espn's ivan maisel lists the top 10 worst coaches

[skrsOVRsc]

FS was a good coach who got saddled with a staff that was past its prime and not his own because TO said so. After he went 7-7 and fired that staff, he put together a great staff (minus Barney Cotton) that could make up for what he sucked at...recruiting. Thats what good coaches do, they hire people to do jobs that they are not good at. Unfortunately he waited to long to make changes to the staff out of respect for TO (not a position I want to be in) until someone had a "reason" to fire him for it. I never liked FS because he is a weak leader. I'm glad he is having success at Ohio but I'm glad its at Ohio. Is BC the answer? Idon't know, but I think so. The transition has been monumental, and there is measurable progress every year and until that changes, he is a good choach too. Patience is the order of the day. GBR.

[DJR313]

Everyone is saying how we are so much more talented, but we have had no all-americans since Callahan has come to Nebraska. I am not saying he is a bad coach but I think a lot of husker fans get too excited and think too much of what he has done.

Aren’t most All-Americans either seniors or juniors? Often with a redshirt year behind them? Callahan recruited the 2005 and 2006 classes. (BC was there about one month before the 2004 class, and the 2007 class has not played yet.) How could BC have any All-Americans at this point?

 

Are you implying that Callahan’s recruiting efforts are not any better than Frank the Tanks?

 

 

I think what he was implying is that even with Callahan's great recruiting efforts, he's managed to produce less wins or should I say more losses than Frank. The number that stuck in my mind was the #2 with Dennis Franchione. Think about it. If we have another less than stellar year this year, BC all of a sudden is very comparable to Franchione. I'm not going to dig all the info up again, but in Frank's first 3 years as HC he had fewer players (TO's recruits) get drafted in the first 3 rounds of the NFL than BC had in his first 3 years as HC with Frank's recruits. Frank being handed a NC team is laughable at best. Even the great TO would have had difficulty doing any better in 1998 than Frank did. BC is entering year number 4, and we still haven't had a taste of the team being run by a BC recruited QB. Taylor was a bandaid, and let's face it Keller is also. Keller may be a great QB and all that, but he's still a bandaid. He has just one year here to get it done before he runs out of eligibility. In the very early Rivals recruiting ranking, NU is ranked 4th in the Big 12 behind OU, Texas, and A&M. If recruiting is all that it takes to win games, we'll be lucky to finish 3rd every year in the Big 12!

 

IMO, BC gets too much credit for his recruiting ability especially here in Nebraska and he doesn't get enough credit nationally with coaching ability. It's just like a basketball coach going to a new team loaded with forwards and centers expecting to push the ball harder and shoot more 3's. It's going to take a while to get the players to do this. BC probably isn't getting enough credit for changing from a power option running attack to a more pass balanced WCO. That being said, I think most dissatisfaction stems from blowout losses to the likes of Texas Tech and Kansas where we had the athletes to make the games a lot more competitive if only BC wouldn't have been so stubborn with the pass. Then you run into the games like USC last year where BC tries to play the conservative route and not get blown out to be criticized for not letting his players give it their all and at least try to win the game.

 

There are 3 games that stick out in my mind as I was wondering . The first one being the Texas Tech game. When the opposing team is up 30-40 points, just try to get the game over with instead of sending a wide-eyed freshmen in there to keep throwing up lame ducks to the opposing team. The OU game where we lost 30 to 3 I believe. If you're gonna promise this balanced passing running attack, try it. Last year against USC had me in awe as well. I think Pud has to should some of the blame also as he promised we wouldn't slip into mediocracy and promised we wouldn't surrender the Big 12 to Texas and OU. Cut the writer some slack, he's just looking from the outside in. From the outside in, it does appear that BC is a bad coach.

 

You made an awful lot of interesting points there, junior, a couple of which I agree with.

 

I too felt a lot of dissatisfaction over the blowout loses to KU two years ago and to Texas Tech three years ago. But you can’t pin these losses solely on BC being stubborn with the pass. In 2004 against Texas Tech we had a depth chart that was full of holes. Look at our QBs and WRs—look at the CB across the field from Fabian. And lots of the guys we now know as great players were only sophomores and freshmen in that game. We just didn’t have the horses back then, plain and simple. In 2005 our depth chart was starting to look better, but we still had a long ways to go. But all that is in the past now.

