Hercules

Another big reason for Solich's downturn happened in 99, (A year where he coached himself out of a national title shot, no way Texas should have gotten over NU in the regular season.) When he named Newcombe the starting qb, Crouch threw a tantrum, quit, and ran home to mommy. Solich begged him to come back, and eventually gave him what he wanted. That was a great year, but he lost the respect of the team. 2000 and 2001 were rife with discipline problems.

I always felt like the loss at Texas had more to do with Corell Buckhalter fumbling at the goalline, but I can't remember the game well enough to discuss Solich's coaching in it.

I do remember the Crouch-Newcombe controversy. I never really respected Crouch after that whole ordeal. It's too bad Newcombe hurt his knee in 1998, he was a stud before that happened.

Did anybody else misread this thread title at first as "Pornographic evidence that James Dobson is the Man?" I'd like to think there's nothing wrong with me, but I'm not sure...

To be clear though, I definitely did NOT enter the thread until I got the title right..... not that there's anything wrong with that.

It's not like he is under pressure or anything. I mean really, why should he be so intense? The entire Nebraska populace doesn't take pride in the football program, so why should he feel any pressure?

 

TO was a little animated on the sidelines in the 70s. After getting his azz handed to him by virtually everyone in the state for coming up short against OU, he started to mellow and understand that was just the way it was going to be around here, so he just did his thing and figured out how to deal with it. He wasn't very forthcoming towards the end of his career. He had gotten to be a little sarcastic. Listen to him after his last game against Tennessee. "Yeah, we did some good things, knocked a few people down."

 

I think Bo will learn how to better handle his image. Right now, he just wants to win, because that is what is demanded of him here. Remember, he was part of a staff that was fired after a 10-3 season.

 

Kind of reminds me of that old Billy Joel video..."Pressure!"

 

I personally like honesty. "If you're pissed and you know it, let 'em know."

 

 

Besides...it is football....Nebraska Football....Tiddly Wink coaches need not apply.

 

 

As far as hostility towards officials, if they would would get the call right, the hostility would not follow. A little accoutability would go a long way in reducing the volume in their ear. I've seen the sainted Crack Brown light up plenty of officials.

One of my favorite Osborne-isms was, I think in 1994, people were still being all pissy about him not winning a national championship yet, and he said something to the effect of, "Yeah, I think if I don't win a national championship, people are actually going to engrave that failure on to my tombstone... I don't really care though, since I'll be dead."

Osborne had a way of flipping people off without them knowing it. Pretty fantastic.

Does Bo owe it to the press to be more respectful? Alot of people will argue either way.

 

But Bo will have to realize, when this team struggles or has a mediocre season, the press will absolutely hammer him. All of these guys will remember how disrespectful he has been with them, and how dry he has been in answering their questions. The press will pounce on the opportunity to stick it to him, when they can do it and get away with it.

If Bo can live with knowing the press will turn on him in an instant when he struggles, then he can do whatever he wants. It's his career, and he is the one who will have to deal with whatever happens.

 

Just wish he would send Carl, Shawn, Barney or anyone else to answer questions on days when he has sand in his vagina. Would do him alot of good and save face a little bit for himself. But that's only my opinion.

 

This makes me hate the press, not Bo. I agree with you though, that is probably what the media will do. That's why the media blows.

 

I just sort of see that as the nature of the beast. It's part of the job, and you gotta be able to deal with it. Media's doing their own job too, and they are people after all. They'll be more inclined to write nice things about people who they respect than people who they don't and who treat them like dirt.

 

Being the HC is more than just taking care of a program at this level; you have to be the face and ambassador of the program.

 

All told though, we all know which one of those two things is more important to us.

 

If the media's reporting becomes informed by their personal opinion of Pelini, then they've compromised their professional responsibility to remain objective. The media as a whole in this country completely blows right now. It's not doing its job. Which is also kind of why this discussion is so stupid. Obama gave a speech about the Iraq war tonight, which I'm sure the entire media (left and right) is now butchering one way or another, and we're discussing whether we think Bo Pelini should be "nicer." God bless America.

 

I don't think sports columnists have any professional responsibility to be objective. They are constantly offering their opinions, projections, predictions, and analyses. For example, when Bo shut down the media, reporters like Shatel wrote up his (asinine, IMO) commentary about it. Things like this.

