dylan

i'm not convinced it's a huge need this class unless we can get a really good one. we've got young QB's in spano, green and martinez and bigger needs at other positions.

At least we can look forward to pummeling a Gabbert for the next 5 years. Family has 0 class. How do you know they family has 0 class. The only reason Blaine decommitted was because our coach was fired and he thought watson was going to be gone. Tyler has not decommitted yet just because there is rumors out there about it doesnt make them true. If he does decommitt it will because Watson has told him that he will not be here the whole time he is here. Watson is the reason he is coming here and if you know your position coach is gone why would you still want to come to the school? I love husker football but I really hate it when people speak about other people with out knowing what they are talking about. no, bo pulled the 'ship when he got tired of this kid jerking us around. add in the fact that he appears to have been recruiting against us and stringing us along, and i do have to wonder about the upbringing those kids received. i'm disappointed that we ever touched that family again after the first one screwed us over.

didn't you just make this post yesterday? if kids don't understand that we did what we had to do this year given the injury and personnel circumstances and that we ran NFL type offenses with success prior to that, there's not much we can do. i understand why recruits are swayed by negative recruiting, i don't understand why our own fans attempt to tear down a program on its way back from the abyss.

at least we have a couple of months to find out. i wish we'd forced a final decision a bit earlier, but we've still got time to find someone else.

the only chaos is from fans and media. the only opinion that matters on personnel is bo's. bo is not canning anyone. our staff will stand pat unless someone leaves for another opportunity (speaking of which, it will be interesting to see which huskers gill assembles for his staff at KU). i don't blame recruits too much for being convinced by negative recruiting, but i wish people that purport to be nebraska fans wouldn't indulge in the same garbage.

oh, that game where we beat texas for 60 minutes? i'm not sure what your problem with pelini is, but you have to be impressed by the job he's done. damn near won the league with no offense. as to next year's offense, i must have missed the part where i said we were going to be great. i said we were going to keep winning games, and we will. as to the style, watson has stated he prefers to go back to the style we ran with gans last year, so i would assume that's what we'll see. as to why we'll be better, i would start with the presumption that the following guys will actually be healthy next year: helu burkhead smith williams qvale spano the big one is obviously helu, who struggled with that shoulder the entire year, including against texas. i also have to wonder if spano will make a run at the qb job. i would also expect to see better depth on the OL with the RSF qvale, coffey, sirles and ash added to the mix. this should help keep the line a little fresher. most of our starters barely got a break this year, even though 3/5 were hobbled for most the season, as there was little depth to speak of. finally, you can add an additional year for people to improve. we return everyone but hickman and holt. kinnie appears to be coming on for one. paul seemed to get better as the year went on (though that drop was a killer) and could actually compete for all big 12 with improved qb play (which itself would benefit from better OL play). no matter what we end up seeing out of the offense next year, i bet you we will see at least 9 wins and a spot in the big 12 title game again. what are your expectations? (other than the fact that kids won't play for pelini and TO is likely to fire him in a couple of years for being such a meanie )

cooper's a sophomore. i agree though that three is enough for this class. He's a RS Freshman, he has 3 years left. http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SP...p;Q_SEASON=2009 you're right. could have swore he saw the field last year. Could be you are thinking about Dennard, oh how I wish Alfonso was only a RFr. this year. i wish a lot of kids on our team had the extra year: hickman, prince, hagg, paul, etc. callahan was amost criminal at burning shirts. pelini and co. are doing a lot better, but there have still been a few head scratchers.

kid's a true freshman. i'll hold off on judging his ability to pass well in our offense, but i am willing to bet the coaches brought him in because they think he can.

i still see no downside to recruiting a quarterback that can do both. if a kid projects as a decent passer, at what point do you say: "no, that kid's way too fast, it'll be too confusing to our offensive style." btw, off hand, i know USC stole rocky hinds from us. pretty sure mustain is fairly mobile as well. and that's for an offense that doesn't incorporate the qb run game. on the other hand, we apparently do want the qb to be able to move, but i sense that we first make sure they project as a passer. i am baffled that there's any problem with this.

no, i'm sure they were the world's first effective all screen offense. i'm also sure that cody has a weak arm and the coaches plan to bring in solich to run the wishbone with him.

cooper's a sophomore. i agree though that three is enough for this class. He's a RS Freshman, he has 3 years left. http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SP...p;Q_SEASON=2009 you're right. could have swore he saw the field last year.