 

As for talent, riddle me this: Where would we be today with Frank Solich at the helm? One thing about Frank, you don’t need a calculator to figure out the average number of stars his recruits have. (Frank had a whole class of two star recruits in 2007—all 23 recruits had 2*) Rivals I guess you could say Frank dropped a DEUCE recruiting class on Ohio’s depth chart last year.

 

 

Okay, I'll try to answer your riddle. Frank was Big 12 coach of the year either two or three times in his 6 years at NU. In his first two years in the Mac, he's been the conference coach of the year once. In 2004, we probably wouldn't have had a great year but we would have went bowling. No way do we get blown out by TT like we did especially with Pelini running the D. No way to we get embarrassed by KU like we did again with Pelini running the D. In 06, yes we would have lost to USC and to Texas. But, we would have won the OSU game. I'm not saying we'd be in the title hunt even though I think we could have played in the Big 12 title game 2 of the 3 years, but we would have a solid ranked team. Frank was not a great recruiter. I don't think we need to debate this. However, he was a good coach. Being the conference coach of the year, you have to be elected and voted on by your coaching peers. About 50% of the time as HC, Solich has been his conference coach of the year. This tells me that he is regarded by his peers and is a pretty good coach.

 

 

I agree with a lot of what you said, but I disagree to an extent here. Gary Barnett was also Big 12 coach of the year. Yes, Gary Freakin Barnett. I think it is impossible to tell what the Huskers would have had in 04 with Solich at the healm. If Daley didn't make such poor decisions, that team would have been 7-4 at the worst. Coulda, woulda, shoulda, it really doesn't amount to a pinch of sh#t in the end. I think it is unfair to say that about that team, and not say anything about the 02 squad and the horrible coaching there. That team pissed away games against ISU, OSU, KSU, UT, CU and the bowl game. You could even throw Penn St in there, because the game was really close at the half. Solich is at Ohio and I wish him well, but he is gone now. He is a good coach, and should continue to have marginal success at Ohio. I am interested to see how Callahan gets everything rolling here. Every year for the past 3 years, its picking up momentum. It took TO 6 years to beat OU, Callahan just needs to find his groove and then I think people may look back at this time of questioning and laugh about it.

[Necava Husker]

Everyone is saying how we are so much more talented, but we have had no all-americans since Callahan has come to Nebraska. I am not saying he is a bad coach but I think a lot of husker fans get too excited and think too much of what he has done.

Aren’t most All-Americans either seniors or juniors? Often with a redshirt year behind them? Callahan recruited the 2005 and 2006 classes. (BC was there about one month before the 2004 class, and the 2007 class has not played yet.) How could BC have any All-Americans at this point?

 

Are you implying that Callahan’s recruiting efforts are not any better than Frank the Tanks?

 

 

I think what he was implying is that even with Callahan's great recruiting efforts, he's managed to produce less wins or should I say more losses than Frank. The number that stuck in my mind was the #2 with Dennis Franchione. Think about it. If we have another less than stellar year this year, BC all of a sudden is very comparable to Franchione. I'm not going to dig all the info up again, but in Frank's first 3 years as HC he had fewer players (TO's recruits) get drafted in the first 3 rounds of the NFL than BC had in his first 3 years as HC with Frank's recruits. Frank being handed a NC team is laughable at best. Even the great TO would have had difficulty doing any better in 1998 than Frank did. BC is entering year number 4, and we still haven't had a taste of the team being run by a BC recruited QB. Taylor was a bandaid, and let's face it Keller is also. Keller may be a great QB and all that, but he's still a bandaid. He has just one year here to get it done before he runs out of eligibility. In the very early Rivals recruiting ranking, NU is ranked 4th in the Big 12 behind OU, Texas, and A&M. If recruiting is all that it takes to win games, we'll be lucky to finish 3rd every year in the Big 12!

 

IMO, BC gets too much credit for his recruiting ability especially here in Nebraska and he doesn't get enough credit nationally with coaching ability. It's just like a basketball coach going to a new team loaded with forwards and centers expecting to push the ball harder and shoot more 3's. It's going to take a while to get the players to do this. BC probably isn't getting enough credit for changing from a power option running attack to a more pass balanced WCO. That being said, I think most dissatisfaction stems from blowout losses to the likes of Texas Tech and Kansas where we had the athletes to make the games a lot more competitive if only BC wouldn't have been so stubborn with the pass. Then you run into the games like USC last year where BC tries to play the conservative route and not get blown out to be criticized for not letting his players give it their all and at least try to win the game.