 

Now, I think media covering something like Obama's speech is another matter, so I won't really get into that. But it's similar in a way, in both cases the media will hang on to every word the President/coach lets out of his mouth and analyze it pointlessly to death, probably overly critically. Only difference is in the case of football, all of those articles are stuff we fans want to consume and can't get enough of since it's news about our program.

If sports columnists begin deliberately attacking coaches and/or players just because they don't like them, then they've crossed the line. They're no longer "journalists" at that point, they're just whiny gossip peddlers. If they criticize a coach's gameplan or playcall, that's one thing. But to start criticizing a coach just because they don't like them isn't journalism.

Speaking of the media ban commentaries that came out, I don't know about Shatel's, but the one Sipple wrote got a pretty vicious backlash. He even blogged about it:

Epilogue to media-ban column

I love the internet.

 

Everyone has an opinion and most of the bad ones are filled with hyperbole and over-dramatization. I mean come on. Does his demeanor really matter? He has the utmost respect of all of his peers, pretty much across the board.

 

Knock it off. We'll all calm down after Saturday. Even Bo will too.

How about YOU knock it off!!!!!

Does Bo owe it to the press to be more respectful? Alot of people will argue either way.

 

But Bo will have to realize, when this team struggles or has a mediocre season, the press will absolutely hammer him. All of these guys will remember how disrespectful he has been with them, and how dry he has been in answering their questions. The press will pounce on the opportunity to stick it to him, when they can do it and get away with it.

If Bo can live with knowing the press will turn on him in an instant when he struggles, then he can do whatever he wants. It's his career, and he is the one who will have to deal with whatever happens.

 

Just wish he would send Carl, Shawn, Barney or anyone else to answer questions on days when he has sand in his vagina. Would do him alot of good and save face a little bit for himself. But that's only my opinion.

 

This makes me hate the press, not Bo. I agree with you though, that is probably what the media will do. That's why the media blows.

 

I just sort of see that as the nature of the beast. It's part of the job, and you gotta be able to deal with it. Media's doing their own job too, and they are people after all. They'll be more inclined to write nice things about people who they respect than people who they don't and who treat them like dirt.

 

Being the HC is more than just taking care of a program at this level; you have to be the face and ambassador of the program.

 

All told though, we all know which one of those two things is more important to us.

If the media's reporting becomes informed by their personal opinion of Pelini, then they've compromised their professional responsibility to remain objective. The media as a whole in this country completely blows right now. It's not doing its job. Which is also kind of why this discussion is so stupid. Obama gave a speech about the Iraq war tonight, which I'm sure the entire media (left and right) is now butchering one way or another, and we're discussing whether we think Bo Pelini should be "nicer." God bless America.

Does Bo owe it to the press to be more respectful? Alot of people will argue either way.

 

But Bo will have to realize, when this team struggles or has a mediocre season, the press will absolutely hammer him. All of these guys will remember how disrespectful he has been with them, and how dry he has been in answering their questions. The press will pounce on the opportunity to stick it to him, when they can do it and get away with it.

If Bo can live with knowing the press will turn on him in an instant when he struggles, then he can do whatever he wants. It's his career, and he is the one who will have to deal with whatever happens.

 

Just wish he would send Carl, Shawn, Barney or anyone else to answer questions on days when he has sand in his vagina. Would do him alot of good and save face a little bit for himself. But that's only my opinion.

This makes me hate the press, not Bo. I agree with you though, that is probably what the media will do. That's why the media blows.

Im really surprised by how most people on this board will allow coaches and players to say and do whatever they please, whenever they please, as long as we win. I'm just curious when our fans took on this attitude because we sure didn't used to have this frame of mind.

what? how is being curt to the media the same as saying and doing whatever he pleases, whenever he pleases, as long as he wins?

 

So those tantrums during the game and constantly chewing out players and dropping f-bombs is alright?

 

It's football.

 

Bo is grooming these young men for the rest of their lives. Talk about setting a good example.

 

See, I can remove part of what you said and make it look like something different, too!

 

Youre upset because I removed the part about Charlie McBride being colorful? Give me a break. Have you ever met Charlie? I have, several times. He is one of the nicest, respectful men I have ever met. He might have chewed out some players or torn them down over the years, but he always built them back up when needed. Everything he did was for a purpose. Bo just seems to chew guys out because he feels like it.

There have already been at least 3 people on this thread talking about how players would run through a wall for Bo, so I'll just refer you to their posts.

