Blackshirt_Revival

This article, for me, epitomizes so much of what is wrong with Nebraska football today. But not because of what Keyshawn said, but because so many are suddenly depicting Keyshawn as some sort of Nebraska Cornhusker football authority. And why? Because he played many years in the NFL? Because he is now an NFL analyst on ESPN? Certainly these factors contribute, but none are the real reason why. The reason why is because he 'has' something we want, and that something is his son and maybe a few of his friends playing for the Cornhuskers. Look, I'm sure the kid is great. I'm sure all of those friends he has are great, too. They will soon discover there is heavy pressure at every school that is passionate about football and being successful (let alone if/when they get to the NFL). You could make the argument that we 'need' or are 'hurting for' kids like his son and his friends to play for us worse than other schools are right now. Fair enough. This leads me to my main point: Nebraska's biggest problem, if you ask me, hasn't been the issue of 'need' or 'want'. Nebraska's biggest problem for well over 10 years has been the issue of HAVE. Nebraska is such a unique place among the college football landscape. Almost a veritable 'football oasis' in the middle of the plains--a state of 1.8 million that consistently fills up its stadium of 90,000+. Think about that for a minute. A fanbase that cares so much about its team and is so hungry to succeed and see them be successful, that even when our teams haven't been so great, we have consistently filled up a stadium that big relative to our population and cheered those teams on and supported them. Nebraska is so synonymous with college football and with its football team, this is almost always the first thing that gets brought up or mentioned to me in small talk when I meet people from other places. But Nebraska has completely ignored and shunned what it has in regards to local talent and fostering that talent, making it the backbone of our team, and building the team along with its identity from it. You start at your bedrock. You start with your foundation. Before you worry about the 'want' or the 'need', you must start with the HAVE and do everything in your power to foster it, grow it, nurture it. Nebraska has neglected it and stomped all over it. Keyshawn's kid is surely a great athlete, but being conservative, I'm willing to bet there are at least 5 Nebraska small town white boys and at least as many brothers in Omaha/Boys Town this year who would beat him in the 100m dash and would give a kidney to play for the Huskers. But they are ignored. They don't have enough stars next to their names. Football competition is not as intense or as encouraged or as electric as it was in the 90s or early 00s here, and certainly not compared to Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, most states down south. I'm not saying we were ever 'as good' as the best from these states, but I am saying relative to population, Nebraska used to be as intense about football at the high school level as anywhere. What happened? What happened was these kids aren't brought in, they aren't developed. There is no correlation with or to their state's college program any longer or vice versa. These kids end up moving on to DII or NAIA, if they end up playing football after high school at all. In 1995, Roughly 80% of Nebraska roster was composed of kids from within a 500 mile radius of Lincoln. On the 1997 team, I believe 10 of the 11 offensive starters were from the state of Nebraska. One could argue that we did try continuing this tradition under Frank, and floundered. I would contend Frank had the right idea about nurturing what he had, he just did not have the mind to maximize this or translate it into the success or results we wanted. He couldn't adapt. But here we are today, trying to copycat all of the other schools and do what they do, playing the role of grovelers to 17 year old kids, utilizing offensive strategies which are unremarkable, schemes that don't match us, saying we need the 'athletes' to stay competitive. This is all total garbage. My fiancee is originally from Romania, a country that does not have the population base or the financial advantages of many of the countries in Western Europe or of Russia. However, they are extremely proud of their athletes in Pan-European and International competitions, and they do very well relative to their population. Romanians are known for being amazing at gymnastics and being formidable rugby, soccer, and tennis players, in addition to excelling at judo, among other sports. They never once would think of making excuses such as "oh, but that country has more athletes than we do" or "oh this country is bigger" or "oh we need to get some of Germany's athletes to come here." They know what they have is what they have, and you better bet they will maximize and foster their talent and do what it takes to make them the best they can be and to succeed at whatever particular sport we are discussing. Don't get me wrong. I know we need athletes and we do need to recruit. I know Osborne brought in great players from Florida, New Jersey, Texas, California, etc. But that recruiting should be done to supplement what we 'have' with what we 'need' to get to what we all 'want'. Once again, it all starts with what you have. That's what Osborne understood better than anyone. That is truly what made Nebraska special and unique. And I am here to tell you, Nebraska won't be anything special or unique again until we get staff and administration in place that understand and appreciate this and do everything in their power to nourish, utilize, and maximize what we do have as our foundation.

We are in absolutely no position to be marginalizing any of our future opponents this year.This is akin to a Texas fan writing off Iowa State this year "Cuz they're just Iowa State" The brown squirrel is brown. It is... ...but the big red machine is...?

I'm willing to bet this thread gets a total pass on all the bellyaching that ensued in response to so many "newbie" threads since it's not "critical," "pessimistic," or "negative." Btw, I totally have no problem with this thread, and admire the OP's optimism and enthusiasm. I think it's totally unrealistic and rooted in fantasy, but we don't have to agree

We are in absolutely no position to be marginalizing any of our future opponents this year. This is akin to a Texas fan writing off Iowa State this year "Cuz they're just Iowa State"

Absolutely not. Totally don't think Riley is the guy, But Bo DEFINITELY was not the guy.