 

There are 3 games that stick out in my mind as I was wondering . The first one being the Texas Tech game. When the opposing team is up 30-40 points, just try to get the game over with instead of sending a wide-eyed freshmen in there to keep throwing up lame ducks to the opposing team. The OU game where we lost 30 to 3 I believe. If you're gonna promise this balanced passing running attack, try it. Last year against USC had me in awe as well. I think Pud has to should some of the blame also as he promised we wouldn't slip into mediocracy and promised we wouldn't surrender the Big 12 to Texas and OU. Cut the writer some slack, he's just looking from the outside in. From the outside in, it does appear that BC is a bad coach.

 

You made an awful lot of interesting points there, junior, a couple of which I agree with.

 

I too felt a lot of dissatisfaction over the blowout loses to KU two years ago and to Texas Tech three years ago. But you can’t pin these losses solely on BC being stubborn with the pass. In 2004 against Texas Tech we had a depth chart that was full of holes. Look at our QBs and WRs—look at the CB across the field from Fabian. And lots of the guys we now know as great players were only sophomores and freshmen in that game. We just didn’t have the horses back then, plain and simple. In 2005 our depth chart was starting to look better, but we still had a long ways to go. But all that is in the past now.

 

As for talent, riddle me this: Where would we be today with Frank Solich at the helm? One thing about Frank, you don’t need a calculator to figure out the average number of stars his recruits have. (Frank had a whole class of two star recruits in 2007—all 23 recruits had 2*) Rivals I guess you could say Frank dropped a DEUCE recruiting class on Ohio’s depth chart last year.

 

 

Okay, I'll try to answer your riddle. Frank was Big 12 coach of the year either two or three times in his 6 years at NU. In his first two years in the Mac, he's been the conference coach of the year once. In 2004, we probably wouldn't have had a great year but we would have went bowling. No way do we get blown out by TT like we did especially with Pelini running the D. No way to we get embarrassed by KU like we did again with Pelini running the D. In 06, yes we would have lost to USC and to Texas. But, we would have won the OSU game. I'm not saying we'd be in the title hunt even though I think we could have played in the Big 12 title game 2 of the 3 years, but we would have a solid ranked team. Frank was not a great recruiter. I don't think we need to debate this. However, he was a good coach. Being the conference coach of the year, you have to be elected and voted on by your coaching peers. About 50% of the time as HC, Solich has been his conference coach of the year. This tells me that he is regarded by his peers and is a pretty good coach.

 

 

I agree with a lot of what you said, but I disagree to an extent here. Gary Barnett was also Big 12 coach of the year. Yes, Gary Freakin Barnett. I think it is impossible to tell what the Huskers would have had in 04 with Solich at the healm. If Daley didn't make such poor decisions, that team would have been 7-4 at the worst. Coulda, woulda, shoulda, it really doesn't amount to a pinch of sh#t in the end. I think it is unfair to say that about that team, and not say anything about the 02 squad and the horrible coaching there. That team pissed away games against ISU, OSU, KSU, UT, CU and the bowl game. You could even throw Penn St in there, because the game was really close at the half. Solich is at Ohio and I wish him well, but he is gone now. He is a good coach, and should continue to have marginal success at Ohio. I am interested to see how Callahan gets everything rolling here. Every year for the past 3 years, its picking up momentum. It took TO 6 years to beat OU, Callahan just needs to find his groove and then I think people may look back at this time of questioning and laugh about it.

Ha! Good comparison with Barnett. Another B12 coach of the year who leaves his team in a shambles. And now Hawkins is discovering just how difficult it is to turn a team around. (He seems headed in the wrong direction so far.)

[skrsOVRsc]

Trust me you should'nt sleep on Hawkins, he will have sCUm back into shape by 2009. He is a very odd little man with a knack for squeezing every ounce of talent out of very average kids. Just wait and see, he will be a big part of the rebuilding of the North.

[junior4949]

For the record, Gary Barnett was one hell of a coach that turned a bunch of soft girlie men into a hell of a football team at CU. He inherited a bunch of cry babies that mirrored their old coach Nudeheisel. IMO, he was a great coach. Look what he accomplished when he was at Northwestern. He did leave his team in shambles, but if that's your criteria for being a bad coach then Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer are terrible coaches. Jimmy left Oklahoma State in shambles and he was the one that brought the Miami Hurricanes to their knees. I think we all know how Switzer left OU.

