Bo v. Saban & Miles after first four years - - now shut up!

[beanman]

Before I say anything else; I don't want Bo fired. The only thing I will say is that Frank Solich got fired at the end of a 9(10)-3 season. It wasn't the number of losses that cost Frank his job...it was the type of losses. I think people are just frustrated with getting blown out (ie, Wisconsin) or losing to teams with losing records (ie, Northwestern). I am a Bo supporter, but I too am frustrated.

 

Look at the talent the LSU and Bama have? Records for the first 3 or 4 years dont mean anything.

 

It comes down to how you recruit. LSU and Bama have a lot more talent up and down their rosters.

These two teams are almost always in the top 5 each year in recruiting. NU, not so much.

 

Urban gave some huge props to LSU, saying he has never seen some many tall, anglear, athletic kids on LSU's team. Trouble with that, Alabama out played LSU most ofa the night but continued to make mistakes.

 

The 4 missed FGs, the pass out of the wildcat by an injured WR, the lack of pinning the other team deep with field position instead of FGs, that is what caused Saban the win.

 

Saying that Bo is on par with Saban and Miles is laughable.

 

Especially when you are basing that solely on their records for their first 4 years despite not coaching powerhouses to start out their careers. The only somewhat fair comparison up there is Pelini vs. Calli. And even that is questionable.

[schuhbdoo]

Urban Meyer is no longer coaching because of Saban and Miles.

[Ziebol]

Bo should not be fired at all that's crazy, to get mad is one thing but to call for his head is another. That loss in my opinion was all on the players in defense it seemed like they didnt want to play and northwestern exploited it. It's a tough loss to swallow but Bo is a great coach and will be at Nebraska for a long time.

[Landomatic]

I'm sure there are a ton of legendary coaches who had average records and results their first 3-4 years as head coaches. The BIG difference...they were at average to below average schools. Those great coaches don't have those kinds of records at the premier schools they're at now. Their learning years came at lower tier schools.

[tschu]

If we fire Bo, who on earth are we going to hire? Sorry to burst your bubble but we aren't getting Urban Meyer or Nick Saban.

 

The "fire Bo" crowd just isn't very smart.

[Landomatic]

I'm not saying he should be fired. But trying to compare him to the likes of Saban or Miles at this stage of their careers is kind of funny. They aren't even in the same ballpark.

[JTrain]

The Saban comparison is fair. Saban took a while to get going. Now he's basically looked at as a college coaching god. He had one season at Toledo, but his first stint as a BCS head coach was at MSU.

 

Saban took over Sparty at the relatively young age of 43. (His first game-- a 50-10 loss to Nebraska.) He took over a team that was a combined 19-26 (42%) in the three seasons before his arrival. In his first four seasons, he went 25-22-1 (53%). His "breakout" year was in his fifth season, when he went 9-2 before accepting the job at LSU (pre-bowl). He still didn't win the B1G title though, as they lost to Wisconsin and Purdue by a combined score of 92-38.

 

In summary: Saban took a middle-of-the-road B1G team and improved their winning percentage by 11% in his first four years, before having a legitimately good season in year five. He won zero conference titles.

 

Pelini took over Nebraska at 40. Nebraska was a combined 27-22 (55%) in the four years before his arrival. In his first four seasons (to date), his record is 36-14 (72%). Also zero conference titles to date (although was one second away from one). He has improved our winning percentage by 17%.

[Landomatic]

So in your mind, Michigan State is equal to Nebraska as traditional football schools go? And Toledo is the equivalent of Bo's what?

[tschu]

So, Bo inherited a team that had 5 wins and had the worst defense that Nebraska has seen since the 50s. He has resources, but it takes time to both rebuild and figure out what the heck you're doing as a head coach. Don't expect a national title within 4 years of a coach getting his first head coaching job

[JTrain]

So in your mind, Michigan State is equal to Nebraska as traditional football schools go? And Toledo is the equivalent of Bo's what?

 

The state of MSU's football program when Saban arrived is very similar to the state Nebraska's was in upon Bo's arrival. Traditional football schools? Not sure what you mean by that. Tradition doesn't mean a lot in terms of resurrecting a slumping program. Just ask John Blake or Mike Shula. Nebraska and Michigan State were in similar conferences and in a similar geographical region.

[bshirt]

Before I say anything else; I don't want Bo fired. The only thing I will say is that Frank Solich got fired at the end of a 9(10)-3 season. It wasn't the number of losses that cost Frank his job...it was the type of losses. I think people are just frustrated with getting blown out (ie, Wisconsin) or losing to teams with losing records (ie, Northwestern). I am a Bo supporter, but I too am frustrated.

