Jeremy

They were both fired for doing and saying stupid things. At least Callahan led a team to the Super Bowl. O'Brien's claim to fame is trading away De'Andre Hopkins like an idiot.

Callahan 2.0

Nebraska football is not dead, and never will be. Defeatist attitudes like this abound, and it's part of the overall problem. Husker football is nearly as old as the state of Nebraska. From the beginning, the Man-Eating Mastadons, Bugeaters, and finally, Cornhuskers were rough, tough, and a team of guys not to be trifled with. Even before the forward pass, Willa Cather herself was a huge fan, saying, 'You, Nebraska, can conquer!' There's FAR too much history in all of it, too much money and tradition to even MENTION an obituary. The record isn't good, but we honestly aren't far off. With better coaching, we'd have a respectable record. I'm not defending Frost, because he definitely seems in over his head. But it isn't like we're getting routed every week. It's literally a few plays. Nebraska football was beloved by this state because, yes, it's the main thing we have in this sparsely populated patch of flyover country. But they were big, strong, tough. They could take on nearly anyone. It was something to be proud of when we don't have much else. But it was more than that. It was the tough, ground-based offense. The smashmouth attitude that even impressed Brian Bosworth when he said, 'I liked playing Nebraska. They would line up and say, okay, let's see who's tougher.' It was the kids off the farm, from small towns that happily signed on, and through the strength program, became monsters on the field. Even a few walk-ons that worked their way to the top, and would have these unknown places announced on national TV. It was the steady, run-after-run pounding that Devaney and Osborne guided, until eventually someone broke through for a big one. The opponents' will broken by the end of the 3rd quarter because they didn't have anything left in the tank to stand up to these behemoths pushing them around. This may never happen again, and that's okay. But we DO need to get back to that hard-nosed, workman-like attitude that was emblematic of the state as a whole. Get an option coach that gets these kids to push the ball down the field through sheer will. We need to be unique, different, instead of the same as every other spread team that's beating us. We just want a bowl game at this point, and the fact that all the millions poured into this program can't even accomplish that is a colossal failure.

Oh, God, yes. Bring back that Bone! Don't worry. Campbell wouldn't give Lincoln a second thought.

I doubt Malzahn would ever consider us, no way Harsin leaves Auburn for Lincoln. We need to think differently this time.

No offense, but no thanks to any of those. Maybe Leach. No matter what, he would at least keep things interesting in Lincoln. I don't know why anyone would want Grinch. Oklahoma's defense is nothing special. No way are we firing Frost only to hire anyone with no head coaching experience. Holgerson would face the same recruiting issues that Frost is dealing with. He's a wild card, would probably stay a year, and take off for another P5 job in the night. Nebraska is never getting back until we get a guy that can coach a running game.

Exactly. Now, would there be a mass exodus of receivers? Probably, but that's a smaller price to pay. Frost himself couldn't keep some of his better receivers with this offense. I think the flexbone fits right in our recruiting wheelhouse; offensive linemen, running backs, and a few tight ends. We wouldn't be worrying about who's winning the Elite 11 camps and whatnot. We're not wasting time recruiting against Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan for the highest rated recruits in those states. No WAY are we beating the Buckeyes for a 4 or 5 star guy in Ohio. But with the flexbone? We get OUR kind of guys. We'd be different. FINALLY, an identity. Hard to prepare for; unique. A proud RUNNING team once again. Are there disadvantages? Sure, but I GUARANTEE you that we're bowling this year if Scott was a Flexbone guy, if not maybe competing for the West. Think about it; Adrian, Yant (perfect B-back), Rahmir, and Stepp/Sevion all in the backfield at once? Yes, please! Adrian wouldn't be throwing 4 picks, because we wouldn't be throwing much. His reads would be WAY easier, because he'd just be lobbing balls downfield after play-action every now and then. But I digress. I could go on and on about why we need this brand of football, but unfortunately, we're just going to keep pounding the same square peg into the same round hole. Doesn't matter who the coach is (outside of Urban Meyer), we're NEVER getting All-American QB's and receivers in Lincoln. Didn't happen in the glory days, ain't gonna happen now. Osborne knew it, and committed to the run, recruited the REAL athletes for defense. I don't get how nobody making millions in Lincoln can't see this.

