ColoradoHusk

Wait.... Haven't you proclaimed that this staff will never be successful here? No, I've never said that, but I have my doubts that they will ever win a championship with their current system and definitely have doubts that they will ever get back to a consistent level of .700+ seasons. But it's not necessarily inevitable. They could hire a new OC for example. Or there could be a rush of elitely talented players born in Nebraska around 1998. All sorts of variables out there. OK....understand. In your first post, you implied that if we would have stayed the course with the old staff, the blow outs were not inevitable to continue. In this post, you imply that changes in the staff very well could be needed to reach the success we want. Now, I could have you mixed up with someone else so correct me if I'm wrong. But, aren't you one that has said you don't like this staff because they have always been a pass happy offensive staff and coaches don't change over night what they like and understand to do? cm can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe his personal belief is that the style of offense these coaches want to run, and relied on at times this year, is not a recipe for sustained success at Nebraska. Yes....That is how I understand his stance. However, what happens if POB is as good as advertised (or we get Gebia next year and he is)and we get 3-4 really good receivers this year and next (to add to what we already have)? What if our line keeps improving in pass pro? All of those things are possible. THEN, a more passing offense could work here. This is what bothers me about Riley's offense. The team requires SO MANY good/great players at all these spots that it makes recruiting and player development the biggest thing to make the offense work. Your basically saying "we need 11 great players to be great on offense". Is that realistic? Again, the power running game of Tom Osborne and the high degree of discipline and execution option football required were probably more complicated and talent reliant than most offenses run today. You are talking about different type of talent. The power running game of TO required o-linemen who could work as a unit and focus on run-blocking, which is generally easier than pass blocking. When I think run-blocking, it's being more physical dominant than the guy across from you. They don't require o-linemen to be tall with long arms and good feet which pass blocking requires. I'm not saying the run blocking doesn't require good footwork, but it's a different type of footwork. The running back is an important position in order to gain consistent yardage and break big plays. The QB position really needs to be smart with the football, and make quick decisions in the play-action passing game. Other than that, the WR position relies more on having more space to get open because there are fewer defender in pass coverage. The WR position needs to be a solid blocker and good hands, but not necessarily burner speed. The tight end position is a luxury. When there is a great tight end, that can cover up for lack of talent at WR. Which is much much much much harder to consistently do now days when every program has a weight and nutrition program like we had back in the day. I agree with that point, NU doesn't have a huge advantage in S&C anymore. I just don't think it's the easiest thing to do by saying "we are going to bring in a QB who can sling it around to 4 stud WR's" and NU is going to be unstoppable. You're basing this on the belief that we can't get a QB that can pass the ball really well and WRs to catch those balls. Well. Right now we have arguably the best WR crew in the conference. I would even say they may be top 10 in the nation. This is while having QBs who aren't the best at passing. We have a QB starting school on Monday that (at least in HS) has shown he can throw the ball pretty dang well. We have a group of WRs (with one having a dang good pedigree) coming to visit the end of January and they are VERY interested in us because of our coaching staff. It's been said that possibly the best WR in the group has us as a strong favorite. The QB from that same group is at least interested in us enough that he is visiting and great friends with all these others. We have a 4* safety committed to us from this same school and he is good friends with this group. He'll sign the papers next month. Now...is it smart to just throw up our hands and proclaim..."This will never work here" when this staff has done this kind of work on the recruiting trail? Oh...and BTW.....I think we have one of the best (if not the best) WR coach in the country. I like what Riley and his staff are doing in recruiting QB's and WR's. They appear to be doing very well. It will be interesting to see if they close on all these stud guys and get them to come to Lincoln. I also liked what Riley and Langsdorf did with the bowl game. It will be interesting to see if Riley continues to stick with the running game or if it's just lip service. There are going to be games each season where the conditions don't allow for a strong passing day, and NU will need to be able to commit to running the ball and be successful doing so. It didn't happen this past season.

