tmfr15

Year one for MR is going to be all about evaluating. And I am good with that. Don't get me wrong, I want to win games, lots of them. But, at the end of the day, I want MR and staff to know exactly what we have at each position and have a leg up on recruiting to improve the weak spots. At quarterback we've got a bunch of possibilities, but we don't know if we have THE GUY on the roster at this point. Let's find out. Bringing in Golson at this point would only muddy the waters, plus he has a lot of baggage. With the right coaching, maybe Tommy can improve. I know one thing about him, the guy is a ball-faking man-child. With the right coaching he might develop the vision that will allow him to locate open guys off those fakes. And when he gains confidence off of that, he can add the QB run now and again.... and away we go. I get the frustration with TA because he seems to have stalled, but I still like the kid and think he's got some possibilities. I wouldn't mind one of those other guys stepping up their game with the right coaching push as well. But we have to find out. And that takes patience. At least a year of patience.

And we should only remember Callahan for is North title and the Michigan bowl win. But not his causing us to miss a bowl game in 2 of his 4 seasons or 70-10 or "f'n hillbillies" or "crusty old f". And we should only remember Solich for him winning the Big 12 in 99. But not for 62-36 or 7-7. Gotcha. The sarcasm is strong in this one. I will go ahead and remember the Callahan win over Michigan, it was fun, and I will remember the conference title and Fiesta Bowl win by Solich, those were even better. If you want to sit around crying in your beer and reviewing the tape of Callahan 2004 vs. T Tech and Solich 2001 vs. Colorado, be my guest.

Why do we have to do this thing where we paint Bo as a complete idiot. Remember the good times please. The kick and pick, that first bowl win vs Clemson, regular season games like Missouri, Washington, and KState and the hail Mary ... Just to name a few. Bo had his flaws. He was let go when it got to the point that he was completely stuck and could go no further in his progress towards a championship. End of story. We can talk about the good history, but the bad, let's just give that up. It's too damn depressing.

Nobody has pointed out the assigned seating. Free would be great, but if you're making us pay at least make it all general admission. That way anybody with the desire to can spend the morning at the stadium and be guaranteed seats on the 50 yard line. For those who can't afford game tickets, let alone 50 yard line seats for a fall Saturday, that experience is like a dream come true.

I think that it will be determined on how much QB depth Coach Riley thinks NU has. If the green shirts come out, its cuz Armstrong isn't being pushed at all....imo The QB question is interesting. Coach Riley needs to figure out if he has a QB who can at least function OK in the system. If he does, that buys him a year to recruit a high school kid, red shirt him a season, and go with him for 2017 season. If we go through the QBs and find none are serviceable, then it will be time to search the JUCO ranks for the next Zac Taylor.... if we can find a guy like that... he was DANG good.

I've never been too influenced in my Husker opinions by any spring game, but I am sure that it will stir some talk and debate. It will be the first time Nebraska fans get a chance to see what the offense/defense will look like. The emphasis will definitely be on the offense IMO. Always is. The normal post spring line is that we should take it easy on the offense because the defense is usually ahead at this point. If the offense does well, it means we are loaded and we are going to do very well in the fall. With all the changes, however, this isn't a normal spring. The question in my mind is.... how much will this spring game remind me of the 2004 edition? Remember Bill was coming in with his pro style offense and we all were anxious to see what a passing Husker offense would look like. We came out in the opening series with a bunch of shifts and motion that got everybody excited. And Joe Dailey went on to have a very nice day passing the ball, yards and TDs. We knew there would be some bumps in the road, but felt that opening showing was an indicator that this system would work. The fall came.... the losses mounted. And we wondered if Bill had just juggled the roster in the spring to trick us ... and the players... into thinking all was well. So how do we judge Riley? He's bringing in a pro style system too. Will he set it up for us to dominate on offense, or will he set it up for us to be challenged on offense? In the end, how do we come out feeling like the spring game showed promise... and not feeling like we were deceived by roster juggling? Can we take anything away from this spring game at all?