You might to want to look at his tapes, a ton of Cody's stats came off of bubble screens and YAC by Dugat when he was there. I still wish we could have got Dugat at the same time with Cody green: 230 for 351 3265 217.7 .655 35 4 49 124 dugat: 113 for 1776 15.72 118.4 77 16 so, throws to non-dugats accounted for the other 1500 yards and 19 touchdowns. and no matter who your star receiver is, a 35-4 ratio is pretty damn good. and 3200 yards on bubble screens and short passes is just astounding. and fwiw, we're going to have a hard time finding QB's that ran the WCO in high school, so we're going to have to teach them.

and by the way, you might want to look up cody green's high school passing stats before you assume he is more of a runner by far. just because he hasn't mastered the offense in his first year doesn't mean he won't develop into a passing threat or that the coaches didn't recruit him to be one.

cooper's a sophomore. i agree though that three is enough for this class.

ganz wasn't a dual threat? lil' gabbert is supposedly at least as mobile as ganz. and what on earth makes you think green wouldn't be able to run the spread/coast offense we saw late last year? is he too good of a runner? what makes you think he can't pass? and for that matter, what makes you think gabbert couldn't operate in oregon or florida's spreads? i think it's fairly obvious the coaches want a kid that can throw the ball and has mobility. not sure what's confusing about that. i agree i'd like to see where the offense is going, but i don't see how recruiting QB's that are all mobile, and presumably all can pass, is a problem for you. also, as i stated in the other thread, i will presume watson was telling the truth when he said he wants to go back to the spread coast offense we saw last season until we see reason to think otherwise.

NU has a staff that walked into a mess and came out with two straight nine win seasons (and were damn well robbed of more). you tell me which program is headed in a better direction. do we want great players? obviously. but we're going to win with or without any given kid. these coaches will find players that fit with what we want. the only question is which recruits, fans and media are going to feel awfully dumb about doubting a program led by bo pelini and tom osborne. No, you are not going to win without kids like C Carter and Gabbert. Our recruiting is not looking so hot. Tom Osborne is not "leading this program", Bo Pelini is. He has had two somewhat successful seasons with players he did not recruit. That is good. All this "we'll soon be in an NCG" is poppycock. We are not on a par with the elite teams and unless we recruit better talent; this year might be the best we'll see in a while. All summer long C Carter was the key to our recruiting class. As soon as we try to intimidate him into not taking visits and he tells us to shove it (terrible move on Bo's part--the assistant went there most certainly with that message from Bo. ), koolaid fans start whining about C Carter and how we don't need he and Gabbert. Well we needed Gabbert's brother this year. We needed that wide reciever Misery had--heck any of them. We are not the New Orleans Saints in the North. We are a team that had a far superior defense but are also a team that got beat by Iowa State for gawdsakes. If this crew doesn't start acting like adults ( a coach yelling out the tunnel to the opposing team that just defeated you "You should be embarrassed" only embarrasses this program...as does Pelini's whining to Osborne who dutifully tried to get him targets to vent to so Bo could get his tantrum over and stfu), no top players are going to want to play for them. Berating players or assistants, b*tching about the officiating like a big baby every week, looking like you are one inch on the fuse from going into a serial killer rampage, is not going to get it done. Oh I know it's cool now to worship Bo because of our defense and praise his "passion". The defense is good. However with Suh on board with the rest of the cast they should be number 1. Suh, a once in a lifetime player, is the guy you should credit and he won't be here next year. Bo like Muschamp of Texas has a great firey, somewhat out of control temperment that is perhaps fine for an assistant coach or a coordinator. Not sure kids are going to flock to a program with that sort of head coach. the My way or the highway message Bo sent to C Carter seems to show you how that works out with good athletes. He seems to have a lot to learn about dealing with players and subordinates in a manner that makes people look up to him and want to work with him and play for him. My guess, unless he learns and changes, two years he gets the same treatment from TO that Perkins did to Mangino--the "coach of the year" in 2007. JustMHO well, since we are not going to have blaine or carter apparently, i can damn well bet you we'll win without them. we're winning without blaine already and i don't think losing one receiver is going to slow us down. while we certainly want top talent, it's more important that we get kids that are ready to bust their ass for rings, not just individual needs. and yes, pelini and watson do lean on osborne for advice in how to run a program and an offense. if you don't think that is an enormous advantage, then you know even less about college football than i already thought. we just outplayed the #2 team in the country. we almost took down vatech at their place. are we elite yet? of course not, but to pretend we aren't getting closer is ludicrous. it is even more ridiculous that you think players won't want to play for bo or coaches coach for him. you go talk to the kids that play for him. hell, you don't even have to, just watch how hard they play for him. now, go back and watch film from two years ago and tell me if you can see a difference. and to complain about bo being a yeller, the humanity! do you even know who bob devaney was? do you think nick saban and bob stoops kiss their players' asses? kids respond to fiery coaches as long as they show that have the players' best interests at heart. i think bo has stood up for these kids every chance he gets and they have responded to it. i don't know if you watched LSU win the title a couple of years ago with bo as DC, but if you did, perhaps you saw who the kids dumped gatorade on at the end and took turns hugging. really the only thing in your post that isn't compete bunk is the bit about the tunnel. carl was wrong to yell back at texas, and i'm sure he regrets it. on the other hand, bo was absolutely correct to be enraged and to find the correct people to be enraged with. if you think osborne wasn't angry as well and just runs errands to make bo happy, then i don't think you understand what exactly took place the other night. perhaps rather than going along with the world herald's recent efforts to display bo as some kind of maniac, you should re-watch the end of the game where bo perfectly calmly continues to coach his team and try to win the game on the field goal try immediately after the officials shafted him. i hope you get used to being unhappy with a successful pelini regime, as it's going to be here for a while.