You mean what about the most embarrassing loss in the last 50 years? I'd say it was bad. I think people will forget it pretty quickly, which is a shame - although that isn't to say that I'm looking forward to remembering all about it myself. There isn't enough lipstick in the world to prettify that pig. It was an awful, awful game inside a pretty forgettable season. And since it was all so forgettable, and since that loss was just one amongst several crap games, I'm guessing it gets glossed over as time goes on. That game sucked big ol donkey turds. But, why is it a shame if people forget it? If this is the bottom for the program and they go up from here...Great.....why dwell on the Purdue game? If this isn't the bottom, there will be more losses and the staff will be gone. Why do I specifically need to remember the Purdue game? For me, the Illinois and Purdue games are examples of the coaching staff severely mismanaging a game plan and the talent on the roster. Armstrong shouldn't have been passing 40 times against Illinois, and Fyfe shouldn't have been asked to win the game passing against Purdue. I understand it was the coaching staff's first season with the team, and it took time for them to gain an understanding of the roster and their talents. However, the glaring things about the Illinois and Purdue losses show is that those types of losses are consistent with Riley's history at Oregon State. Riley was always losing to teams that frankly they shouldn't have lost to. Until proven otherwise, I will always think that Riley will have a "turd in the punch bowl" kind of loss each season. These losses are what make a 11-1 or 10-2 conference championship contending team into 8-4 or 9-3 also-rans. Fine.... But, why do I specifically need to remember the Purdue game? If we get into year three and we realize this is systemic problem with this staff, there will be many more examples to the problem and a change will probably be made. I'm still not following why specifically it's a shame if I forget about the Purdue game and move on. Go ahead and forget the Purdue game. I am sure I will forget about it after a couple more years and a few more mind-blowing losses. However, with the first year of Riley, the Purdue (and other losses) are glaring examples of why people were concerned about Riley when he was hired, and why people have a lot of concern whether NU will be back in championship form under Riley and his staff. Look, I want NU to be great and I want NU to win championships. I wanted this with Osborne, Solich, Callahan, Pelini, and now Riley. I will gladly eat crow if Riley wins a conference championship at NU. I just don't see it happening.

Wait.... Haven't you proclaimed that this staff will never be successful here? No, I've never said that, but I have my doubts that they will ever win a championship with their current system and definitely have doubts that they will ever get back to a consistent level of .700+ seasons. But it's not necessarily inevitable. They could hire a new OC for example. Or there could be a rush of elitely talented players born in Nebraska around 1998. All sorts of variables out there. OK....understand. In your first post, you implied that if we would have stayed the course with the old staff, the blow outs were not inevitable to continue. In this post, you imply that changes in the staff very well could be needed to reach the success we want. Now, I could have you mixed up with someone else so correct me if I'm wrong. But, aren't you one that has said you don't like this staff because they have always been a pass happy offensive staff and coaches don't change over night what they like and understand to do? cm can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe his personal belief is that the style of offense these coaches want to run, and relied on at times this year, is not a recipe for sustained success at Nebraska. Yes....That is how I understand his stance. However, what happens if POB is as good as advertised (or we get Gebia next year and he is)and we get 3-4 really good receivers this year and next (to add to what we already have)? What if our line keeps improving in pass pro? All of those things are possible. THEN, a more passing offense could work here. This is what bothers me about Riley's offense. The team requires SO MANY good/great players at all these spots that it makes recruiting and player development the biggest thing to make the offense work. Your basically saying "we need 11 great players to be great on offense". Is that realistic? Again, the power running game of Tom Osborne and the high degree of discipline and execution option football required were probably more complicated and talent reliant than most offenses run today. You are talking about different type of talent. The power running game of TO required o-linemen who could work as a unit and focus on run-blocking, which is generally easier than pass blocking. When I think run-blocking, it's being more physical dominant than the guy across from you. They don't require o-linemen to be tall with long arms and good feet which pass blocking requires. I'm not saying the run blocking doesn't require good footwork, but it's a different type of footwork. The running back is an important position in order to gain consistent yardage and break big plays. The QB position really needs to be smart with the football, and make quick decisions in the play-action passing game. Other than that, the WR position relies more on having more space to get open because there are fewer defender in pass coverage. The WR position needs to be a solid blocker and good hands, but not necessarily burner speed. The tight end position is a luxury. When there is a great tight end, that can cover up for lack of talent at WR. Which is much much much much harder to consistently do now days when every program has a weight and nutrition program like we had back in the day. I agree with that point, NU doesn't have a huge advantage in S&C anymore. I just don't think it's the easiest thing to do by saying "we are going to bring in a QB who can sling it around to 4 stud WR's" and NU is going to be unstoppable.