Indeed. Usually we start talking about it in the off-season, or in December before the bowl game at the soonest. Now we are talking about it in the first week of October.

See, there you go again. Man, I feel like I should hire you to follow me around and tap me on the shoulder when I say something that might offend a few people... Would you consider? Depends. What kind of pay/benefits are we talking here? Yes, I realize that is at least the 2nd 'Million Dollar Man' Ted DiBiase reference that has been used this week.

See, there you go again.

Not when the running game which was effective is abated to throw the ball 31 times with 10 completions, especially considering the weather conditions and the fact that we have a quarterback who can also run. And not when you simply need to keep handing the ball off to close out the game. All of which has been discussed in great length in numerous other threads. But that's just, like, my opinion, man.

Yet you are still reading them and upping your post count with thrilling insight like this. Indeed, we are seeing how he as acquired such a distinguished huskerboard 'rep' with all of his 2,000+ posts. Seems like they are all about as brilliant and thought-provoking as that one and all of the ones I've seen him make over the past couple of days. Oh and your Fire Riley flag you been flying has single-handedly revived the blackshirts. Thank you so much. Forever in your debt! Look, this is a Husker message board. It is a message board about a team most of us are quite passionate about. We don't all have to agree on everything. In fact, I think you would be hard-pressed to find anyone you agree on every single aspect of Husker football with who posts on this board (I think this goes for most of us, I know it does for me). There are some very insightful and thoughtful posters on this board. There are many who make arguments counter to what I believe, yet do a very effective and eloquent job in doing so. There are posters I generally agree with, and those I generally disagree with. There are those I generally agree with who leave me saying "WTF?" sometimes just as there are those who I generally disagree with who will post something that will make me go "heck yes!" You are not one of those posters. I have seen you do nothing but launch immature, childish insults and ad hominems at those who share different opinions than you (usually in 10 words or less). None of us is THE spokesperson for the team or the authority on the Huskers. We are on a message board to share our experiences, our opinions, our thoughts, our ideas, to discuss. We wouldn't do this if we didn't care about our team and its future. We don't have to agree on what all of those things are or should be. But when you disagree with someone, there is no need to act petulant and infantile.

Yet you are still reading them and upping your post count with thrilling insight like this. Indeed, we are seeing how he as acquired such a distinguished huskerboard 'rep' with all of his 2,000+ posts. Seems like they are all about as brilliant and thought-provoking as that one and all of the ones I've seen him make over the past couple of days.

Um...add Tommy to this list, and I'm down. I think we all agree on the boards here. Unfortunately, unless the coaches have a Huskerboard account, no one on the coaching staff appears to believe this...and that's just damn pathetic. It is, and I wonder if they ever really will or can commit to the run. Maybe we'll get lucky, though, and see what consistently chucking the ball 35-40 times a game in Minneapolis, Madison, Iowa City, Evanston, East Lansing, Ann Arbor, Columbus, and State College looks like in October-November.

Are you some 'board authority' or enforcer of board etiquette'? I realize there are rules, and the board does have mods, but this comes across as a child pouting to his mom because we have posters who don't post/haven't posted as much starting threads and posting things you don't like. Is there some rule on this board I missed about when you are allowed to make certain posts on here? Or a certain 'status' or posting number you must reach before you are allowed to post about certain topics? This is a football fan message board for a team that has a rabid fanbase. Feel free to check out any other fan message board for teams that have rabid followings, and let me know what you see. This one is actually quite mild in comparison. Bottom line: THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE DO ON SITES LIKE THESE. If that is too much for you to handle, then why bother?

Even if the recruiting is indeed as good as some are professing here, what do you think Riley and staff would do with that talent? Conjecture, of course, but I'm willing to bet a Mike Riley led Husker team in 2018 would look something a lot like, oh...2007. I'd only be slightly worried about how a weak recruiting class would affect our next coaching staff's teams. But hopefully we'd hire a staff competent enough to roll with that if that is the hand that was dealt...next man up. As if teams haven't had weak recruiting classes before due to coaching transitions (or whatever reason) and still been highly successful. Ever watched that team a little over 2 hours south of Lincoln? They seem to do pretty well with mediocre (at best) recruiting classes. And yes, I realize this argument can also be used in defense of Riley (against those who perceive the class rating to be too low or unremarkable), but right now, I don't think you have much ammo proving he can/could/would do more with less...or more...whatever your opinion of his recruiting prowess is.

Thanks, Mavric. You set it up precisely as I (thought I) had.

Number of games total

Btw, tried making this a poll, obviously failed miserably.

Pretty self-explanatory. Where do you stand? I'm going with 5. Any less than that, and I think he needs to be and will be gone (and Eichorst as well)

Google 'Aerial Advertising Nebraska' and/or 'Aerial Banners Nebraska' and I think you will find local companies which offer these services.