perhaps a better way to look at this is that gabbert made a mistake (and likely knows it) and that other kids shouldn't make the same one. they might put up gaudier stats for the draftniks playing in mizzou's offense, but i want kids that want rings over all else. awards and pro careers will take care of themselves.

NU has a staff that walked into a mess and came out with two straight nine win seasons (and were damn well robbed of more). you tell me which program is headed in a better direction. do we want great players? obviously. but we're going to win with or without any given kid. these coaches will find players that fit with what we want. the only question is which recruits, fans and media are going to feel awfully dumb about doubting a program led by bo pelini and tom osborne.

gilmore doesn't call the plays. not sure what else you're looking for. you wish our guys were better at breaking tackles or more explosive? me too! not sure what that has to do with gilmore's teaching of receiving technique though. his job is to teach them how to read defenses, run routes, block and catch the ball. it is also his job to sit a player on the bench if he can't or won't do those things. (and fwiw, we've averaged about 13 ypc in the years gilmore's been here. i also think you'd be surprised at the difference between swift and purify's career ypc's.)

nope, the only thing we have is what this kid is telling people, which is why i questioned your use of the word...

you claimed that your problem with gilmore is that no one at his position made big plays. the players i listed made many big plays in the passing game, so i'm not sure what more you want. gilmore doesn't call the plays, but he sure as hell has had receivers ready to regularly make those plays in every year but this one (and if paul can get his head on straight, he may yet be our biggest playmaker on the outside). if we don't have a productive wr corps next season between paul, kinnie, cooper and the rest, i will gladly sign a petition calling for gilmore's job. until that time, i suggest you stick to our actual problems rather than trying to pretend our receivers have sucked for years.

did we still want an in home visit with him? did gilmore face an impossible task and fail despite an outstanding sales job? i'm not sure you have the answers to either of those, so, no, i don't think it's 'obvious' that gilmore didn't do a good enough job.

i agree with most of your post, but i don't see any reason to saddle callahan's curious playcalling on anyone but himself. the fact remains that we have had effective receivers under gilmore's tutelage in every year but one. by the way, i included gilleyen because you mentioned players making plays and he made some big ones early on. i agree though that he needs to get his head (and hands) on straight.

your definition of 'obvious' must be different than mine. apparently the word 'committed' as well.