I know you didn't ask me specifically, but this is what I want to hear: 'I want to apologize to the fans of Husker football for the result of today's game. It in no way represents me, my staff, or the players, and we are committed to playing more focused and with passion from here on out. Nebraska fans have been awesome and consistently passionate since long before I was even born, and you all deserve better than what we showed today. We as a staff have to do better. We had a bye week, people got healthy, but we didn't do a good enough job getting them prepared for Purdue. Going forward, I we're going to focus on the running game, because as soon as our running attack fell apart, so did our offense. I think I put Adrian in a bad position several times. The offensive line plays hard; they do the best they can, but I can't keep putting pressure on them like that, trying to protect Adrian down after down without establishing a running game with effective play action. Our whole running game needs an overhaul, really, from a scheme standpoint. Maybe we try some more drive blocking instead of outside zone that didn't work once, but I insisted on calling it over and over. That's on me. I need to put these guys in a position to be successful, and I didn't do that very well. At the end of the day, the buck stops with me. I'm going to get the staff and team together, and we're going to figure this thing out. Even if it means changing schemes, positions, whatever. I know what needs fixed, and we're going to address these issues head on as Ohio State comes to town.'

Well, if we're looking at smaller schools, Mark Brahmer at Pierce does a lot with less.

Calhoun. Monken. We'd get either one for a steal. Or even Brent Thompson at The Citadel.

Frost is done. We need a coach that knows how to run the ball.

What a horrible take. In '89, when I was introduced to Husker football as a wee lad, the I-back was Ken Clark. To me, he was a quintessential 'big back,' but he had speed and quickness, too. Leodis Flowers was a fairly big guy, too. After that? Derrick Brown. Not the biggest back in the world, but ran hard and could break tackles. Then, Calvin Jones. Definitely a big back, with very good speed. Ran over people ever other play. After Calvin came Lawrence Phillips, who was absolutely the total package. Size, moves, strength, and speed. Not just a big back per se, but pretty good size. Then came Ahman Green, who again was much more than a big back, but had incredible speed and balance. After Ahman, you might have a point, as DeAngelo Evans wasn't a big guy, but the next one, Buckhalter was definitely a big back. After that, we have Dan Alexander. BIG BACK. Then Dahrran Diedrich, a pretty big guy in his own right. The Devaney/Osborne/Solich years were literally filled with 'big backs,' because that's the type of player they recruited. Further, I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say. We like fullbacks because they're white? As in, most Nebraska fans prefer white guys to run the ball instead of any other race? Seriously? Willie Miller was a GREAT fullback for Nebraska, and he wasn't the only one that lined up back there that wasn't white. You may have a point that we cheer loudly for them because they're from small Nebraska towns, but why wouldn't we? You have guys like the Mackovickas from tiny 8-man schools who end up on national tv with millions of people watching - to me that's a pretty neat deal. We like the position because sometimes, they were kids from the farm, not real fast, but the hardest-working, hard-nosed, toughest kid on the field. A regular guy that worked hard sacrificed his body, and ended up on the field because of his blood, sweat, and tears. It's an example in sports of hard work paying off, and THAT'S what we respect here. Work ethic. We don't care about the color of their skin. That's asinine. In 1993, I remember going to the Spring Game. It was quite a different deal back then; the stadium probably wasn't even halfway full. The loudest cheers, however, were for an upstart sophomore QB, you've probably heard of him. I was shocked at how loudly people screamed when this kid from Florida did anything with the football. He was an absolute rock star. So, you literally couldn't be more wrong.

The real problem is if we hit the reset button again, it's just more years of crap while they try to get it together, and we have no idea who would even end up in Lincoln after then next coaching carousel. I doubt Chadwell even glances in our direction. It's sad to say, but keeping Frost is really our best option at this point.

I see other votes for Monken! Yes! Bring that trophy back to Lincoln!

If Trev doesn't have Troy Calhoun, Jeff Monken, or Urban Meyer waiting in the wings, Frost stays.

He's just made so many bad decisions. I see and hear a lot of bagging on Martinez. It's not warranted. He's a great kid, and plays his guts out - even hurt. The problem is that Frost is putting him in a position where he can't succeed. Why on God's green earth would you expect him to be a drop-back passer with a young, porous offensive line? Even then, on the rare occasion that he does have time to throw, how often does he make a good read, and deliver a solid pass on target? Sometimes, sure, but obviously not often enough. This should have been obvious in year 1, and it was. He just can't do it. So WHY continue to put him in that position? One would think that, of all people, a guy like Scott Frost would understand the importance of the running game in a place like Lincoln. It's pretty simple. If we can't move the ball on the ground, and have a top-5 running game, we will NEVER be a relevant program again. I know, I know, EVERY coach wants a top-5 running game (except Mike Riley, apparently), but if Frost and Co. FOCUSED on that, it could absolutely happen here again. But it will NEVER happen with this dink and dunk, whatever-the-heck zone scheme offense he's trying to run. What's wrong with hat-for-hat, downhill, dominate-the-guy-across-from-you blocking? Lastly, I also see a lot of people here saying we need an elite QB to be successful. Newsflash: they ain't going to pick the Big Red. Ever. Arch Manning would bust a gut laughing if someone brought up Lincoln as his choice. So why try to run an offense that requires a Mariota/Milton/Mahomes when we aren't getting that kid? If Frost doesn't get this stuff now, I don't see that he ever will. We will not be relevant until we get a guy in Lincoln that understands these things.

