Mutiny in Huskerland

[formerfan]

Why continue the reference to the 'same team' as last year? We lost the BEST PLAYERS from that team. D Williams, TJ Hollowell, Bingham, T Johnson, Kobongo, LORD, Sewell, ViliWaldrop...most of these guys were average players and weren't even replaced this year with equal talent. WE GOT WORSE THIS YEAR! Not the coaching, the players! What the hell was wrong with TO in 1996, he lost 2 games with a team that won a title the year before? That's PREPOSTEROUS! formerfan, I'd understand you being sour if your logic was somewhat sensible, but it's garbage. Why did Solich go 7-7 with a team that played for a Nat'l Title the year before? Callahan will never go 5-6 or 7-7 in a season again with the kind of talent he's bringing in, talent that hasn't been here for years. Solich would land 1 or 2 really nice guys, but he wouldn't have had half the class we have coming in this year. I guess you can root for an average program with below-average players once again, because today at Noon Solich will be named head coach at Ohio.

Besides Williams and Hollowell, the talent on the team was as good as it was last year, if not better. Ross was really good, the recievers (including Herian) had another year's experience, the secondary was one of, if not the top returning unit in the country, and coz-worthless and elmo the retarded destoyed them. Besides, Im sure you were one of the ones calling calling for Jammal's head last year and falling at the feet of Dailey.

 

You can say what you want about who Frank and staff may or may not have brought in, but his new staff had last year set up pretty well, and pederson and callahan shot it to s--t.

 

You are right though, I guess I can root for a team that has a very good coach, a very good coaching staff, one who does things the right way, who gets the most out of his players, who is able and embraces change, who is loved and revered by his players. I could do that instead of root for a team who is talented and underachieving, with an idiot coach who has put together a staff of assistants who are barely above the vegetable level. A staff that is so stubborn and conceited that they cant deviate from what they know (or think they know), and pushes his players away with his crappy attitude.

 

I wouldnt bet on NU getting any better next year, and if I could place a wager, I would bet on callahan going sub-.500, AGAIN!!!!!!, before he coaches for a National Championship.

[formerfan]

Why continue the reference to the 'same team' as last year?  We lost the BEST PLAYERS from that team.  D Williams, TJ Hollowell, Bingham, T Johnson, Kobongo, LORD, Sewell, ViliWaldrop...most of these guys were average players and weren't even replaced this year with equal talent.  WE GOT WORSE THIS YEAR!  Not the coaching, the players!  What the hell was wrong with TO in 1996, he lost 2 games with a team that won a title the year before?  That's PREPOSTEROUS!  formerfan, I'd understand you being sour if your logic was somewhat sensible, but it's garbage.  Why did Solich go 7-7 with a team that played for a Nat'l Title the year before?  Callahan will never go 5-6 or 7-7 in a season again with the kind of talent he's bringing in, talent that hasn't been here for years.  Solich would land 1 or 2 really nice guys, but he wouldn't have had half the class we have coming in this year.  I guess you can root for an average program with below-average players once again, because today at Noon Solich will be named head coach at Ohio.

 

Great post hoya, can't count how many times I have said this year's team IS NOT LAST YEAR'S TEAM!

Yeah, theyre not the same team, they just returned 15 STARTERS including a returning First -team All American and had 3 other legitimate All American candidates.

 

I see your point, there was NO WAY they were going to be any good.

 

Gee, with players this horrible, it must just prove how really great Solich, Pelini, Cotton, Williams, Gill, Brown, Sanders, etc. etc. were to get 10 wins with that "bunch of stiffs." You make a really good point.

[hoyamannn]

Yeah, theyre not the same team, they just returned 15 STARTERS including a returning First -team All American and had 3 other legitimate All American candidates.

 

I see your point, there was NO WAY they were going to be any good.

 

Gee, with players this horrible, it must just prove how really great Solich, Pelini, Cotton, Williams, Gill, Brown, Sanders, etc. etc. were to get 10 wins with that "bunch of stiffs." You make a really good point.