 

The shambles you speak of with Barnett is just slightly different than the perceived shambles Solich left NU. Last I knew, we still have all of our schollies. We have zero lawsuits against the university for rapes committed during recruiting parties. We didn't have a mass exodus of players from the program, etc. Gary Barnett did deserve recognition for Big 12 coach of the year. He was a great coach, but unfortunately had a unique recruiting style it seems.

[skrsOVRsc]

For the record, Gary Barnett was one hell of a coach that turned a bunch of soft girlie men into a hell of a football team at CU. He inherited a bunch of cry babies that mirrored their old coach Nudeheisel. IMO, he was a great coach. Look what he accomplished when he was at Northwestern. He did leave his team in shambles, but if that's your criteria for being a bad coach then Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer are terrible coaches. Jimmy left Oklahoma State in shambles and he was the one that brought the Miami Hurricanes to their knees. I think we all know how Switzer left OU.

 

The shambles you speak of with Barnett is just slightly different than the perceived shambles Solich left NU. Last I knew, we still have all of our schollies. We have zero lawsuits against the university for rapes committed during recruiting parties. We didn't have a mass exodus of players from the program, etc. Gary Barnett did deserve recognition for Big 12 coach of the year. He was a great coach, but unfortunately had a unique recruiting style it seems.

I'm not sure sodomy is a recruiting style!

[DJR313]

For the record, Gary Barnett was one hell of a coach that turned a bunch of soft girlie men into a hell of a football team at CU. He inherited a bunch of cry babies that mirrored their old coach Nudeheisel. IMO, he was a great coach. Look what he accomplished when he was at Northwestern. He did leave his team in shambles, but if that's your criteria for being a bad coach then Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer are terrible coaches. Jimmy left Oklahoma State in shambles and he was the one that brought the Miami Hurricanes to their knees. I think we all know how Switzer left OU.

 

The shambles you speak of with Barnett is just slightly different than the perceived shambles Solich left NU. Last I knew, we still have all of our schollies. We have zero lawsuits against the university for rapes committed during recruiting parties. We didn't have a mass exodus of players from the program, etc. Gary Barnett did deserve recognition for Big 12 coach of the year. He was a great coach, but unfortunately had a unique recruiting style it seems.

 

Wow, you completely missed the point there and just took off on a tangent. Barnett had successes, but experienced failures, very similar to Solich. I wasn't referring to either coaches' exits or Jimmy Johnson or Barry Switzer, lawsuits or scholarships lost. Too much sun is not good for the brain.

[Tommie15]

It took TO 6 years to beat OU, Callahan just needs to find his groove and then I think people may look back at this time of questioning and laugh about it.

i'm sorry i quoted the wrong writer.

 

since he has averaged 5 losses a year, callahan hasn't turned anything around yet.

 

osborne never lost 4,5, or 6 games in a season and gave up wins like callahan did to usc and ou. by returning the majority of a 10 win team in 2004, we were not "in shambles" like cu is.

[DJR313]

It took TO 6 years to beat OU, Callahan just needs to find his groove and then I think people may look back at this time of questioning and laugh about it.

 

since he has averaged 5 losses a year, callahan hasn't turned anything around yet.

 

 

I guess you're perception of turning things around and the program picking up momentum don't match.

 

 

The Big 12 isn't quite as inept as the Big 8 was back then, either, so whats the point. Osborne had teams that would go 9-3, lose to OU, the good team they played in nonconference and then the bowl game. After he beat OU in 78, things turned around for him. Similar to what I am suggesting. Once Callahan gets that first big win, it will come easier after that. If it doesn't happen in the next season, then perhaps it might not, who knows.

[Tommie15]

It took TO 6 years to beat OU, Callahan just needs to find his groove and then I think people may look back at this time of questioning and laugh about it.

 

since he has averaged 5 losses a year, callahan hasn't turned anything around yet.

 

 

I guess you're perception of turning things around and the program picking up momentum don't match.

 

 

The Big 12 isn't quite as inept as the Big 8 was back then, either, so whats the point. Osborne had teams that would go 9-3, lose to OU, the good team they played in nonconference and then the bowl game. After he beat OU in 78, things turned around for him. Similar to what I am suggesting. Once Callahan gets that first big win, it will come easier after that. If it doesn't happen in the next season, then perhaps it might not, who knows.

i'm not saying that he a good coach or a bad coach but with the exception of nebraska fans and callahan's "old friends" the national perception of him is that he lacks coaching ability. people look at how he took the raiders from a superbowl to the worst team in the league, they look at how we have struggled since he has been here, and they question his calls in games like ou, usc, and auburn.

