Does Bo have any obligations?

[glm09]

does the new coaching stuff owe anything to anyone?

 

The reason I pose this question is based on the departures of Witt and Culbert, some of the posts about Barry Turner on this site, and a great article in the Nebraska State paper titled "As Bold as Bo Wants to Be", where Bo is described as moving any player to any position and switching things up as much as he wants with no/little regard to what the player has been doing the last 2-3 years, or what they were recruited here to do. It seems that the coaching staff is very, very big picture minded and not very individual player minded. I am curious about if this is their mentality or just the situation they are in, due to the fact that most of the players these issues have come up with haven't been their recruits.

 

Most of their recruiting this year was about filling needs... are they going to try and do that with the current roster for next year, regardless of what players have done in the past?

 

 

 

There are several positives and negatives

 

Positives:

Every player should know they are not more important than the team. If they can benefit the team playing else where, then they will be moved.

 

If we can shuffle players around, then that means the 2 or 3 deep must have the coaches' confidence.

 

Competition will be increased as players are shuffled into different positions. For example, if Thenarse were pulled into Linebacker drills for a couple days, you can imagine that all of the linebackers would step up their play.

 

Maybe there are some hidden gems that would work out better at different places

 

 

Negatives:

No player wants to feel like they are be experimented with. I don't see the benefit of telling a 1 or 2 deep at any position: "hey, we are going to try you at DE today instead of LB, just to see what happens" How could a player both take that seriously, and feel like their sills are valued at their true position?

 

We want players constantly competing to keep their starting spot, but tooo much looking over your shoulder can make a lot of players play below their potential as well.

 

 

 

Needless to say, the article and some other opinions make it seem like Bo is treating things like it is first day of freshman ball, and that there is nothing to lose by trying some things out. It is like he has absolutely no obligations to any player in keeping them at a position or giving them some security in their future this spring. Is that true? Is that best?

 

I am aware that I am reading way to much into the article above and that the entire program is not going to be given a shot at Kicker, but the article made me think.

 

now you can point out the errors of my reasoning.

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

Having players switch positions is nothing new. Callahan did it to several players. Heck, even Barney Cotton played both O Line and D Line when he played for Nebraska.

[SouthBayHusker]

I think he said when he was hired that everyone started with a clean slate. It's up to the players to perfom and produce, if they don't then I'm guessing they won't play. BTW, yes you are overthinking - That's the one thing I hate about this board people overthink everything.

[TXHSKR]

There is no "I" in Team. Maybe Bo has come across some players who think they should be ahead of the team, IMO Witt may fit the example.

 

Bo is putting the team first, he has brought back the "Walk-On" program to find players with heart that will do or die as a Husker. "What does it take to Win? What does it take to be a part of the Team? etc...

 

His obligation is to the program, I think he cares about the players but I don't think he would place one player over the good of the whole team.

[holvy83]

If I were sitting 2 or 3 deep on the depth chart and a coach told me to go in at a different position, am i going to tell him no? It is a chance to play, regardless of your position, and some of them take it for granted. If the players feelings are getting hurt because they get asked to play another position than too bad, none of them are the "stars" they were in high school. They get their school paid to play football and to do what they are told, if they don't like it, then College ball is not for them. That has got to be the toughest job as a coach, to get the best players on the field.

[Touchdown Tommie]

Speaking from experience my college coach moved around the offensive line a number of different times. My freshman year they moved me to LB and then moved me back to line after I gained a little too much weight. I did what they asked and if I did not like it, I knew where the door was because someone else on the team was going to take the spot. It is part of the game and if you want to play, you will play where the coaches feel you will benefit the team the most.

[Enhance]

You answered the question yourself basically.

 

It has a lot to do with what the coaches think is best and the fact that most of the players still are not Pelini's recruits. Think about it, since Bo brought it in a new style of defense/offense (the offense is still evolving of course), he knows what type of player needs to be playing a position. If he thinks a guy would benefit more as a safety than a middle line backer, it's his call to make and if the player doesn't like it he knows where the door is. When coaches start thinking about the individual player, the team starts to crumble (Dallas Cowboys anybody?)

 

The team is before the individual, which is exactly why Witt left. Bo is doing the right thing, and I believe it is the exact way T.O. would have done it.

[T_O_Bull]

Bo's obligations:

1. Run a clean program.

2. Treat his players fairly.

3. Graduate his student athletes.

4. Make Husker Nation proud.

T_O_B