The Cupboard is Bare?

[SkerMin8r]

I keep hearing folks says that we don't have any talent. Yesterday on USC they were discussing Fla St., Notre Dam, and "The Good Guys" (ummmm...that would be our beloved Huskers). In particular, they were asking of the 3 which is "closer to legit". A number of the callers kept saying that, "NU has no talent." That, "NU ranks in the lower half to third in the Big 12 in talent." I don't get it. I understand that "stars" are overrated. But if you look at the top 10 as rated by Rivals and Scout over the past 5years, what do you see? Am I just drinkin' the koolaid here?

 

 

 

I look at players like Paul, Helu, Witt, Lee, Holt, Jones on offense and Hagg, Amukamara, Lawrence, Allen and I'm sure I'm missing many others...and I say this team has PLENTY of talent.

 

 

 

What say you?

[DJR313]

There is a good amount of talent. What you have just listed is a good example of it. The 2007 recruiting class seems to be chock full of solid players(not as many misses as before). There is some talent there, maybe not as much as OU and Texas, but it is there, just very inexperienced right now.

[husker B-rent]

agreed.......i think some people just say that we have no talent as an excuse in case we start losing.

[zE bOp]

We have some very good talent, but not like ND or FSU, I guess. ND in particular doesn't do JACK w all the talent they have, but FSU is on a comeback it seems.

NE has new coaches and the team is not seasoned. But we'll get there--sooner than later...

[CornHunka]

Nebraska does have quite a bit of young talent at certain positions, but we are also lacking talent at a couple of positions, namely linebacker. Our depth chart at LB has two true freshmen, two other scholarship LB's, a converted running back and 2 walk ons, one who starts.

 

I do think that Fischer and Compton are very talented, but no one around the country knows it, oh, but they will.

[admo]

Huskers have good talent. They're just raw. As they continue to gain experience each week & understand what is expected from them by the coaches, what they need to do, the game will slow down for them. That's when you'll really notice the talent these guys have. Until then, it's growing pains.

[Red Storm Brewing]

I agree to a point with B Rent on the excuse thing. Wasn't it just last year that fans were calling for coaches heads because they were "wasting" our talent by not coaching the players up. Clownahan's classes had some misses but there was a ton of talent in a lot of those kids. I hate when fans say we have no talent because that is BS. What we might have his a bunch of boys who were promised the stars without having to put in any work, who developed pretty boy prima donna attitudes that lost the core values that made Nebraska great in the pass. The lack of talent is a cop out to the Big XII just becoming a deeper, better conference.

As for the ND vs FSU vs NU argument, FSU can get back the fastest for two reasons. 1 They can fart outside and hit fifty blue-chip speed recruits, and 2 the ACC sucks and is weak.

ND has the most overhyped QB recruit in the history of college football, a coach that can't help but get in his own way and a schedule that for the most part can be difficult(i give them props for this).

The Skers have the hardest time of the three recruiting wise, play in a difficult conference, and to an extent an unproven coach. But Nebraska would get back to the top way before the Domers.

[melscott62]

I said this in another thread and i really think that its true. if KU and mangino would have got our recruits from 05 until now and we would have gotten theirs they would have beat us by 60+ points last year. same with MU. I think they are just doing a better job of developing their guys then we are. hopefully that changes with bo, because right now KU and MU are bringing in better talent then in the previous 4 years

[Huskerballz]

We've had three solid classes chock full of talent. They just need to be coached. And that's exactly what's happening.

 

Patience grasshoppa, it will happen and soon, the world will know.

[strigori]

What a difference a year makes. Before last year the same people were talking about how much talent we had. About how we were going to compete for the conference. Now its we have no talent and cant beat anyone. It wasnt that long ago we went toe to toe with Auburn, and lost for want of a kicker. Just 15 games ago. People are fickle, and very much 'what have you done for me lately'. If we win big this year, and beat teams with more 'talent', all of a sudden we will have a team loaded with talent again.

[shagg]

i think florida st do have more talent than we do. always have...coaching them up to potencial that's another story...throughout the years they've always had some of the best athletes . sometimes you ask yourself why aren't they playing better? can you have too much talent where everyone wants to be the star and no one wants to take one for the team..possibly.

[robsker]

agreed.......i think some people just say that we have no talent as an excuse in case we start losing.

 

 

I counter by saying that the excuse goes the other way --- people who say that we have top tier talent do so for the expressed purpose of giving themselves hope --- they want to think that NU will be back soon because all that was the problem was lack of player development. They want the "Callahan excuse" that now that he and his staff is gone it will be just a matter of player development and NU will be competitive.