Say whatever you want about Oregon State and the success he had. Apologize for his failings. Fine. Maybe that all makes sense. But he's at Nebraska now. And if starts throwing 30 plus times per game, I have no faith that we will be able to win right away. None. I read everything about his schemes and what not... and I am left with one feeling... burn it. That's right, at least two seasons, burn them both. Maybe we can aim for 10 wins in 2017. Maybe.

And how is this an indicator of how Nebraska will do under Riley in year one, or two, or even three at NU?

I really think this new staff is a FRESH start for Nebraska football. And that is something that we hadn't gotten after the Osborne era closed. Solich attempted to extend Osborne's excellence. And he was struggling to do that. Pederson wanted to make his own Nebraska, so he was out to DESTROY what we had before to install what he wanted. It didn't work. Bo was a reach back to Frank and Tom. He was given a lot of time to get this done.... yes seven years is quite a long time. Had he been a nicer guy or had marginally better results, we would still be trying it. He was too toxic and so we moved on. Riley doesn't come in under the guidance of an AD who wants to destroy the legacies of Nebraska and he doesn't have any reason to reach back and attempt to keep up the old traditions or whatever. Riley's Nebraska will be just that. It won't be Tom's Nebraska. It won't be Steve's Nebraska. It will be a Nebraska that's based off of what Riley believes is the best idea for Nebraska to win going forward.

My sig line says it all.

You have to mold your system to fit the talent. That being said, we are a lot farther down the road toward a pass system than we were when Solich was fired. OLs know how to pass block. WR know how to run routes. RBs know how to protect. We just need an accurate QB. IF Riley can coach up one of the guys on the current roster, then throw it. If not, however, you have to go with the run game and use some elements of the read option.

Predicting next year's record is complete folly. And it would seem like 6-6 would be a scorched earth scenario. But now hear this... BYU, toss up because its the opener. Miami at Miami. Iowa, Minnesota and Northwestern could all be adventures. They have been in the past. And then Wisky and Michigan State. There is ample room for things to go bad. IF Riley is true to what he says and molds his system to fit our guys and doesn't do the whole round peg and square hole deal.... well, the sky is the limit. I really want to see Riley coach the guys up and adapt his system to what we do best.

Thanks for responding to this thread. Because, in retrospect, it was pretty lame. Thinking Army Allen is on the right track though.

An interesting correlation, at least in my mind. Nebraska football right now kind of reminds me of a movie production that's been announced for release at some distant date. We see that the movie has a lot of established actors and a what appears to be a knowledgeable director, but the teaser trailer shows us nothing. Cast and director have both been involved in mid level productions. Nothing big. Could be a good movie. Could suck. Meanwhile, the Michigan movie has a flashy cast headed up my a multiple Oscar winner. So everybody is hyping that movie to death. And the teaser trailer gets a zillion views on YouTube. It's a can't miss. And then it turns out to be horrible and almost unwatchable. Maybe the Nebraska movie ends up being that movie that no one expects to take off and it ends up stealing the show.

Caught a bit during the LSU vs. Notre Dame game where the announcers were talking about Miles and his reaction to the hire at Michigan. Miles was quoted as saying that he was happy that Michigan hired JH because it was a signal that they were serious about winning and were no longer simply counting on the Michigan brand and all it represents to make a difference. Miles said schools have to invest in getting the best coaches in order to be the best. I couldn't help but think.... Is Nebraska counting on the brand name and all it represents to make the difference? Do you have to go out and spend a mint in order to make a program into a winner. We got MR on bargain basement and it doesn't seem like we are breaking the bank for assistants. Thoughts?

We did the same thing as what Youngstown is doing. We tried to ignore or excuse Bo and his behavior because.... hey, a lot of the time, he has a point with his rants. To use Bo terminology... At the end of the day, whether you are pissed about perceived or real injustice, you, as a leader of a football program, are required to act with class. Bo doesn't get that. He never will. Good luck with that.... Youngstown.

