Don't get to excited

[Benard]

Beware of falling in love with a college football recruiting class based on the opinions of a few so-called gurus.

 

 

 

Twenty years ago, Nebraska signed a class of 25 players deemed No. 1 in the country by recruiting analyst Max Emfinger. The other main recruiting guru of the time, Joe Terranova, also had NU ranked among the nation's best.

 

"The Huskers should be able to see oranges for years to come," Emfinger gushed, referencing the Orange Bowl while labeling Coach Tom Osborne's recruiting class one of the best in history.

 

So how did those budding superstars turn out?

 

• 56 percent never started a full season at Nebraska.

 

• 40 percent never even lettered.

 

In the five years the Class of 1985 was on campus, Nebraska did average 10 wins a season at a program that was in the middle of a 33-year run of seasons with nine or more victories.

 

But there were no national championships and one Big Eight title. The bowl record in those years was 1-4.

 

link

[gamecocks]

10 wins ain't too shabby though.

[Benard]

10 wins ain't too shabby though.

It gets some people fired

[Spartness]

What that tells you with the 1985 class is NU will need to recruit well every year. Of course there won't be nearly as many recruits next year, but it appears this staff is up to the task of bringing in more strong classes. One will help some -- three or four in a row would be huge! That's how you help offset the players that don't pan out.

Of course it also comes down to coaching. We will find out if these coaches are up to that task.

[JTempl]

I can't stand stories like this. Hate it, hate it, hate it. There's been so much Husker bashing this year, and it felt so good to see positive news after positive news coming out. The OWH can't let us live a blissful life for a couple weeks before it puts out a story meant to temper the fans excitement. I mean come on fun haters! There's very little to root for this this state, we basically have one big thing...the Huskers. Let us have our fun before you poop in our collective punch bowl.

 

I personally would rather look through rose colored glasses for a few weeks (at least) than have some jackass for the wierd herald jam reality down my throat.

[Pedro Guerrero]

I think Barfknecht is a tool. I think he does this on purpose so people don't think he is a homer.

[roadrat]

I think articles like the one in OWH keep people grounded. I'm glad we have a good class coming in. Face it people that rank recruiting classes are probably not much better than the BCS voters. They all have their favorite programs and coaches. Many times having #1 recruiting class doesn't mean squat. Talent will get you by, but coaching is the bottom line. If that wasn't true upsets would never occur.

[formerfan]

I can't stand stories like this. Hate it, hate it, hate it. There's been so much Husker bashing this year, and it felt so good to see positive news after positive news coming out. The OWH can't let us live a blissful life for a couple weeks before it puts out a story meant to temper the fans excitement. I mean come on fun haters! There's very little to root for this this state, we basically have one big thing...the Huskers. Let us have our fun before you poop in our collective punch bowl.

 

I personally would rather look through rose colored glasses for a few weeks (at least) than have some jackass for the wierd herald jam reality down my throat.

Some of ya'll need to join us in reality.

 

I caught Terry Bowden on the radio today, and he pretty much said the same thing that I have been saying. Yes, you do need the players to make plays, but horrible coaching can make good players look bad. He also said that there was no way that NU should have been a 5-6 team, that the O should have struggled, but the D staff that callahan put together is a disaster (in not so many words), talked about them forcing the players into schemes that they didnt work well in, and bypassing schemes that worked well last year.

He didnt sound too optimistic about callahans chances to get this thing going in the right direction, either.

 

Also heard Jack Pierce say that ND had top 5 classes every year, yet they only won ONE NC in the past 30 years.

 

Sure the class looks pretty good on paper, as of right now. It still leaves NU a little thin in the D backfield, and it will take cally and co. about 4 more of those classes in a row to even get NU back to respectability.

 

I wouldnt expect next year to be much different than '04.

[JTempl]

My point is, let's revel in the positive news for a while before we come back to reality (or Lee Pukenecht quazi-reality). Sports is about fun, I can got to work and be miserable. Some people are just so jaded they can't stand to have a light at the end of the tunnel feeling. Others, like me, rather enjoy taking the "glass is half" fill approach.

[Benard]

I think Barfknecht is a tool. I think he does this on purpose so people don't think he is a homer.

I think he is to, especially after the nebraska-michigan vote but I do think it's right to let some people know that this doesn't mean jack squat and to tell some people to settle down alittle and get a life about this recruiting.