 

The reality is that those outside the Big Red camp are correct --- NU does not have top 25 talent. They were underdeveloped and under-performing yes --- but the problem is deeper than that --- they also lack tier one (top 10) or tier two (top 11-25) talent as well. The problems here are much deeper than the posters, in general, on this board think.

 

I love NU as much as anyone here. That said, Nu is generally much slower, much less physical, nowhere near as powerful in the trenches (on either side of the ball), and way less deep across the board than any top 25 program. NU has not recruited any better under Callahan than under Solich --- in terms of top talent actually signing (not just considering us), players who actually made it here (as an array signed but never arrived on campus), actually stuck with the team (rather than leave once here) --- of those who were not a victim of attrition and actually are on the roster, well.... Callahan's recruiting was not top 20 stuff on average.

 

NU is not as bad talent wise as bottom third of most conferences --- it is not that bad --- but it is only mid-conference level and no more --- every conference has 3-4 teams with better talent and 1 or 2 with comparable talent relative to NU. Not quite top 25 talent but not wildly far off either. With some really great development this squad could potentially sniff ranking some time in the next few years (maybe be ranked) --- but until the talent level rises, rather substantially, Pelini cannot be expected to have a consistantly ranked team --- not an excuse, just reality. A contender? Nowhere near a contender for anything until the recruiting gets much, much, much better.

[Touchdown Tommie]

There is talent here, but comparing USC's talent to NU's talent is not even close. There is not a team in the nation right now that has the talent/depth chart that even comes close to USC. There has to be something going on out there in order for kids to keep going there. I mean how many top tier running backs can one team have on their roster? And what is going to come from Bush taking all of the incentives he got??

Anyways, the talent that NU does have has done nothing here but destroy the tradition (by way of BC and Coz). It is going to take a few years for Bo to recruit the players he needs in the system. Even then it is going to continue to be hard for him, just as it was for TO. I wouldn't put NU at the bottom third of the conference, but not in the top three by any means.

[huzkerbob]

What does USC have to do with anything? Talent is relative, to performance on the field. And relitive to who you recruit. Every one in our conference has talent! Just who has more is what we learn on the field, right?

 

We could argue this tell the cows come home, but the bottom line is, can you win on game day? I could give a damn how much perceived talent we have! Do you think people said OU was loaded with talent in 01? Hell no, not until they won it all!

 

Do we have talent OBVIOUSLY! And if we don't win the Big12 north it doesn't mean we lack talent. Just that we did not have quite as much as the other teams we played. Simple as that.

[Hunter94]

agreed.......i think some people just say that we have no talent as an excuse in case we start losing.

 

 

I counter by saying that the excuse goes the other way --- people who say that we have top tier talent do so for the expressed purpose of giving themselves hope --- they want to think that NU will be back soon because all that was the problem was lack of player development. They want the "Callahan excuse" that now that he and his staff is gone it will be just a matter of player development and NU will be competitive.

 

The reality is that those outside the Big Red camp are correct --- NU does not have top 25 talent. They were underdeveloped and under-performing yes --- but the problem is deeper than that --- they also lack tier one (top 10) or tier two (top 11-25) talent as well. The problems here are much deeper than the posters, in general, on this board think.

 

I love NU as much as anyone here. That said, Nu is generally much slower, much less physical, nowhere near as powerful in the trenches (on either side of the ball), and way less deep across the board than any top 25 program. NU has not recruited any better under Callahan than under Solich --- in terms of top talent actually signing (not just considering us), players who actually made it here (as an array signed but never arrived on campus), actually stuck with the team (rather than leave once here) --- of those who were not a victim of attrition and actually are on the roster, well.... Callahan's recruiting was not top 20 stuff on average.

 

NU is not as bad talent wise as bottom third of most conferences --- it is not that bad --- but it is only mid-conference level and no more --- every conference has 3-4 teams with better talent and 1 or 2 with comparable talent relative to NU. Not quite top 25 talent but not wildly far off either. With some really great development this squad could potentially sniff ranking some time in the next few years (maybe be ranked) --- but until the talent level rises, rather substantially, Pelini cannot be expected to have a consistently ranked team --- not an excuse, just reality. A contender? Nowhere near a contender for anything until the recruiting gets much, much, much better.

 

 

well said. it takes talent to develop a team, as well as coaches to develop talent......right now we have average talent, Lucky is the only one mentioned as possible Big 12 team guy......the '07 class may contain some pretty solid players, no world beaters, but solid kids. as for our staff, except for Pelini and Watson, i think the rest of our coaches are pretty unproven. i am not a huge Cotton or Gilmore fan, but overall the quality of coaches under Pelini appears to be better than the misfits Clownahan brought to NU....those guys, (except for Watson) were here to collect paychecks.........