NU on same path OU was on after Switzer?

[Armistead]

Sooner fan here, and I must say as an outside observer that the situation is eerily similar. There are some differences, of course, but lots more similarities.

 

Gary Gibbs, who replaced Switzer, was a quiet, solid type of guy. I think his last year we went 8-3 or 8-4, and there were outcries that Oklahoma had sunk into some sort of--day I say it?--"mediocrity." So they canned Gibbs and brought in . "They will write books and make movies about my time here" I remember him saying just before he took over, and that year we went 5-5-1. Exit Schnellenberger, enter Blake. That's when the real fun began. Three back-to-back losing seasons ensued, with Blake's defenders screeching for "more time, more time!" and "give him a chance two-three-ten-twenty chances!" the whole way.

 

Now, we didn't really have internet web forums back then, although they were coming along. But we did have dial-up message boards and AOL chat. Here's what a typical "debate" over keeping Blake at least till the year 2025 ("giving him a chance") looked like:

 

Me - "With two minutes left, down one score, 3rd and 17, why did they go right up the gut when the defense had the box loaded with 11?"

 

Blake Defender - "the coach saw something you didn't"

 

Me - "he 'saw' another loss, in an already losing season."

 

Blake Defender - "it added to our rushing stats."

 

Me - "Jeeze Louise, we LOST THE GAME! Don't you realize, 'rushing stats' mean squat unless you WIN THE GAME."

 

Blake Defender - "you're just a racist. you're not a real Sooner fan. you were rooting for us to lose. the fairy godmother is going to click her heels three times and say 'there's no coach like Blake, there's no coach like Blake, there's no coach like Blake' and four Heisman trophy candidates are going to parachute into our backfield, and then the mighty magic pixie dust is going to give us all new linebackers, and then blah, blah, blah, blah..."

 

Sound familiar?

 

Now, to be fair, Blake was a good recruiter and I think a very decent man, but just not a very effective head coach. It was all very frustrating for Sooner fans, at least those of us without blinders on, and what saved us was not Stoops per se, but rather the arrival of an AD smart enough to hire Stoops. Joe Castiglione brought in Stoops, and our revival began. There have been bumps in the road, but we've experienced no more embarrassing seasons, have picked up a NC and several Big 12 titles, and are overall once again contenders on the national scene.

 

Well, that's just my recollection of what kind of shape my team was in during the nineties. It wasn't pretty. I'm not presumptuous enough to think I should be telling Nebraska fans that their team should do this or that, but the similarities between our situation then and yours now is striking. I will say that I think, with your great tradition, you will one day be back on top. I say that in all sincerity. And, believe me, I understand just how a lot of you are feeling right now; we Sooner fans were in the same boat just a scant ten years ago. Thank you for letting me chime in here and have my say.

 

Always did think Cornhusker fans and sooner fans were to much alike. Though we had a AD to stupid to admit after the 5-6 season he made a mistake and kept our Schnellenberger. It might have to be a losing season and a 0-30 like loss in the last game of the year to get rid of him.

 

I'm afrad that we have a coach....who can recriut...but can't really coach.........also, I see the Huskers losing 3 more game and that would be a 7-4 team.....I guess at this point...I don't really want the Huskers to win.....I want this team to suffer....The Boosters and Donors to suffer.....Hitting rock bottom is the only way we are goin to get the University leadership to srep in and rebuild the Athletic Dept.

 

I don't want to lose...but it's the only medication that will cure our ills....we got to hit bottom before we can rebuild

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

I hate to admit to it, but we have fallen victim to the same thing that OU, USC, Notre Dame (though I'd love for them to stay there), Florida St, Florida, Alabama (with a little help from boosters) and all the other big-name programs have fallen victim too: we suck! You could almost see it coming from the second the final whistle blew in 01 against CU and against Miami when NU backdoored the MNC game. We're probably going to have to bide our time for another year or two at a minimum until the Boosters and whomever else can scrounge up enough cash to can Pederson and whoever else they have the money for.

[strigori]

there are enough wealthy boosters that if they really wanted to arrange a buy out it would happen, and fast.

[Hunter94]

I hate to admit to it, but we have fallen victim to the same thing that OU, USC, Notre Dame (though I'd love for them to stay there), Florida St, Florida, Alabama (with a little help from boosters) and all the other big-name programs have fallen victim too: we suck! You could almost see it coming from the second the final whistle blew in 01 against CU and against Miami when NU backdoored the MNC game. We're probably going to have to bide our time for another year or two at a minimum until the Boosters and whomever else can scrounge up enough cash to can Pederson and whoever else they have the money for.

 

 

i would say a minimum of 3-5 years. we will pay dearly for Ped's piss poor experiment!!!!!

f him!

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

there are enough wealthy boosters that if they really wanted to arrange a buy out it would happen, and fast.

I'd be willing to pitch in a few bucks to buy him out

[junior4949]

Are you guys crazy? OU sucked because of probation. At one time, many believed OU was going to be the second team to get the "death" penalty. This all came about because of Switzer. I guess I don't see any similarities at all. I just don't understand why everyone wants to compare us to Alabama, OU, etc. because these teams all were put on probation for recruiting violations. We have been assessed no such penalty. We suck because we suck, period. We can't use probation as our excuse.

[Bugeater]

Are you guys crazy? OU sucked because of probation. At one time, many believed OU was going to be the second team to get the "death" penalty. This all came about because of Switzer. I guess I don't see any similarities at all. I just don't understand why everyone wants to compare us to Alabama, OU, etc. because these teams all were put on probation for recruiting violations. We have been assessed no such penalty. We suck because we suck, period. We can't use probation as our excuse.

I believe they had worked their way through that by the end of Gibb's tenure. He was there for six seasons.