Bullocks wouldn't have been 1st team All-American w/o Hollowell, Williams and Bingham. We had guys that could get pressure on the QB. That wasn't the case this year. We were BETTER this year? Did you see our lack of speed at LB? And we went thru a total change of systems again, 3rd year in a row. And I agree, they returned 15 starters, which about 1/2 to 1/3 wouldn't even be 3rd string at Texas, Oklahoma, USC; all the schools we were falling way, way behind. Sounds like you're taking the loss of that crappy staff personally, like maybe you had a family member on the staff or something? Or are you Andy Birkel?

[formerfan]

Sounds like you're taking the loss of that crappy staff personally, like maybe you had a family member on the staff or something? Or are you Andy Birkel?

Crappy staff? Thats the one we are stuck with now, you know the one that went under .500 for the first time in 40 years, the one which has never won anything. The old staff had a bunch of successful, young, motivated coaches, not a bunch of re-tread losers. Franks staff had hand-fulls of NC rings and closets full of conf. and bowl rings. The same cant be said about cal, coz, elmo, wagner, blake, and novell, now can it.

 

Again, for those who cant comprehend it, Im not upset about Frank being fired, Im upset about being lied to repeatedly by pederson. Im pissed about firing a coach who won 75% of his games, being promised a WOW!!! candidate, only to have the names of Wandsted (sp?), Nutt, and finally (and worst of all) callahan being brought into the picture. IF you are going to fire a good coach, you had better damn well bring in a guy who is better, which Smarty Jones did not do.

 

 

ps. I have no family ties to anyone in the program.

[hoyamannn]

Crappy staff? Thats the one we are stuck with now, you know the one that went under .500 for the first time in 40 years, the one which has never won anything. The old staff had a bunch of successful, young, motivated coaches, not a bunch of re-tread losers. Franks staff had hand-fulls of NC rings and closets full of conf. and bowl rings. The same cant be said about cal, coz, elmo, wagner, blake, and novell, now can it.

 

Again, for those who cant comprehend it, Im not upset about Frank being fired, Im upset about being lied to repeatedly by pederson. Im pissed about firing a coach who won 75% of his games, being promised a WOW!!! candidate, only to have the names of Wandsted (sp?), Nutt, and finally (and worst of all) callahan being brought into the picture. IF you are going to fire a good coach, you had better damn well bring in a guy who is better, which Smarty Jones did not do.

 

 

ps. I have no family ties to anyone in the program.

I agree, those coaches had rings. Under Osborne and McBride. Why wasn't Solich and the rest of the crew highly sought after when they left since they are so great? Hell, I could have won 75% if I was coach with TO's former players. Frank couldn't. He got his players and was 17-10. First non-9 win season in 40+ years. Who would you have replaced Solich with? And Callahan's only been here 11 months, why are you so quick to not give him a chance?

[Pedro Guerrero]

The old staff had a bunch of successful, young, motivated coaches, not a bunch of re-tread losers. Franks staff had hand-fulls of NC rings and closets full of conf. and bowl rings. The same cant be said about cal, coz, elmo, wagner, blake, and novell, now can it.

 

 

 

 

Besides Solich, Brown, Gill, Downing who had any rings? Which coaches had actually won anything? Cotton at New Mexico St? Sanders at Colorado ST? Pelini wasn't at Green Bay when the won the Super Bowl. Cosgrove has a hand full of Conference Championship and Bowl rings. I think Fresno St made it to a bowl game last year.(Wagner) Busch and Utah went to a bowl last year. Norvell has a couple bowl and championship rings also. Did you forget Blake has some rings from Oklahoma and Dalllas. Elmassion has about 5 conference championship rings and has coached in 15 bowl games. Nice try though. No soup for you NEXT.

[formerfan]

I agree, those coaches had rings. Under Osborne and McBride. Why wasn't Solich and the rest of the crew highly sought after when they left since they are so great? Hell, I could have won 75% if I was coach with TO's former players. Frank couldn't. He got his players and was 17-10. First non-9 win season in 40+ years. Who would you have replaced Solich with? And Callahan's only been here 11 months, why are you so quick to not give him a chance?