Frank Solich was a Husker legend. And he got a raw deal. He had just reorganized his staff. And he was given one year, just one year, to produce results with the new staff. IF there were off the field reasons, the admin should have said that there were circumstances away from the football field that led to his dismissal and that the admin was Ok with the on field results. Speaking of on field results...... Obviously the peak of this man's HC career was winning the Big 12 and the Fiesta Bowl in 1999-00. We lost to eventual national champ OU in 2000-01 and we had a great season going in 2001 with a No. 1 ranking going into the final week of the regular season. The Colorado game spiraled out of control... for the most part. But it should be noted that, deep into the second half, Nebraska was in position to draw within one score and fumbled at the goal line. CU then reclaimed momentum and won the game. The 2001 BCS title game in the Rose Bowl was a loss to a team that many argue was the best ever in CFB. Obviously the 1990s Huskers have an argument to make in that regard too. But the fact that people were talking about Miami in that way means that we should not have felt too awful bad about losing to them even if the game was lopsided. 2002 was a rough year. No doubt about it. But we had Jamal at the QB and we still almost got to the program standard for wins. Two losses by less than a touchdown. And the bowl loss to Ole Miss, quaterbacked by that Manning kid, beat us by less than one score. In 2003, we lost to Texas, a team that was two years away from beating USC for the national title. We lost to a one of the better Missouri Tiger teams of all time. And the Tigers resorted to trick plays to get the job done. The third loss came to Kansas State. And the Wildcats, just for the record, went on to blast No. 1 Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game. Frank should have been retained. And I would argue that Frank would have probably got our offense to the point where it would have been one of the most envied in the country. We were already doing some of the things with speed option that would have led right to zone read. And we would have been at the tip of the spear in terms of innovation.

By the best accounts he got some talk but not an offer from Auburn or South Carolina as a DC and despite the fact that were jobs like Michigan and Wisconsin open... never got a sniff. Oregon State or Colorado State... no substantial reports of interest in Bo. Guess that national perception is that Bo runs an average program at a powerhouse. That he has melt downs that embarrass the university he works for. And that, at the end of the day, he doesn't recruit all that well or coach all that well in big games. Good luck to Bo. But I think these coach searches not including Bo in any way can be taken as proof that not very many out there are believing that Nebraska FIRED a GREAT coach just because he couldn't win the NC.

Nebraska had a great run under Tom Osborne. And Frank Solich had a moment or two before he was sent packing by SP. When Bill was hired ... a move was made away from the Husker tradition to something new, a passing offense and Lincoln as a blue chip destination. We all wanted to work, but it didn't, in part because we didn't have the talent for it at the time (no pro style QB, blocking WRs instead of ones who could run routes, an O-line that couldn't pass block... etc) and in part because our coach was someone without much experience as an HC at the pro level, let alone college. Tom came back and hired Bo, but it always felt like a reach backwards to traditions with the staff and everything, even the option game. And maybe it didn't work for the same reason that it doesn't work to come back from college and try to hang out with your old high school crew again. The things you did to pass the time with the fellas seemed kind of lame once you had gone to college. And the Bo throw back to tradition seemed empty in a similar way. Because of the way that Bo felt about the fans. And the media. And the refs. And anyone else. The place grew toxic. Change was wanted by a large number of fans. This could be the new Nebraska now. We aren't saddled with the issues that Bill Callahan had to deal with, at least to a degree. We don't really have a passing QB, but we have actual WRs and an Oline that has learned pass block techniques. And we have a guy coming in who has had a system for a long, Long, LONG time. The guy knows his football and maybe, just maybe, we become something brand new. Tom and the old guard will be less of a factor in the new Husker world. Maybe we should embrace it and see if something can come out of this. The 1990s were great. We are reminded by everyone that they're over. Our path back to the elite could be on track. Maybe we needed all of those rough years to get to the point where Nebraska football can be born again, not reborn as a team like those of the 1990s, but a new creation and a completely new chapter, maybe even a completely different book, of Husker football history.