You mean what about the most embarrassing loss in the last 50 years? I'd say it was bad. I think people will forget it pretty quickly, which is a shame - although that isn't to say that I'm looking forward to remembering all about it myself. There isn't enough lipstick in the world to prettify that pig. It was an awful, awful game inside a pretty forgettable season. And since it was all so forgettable, and since that loss was just one amongst several crap games, I'm guessing it gets glossed over as time goes on. That game sucked big ol donkey turds. But, why is it a shame if people forget it? If this is the bottom for the program and they go up from here...Great.....why dwell on the Purdue game? If this isn't the bottom, there will be more losses and the staff will be gone. Why do I specifically need to remember the Purdue game? For me, the Illinois and Purdue games are examples of the coaching staff severely mismanaging a game plan and the talent on the roster. Armstrong shouldn't have been passing 40 times against Illinois, and Fyfe shouldn't have been asked to win the game passing against Purdue. I understand it was the coaching staff's first season with the team, and it took time for them to gain an understanding of the roster and their talents. However, the glaring things about the Illinois and Purdue losses show is that those types of losses are consistent with Riley's history at Oregon State. Riley was always losing to teams that frankly they shouldn't have lost to. Until proven otherwise, I will always think that Riley will have a "turd in the punch bowl" kind of loss each season. These losses are what make a 11-1 or 10-2 conference championship contending team into 8-4 or 9-3 also-rans.

Wait.... Haven't you proclaimed that this staff will never be successful here? No, I've never said that, but I have my doubts that they will ever win a championship with their current system and definitely have doubts that they will ever get back to a consistent level of .700+ seasons. But it's not necessarily inevitable. They could hire a new OC for example. Or there could be a rush of elitely talented players born in Nebraska around 1998. All sorts of variables out there. OK....understand. In your first post, you implied that if we would have stayed the course with the old staff, the blow outs were not inevitable to continue. In this post, you imply that changes in the staff very well could be needed to reach the success we want. Now, I could have you mixed up with someone else so correct me if I'm wrong. But, aren't you one that has said you don't like this staff because they have always been a pass happy offensive staff and coaches don't change over night what they like and understand to do? cm can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe his personal belief is that the style of offense these coaches want to run, and relied on at times this year, is not a recipe for sustained success at Nebraska. Yes....That is how I understand his stance. However, what happens if POB is as good as advertised (or we get Gebia next year and he is)and we get 3-4 really good receivers this year and next (to add to what we already have)? What if our line keeps improving in pass pro? All of those things are possible. THEN, a more passing offense could work here. This is what bothers me about Riley's offense. The team requires SO MANY good/great players at all these spots that it makes recruiting and player development the biggest thing to make the offense work. Your basically saying "we need 11 great players to be great on offense". Is that realistic? Again, the power running game of Tom Osborne and the high degree of discipline and execution option football required were probably more complicated and talent reliant than most offenses run today. You are talking about different type of talent. The power running game of TO required o-linemen who could work as a unit and focus on run-blocking, which is generally easier than pass blocking. When I think run-blocking, it's being more physical dominant than the guy across from you. They don't require o-linemen to be tall with long arms and good feet which pass blocking requires. I'm not saying the run blocking doesn't require good footwork, but it's a different type of footwork. The running back is an important position in order to gain consistent yardage and break big plays. The QB position really needs to be smart with the football, and make quick decisions in the play-action passing game. Other than that, the WR position relies more on having more space to get open because there are fewer defender in pass coverage. The WR position needs to be a solid blocker and good hands, but not necessarily burner speed. The tight end position is a luxury. When there is a great tight end, that can cover up for lack of talent at WR.

BRB, I'm not saying you don't need great athletes and players to be great. However, in order to run a successful pro-style, WCO style offense that focuses on the pass, it is more difficult to do so because of the amount of sheer talent that is needed to make it work consistently. Basically, you need a great passing QB, great WR's to get open, great o-linemen to block consistently, etc. If there are deficiencies in any of these positions, the offense is going to struggle. That type of recruiting is more difficult, especially where Nebraska is in the geography of the country.