 

 

The last I checked, the only coach from FS last staff that hasnt been picked up is Jimmy Williams, and he may be on the way to Ohio.

 

While the rest of that staff had new jobs for the 2004 season and were successful, we were mired through a 5-6 season, and the college football world lookedon in disbelief of the disaster that pederson and callahan made out of NU football.

 

Again, I dont want to give him a chance because he sucks, he is a horrible coach who surrounded himself with a bunch of losers. He has a track record of losing, and turning players against him. He did it in Oakland, and he did it here. Again, if you are going to fire a guy who won 75% (like Solich) of his games, you had better damn well bring in a coach who is a top-notch pick, not a bad seed who brings in a crappy staff.

 

BTW when was Solich 17-10, last I checked he was something like 58-19? Im not as much supporting Frank as I am saying if he isnt good enough, then why the hell would you get someone who isnt qualified to hold his clipboard as his successor?

[formerfan]

Besides Solich, Brown, Gill, Downing who had any rings? Which coaches had actually won anything? Cotton at New Mexico St? Sanders at Colorado ST? Pelini wasn't at Green Bay when the won the Super Bowl. Cosgrove has a hand full of Conference Championship and Bowl rings. I think Fresno St made it to a bowl game last year.(Wagner) Busch and Utah went to a bowl last year. Norvell has a couple bowl and championship rings also. Did you forget Blake has some rings from Oklahoma and Dalllas. Elmassion has about 5 conference championship rings and has coached in 15 bowl games. Nice try though. No soup for you NEXT.

 

 

Pick any one of the bunch, Gill, Brown, Solich, hell, go back to Darlington, BOHL, any of the group had more rings and a more impressive track record than callahans entire staff put together.

 

Last I checked, not too many of bill's assistants were thought of as very good coaches, hence their former employers didnt try to hard to retain them. As I remember, Wisc was overjoyed to be rid of coz-worthless as his defenses routinely were rated in the bottom half of D1. Heck, Bohl had a better track record. As far as elmo, I dont have the time to go through the hundred or so jobs he's had in the last few years to check on his success, but Id have to assume that it is not particularly impressive. Blake, worst coach in OU history. Busch-WOW look at what he did with the special teams this year. Norvell is even more clueless and concieted than callahan.

 

The only coaches that were worth a squat this year were Gill, Wagner, and possibly Jordan. But give them another couple of years and they will end up like the rest of the staff.

 

I guess by your standard that a bowl ring here or there is considered successful, then last years staff should be inducted into the hall of fame, because ALL of them have a bowl ring, right?

 

Soup's on......well, you that is.

[DJR313]

Yeah, theyre not the same team, they just returned 15 STARTERS including a returning First -team All American and had 3 other legitimate All American candidates.

 

 

I count 11 returning starters. Herian,Pilkington, LeFlore, Ross, Erickson, Smith, Thomas, Bullocks and Bullocks, Ruud and Washington. And who is the other legitimate all american candidate besides Ruud and J. Bullocks?

 

Since you are "all new Nebraska football sucks, old Nebraska football good." I will put in a quote here from Charlie McBride(you remember him right?). This is taken from the book "Go Big Red: The Ultimate Fan's Guide to Cornhusker football(a great book by the way). "When we were playing zone, we didn't look for speed. We looked for guys who would hit you. In zone, it was: come up, hit them and hope the ball comes out. You can play tight zone coverage and it looks like man-to-man. But a good passing team will eat up a zone." I think that quote would mirror Nebraska's performance of last year's defense. Looked good for the most part, bad against good passing attacks. Look at the returning starters. LeKevin Smith is a joke, Benard Thomas is a joke, Fabian played like crap this year, the Bullocks twins looked less than All American after this past year, Ruud was the best and he could only cover the run and not too much in the passing game. This Nebraska team didn't seem to have any big hitters either, safeties to really pack a whallop, linebackers to make receivers think twice about going over the middle. Going back to McBride, do you think that maybe, just MAYBE, that the zone defense used last year masked the lack of team speed that was painfully evident this season? Against the better teams last year, the Huskers looked pretty inept.

