Jeremy

What coach do see come to Lincoln and make us into a contender with a balanced, passing/pro-style/spread offense? After the last 19 years, do you honestly think it's going to magically happen this time after it's failed for that long?

I'm not saying this, I am confirming what someone else was saying. I personally believe Osborne is one of the best coaches in history and questioning his decisions/offensive philosophy is not a good look.

Osborne wasn't smart. Really.

Read option and Flexbone option are only the same insofar as they have a mesh point. Past that, the blocking schemes and overall philosophies are far different. We have tried to pass and be 'balanced' for 19 years. It obviously doesn't work.

We once scored 51 against Colorado. And lost.

We don't run our QBs much at all, and all 3 are hurt to varying degrees. That doesn't seem smart. Osborne was one of the last P5 coaches to run his QBs like he did. Was he not smart?

We may not run the same offense, but we keep recruiting against OSU and Michigan and we lose 99% of the time. We need to stop wasting time and resources going after 5* guys like Dylan Raiola and 4/5* receivers, because they don't come here. With the line, it's more about coaching, strength, and technique than stars, and wouldn't be a problem in a Flexbone type offense. I still don't get the reticence on this board for option football.

Nebraska isn't just any other program. We never have been. We have to be different. Sure, college football has changed, but there it's still 11v11 on a 120 yd x 55 yd field. Even in 99, we were probably the only team in P5 running that kind of offense. No reason why it wouldn't be as effective today if not moreso. We will never out-recruit Ohio State for passing QBs or WRs. Hence, they will always beat us if we try to play their game. Why try to be a lesser version of other conference teams when we can be unique and hard to prepare for?

We haven't put QBs in the NFL since the 70s, why start expecting to now? The Flexbone is simple, and we could get a lot of guys able to run it. It's actually one of the advantages the service academies have - if the starter goes down, the back-ups can still effectively run the offense because all of the pressure isn't on that position. Right now we look completely lost without Thompson out there, because this offense requires a guy who is hard to find. And even then, I'm pretty sure Thompson has as many interceptions as he does touchdowns. We will never get the NFL-bound QBs. We need to focus on what we can recruit. Linemen and bruising running backs.

Yes, we have made bowl games. But, even then I remember so many cases of 'who are we,' 'what's our identity?' And we didn't really have one. We had both pocket passers, dual-threats, and we tried to be a team that could do it all. But we couldn't. Starting with the lines, they were just never quite good enough, never enough practice time to be able to pass-block and bulldoze like teams in the top 10. Running backs that we expected to break tackles, pass-block, jump-cut, and have soft hands out of the backfield. Hard to find. We recruited hundreds of 4 and 5 star receivers, but very few elite guys came, most not seeing the ball enough for their liking anyway. My argument is that a guy like Monken gives you an identity right away, and there's no question as what we're all about. Sure, we'd lose a lot to the portal initially, but something tells me that will happen anyway. 3 straight 3-win seasons can do that. We start with making a bowl, and keep building. Contend for the West, and punish the conference for having small defenders they have to recruit to keep up with Ohio State and everyone's spread game. We've tried everything else, why not go back?

Maybe. I would argue that the Flexbone has enough variations that we could keep defenses guessing, because on any given play, 1 of 4 people could end up with the ball inside or outside. With the proliferation of the spread, defenses have responded by becoming quicker, but smaller. 3-fronts, combo-backers, and extra DBs on the field. Teams couldn't do that against us. They couldn't run their regular defenses against us, nor make reads that they're used to. We would be difficult to prepare for.

I agree, mostly. However, before Solich was fired, we recruited pretty well because we had an identity. Everyone knew who and what Nebraska was about. We were going to RUN the football come hell or high water. The recruits knew what they were getting into, and we were that brand and identity. We need to go back to that.

We will never recruit like Alabama, Clemson, LSU, or Ohio State. We can’t afford to waste time and money trying to get 5-star QBs and WRs when they have never and will never end up in Lincoln. We CAN get highly-recruited backs, linemen, and TEs, though. We can also get some high-rated defenders. Besides, why are we talking about championships when we can't even make a bowl game? Let's build up our lines, one game at a time, and little by little, fight back into this thing. We were never flash-in-the-pan. We have always been blue-collar, hard work for every yard. Dylan Raiola isn't coming to throw 40 TDs. We need to run the ball back to conference contention.

Pass-happy relative to the days when we led the country in rushing.

Your commendation has been noted. My argument stays the same. Nebraska football will never be relevant again until they hire a staff absolutely committed to the offensive line and running game. I would prefer Monken, but that seems unlikely. We've recruited every blue-chip WR and QB since 04, and we're currently in the depths of a 6-year bowl drought. History says I'm right, but we keep trying to pound that square peg in the round hole, coach after coach.

Because Navy is able to hang around teams much talented than they are. Sometimes, they even win...

If we keep hiring pass-happy coaches, we will continue to suck And yet, they were in the game...

The last time we won 11 games, we were a power-option team. Why not go back to that? What has all this passing gotten us? I don’t get why people are so against option football. Is there any chance we're EVER going to out-recruit Ohio State and Michigan for QBs and WRs? Heck no. Let's focus on the ground game, and recruit for defense hard. Nothing blue-chip about a team that beat top-10, undefeated Clemson?

Navy just ran all over Notre Dame's blue-chip defense. Every team the service academies play is more talented than they are, yet they always seem to win more than we do. Air Force has been bowl eligible for awhile. Remember what that was like?

We look absolutely pitiful trying to run Whipple's pass-happy crap. Nebraska football will NEVER be relevant again trying to pass the ball.

1) There is absolutely nothing to back up this kind of statement. 2) Our games look like that now, so your point is completely moot.

True, it's ideal, but we've never been successful at both. We will never out-recruit, out-spread, or out-athlete Ohio State and Michigan. But we CAN match them physically if we focus completely on the offensive line and a unique running attack. I'm coming around on Aranda, though. He coaches a very physical attack, solid defense. We could do worse than him, for sure.

We've been trying to pass for nearly 20 years. Maybe us run-the-ball hicks have always been right.

Aranda would a be a good hire. They run a physical spread with an effective play action and screen game. I don't see Mickey as OC, though, considering he has no experience in that position?

EXACTLY. Can we just STOP with the race crap? If Mickey had a modicum of success as a college head coach before this year, it wouldn't even be a debate right now. He would be the guy. The lack of experience is the ONLY thing holding him back. I don't know if many people have been on campus lately, but UNL is absolutely a progressive, dare I say liberal place. Trev doesn't care about race, and there are VERY few other people that do. Personally, I'm coming around to Mickey, purely because of his tenacious recruiting, and what these recruits are saying about him. They're saying things that no one ever said about Frost, or Pelini for that matter. Coleman said that Mickey is the only reason he chose UNL. I have to think there are others like him. We haven't had that kind of recruiting edge in a long time, and we can't afford to lose it now. Mickey is the guy.