Wait.... Haven't you proclaimed that this staff will never be successful here? No, I've never said that, but I have my doubts that they will ever win a championship with their current system and definitely have doubts that they will ever get back to a consistent level of .700+ seasons. But it's not necessarily inevitable. They could hire a new OC for example. Or there could be a rush of elitely talented players born in Nebraska around 1998. All sorts of variables out there. OK....understand. In your first post, you implied that if we would have stayed the course with the old staff, the blow outs were not inevitable to continue. In this post, you imply that changes in the staff very well could be needed to reach the success we want. Now, I could have you mixed up with someone else so correct me if I'm wrong. But, aren't you one that has said you don't like this staff because they have always been a pass happy offensive staff and coaches don't change over night what they like and understand to do? cm can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe his personal belief is that the style of offense these coaches want to run, and relied on at times this year, is not a recipe for sustained success at Nebraska. Yes....That is how I understand his stance. However, what happens if POB is as good as advertised (or we get Gebia next year and he is)and we get 3-4 really good receivers this year and next (to add to what we already have)? What if our line keeps improving in pass pro? All of those things are possible. THEN, a more passing offense could work here. This is what bothers me about Riley's offense. The team requires SO MANY good/great players at all these spots that it makes recruiting and player development the biggest thing to make the offense work. Your basically saying "we need 11 great players to be great on offense". Is that realistic?

That's a good point. The hard part is going to be recruiting better talent, learning how to use the current and future talent, and frankly being better at winning games than they were at Oregon State.

Ameer and Gregory are difference makers that the '14 team had, that the '15 team didn't. NU '14 team wins.

I just don't get the thought of "well, at least they were all close losses." I agree that blowout losses to Wisconsin, Ohio State, and other games under Bo were embarrassing. But, going 5-7 this year was embarrassing. Having the BYU Hail Mary replayed on every sports channel numerous times was embarrassing. Losing to Illinois on one of the stupidest coach/player decision I have ever seen was embarrassing. Getting torched by Purdue for over 50 points was embarrassing. I'm not saying I want Bo back, or those were successful seasons. IMO, any time NU doesn't win their Big Ten division, the season was not successful. Other than that, I am a pretty black-and-white guy. A win is a win, and a loss is a loss. To me, a 9 win season is more successful than a 6 win season regardless of the specific outcomes. If anything, having a bunch of close losses gives me more concern about the coaching staff, because there could have been a few coaching mistakes/decisions in each game that led to those losses.

The object of the game is to win the game, not stay within 10 points.

7 losses, no matter how close is a colossal failure. Yes, the blowout losses sucked, but I would rather have the 9 other wins in those seasons. Also, in 2014, there's was only 1 woodshed beating.

Transfers happen for all kinds of reasons. I don't get upset with the player making the decision to leave. Situations change all the time. Many of these players commit when they are 16-17 year old kids. They could end up being a lot different people at 20-21 years old.

At this point, I think a graduate transfer would have been announced so he could be enrolled in his new school by next week. Now, there is still the possibility of VV going through spring practice and then transferring this summer, but I don't know if that's possible because he would have had started graduate classes at UNL.

6-7 vs. 9-4 Nobody should be happy or satisfied by being on a losing team. I don't know if Valentine is unhappy with his coach, and if he is, why, but lack of success always breeds discontent and "woulda, shoulda, coulda" talk and thinking. Anyhow, Valentine has a degree in his back pocket, what is left for him here at Nebraska? (from his perspective, not that of a Nebraska fan) This!!! Valentine can go pro, prove his worth and get a nice, fat contract in 3-4 years. What is left for him to do at NU? Play and risk another injury on a 8-4 or 9-3 team that doesn't do anything meaningful? He has an opportunity to train for free and improve his draft stock. That might be worth something. Improving a draft stock doesn't mean too much any more with the current rookie contracts. His training might be free, but it would be part-time. He would be able to focus on training full-time and team interview for the next 4 months. I don't know about that. Abdullah, as a second round pick, signed for about $1 million per season. An undrafted FA gets $435,000. That's a big jump. To me and you that's a big jump. But, in terms of NFL salaries, if you aren't a first round pick, it's all pretty much the same. Really??? for a kid coming out of college $565,000 is no big deal? Especially is he is a late round or FA, the chances of him having a long career are drastically reduced. Yes, he could catch on and have a great career. But, the later you go, the less likely that is. If he is being told $565,000 is no big deal....wow...... It's all relative. Here is what VV is probably thinking. Come out for the draft this year, get a 3-4 year deal worth $700-800K per year. Make a good living, and bust his ass to do well in his first few years. After the rookie contract is done, sign a better contract for multi-million dollars with guaranteed $, and get a nice signing bonus. Or he could come back to NU when he doesn't need the education, with a coaching staff that he doesn't see eye to eye on, and he could tear up a knee and there is no NFL future. Look, it would be great if VV came back, but I don't get the thinking that it's a "no-brainer" to come back to NU for his final year of eligibility. People go to college to get a degree and get a job. VV has his degree, and could get one of the best paying jobs in the country in a few short months.