[Benard]

It is rare for Frank Solich to say anything controversial, even with a brand-new job locked up and a time zone of distance from his former employer.

 

But Solich obviously didn't take well to comments this season that Nebraska struggled because of a lack of talent.

 

"Well, then I maybe put together the greatest staff in the history of college football," the former NU coach said Thursday, shortly after he took the Ohio job. "Because they did a great job with a lot of those kids returning (in 2004).

 

"I think the people who say that either don't understand football or they're saying it for an individual reason."

 

[formerfan]

I count 11 returning starters.  Herian,Pilkington, LeFlore, Ross, Erickson, Smith, Thomas, Bullocks and Bullocks, Ruud and Washington. And who is the other legitimate all american candidate besides Ruud and J. Bullocks? 

 

Since you are "all new Nebraska football sucks, old Nebraska football good."  I will put in a quote here from Charlie McBride(you remember him right?).  This is taken from the book "Go Big Red: The Ultimate Fan's Guide to Cornhusker football(a great book by the way).  "When we were playing zone, we didn't look for speed.  We looked for guys who would hit you.  In zone, it was: come up, hit them and hope the ball comes out.  You can play tight zone coverage and it looks like man-to-man.  But a good passing team will eat up a zone."  I think that quote would mirror Nebraska's performance of last year's defense.  Looked good for the most part, bad against good passing attacks.  Look at the returning starters.  LeKevin Smith is a joke, Benard Thomas is a joke, Fabian played like crap this year, the Bullocks twins looked less than All American after this past year, Ruud was the best and he could only cover the run and not too much in the passing game.  This Nebraska team didn't seem to have any big hitters either, safeties to really pack a whallop, linebackers to make receivers think twice about going over the middle.  Going back to McBride, do you think that maybe, just MAYBE, that the zone defense used last year masked the lack of team speed that was painfully evident this season?  Against the better teams last year, the Huskers looked pretty inept.

 

 

 

 

 

According to Lindys, they had 15 returning starters. The 2 other AA candidates were Incognito (before he was rightfully dismissed) and Herian, who for some reason, caught like a zillion balls the first 2 or 3 games, but somehow the 'geniuses' callahan and norvell forgot how to get him the ball until his injury.

 

Im glad you brought up Thomas, Smith, and Washington--ALL 4 STAR RECRUITS-- and the Bullocks--One, I think Dan, was the Player of the Year in TN, and the other was a blue-chipper.

 

I agree with your (and McBrides) assessment on zone D, but it sure seemed to work (in most instances) last year. There within lies the problem, last years staff was intelligent enough to figure out the strenghts and weaknesses of the team, and call schemes and plays that utilize those strenghts. This years staff is either too damn stupid, or too damn stubborn to do the same. Sure UT (great talent), KSt (B12 Champs) and Mizzou (lots of NU TO's) put up big numbers on NU last year, but it sure as all heck wasnt 70 points by a mediocre, run of the pack team (TTech). Besides, didn't Pelini's D fare pretty well against Tech this year?

[formerfan]

It is rare for Frank Solich to say anything controversial, even with a brand-new job locked up and a time zone of distance from his former employer.

 

But Solich obviously didn't take well to comments this season that Nebraska struggled because of a lack of talent.

 

"Well, then I maybe put together the greatest staff in the history of college football," the former NU coach said Thursday, shortly after he took the Ohio job. "Because they did a great job with a lot of those kids returning (in 2004).

 

"I think the people who say that either don't understand football or they're saying it for an individual reason."

 

Amen, my brother, my sentiments, EXACTLY!!!!

[Utah_Husker]

Yeah, theyre not the same team, they just returned 15 STARTERS including a returning First -team All American and had 3 other legitimate All American candidates.