Im really surprised by how most people on this board will allow coaches and players to say and do whatever they please, whenever they please, as long as we win. I'm just curious when our fans took on this attitude because we sure didn't used to have this frame of mind.

what? how is being curt to the media the same as saying and doing whatever he pleases, whenever he pleases, as long as he wins?

 

So those tantrums during the game and constantly chewing out players and dropping f-bombs is alright?

 

It's football.

 

Bo is grooming these young men for the rest of their lives. Talk about setting a good example.

See, I can remove part of what you said and make it look like something different, too!

Im really surprised by how most people on this board will allow coaches and players to say and do whatever they please, whenever they please, as long as we win. I'm just curious when our fans took on this attitude because we sure didn't used to have this frame of mind.

 

Other than not saying who the starting QB is, I'm not sure what Bo has done.

 

And its not so much that he hasn't named the starting quarterback. I really dont care much about that. Im just sick of HOW he interacts with the media. His answers to questions are so short and worthless that he might as well not even show up to press conferences, especially after losses.

He could certainly use a coach when it comes to dealing with the media. Get a little charm and disarm going. At the same time, unless the media starts asking better questions, press conferences aren't going to get better.

Case in point: Almost inevitably, the first question for Bo after a loss is, "So, what'd you think of that out there?" Which is BEYOND stupid. After ANY game, there are so many thoughts going through Bo's mind concerning every detail, every facet of execution in the game, that to try to answer a question like that is just not possible.

You've also got to remember that Bo's most important constituency is still his team. He's not going to come out after a game and say, well, if so-and-so had played better, we would've won. He's not going to take a crap on an individual on his team. And since Bo's not a rhetorical wizard, answers are going to be mostly in the form of coach speak. Unless of course, reporters start learning how to frame questions in a way so that Bo could give detailed constructive criticism or positive reinforcement to specific players, even in the press. If somebody asked him something like, "How would you compare Crick's pass rush technique to Suh's pass rush technique? Is Crick just a bull-rusher like Suh? Does he need to develop a greater vocabulary of 'moves' in order to have as great of an impact?" But instead, reporters just ask, "So, what do you think of Crick?"

Im really surprised by how most people on this board will allow coaches and players to say and do whatever they please, whenever they please, as long as we win. I'm just curious when our fans took on this attitude because we sure didn't used to have this frame of mind.

what? how is being curt to the media the same as saying and doing whatever he pleases, whenever he pleases, as long as he wins?

 

So those tantrums during the game and constantly chewing out players and dropping f-bombs is alright?

It's football. Charlie McBride was pretty colorful too, you might recall. Bob Devaney wasn't exactly a saint either.

Im really surprised by how most people on this board will allow coaches and players to say and do whatever they please, whenever they please, as long as we win. I'm just curious when our fans took on this attitude because we sure didn't used to have this frame of mind.

What does this mean? Other than not saying who the starting QB is, I'm not sure what Bo has done. The players haven't said anything offensive either. So, what are you talking about?

I'm gonna agree with the OP. I really think Bo needs to show some class. He is all about being in control and I think it is a little ridiculous. Especially after today's press conference. I'm sick of him saying that there will be continual competition in practice, especially at the quarterback position. (This is a pretty obvious statement. If there wasn't competition then I would be pretty worried.) If Bo wants people to stop asking the same questions over and over then he should start giving some straight answers. Everybody in this state knows that he already knows who will be starting this Saturday. I'm getting very tired with the games that he is playing. Combine this nonsense with his tantrums he throws on the sidelines as well as him always chewing out players and I'm getting sick of it. Show some class Bo and do things the right way.

 

Oh and to the poster who said that Bo's job is not in PR...I really hope that you are joking. If he truly just wants to coach then he needs to go back to either being an assistant coach or go coach high school football. Bo gets paid the big bucks BECAUSE he is more than just a football coach.

This is the other thing that bugs me about this discussion. Bo Pelini doesn't have ANY obligation to tell the media who the starting QB is. It's college football, it's not like he's withholding testimony in a murder trial. Everybody go play some golf or something, take your mind off football for a couple hours, and you'll find out who the starting QB is in just about 3 more days.

Also, on another note, I really hope they run the Wildcat formation on the first play, so that Rex Burkhead is technically the starting QB, just to mess with everyone.

I've been reading this over a couple times and can see a little bit of what he is saying besides the point about Pelini being our coach, I totally disagree w that. However, in our soundbite, highlight world sometimes perception is reality. If people keep seeing Bo flaming out on the sidelines and they show slamming clipboards and f bombs being dropped all over, despite the circumstances, maybe in the long run it could be perceived/reality as the way we as a State and program treat people in general.