6-7 vs. 9-4 Nobody should be happy or satisfied by being on a losing team. I don't know if Valentine is unhappy with his coach, and if he is, why, but lack of success always breeds discontent and "woulda, shoulda, coulda" talk and thinking. Anyhow, Valentine has a degree in his back pocket, what is left for him here at Nebraska? (from his perspective, not that of a Nebraska fan) This!!! Valentine can go pro, prove his worth and get a nice, fat contract in 3-4 years. What is left for him to do at NU? Play and risk another injury on a 8-4 or 9-3 team that doesn't do anything meaningful? He has an opportunity to train for free and improve his draft stock. That might be worth something. Improving a draft stock doesn't mean too much any more with the current rookie contracts. His training might be free, but it would be part-time. He would be able to focus on training full-time and team interview for the next 4 months. I don't know about that. Abdullah, as a second round pick, signed for about $1 million per season. An undrafted FA gets $435,000. That's a big jump. To me and you that's a big jump. But, in terms of NFL salaries, if you aren't a first round pick, it's all pretty much the same.

6-7 vs. 9-4 Nobody should be happy or satisfied by being on a losing team. I don't know if Valentine is unhappy with his coach, and if he is, why, but lack of success always breeds discontent and "woulda, shoulda, coulda" talk and thinking. Anyhow, Valentine has a degree in his back pocket, what is left for him here at Nebraska? (from his perspective, not that of a Nebraska fan) This!!! Valentine can go pro, prove his worth and get a nice, fat contract in 3-4 years. What is left for him to do at NU? Play and risk another injury on a 8-4 or 9-3 team that doesn't do anything meaningful? He has an opportunity to train for free and improve his draft stock. That might be worth something. Improving a draft stock doesn't mean too much any more with the current rookie contracts. His training might be free, but it would be part-time. He would be able to focus on training full-time and team interview for the next 4 months.

I think both Hackenburg and Franklin are ready for their relationship to end.

6-7 vs. 9-4 Nobody should be happy or satisfied by being on a losing team. I don't know if Valentine is unhappy with his coach, and if he is, why, but lack of success always breeds discontent and "woulda, shoulda, coulda" talk and thinking. Anyhow, Valentine has a degree in his back pocket, what is left for him here at Nebraska? (from his perspective, not that of a Nebraska fan) This!!! Valentine can go pro, prove his worth and get a nice, fat contract in 3-4 years. What is left for him to do at NU? Play and risk another injury on a 8-4 or 9-3 team that doesn't do anything meaningful?

I'm surprised he didn't get a big offer for 5-6 years, but maybe the market dried up a bit. I am very happy that he is back in Royal blue. He will be part of the Royals family forever and will probably end up in the Royals HOF.

No problem. I'm not aggravated. I think the Royals approached the Gordon re-signed fairly smart. I have been a Royals fan for 30+ years. Gordon being a former Husker and a lifetime Royal is great, but he's not the reason I support the Royals.

I'm thrilled that it's done, but I don't know why you think it took too long for the Royals to sign Gordon. KC was smart to play the negotiating game, let Gordon see what other offers were out there, and frankly I think KC got a very good deal with this. $18M a year if a hefty price tag, but they didn't have to go over 4 years to sign him. Anything longer than 4 years would have been a bad deal, and that contract would have been an albatross in years 5 or 6.

He may not me the pure running threat that JT Barrett is, but Allen is plenty mobile enough to run a spread-option type of offense.

I think that is all it was, I don't think it was a buy-in thing The whole "buy-in" thing was overblown by a guy who got booted from this board recently. It was worth bringing Stevenson in, it just wasn't a good fit for him or the NU coaching staff. He may end up being successful at another school.