[DJR313]

It took TO 6 years to beat OU, Callahan just needs to find his groove and then I think people may look back at this time of questioning and laugh about it.

 

since he has averaged 5 losses a year, callahan hasn't turned anything around yet.

 

 

I guess you're perception of turning things around and the program picking up momentum don't match.

 

 

The Big 12 isn't quite as inept as the Big 8 was back then, either, so whats the point. Osborne had teams that would go 9-3, lose to OU, the good team they played in nonconference and then the bowl game. After he beat OU in 78, things turned around for him. Similar to what I am suggesting. Once Callahan gets that first big win, it will come easier after that. If it doesn't happen in the next season, then perhaps it might not, who knows.

i'm not saying that he a good coach or a bad coach but with the exception of nebraska fans and callahan's "old friends" the national perception of him is that he lacks coaching ability. people look at how he took the raiders from a superbowl to the worst team in the league, they look at how we have struggled since he has been here, and they question his calls in games like ou, usc, and auburn.

 

gotcha, the national perception could be seen that way.

[skrsOVRsc]

It took TO 6 years to beat OU, Callahan just needs to find his groove and then I think people may look back at this time of questioning and laugh about it.

i'm sorry i quoted the wrong writer.

 

since he has averaged 5 losses a year, callahan hasn't turned anything around yet.

 

osborne never lost 4,5, or 6 games in a season

Are you seriously saying T.O. NEVER had a 4 loss season? Do I seriously have to go through all these old seasons and count how many 4 and 5 loss teams TO had? He was an amazing coach....who went through alot to have the success he did, don't minimize the struggle by wearing rose colored glasses that are that thick.

[DJR313]

It took TO 6 years to beat OU, Callahan just needs to find his groove and then I think people may look back at this time of questioning and laugh about it.

i'm sorry i quoted the wrong writer.

 

since he has averaged 5 losses a year, callahan hasn't turned anything around yet.

 

osborne never lost 4,5, or 6 games in a season

Are you seriously saying T.O. NEVER had a 4 loss season? Do I seriously have to go through all these old seasons and count how many 4 and 5 loss teams TO had? He was an amazing coach....who went through alot to have the success he did, don't minimize the struggle by wearing rose colored glasses that are that thick.

 

Tom Osborne never lost more than 3 games in a season. He had 2 or 3 9-3-1 teams, but never lost more than 3. FYI.

[skrsOVRsc]

It took TO 6 years to beat OU, Callahan just needs to find his groove and then I think people may look back at this time of questioning and laugh about it.

i'm sorry i quoted the wrong writer.

 

since he has averaged 5 losses a year, callahan hasn't turned anything around yet.

 

osborne never lost 4,5, or 6 games in a season

Are you seriously saying T.O. NEVER had a 4 loss season? Do I seriously have to go through all these old seasons and count how many 4 and 5 loss teams TO had? He was an amazing coach....who went through alot to have the success he did, don't minimize the struggle by wearing rose colored glasses that are that thick.

 

Tom Osborne never lost more than 3 games in a season. He had 2 or 3 9-3-1 teams, but never lost more than 3. FYI.

I stand corrected! Maybe I need to thicken MY rose colored glasses a little! He did have eight 3 loss teams by the way FYI.

[FriscoTXHusker]

It took TO 6 years to beat OU, Callahan just needs to find his groove and then I think people may look back at this time of questioning and laugh about it.

i'm sorry i quoted the wrong writer.

 

since he has averaged 5 losses a year, callahan hasn't turned anything around yet.

 

osborne never lost 4,5, or 6 games in a season

Are you seriously saying T.O. NEVER had a 4 loss season? Do I seriously have to go through all these old seasons and count how many 4 and 5 loss teams TO had? He was an amazing coach....who went through alot to have the success he did, don't minimize the struggle by wearing rose colored glasses that are that thick.

 

Tom Osborne never lost more than 3 games in a season. He had 2 or 3 9-3-1 teams, but never lost more than 3. FYI.

I stand corrected! Maybe I need to thicken MY rose colored glasses a little! He did have eight 3 loss teams by the way FYI.

 

Not to argue the point(s) either way, but I've been following Husker football for about 40 years and I don't recall them ever trying to make the changes they have in the last 5 years. I don't think it's been much more painful than one might expect going from DeVaney(sp?)/Osborne dynasty -->> BC. I'm still hopeful that the painful transition will have been worthwhile. A dynasty like the Huskers have had is an extremely tough act to follow, especially with a major paradigm shift. I think that shift was necessary.