But overall I like his tenor and his tone and his sharp edge, especially after the last 'coach'

I agree with what you're saying about "perception." However, I don't think we as fans or as Nebraskans should really care about how other people perceive us. If they think we're the nicest fans they've ever met goshdarnit, well good. If they think we're a bunch of angry jerks, fine. I don't really care what other fans or what the media thinks. As long as Bo is teaching football, and teaching life lessons, holding student-athletes to a high standard on and off the field, I could care less about a fan or journalist from another state who doesn't know anything about our program to begin with coming in and judging us based on a few interviews or highlights.

who would not be annoyed by the media? and the coaches who are affable and get along with the media, they really do not say anything worth note, so from my perspective, he is just more honest. he is not mean, he is curt. it can be hilarious, how he answers the questions. another problem is that they do not want to talk about the same things. either way, it is just a personality thing. i do not think he thinks he is rude or mean, he just is not willing to give them what they want. that being said, i would not want to be a sports writer interviewing him, or maybe i would, i do not know.

This is correct. Mack Brown will schmooze with the media all day, without saying more than Bo does in 2 minutes. If you're hiring a campaign spokesman or a White House press secretary, you want someone more like Mack Brown. Bo Pelini is a football coach - let him coach football. If the media wants him to be more friendly, they should learn more about the game and try to ask Bo in depth questions about the game. Then I'm sure they'd get a more animated and excited Bo in press conferences, and frankly, fans like myself would appreciate it. But the media has spent the last, oh i dunno, 4 months asking who the starting QB is going to be, and the answer has been the same EVERY SINGLE TIME.

Seriously, maybe instead of asking Bo about when he's going to pass out the Blackshirts they should ask him about the role of the Peso player in a particular formation, or about deciding when and how to blitz, or something to that effect. Not just, "Well, I know you're not going to answer this, but I'm going to ask it anyways... who are you going to start at QB?"

Bo has a job to do and so does the media but the media has shown in the past that they will intentionally ask the same questions over and over only to receive the same answer. I'm sorry but at my job I hear the same questions over and over and over from the same people that you just get to a point and you freak out because you can only repeat yourself so much.

 

I don't have a problem with the way Bo talks to the media because at times they deserve this type of "tough love". As long as Bo is putting a good product onto the field and winning games I don't care if we get our questions answered as long as its getting results on the field.

 

 

Sounds fair. But you are right he needs to win. If we lose 4 games this year he will be on the hot seat.

This is stupid.

Osborne said publicly that he laid out clear benchmarks for Callahan to keep his job:

Osborne fires Callahan

 

I know about TO's comments - I read the paper too. I just don't buy that wins and losses are the only reason Callahan was fired, just like I don't buy that Bo still needs to evaluate his QBs because he can't figure out who his starter is.

 

There are things a program will state publicly that are palatable and convey the message that the program wants conveyed. These are not always the sum total of the facts, nor are they always truly factual to the situation.

Osborne never said that wins and losses were the only items being considered. However, winning is the bottom line, and he laid out pretty clear guidelines for how Callahan would keep or lose his job. If Callahan wins enough, then culture/fit/whatever other reasons to fire Callahan there were don't come into play. However, Callahan didn't win enough to even merit considering to bring him back. He'd had two losing seasons, he was gone. Culture/fit didn't matter, he was losing. End of story. If Callahan had won 2 or 3 of his final 4 games, then it's a gray area and Osborne might have delved into all of the other issues surrounding the case, Callahan only won 1, and so it was pretty clear cut.

I think the closest thing to a team motto at Nebraska is "Finish."

And if that motto produces the same results that "Unfinished Business" did in 1994, I'm more than ok with it.

I still find interesting to this date that TO handpicked Solich as his replacement. Ironically, TO is now our AD who would make the decision of hirings and firings. The second thing that I still find interesting is the fact that TO even stated he met with Clownahan and his staff when he was brought in as the interim AD. At that time, he told them his expectations which all came down to wins and losses. According to TO, Clownahan would still be our coach had he won the amount of games TO outlined for him. In all reality, Bo was TO's second choice for coach. It's somewhat likely that Bo wouldn't even be coaching in the college ranks if it weren't for Solich. It's funny how things come full circle sometimes.