Don't miss Bo's antics. I DO miss those 9-10 wins per year. Let's not forget he recruited and developed some straight DUDES. He didn't recruit Suh, but definitely pushed/developed him into one of the best DTs we've ever seen in Lincoln, and there've been some good ones. Burkhead, Ameer, Randy Gregory, Crick, Collins, Jano, several others he recruited and developed have done/are doing well on NFL rosters. He had his flaws, to be sure, and hindsight is 20/20, but he definitely should NOT have been fired after a nine-win season. It's like we didn't learn our lesson after Solich. Alas, as others have said, it's water under the bridge. To me, it's undeniable that firing Pelini like that KILLED the program and whatever momentum there might've been going forward. Riley...was obviously not the answer, and Frost was left with a program in shambles. One could argue that Frost maybe didn't know what he was getting into, came in with a cocky attitude, and has made some very poor decisions in trying to turn it around. Depending on how the final 4 games go, I think next year is a given, but Frost needs to take a long look at his overall philosophy as a coach, because he didn't seem to understand that just because things worked at UCF, doesn't mean they'll work in the B1G.

Especially if Ohio State comes in to Lincoln and beats us like they beat Indiana, which, to me, is a real possibility. And then we lay another egg in Camp Randall? I don't know if Frost survives that. MAYBE if we finally beat iowa, all would be forgiven. I'm going to keep beating the Monken/Calhoun drum, though. We aren't winning big again until we establish an identity as a top-5 rushing offense.

More appealing place to coach: Lincoln, or Lubbock?

We had a dog named Tagge. Now we have a dog named Lucky.

Depends on how the games go, but I doubt it. I don't think Trev pulls the trigger this year, no matter what. Buyout is too big.

Yeah, you're probably right. I just get the feeling that, last week notwithstanding, Frost has them on the doorstep. Next year could be a real breakout year, 9+ wins, and I think that gives Frost a lot more rope. They just SEEM stronger, faster, better in several different positions. I disagree with Frost's offensive philosophy for the most part, but we haven't gotten blown out yet. While it's not much, it is a step in the right direction. I'm the kind of person that would take, if given no other option, losing 23-30 to Minnesota over losing 21-54. The biggest difference is that we shouldn't have lost last week, where we literally had no chance in 2017 - it was so pathetic. We're gettin' there.

Yeah, it's sad, but stick with it. I think we need to just accept that Frost isn't going anywhere, and just hope for the best. I don't know why, but for some reason, I think better days are ahead. While the current small recruiting class doesn't look great, there are 2 silver linings. 1) Frost has publicly said that he's looking for JUCOs and transfers. This is a good thing, and I'll bet a few good ones will land in Lincoln. It definitely worked wonders for K-State in the past, and Pelini got some dudes as well. Hopefully we get some great offensive or defensive linemen. 2) We're young in a lot of places, and a lot of talented young guys being developed for future years. Fidone, Hutmacher, Gunnerson, Neville, etc. We also have a bunch of young guys out there making plays already: Yant, Johnson, Prochazka, Nouili, Rogers, Robinson, Reimer, Henrich, etc 3) There are Nebraska kids in that locker room that won't let anyone start throwing in the towel and slacking off. Do I think the fact that they are Nebraska kids means they're harder working or better than anyone else? No. What I do mean is that they've grown up in the CULTURE of Nebraska. Football to us is not just another sport, another thing; it is THE THING. They grew up hearing about Johnny Rodgers, the Triplets, Frazier, Berringer, 90's glory, even Crouch. They've grown up knowing what the standard will ALWAYS be for anyone with a red 'N' on their helmet. No one wants to hear about next year, but I think guys like Reimer, Nelson, Allen, Betts, Henrich kick everyone in the butt and get everyone working their tails off in the weight room this coming off season. I think they're done sitting home at Christmas wondering what could have been. They want to be the guys that lead Nebraska football back AT LEAST to post season play. Admit it. You're going to be there, just like me, living and dying on every play come next Saturday. It's okay. It's in our blood, no matter what. Go Big Red.

Yeah, except by year 3, they went 6-5 in the regular season, and then beat Texas Tech in a bowl game. In year 3, we went 3-5 and declined a bowl offer because reasons. In year 4, iowa went 11-2, co-B1G champion, and played in the Orange Bowl. In year 4, we will be watching everyone else play in bowl games. Again. Not the same, at all.