 

Imo, it was an outrageously STUPID thing to do. Firing Frank/Bo for a bowl winning 10 - 3 season was SOOOoooo stupid we haven't recovered from it yet.

 

Here we are eight years later and.....how many seasons have we done better than 10 - 3 since? Zero.

 

But we've had our first losing seasons in 40 years, the greatest losses in the history of NU cfb, zero conference championships, zero BCS bowl games, zero NC games and.....we're talking about doing it again.

 

God help us.

[Enhance]

So, Bo inherited a team that had 5 wins and had the worst defense that Nebraska has seen since the 50s. He has resources, but it takes time to both rebuild and figure out what the heck you're doing as a head coach. Don't expect a national title within 4 years of a coach getting his first head coaching job

Now more than ever it's clear to me that fans today, and universities, care far too much about winning right this second. Would I be alone in thinking if the Devaney era had ended in the early 2000's, and Osborne had taken over, that he'd still be our head coach? He probably would have been gone after five years.

 

We see people like Stoops, Meyer and Saban, who take over programs and win a national title within a couple of years. People, they're the exception, not the rule. Far more teams have to grind to a championship with a coach more than hiring a new one and winning right away.

[Landomatic]

So in your mind, Michigan State is equal to Nebraska as traditional football schools go? And Toledo is the equivalent of Bo's what?

 

The state of MSU's football program when Saban arrived is very similar to the state Nebraska's was in upon Bo's arrival. Traditional football schools? Not sure what you mean by that. Tradition doesn't mean a lot in terms of resurrecting a slumping program. Just ask John Blake or Mike Shula. Nebraska and Michigan State were in similar conferences and in a similar geographical region.

 

No...just because they were in a similar state does not make them comparable. Had it been at Ohio State or Michigan and they were in a similar state, then yes. At least I like to think that Nebraska is a level up from Michigan State...maybe you don't? Doesn't matter anyway as Saban had head coaching experience going in and Bo didn't. So again, not even a remotely close comparison to be talking about those 3 coaches in the same argument.

 

Again...I'm not saying Bo should be fired at all. I'm just saying that trying to draw some sort of parallel to Saban or Miles to prove your stance as to why he shouldn't be fired is not going to change many doubters minds I don't think.

[JTrain]

So in your mind, Michigan State is equal to Nebraska as traditional football schools go? And Toledo is the equivalent of Bo's what?

 

The state of MSU's football program when Saban arrived is very similar to the state Nebraska's was in upon Bo's arrival. Traditional football schools? Not sure what you mean by that. Tradition doesn't mean a lot in terms of resurrecting a slumping program. Just ask John Blake or Mike Shula. Nebraska and Michigan State were in similar conferences and in a similar geographical region.

 

No...just because they were in a similar state does not make them comparable. Had it been at Ohio State or Michigan and they were in a similar state, then yes. At least I like to think that Nebraska is a level up from Michigan State...maybe you don't? Doesn't matter anyway as Saban had head coaching experience going in and Bo didn't. So again, not even a remotely close comparison to be talking about those 3 coaches in the same argument.

 

Again...I'm not saying Bo should be fired at all. I'm just saying that trying to draw some sort of parallel to Saban or Miles to prove your stance as to why he shouldn't be fired is not going to change many doubters minds I don't think.

 

I think the comparison holds very well. Nebraska is a more prestigious football school than MSU, obviously, but that doesn't really have anything to do with the state we were in, in 2007. We were just a crappy team getting laughed out of our own stadium by an average Oklahoma State team on our way to a 5-7 record. Pretty similar to where the MSU program was in 1994. If people want to irrationally ignore it, that isn't my problem.

 

Don't really think Saban's year at Toledo affects anything other that giving him a little added experience before coming up to play with the big boys (making Bo look even slightly better in comparison, if anything).

[krill]

So, Bo inherited a team that had 5 wins and had the worst defense that Nebraska has seen since the 50s. He has resources, but it takes time to both rebuild and figure out what the heck you're doing as a head coach. Don't expect a national title within 4 years of a coach getting his first head coaching job

 

Kelly and Chizik set a pretty ridiculous standard making in their second year.

 

Some of our more vocal fans will apparently never accept that 10 win seasons in good conferences (i.e. not the Big 8, especially when OU wasn't good) are an accomplishment. I guess in my mind the loss yesterday was a lot less bitter than ISU in 09' and Texas last year, and we still have three quality games ahead to rebound.

 

Also all the hoopla around Les Miles is kinda funny since it was only two years ago that the very same sportscasters were saying LSU was waning and there was a lot of unrest in the LSU fan base. Now he's apparently ranked with Eisenstein in genius and walking on bayou water.