i agree about lee running the option. our coaches want to have a running quarterback component in the game plan, but it's clear lee isn't comfortable doing it. (though it is worth noting that he had a key run on what should have been the game winning drive against texas). i do wish we'd quit running the option with him and i think that's a valid criticism of watson. however, since watson wasn't in charge of the offense when they recruited lee, i'm not sure what that has to do with recruiting towards a specific system. so...your main concern is that we can't get well rounded offensive players? i'm not sure what your basis for thinking that is. i think we've actually recruited pretty darn well on offense the last couple of years, to the point that we have a numbers imbalance and we actually need to catch up on defensive recruiting. obviously our offense did suck this year (for various reasons), but recruits and fans need to look back into the distant past of, say, last season to see that we really can operate a balanced offense effective in the air and on the ground. would you be happier if we continued to air it out this season just so the recruits could see the offensive possibilities? we'd probably be playing in shreveport (or worse) if we'd gone that route, but hey, it's all about the recruiting baby. got to keep the teenagers happy. Watson was here when we recruited Lee. If fact he was the OC (in title) and QB coach. I think he played major part in him getting here. This year was was not a "particularly bad year" this was a meltdown. Our offense only scored 1 TD vs. top 20 opponents; and 17 TDs vs conference foes (119 pts). That's laughable. I don't know where you get the view that Witt was going to start of Lee, because if I remember correctly Lee was the starter going into spring ball and that is one of the reasons Witt left. You make it seem as though Wats is brand new, Wats has been here, in some capacity for 4 years. And instead of owning up to his faults he says crap like 'the offensive players need to mature' and excludes himself from fault. This offense is one sick puppy and that starts at the top, and goes all throughout the recruiting process. And have you ever thought that maybe last year was the aberration? Until Ganz got in 07 our offense was average at best. Ganz, Swift, and Peterson were the reasons we were good last year. They had amazing chemistry and knew how make something out of a broken play. I don't understand how you can think our offensive recruiting has been good the last couple of years when only 5 of those guys have seen significant and meaningful playing time. Of course this is a lot of potential, but will the ever reach that potential under these coaches? my answer is no. Either Wats needs to settle down on who he wants this offense to be or we need to move on before he does more damage. if you prefer the word "meltdown", i'm OK with that. i think that "particularly bad year" carries the same meaning, but knock yourself out. and are you really claiming that watson hasn't taken any responsibility for the offensive struggles? i am strongly against coaches blaming everything on the kids, but it is OK to point out the obvious some times. the kids do have to get better, obviously it's the coaches job to make sure they do or find someone that can. aso, watson was in all likelihood involved with getting lee here, but that doesn't mean he brought him here for the offense he wanted to run (it was callahan's offense), and has even less to do with the offense that team pelini wants to run. so, again, i don't see any connection between how lee is used and what offense the coaches prefer. speaking of the offense, it sucked under dailey, was good under taylor, sucked under keller, was good under gans, and has so far sucked under lee. now, only two of those were under anyone's offense but callahans, so i'm not sure why you're still worried about cally's offense. it's watson's job to show that we can do better. so far he's had one good year and one crappy one. if you can somehow prognosticate how things will go in the future (and which of the teenagers on our team will develop), then good for you. however, i think bo has earned enough faith that he will either get things fixed next year or then make the necessary changes. by the way, witt left because he wanted the coaches to commit to a starter by the end of spring ball (and for academic reasons), not because lee had already passed him. he may have been feeling some heat, and may have felt that watson was just waiting for lee's higher athletic potential to kick into gear, but witt was ahead of lee last season and when he left the team. i also feel that spano may have had a shot this year, especially after lee struggled. as for our offensive recruiting the last couple of years: first year offensive players this year: bell burkhead kinnie sirles kerr martinez qvale ash coffey pensick green robinson zimmerer taking out the lineman (out of whom it is unreasonable to expect a first year contribution, though a couple almost did prior to injury), we had 5 out of 8 see the field their first year. 2008 recruits: marlowe cooper ward osborne spano cotton thompson reed henry okafur not as impressive a class as 2009 appears to be, but still too early to judge. 5 of the 10 saw meaningful minutes this year. also, we have a lot of young offensive players. some will pan out, some won't and we definitely need to get some talented ones at a few key spots, but our lack of young depth on defense is much more severe. there's a reason we're taking so many defensive linemen.