Now tell me if you respect these guys

[Eric the Red]

This is an excerpt of one of the better articles I have read in a long time. I love the article. It explains how much time and efort these coaches put into this program. It's very hard not to come away with respect for these guys. The are dedicated, committed and care a great deal for this program. It's a thankless job the world of coaching.

 

As someone once said, "Coaches get too much praise when they win, and too much blame when they lose."

 

Are the Huskers on the road back?

 

The sales pitch

 

Blake has been praised for his personal touch, his knack for getting in tight with a player and his family. When the Huskers got commitments Wednesday from four-star recruits Chris Brooks and Ndamukong Suh, he was on the phone excitedly telling recruit Craig Roark the news.

 

"Those coaches want to win so bad it's ridiculous," said Roark, an offensive lineman from Ada, Okla., who committed June 29. "You can't help but feel it, too. I could tell from day one, even before I committed, that it was going to come together like this."

 

Other prospects have needed more than the personalized letters and allotted phone calls.

 

That's when Busch says it "comes down to that great place with the big red N on it." Cassidy says it comes down to the five national championship trophies and numerous Heisman, Outland and Lombardi trophies on the Memorial Stadium grounds.

 

And don't forget that construction behind the north end zone that will bring a new $50 million headquarters to Nebraska football in 2006.

 

"The new facility, if our fans have not bought into it, they really need to," Cassidy said. "It's played a major role. As I reflect on my years at Texas A&M, I saw what it did for them. Even though their last three seasons have been pretty mediocre, they've put together three outstanding recruiting classes."

[HuskerBob]

yeha baby i love it. haters cant even hate on this. if so they can stick it!!

[Eric the Red]

They are simply outworking the staff before this....

[BelieveN]

this staff is outstading from what I read in the paper today!!!!

 

 

 

[DJR313]

They are simply outworking the staff before this....

You got that right. I hope they take a little time off after signing day so they don't completely burn out. I also heard that the players' GPA for last semester was the highest ever. Maybe some of the players don't like this staff because they expect a lot more out of them at practice and games AND in the class room. Good things to hear.

[Eric the Red]

You kind of have to suspect Callahan is busting his ass. Have you heard him in an interview lately? TV interview? No he's working. Callahan is one of those coaches, like most good coaches, who loves to prove people wrong. And he wont stop until he accomplishes it. He'll go down fighting until he accomplishes his gaols. If he doesn't he will be very upset with himself. He's a very hard worker.

[hoyamannn]

That is the thing I think I like about him the most, he absolutely hates to lose. These guys are usually at the office during the season at about 7am, and sometimes they don't leave until 11 or 12 at night. I wonder what their schedule is like now? Heck, they're flying out to Florida to talk to one kid's girlfriend to try to get a commitment!. I bet they're busy as hell until Feb 2, and then these guys need a vacation!

[DaveH]

That is the thing I think I like about him the most, he absolutely hates to lose. These guys are usually at the office during the season at about 7am, and sometimes they don't leave until 11 or 12 at night. I wonder what their schedule is like now? Heck, they're flying out to Florida to talk to one kid's girlfriend to try to get a commitment!. I bet they're busy as hell until Feb 2, and then these guys need a vacation!

I know I would need one.

 

They have a lot of prep to do for spring ball though. I think all the travelling will be done by next Saturday. After that I would expect some guys to take a few days off. I don't know if Callahan will though. From what I have read he seems to be relentless.

[Utah_Husker]

That is the thing I think I like about him the most, he absolutely hates to lose.

He must hate being a head football coach then.

[rawhide]

These coaches did a pretty great job recruiting in such a short time last year. Now they are showing what they can do given more time to concentrate on the recruiting process. My guess is that this year will be more in tune with what BC and company have in mind for the football program. The staff is going to put the best players on the field. To me that is good coaching, play the best and work hard helping the others improve.

 

 

GBR

 

[formerfan]

They seem to be able to recruit, but are these recruits gonna qualify? I know the OWH article had a quote from Sanchez (USC qb recruit, the NUMBER ONE QB in the country) saying how impressed he was with NU. If he was so impressed, why is he going to USC?

 

And once they get here, who's gonna coach them and make them better, because for all this staff has shown it can do recruiting, they have shown they are equally inept at coaching.

[DJR313]

They seem to be able to recruit, but are these recruits gonna qualify? I know the OWH article had a quote from Sanchez (USC qb recruit, the NUMBER ONE QB in the country) saying how impressed he was with NU. If he was so impressed, why is he going to USC?

 

If you would have continued to read, you would have read that the Huskers stopped pursueing him when Harrison Beck committed.

[DaveH]

They seem to be able to recruit, but are these recruits gonna qualify?

Out of 27-28, there are 3-4 that are in some question. I believe Lucky will qualify. He needs to get his ACT up by 2-3 points. If Brandon Jackson raised his score by 5 points last year, I think Marlon can handle it. Test Prep courses are good for that. Leon Jackson and Rodney Picou are the biggest questions I think. Powe will be lucky to step foot on campus this year. No, he isn't coming to NU

 

Getting recruits to qualify isn't anything new. Even for Nebraska. More people on both sides of the fence are simply paying attention to recruiting more this year and the years to come.

 

Callahan & Co. has really only gone after kids who they feel confident in qualifying. Kids like Callahan Bright weren't persued because of academics and that fact that he sounds unstable at best. In the past we have had recruits enroll in summer school or a preparatory school in the spring or summer to help they qualify for the fall.

[roadrat]

I don't think there is any question that these guys can recruit. Blake is as good as it gets, but coaching ability? Who knows. The question is will they have the patience to teach these young guys the X & O's of the WCO. It seemed there was very little patience to teach last year. I think last years team was thrown to the wolves. Coaching is about developing talent and did any aspect of the team improve at all last year during the season? I'm not going to say fire Callahan because I'm tired of that rhetoric, but the 5-6 season last year was all on the coaching or lack of it.

[Utah_Husker]

I don't think there is any question that these guys can recruit. Blake is as good as it gets, but coaching ability? Who knows. The question is will they have the patience to teach these young guys the X & O's of the WCO. It seemed there was very little patience to teach last year. I think last years team was thrown to the wolves. Coaching is about developing talent and did any aspect of the team improve at all last year during the season? I'm not going to say fire Callahan because I'm tired of that rhetoric, but the 5-6 season last year was all on the coaching or lack of it.

Even I wouldn't say it was ALL on the coaching. But coaching was a big part of it. We can make all the excuses we want for this staff and talk about what great recruiters they are (which is indisputible), but the fact remains that last year's team was not a 5-6 team. The blame for at least a few of those losses falls on coaching. Now, I don't think this year's team will be a 5-6 team either, so let's see if these guys can coach when they bring guys in 'for their system'.