 

The full circle part of this is odd/weird/ironic. I didn't know that Bo was TO's second choice. Who was his first? Kelly?

 

I don't know why TO picked Solich. Frank is a Husker to the core, always will be, but he never seemed like the right guy. It's too bad he ever got put into the position of being the Head Coach, because that was the decision that eventually led to his ouster from the program, and a "Husker Guy" like Solich shouldn't have been put in a position where he had to get fired like that. But the reality is that it wasn't working, for a lot of reasons, and Pederson was most definitely not willing to let it go until Frank figured it all out - if Frank figured it all out.

 

I wonder about that Callahan stuff. I know next to nothing about his regime, or TO's actual factual reasons for letting him go, but it seems like the wins/losses thing was an excuse. I can't imagine Tom came in, saw the condition the program was in, and had any real thoughts of keeping Callahan on past 2007 regardless of wins/losses. It's convenient that Callahan lost the way he did, from a PR standpoint, but I have to figure he would have been gone no matter what. Callahan was just never a Husker Guy, not in any sense of the phrase. Frank was, but wasn't "Head Coach at Nebraska" material. Turner is, but I'm not sure he's "HC@N" material right now.

 

I suppose I'm happy with Bo as HC right now, but all things considered, I'd rather not have gone through the Callahan Era to get here. Two mediocre seasons and two extremely embarrassing seasons just aren't worth this, nor is the end of the bowl streak, or any of the records we gave up.

Osborne said publicly that he laid out clear benchmarks for Callahan to keep his job:

Osborne fires Callahan

Here's what I really believe is the REAL reason Solich got fired:

We got spoiled. The state of Nebraska, the fans, got spoiled rotten. Osborne finished his last 5 years going 60-3, winning 3 national championships, and was ever so close to winning 5. We were used to not only winning, but winning BIG. Certainly, nobody could remember the last time we had been blown out, even though Nebraska had been blown out a number of times under Osborne. So when we went a whole 6 seasons (gasp!) without winning a national championship, obviously the coaches were to blame. Never mind it took Tom Osborne 22 years to win his first championship. Once Bob Stoops came around to OU and won it in his second year, everyone started expecting the same kind of results.

Essentially, Solich got fired because he followed Osborne. Pelini is still here because he followed Callahan.

And for those of you who are saying that Solich's last team wouldn't have won 9 games without Pelini's defense, I have a few things to say to you. First of all, SOLICH brought in Pelini to fix the defense, which had collapsed the year before under Craig Bohl, leading to a 7-7 season. Part of the job of the head coach is to put together a staff that can win games, so to just say that Pelini deserves all the credit for the 2003 season is ridiculous. Also, Pelini's defense was decent that year, but not otherworldly like his 2009 defense (which also only won 9 games in the regular season, by the way). If my memory serves me correctly, Pelini's 2003 defense gave up 35 points or more to Texas, Missouri, and Kansas State in blowout losses.

Anyways, unless you're also willing to blame Pelini and not Watson for every offensive problem we had last year, stop blaming Solich for the defensive letdowns we had in the last few years of his coaching career. If Pelini had stayed on as defensive coordinator after 2003 and been given the time to turn around the defense like he has the past few years, Solich and Nebraska would have a couple of championship rings to show for it.

The reason Frank Solich was fired was because he took a few too many years before firing Craig Bohl.

Solich wasn't the offensive genius that Osborne was. But it was the defense that crashed after Charlie McBride left which led to Solich's demise.

scott van pelt mentioned it on his radio show. i only caught the last tail end, like the last 20 words on it. he said he met SUH and had a good impression of him, but that play was out of bounds and he thought the nfl would look into it. did anyone catch the full segment or discussion.

 

edit: jim rome is about to talk about it on jrib.

Rome also said on his TV show that Suh was a great guy off the field, and a nasty guy on the field. He says he needs to dial it down a notch, but also conceded that he thought the hit was kind of awesome.

66-14

Hard not to run up the score when your 3rd string QB is also competing for the starter spot. Also, the Blackshirts give up a couple TD's before adjusting to Western Kentucky's new coaching staff.

Here's his highlights from Saturdays game I uploaded.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFjIG9Lawh8

Your sig is so big (file/rendering-wise) that it will cause the video to chunk. I have to minimize the browser so I don't have so many of your posts visable. I have the same issue when Nexus posts

 

 

I had to turn off the signatures at work cuz the lag was making me craaaazzy.

 

By the way, nice vid epocSoN

Me too.