I'm pretty sure you and I are on the same page. The only answer, in terms of scheme and style of football for what everyone wants to see, is Troy Calhoun. I'm probably going to say his name 1000 times this week, and 100000 times this season. You've convinced me, Power'T. Consider me on the Calhoun bandwagon. If not him, I'd probably go, in order: Chip Kelly (as long as he brought in a beastly DC) Scott Frost Tom Herman Lance Leipold

Everybody has a price.

We are in a conference which has the following head coaches: Urban Meyer, Mark Dantonio, Jim Harbaugh, Jerry Kill, Pat Fitzgerald, and James Franklin. Kevin Wilson also has Indiana, yes, INDI-FREAKING-ANA on the rise. Do you believe Riley and this staff can/will field teams that can compete and beat these coaches' teams on a consistent basis? I sure don't (but of course, neither of us can predict the future, only hypothesize). But beyond that, what this staff has done so far has tried ramming a square peg into a round hole. Hard. This is much more akin to what Callahan did in '04 than to what Bo did in '08 (and yes, I wanted Bo gone as bad as anyone). Nebraska will not ever be a team that runs this pass happy pro/west coast style offense and has success with it. It is not our identity, it never has been, and it never will be (and please nobody bring up "But Osborne's offenses in the 70s!" Yeah, back when running a 'pro' style offense meant throwing it like 15 times a game). Plus playing in a conference that experiences rough weather with other very physical teams that can ground and pound means we need to be able to ground and pound, too, and thwart it, something we used to do better than anyone. This was Nebraska's identity. This was Nebraska's 'niche'. It needs to come back. We cannot and will not win championships running some generic nonsense hodgepodge or 'flavor of the week' offense relying on high star recruiting and facilities alone when this is what every other program in the nation does. We need that thing that makes us 'us'. Just my $.02 Yes so fire riley after year one. If he is bad after year three(I believe he got a three year deal)then I wouldn't mind letting him go after three years. This process isn't going to heal in year one, we have to believe in the coaches. Will you want riley fired if he gets us to go 8-4 and win a bowl game? Anyway no one will want to coach here if we fire a coach after year one. He hasn't been here one year and lets all crucify him already. Square peg in a round hole argument is not correct. We are better at passing than running. I want to run the ball a lot more too dont get me wrong but no one will want to coach here if we fire him after year one. Give it time. If he goes 8-4 and wins a bowl game, I will find Al Golden and eat his tie. Fresh. Post-game. I was all for giving the guy more time as well, but from what I have seen so far, I don't have any faith he and his staff can bring us back to where we need to be and want to be as Husker fans, and we will only be prolonging the agony by keeping him around. While I do think we are a better passing team than teams we have had in the past, how do we even know we are better at that than running? We were a team that rushed for over 3000 yards last year, around 500 more than we passed for, with the same returning qb. I realize Abdullah is gone, and that hurts, but we have some very capable backs on our roster, and at least 3 who are probably better than our starter, along with a qb who can run, yet we don't commit to the run whatsoever. We are a team that is still built to run more than pass, and that is what our identity is and should be moving forward if we want to find long-term, sustainable success, in my opinion.

We are in a conference which has the following head coaches: Urban Meyer, Mark Dantonio, Jim Harbaugh, Jerry Kill, Pat Fitzgerald, and James Franklin. Kevin Wilson also has Indiana, yes, INDI-FREAKING-ANA on the rise. Do you believe Riley and this staff can/will field teams that can compete and beat these coaches' teams on a consistent basis? I sure don't (but of course, neither of us can predict the future, only hypothesize). But beyond that, what this staff has done so far has tried ramming a square peg into a round hole. Hard. This is much more akin to what Callahan did in '04 than to what Bo did in '08 (and yes, I wanted Bo gone as bad as anyone). Nebraska will not ever be a team that runs this pass happy pro/west coast style offense and has success with it. It is not our identity, it never has been, and it never will be (and please nobody bring up "But Osborne's offenses in the 70s!" Yeah, back when running a 'pro' style offense meant throwing it like 15 times a game). Plus playing in a conference that experiences rough weather with other very physical teams that can ground and pound means we need to be able to ground and pound, too, and thwart it, something we used to do better than anyone. This was Nebraska's identity. This was Nebraska's 'niche'. It needs to come back. We cannot and will not win championships running some generic nonsense hodgepodge or 'flavor of the week' offense relying on high star recruiting and facilities alone when this is what every other program in the nation does. We need that thing that makes us 'us'. Just my $.02

Liking many of the names that have been mentioned so far. I believe an emphasis on the running game and power is vital and intrinsic to Nebraska football. However, I also believe an offense that features a quarterback with mobility (not necessarily a 'pure' runner or 'option' qb, but one who can pick up yards with his legs and needs to be accounted for as a runner) is more suitable and preferable (for us) to the 'pocket' style quarterback that has been more heavily featured by current/recent known 'power' offenses such as Stanford, Wisconsin, Michigan (with Harbaugh), Arkansas (with Bielema), etc. With that being said, we really, really need a mean, nasty, dirty, ugly, and vicious defense regardless of who is coaching us or what style of offense we run.