Direction of program

[HANC]

Ok....now that I have had a night to sleep on it, and also read "some" of the posts.....especially the ones that contains "facts" and "tweets" from players...... I ask this question.

 

Can this program ever reach the Top 5 "CONSISTANTLY" again. As I ask, please keep in mind that I am 42, and grew up watching the mid-late 70's teams, attended UNL during late 80's and early 90's....traveled and still do to many away games and bowl games, and have had season tickets since 92..... I am not a fair-weather fan, and will wear my husker tatoo and the $$$$$ of memorabilia that decor my house with PRIDE until the day I die...

 

IMO, I am truly beginning to wonder, that in this day and age, NU may be in a little trouble trying to rebuild the program that "once was"... I really worry that the parity and the location of NU is going to prevent NU from becoming the team that we all know and love.

 

Reading the tweets from current players also concerns me. I have coached for 18 years and deal with HS kids daily. It is a shame that kids feel "entitled" to play, and when they get unhappy, they feel as if it is ok to go onto the "social media" and POUT OUT LOUD... for everyone to see.

 

What happened to coming to school, working your a$$ off, paying your dues, learning the system, and making the most when you get the opportunity. *** Granted the players who are playing right now, are NOT playing well....but, can anyone HONESTLY think that if these young guys are better, the coaches would play them???? The staff is putting the best players that we have on the field. Final !!! No one wants to win, worse than the coaches, guaranteed !!!

 

What worries me, is that we fell apart during the BC era....blame the coach..... Bo comes in and we win a decent amount, but nothing for the trophy case (except North title)... some think Bo is real deal (and he may be)... We blame Big 12 for officiating last year...yet continue to get penalized this season.... Last night, I watched a team that played as poorly as the teams under the BC and Cosgrove era.... Players didn't block, throw, cover, or tackle... Now we have young players tweeting about their teammates, and freshman running backs saying "IDK" when told to keep head up, and people posting that Brion won't be back next year.... What is the EXCUSE this time.

 

I am afraid that it is a much bigger problem that may be tough to overcome. I will bleed Husker Red forever, and be at almost every game, but will continue to wonder if we will EVER reach the level that "once was"

[SECHusker]

Agreed, last nights performance was piss poor. But I believe the reason why so many people are upset is because we are not the precipice of something great, but for whatever reason cannot turn the corner. We are recruiting players that can get the job done, but not all of them are seeing the field. On offense we finally have the coaches and pieces in place to do something great, but we are being handcuffed for whatever reason.

 

While I don't think the kids should be tweeting their angst, they have every bit the reason to be upset. Why Washington, Bell, Mitchell, Cooper, Jackson, and others can't over take Thorell or Cassidy boggles me. Why Whaley can't unseat Fisher boggles me more.

 

While playing good in practice is important, it is just practice. Give some guys who have been on the bench the opportunity to go out there and step up. Maybe their gameday instincts will be ridiculously good. Who knows?

 

But right now our inefficiencies are glaring, and it is time for the coaches to address it.

[gobiggergoredder]

Agreed, last nights performance was piss poor. But I believe the reason why so many people are upset is because we are not the precipice of something great, but for whatever reason cannot turn the corner. We are recruiting players that can get the job done, but not all of them are seeing the field. On offense we finally have the coaches and pieces in place to do something great, but we are being handcuffed for whatever reason.

 

While I don't think the kids should be tweeting their angst, they have every bit the reason to be upset. Why Washington, Bell, Mitchell, Cooper, Jackson, and others can't over take Thorell or Cassidy boggles me. Why Whaley can't unseat Fisher boggles me more.

 

While playing good in practice is important, it is just practice. Give some guys who have been on the bench the opportunity to go out there and step up. Maybe their gameday instincts will be ridiculously good. Who knows?

 

But right now our inefficiencies are glaring, and it is time for the coaches to address it.

 

Throw in Marlowe and why we can't recruit a QB and I'm with you.

[Drive1010]

Can this program ever reach the Top 5 "CONSISTANTLY" again

 

No - because NU isn't playing the sisters of the poor in the old Big 8 anymore. Even in the Big 12 Nebraska wasn't consistently a Top 5 program through the entire decade during the 90's glory years.

 

This is the B1G - some good years, some bad years...but at least you know what you really have...instead of the old Big 8 - being ranked Top 5 from 1983 - 1994 but going something like 2-11 in bowl games - getting blown out once Nebraska played a really good team. Forget that. That's just record hunting.

[commando]

nebraska was in the top 5 from 1883-1994? wow. didn't realize how good TO was. and.... guess we dropped out for a week or 2 before the championship run?

[General Blackshirt]

No.

[HANC]

Can this program ever reach the Top 5 "CONSISTANTLY" again

 

No - because NU isn't playing the sisters of the poor in the old Big 8 anymore. Even in the Big 12 Nebraska wasn't consistently a Top 5 program through the entire decade during the 90's glory years.

 

This is the B1G - some good years, some bad years...but at least you know what you really have...instead of the old Big 8 - being ranked Top 5 from 1983 - 1994 but going something like 2-11 in bowl games - getting blown out once Nebraska played a really good team. Forget that. That's just record hunting.

 

 

Although you stated some stats that may be accurate, and you are entitled to your opinion (and I respect that), this seems to be an attack on Nebraska in general, instead of an actual discussion to the original question....

