what's working? Why does he decide to get cute with his playcalling? Four straight passes inside the 10 yard line with Gore and Kaepernick in your backfield and the Super Bowl on the line? And yeah, a few echoes between Harbaugh and Bo. Harbaugh would either gaslight, stonewall or openly mock reporters. Hated that part of the job, though he could be charming when he decided to be. His team was winning, so there was a lot of love to bask in, but Harbaugh still managed to instill a little bunker mentality in the team. Kaepernick took his cue and began to act as if he didn't need to answer to anyone outside the team. It looks like Harbaugh's "us against them" was directed mostly at management, and that's how the most successful rookie coach in NFL history got fired. There were folks at Stanford who considered him an a-hole, too. His MO was to always have his players' backs, to deflect all criticism for both their on- and off-the-field behavior and to save his berating for administration underlings. Not surprisingly, the players loved this about him. Big difference between Harbaugh and Bo is that Harbaugh is an outstanding football coach with an outstanding defensive coordinator. If Harbaugh doesn't turn Michigan around almost immediately, it will be the first time in his career.

Apparently in Suh's appeal he told the NFL "my feet were cold and I couldn't tell the difference between Rodgers leg and the ground." Anyone on Earth believe that? Bueller? Watching the video I was on the fence, but the utter lameness of that excuse convinces me Suh knew exactly what he was doing. If he had taken Aaron Rodgers out of the playoffs, I never would have forgiven him. As it stands, his act is wearing thin. Rumor is he'll be out of Detroit soon.

A good coach takes the exact same talent and does better. That's what makes him a good coach and/or the previous coach not so great. We may have seen the beginning in the Holiday Bowl. With a different head coach, perhaps any warm body would have worked, Nebraska executed a crisp hurry-up offense that netted 93 plays instead of 60 plays and a lot of staring at the sidelines. There was a sense of urgency but guys stayed calm, dug deep and fought back. Fewer dumb penalties and confusion. Zero fumbles. Adjustments were made and the team played its best ball in the fourth quarter. The wisdom of Barney Cotton? Or simply the liberation from all the bad BoJo? Same players. Better results. That should be the expectation of every coaching change. By the way, that USC team they were playing is recognized as a hotbed of recruiting, already loaded, expected to compete at the highest levels next season, guided by one of the best quarterbacks in the NCAA. And Nebraska looked like USC's peer. The expectations are in order. No one knows that better than Mike Riley. His recruiting skills will need some time to bear fruit and for that alone he needs four years. I can't put a number on what I want Riley to win in his first year, but I do want Nebraska to look like they belong on the field with anybody, and that's something Bo Pelini just couldn't pull off.

The Holiday Bowl against USC. Beck went to a quick huddle, dispensed with the sideline gazing, and Armstrong and Co. cranked out 94 plays.

I'd like Nebraska to be known for its stunning cheerleaders.

Oklahoma managed one meek touchdown in garbage time. Texas had 56 yards total offense in its bowl game. I'll take Nebraska's Holiday Bowl showing, thanks.

If Langsdorf could handle the New York media, he should be able to hold his own against the Omaha World-Herald.

The NCAA and NFL is littered with primmadonna wide receivers -- most of them bigger and heavier than Kenny Bell -- but you won't see any of them lay out a defender or special teamer like Kenny Bell did on what would otherwise be a routine and unheralded play. I give him points for that. The entire sporting world is littered with athletes who really shouldn't be on Twitter, engaging with anonynmous fans who are even worse. We probably can't get that genie back in the bottle. Kenny had fun. He's in college. It's a game. I lean to Ameer Abdullah's style myself, but every team needs characters and Kenny Bell was a character. We'll probably look back on him more favorably if we don't continue to pointedly piss on everything that happened in the last seven years. Dismissing Kenny's actual stats is pretty f'ing childish. Just for the record, Nate Swift actually thrived in Bill Callahan's offense. Quite the opposite of being held back.

Best case scenario is the Golden State Warriors. Mark Jackson turned the team around, made them consistent winners, and was loved by his players. But Jackson bristled against management, and didn't like anyone else taking credit for the team's success. He started firing good assistant coaches and hiring more subservient ones, and even banned Warriors exec and NBA legend Jerry West from practices. He created a little Bo-like bunker for himself, although he was far more charming with the media. Nobody could believe the Warriors fired a coach as successful as Mark Jackson. The players didn't like it either, especially superstar Steph Curry. They all professed loyalty to Jackson. What was management thinking? But management hired Steve Kerr, who hired experienced senior level assistants. The players quickly got over it and the same talent is now playing better than ever.

Are you comparing him to Brett Favre and Tony Romo?

I actually enjoyed yesterday's game. It was good football.

You keep saying this over and over and over, but it makes no sense to anyone who actually watches the games. Help me out: is Beck's tragic flaw that he runs a complicated offense and never sticks with what works, or that he sticks with a predictible run-first offense straight out of the 1950s? You can't have it both ways. Well I guess you can if you're really determined. the problem as I see it is that we have a pass first guy that needs a smart, quick release type qb for his passing game and a head coach that wanted a carbon copy of Oregons offense. The latter is the type of players we recruited, but I don't feel like beck has the knack for the run that type of offense. We were a decently talented Oregon style team with a poor version of that system. It's no secret that teams with better talent will have more success executing the same offensive scheme and same play calls. Tommy is close, but not close enough. Our offensive line is close, but not close enough. I don't think either would flourish in a different scheme, and it's hard to say the back-ups would have done better. We're exactly good enough -- and bad enough -- to go 9 - 4. The difference might be better quarterback coaching. And maybe that means starting Stanton in a pro-style offense.

As the commentators noted, Kenny Bell also does a lot of good stuff away from the ball to help the team. That's to go along with four years of highlight reel catches. Full of himself, but hardly selfish. The dude looked like he was having himself some fun playing football. I had fun watching him. Can we try not to smear bitter hindsight over everything that happened in the last seven years? There was some good football mixed in there.

I saw players playing for themselves, for their teammates, for the coaching staff that remained, and for the integrity of the game. They played hard against an incredibly athletic team, avoided the meltdown we all feared was coming, and made it an entertaining bowl game down to the final second. I'd even say they were more focused and disciplined than most Bo-coached teams. Your point can't possibly hold true since it's wildly self-serving speculation, contradicted by the available evidence. I really wish Husker fans could have enjoyed yesterday's game more.