 

 

I count 11 returning starters. Herian,Pilkington, LeFlore, Ross, Erickson, Smith, Thomas, Bullocks and Bullocks, Ruud and Washington. And who is the other legitimate all american candidate besides Ruud and J. Bullocks?

 

Since you are "all new Nebraska football sucks, old Nebraska football good." I will put in a quote here from Charlie McBride(you remember him right?). This is taken from the book "Go Big Red: The Ultimate Fan's Guide to Cornhusker football(a great book by the way). "When we were playing zone, we didn't look for speed. We looked for guys who would hit you. In zone, it was: come up, hit them and hope the ball comes out. You can play tight zone coverage and it looks like man-to-man. But a good passing team will eat up a zone." I think that quote would mirror Nebraska's performance of last year's defense. Looked good for the most part, bad against good passing attacks. Look at the returning starters. LeKevin Smith is a joke, Benard Thomas is a joke, Fabian played like crap this year, the Bullocks twins looked less than All American after this past year, Ruud was the best and he could only cover the run and not too much in the passing game. This Nebraska team didn't seem to have any big hitters either, safeties to really pack a whallop, linebackers to make receivers think twice about going over the middle. Going back to McBride, do you think that maybe, just MAYBE, that the zone defense used last year masked the lack of team speed that was painfully evident this season? Against the better teams last year, the Huskers looked pretty inept.

The reason the zone worked so well last year was we were always turning the dogs loose up front. I think the Bullocks are great players, but I'm the first to admit they're not speedsters and won't be confused for Deion any time soon. But they are ball-hawks. You get pressure on the QB enough to have the ball slightly off target and they'll be there for the pick. So that's why I don't understand why we just sat back in coverage instead of pressuring teams this year. You yourself said that our LBs are no good in pass coverage. But there they were half the time, standing in the middle of the field waiting for some receiver to run around them.

This goes back to the heart of the matter: Cosgrove is an idiot. McBride was right, zone is used when you don't have the superstar defensive backfield. But the front 7 need to help out by making it difficult for the QB to have time to get the ball to the open man. Not only did Cos make everyone play man, which we know they can't do, he let the QBs sit back and throw all day.

[Pedro Guerrero]

I guess by your standard that a bowl ring here or there is considered successful, then last years staff should be inducted into the hall of fame, because ALL of them have a bowl ring, right?

 

Soup's on......well, you that is.

Your the one that brought up the closet full of bowl and championship rings. I just showed you that this staff has a closet full of them also. I guess you don't have the time to look at their bio's. Nevermind if you did it wouldn't help your case any. You're done soup Nazi.

[DJR313]

The reason the zone worked so well last year was we were always turning the dogs loose up front. I think the Bullocks are great players, but I'm the first to admit they're not speedsters and won't be confused for Deion any time soon. But they are ball-hawks. You get pressure on the QB enough to have the ball slightly off target and they'll be there for the pick. So that's why I don't understand why we just sat back in coverage instead of pressuring teams this year. You yourself said that our LBs are no good in pass coverage. But there they were half the time, standing in the middle of the field waiting for some receiver to run around them.

This goes back to the heart of the matter: Cosgrove is an idiot. McBride was right, zone is used when you don't have the superstar defensive backfield. But the front 7 need to help out by making it difficult for the QB to have time to get the ball to the open man. Not only did Cos make everyone play man, which we know they can't do, he let the QBs sit back and throw all day.

More from McBride:

 

McBride was regularly criticized by fans for not blitzing more, as if the blitz were a cure-all strategy that hadn't occured to him. "The general public was aware of it." McBride said of the obvious deficiencies in the zone pass coverage. And we knew it, but we had to get the kids who could run first." ....McBride's response to criticism in October of 1991 underscored the dilemma. "You've got to rush the passer, but you've also got to watch for the draw play. You've got to watch out for the matchup that puts a 4.4 receiver on a 4.7 linebacker. You can't just blitz," he said.

 

Same book I quoted above.