 

Don't forget to mention that a few of the teams in the 90's (93-94... 96) are thought of by many, many experts in college football to be some of the BEST teams to ever play the game...regardless of conference... Yes, NU (and TO) may have struggled in bowls, but many times they were playing 1 vs 2 or 1 vs 3....... a lot of times, if NU lost, it was to the eventual National Champions and many were close games....which in turn, meant that YES, Nebraska was legit......regardless of what you feel about the conference... Even the 83 team, that lost the bowl, may be one of the top teams of all time in the ncaa...

 

Say what you want about the old Big 8, and even the Big 12..... but you can not honestly say Nebraska was not a legit Top 5 program for a few decades... not just due to the opponents..... They were the team of the 90's and just a few bowl game win away from being the team of the 80's...but instead it was OU.....but I am sure that Barry Switzwer and OU were only good becuase of the "old Big 8".... and yes, when they beat NU, many times it was very, very close.

 

I think your opinion was a "flaming attempt" to bash the program, instead of answering the question..... hence, don't feed the troll with 3 posts

[IvabigN]

Agreed, last nights performance was piss poor. But I believe the reason why so many people are upset is because we are not the precipice of something great, but for whatever reason cannot turn the corner. We are recruiting players that can get the job done, but not all of them are seeing the field. On offense we finally have the coaches and pieces in place to do something great, but we are being handcuffed for whatever reason.

 

While I don't think the kids should be tweeting their angst, they have every bit the reason to be upset. Why Washington, Bell, Mitchell, Cooper, Jackson, and others can't over take Thorell or Cassidy boggles me. Why Whaley can't unseat Fisher boggles me more.

 

While playing good in practice is important, it is just practice. Give some guys who have been on the bench the opportunity to go out there and step up. Maybe their gameday instincts will be ridiculously good. Who knows?

 

But right now our inefficiencies are glaring, and it is time for the coaches to address it.

 

Throw in Marlowe and why we can't recruit a QB and I'm with you.

 

We recruited a great QB- he's getting about 4 touches a game playing WR

[Husker66]

we were a top 5 program for a couple decades...besides the 5 national championships we won, we appeared in 3 or 4 others...losing 1 on a last play going for 2, losing a few by a few points....heartbreakers. i dont remember getting rolled by 30 points too often....

 

I think the rule limitating scholarhsips to 85 and no partails scholarships -whatever that rule (48?) was called, was the beginning. but the game has changed largely due to television. there was a time when if you wanted to be on national TV, you had to play for certain schools--USC, ND, Nebraska, Michigam, tOSU to name a few. that attracted a lot of talent. there was a study that shows that increasingly kids are staying closer to home to play. the better players generally come from the warmer climates. it is believed they are better players because they play all winter..which is why i believe the SEC has become a juggernaut. so the better players stay south becasue they can play on tv all the time and dont have to go to places up north to do it. this has created a lot of parity and fewer schools have the keys like they used to(except the southern schools).

 

I do think the landscape has really changed and NU is not in thr middle of it anymore. i do think things like LHN will continue to tip those scales more. money(lots of tv sets) is a big driver anymore. i also think we have not put the right coaching blend together yet.

 

jmho.

[ADS]

There is a chance we could be a top 5 program again. But it will take time. New system, new faces on offense and defense, and overall how young we are at key positions. Another year or two and yes, we very well could be a MNC contender.

[Touchdown Tommie]

I was having this same conversation with a buddy of mine, who is not a Husker fan. I love Bo, he has brought NU back, but can HE take it to the next level? This conference is tough and to be honest, I did not think we would win last night, but the beating we took was not what I expected. I was speechless at some points during the game and continue to wonder why and the hell T-Mart throws the passes he does. Last night and in previous games he locks in on the deep receiver and throws the ball no matter what. The picks he threw last night were not acceptable...the WRs were open and he completely missed them!

Anyways, sorry to vent. I am having my doubts that Bo is THE guy to take it to the next level. I am trying to stay optimistic, but it is getting harder and harder to when we continue to lose to top teams!

[kansas husker]

The direction of the program is a good one. We saw several steps forward, this year we may see a step backwards. We have very young very talented players who will take time to develop. Patience is not something that we see very often in this era of football, but I think right now patience is what we need.

[TheCheshireCat]

Here's the direction of our program as sung by Lee Hazlewood:

 

[The Duke]

Can this program ever reach the Top 5 "CONSISTANTLY" again.

 

Yes, but it is going to take time. We are closer now than we were in 2007. Always keep in perspective where we were during those Callahan years to where we are now. We have won 9 or 10 games each of the last four years, and have been to a bowl game each of those four years.

 

Pelini had a lot to fix when he got here. I think he prolonged that fix by keeping Watson on the staff, but now that Beck is calling the plays we are making progress in the right direction. The power running game is slowly coming back, and the defense will get fixed.

 

I think asking for Top 5 consistently might be a stretch, but Top 10 consistently is certainly an attainable goal.

[nepolo7]

All of us fans need some perspective. Things are going in teh right direction. There is a lot of talent on this team and Bo has shown that his teams progress through the year. I think they will be better. Even 2009 had some bumps and they almost went to a BCS game.