The 'Players or Coaches or Both?' Thread

[Sub-Husker]

I don't blame Bo for this. But I do think he needs to reevaluate some of the other coaches and make some changes.

 

And his recruiting strategy.

[husker_hurdler]

Both....but more on the shoulders of the coaches.

[It'sNotAFakeID]

I mean in general, when are issues attributed to lack of coaching? When are issues attributed to the players? Surely there must be a difference.

[NUance]

Plenty of blame to spread around. So, both. Heck, let's blame the fans and the media too while we're at it.

[grandpasknee]

Well, one of the problems I see is that we had to play 8 different teams this year than we had to last year. For the most part the upperclassmen that get the majority of play were recruited to play in the big 12 rather than the big 10, and yes they both have different styles of play so require a different style of player. We all knew, even if we didn't want to admit it that this year was going to be a transition year. 9-4 (if we beat Iowa) is not a coach firing type season. Last time we did that look what happened. We need time to adjust to new teams and new types of play.

 

On that "other" husker board I predicted a 4-5 loss season based exactly on your observation here. A new conference with 8 new, unfamiliar foes. I'm trying hard to hope that is our issue an not so much our players or coaches.

[GMoose]

This Huskers team and last year's have been two of the most mentally volatile teams I've ever seen. Inconsistency is the ultimate program progress killer.

[grandpasknee]

Bottom line is that, despite what Bo says, he is not a disciplined coach, and his staff and team reflect that. Some games they plan well, practice well, hold each other accountable and play well. Other games.... not so much.

 

Definitely agree....can this be fixed in your opinion? If so,how...more direct input from Tom?

[HuskerShark]

At the split second after sending a kid in to try and block that punt when the Huskers had the momentum and great field position. Horrible!

 

Hindsight is always 20/20. The punter didn't even get touched so the guy sent in to block it did what he was supposed to do. I couldn't even begin to tell you what is wrong with this team, but I'm hoping that it is simply lack of talent and lack of maturity.

[Paxo]

When multiple players are making similar mistakes week to week, it is on the coaches.

[Scratchtown]

2008 - 9-4

2009 - 10-4

2010 - 10-4

2011 - currently 8-3 with 2 games left.

 

 

am i the only one that has seen this trend? 10 wins is great, but 4 losses a year is unacceptable in my opinion. Especially the way we are losing games. I could be overly critical but a decade of mediocrity is starting to get tiresome.

 

Beat Iowa! GBR!

[huskerscott]

At the split second after sending a kid in to try and block that punt when the Huskers had the momentum and great field position. Horrible!

 

I thought it was the right call....... the only way we were gonna score if we got GREAT field position. Its not our fault the back judge thought it was touch football. Shouldve been a running into the kicker at worse, not roughing the kicker.

[Mavric]

Big plays today:

 

1 - Dennard gets bumped and they complete a pass to the two on 3rd & 8.

2 - Bell fumbles opening kick of second half.

3 - Thorell PI gives a new set of downs after we would have forced a FG

4 - Fumbled punt snap leads to blocked punt

5 - Roughing the punter

6 - Two DBs can't play the ball in the air and give up a TD

7 - Marlowe fumbles kickoff

8 - Martinez fumbles after we're forced to pass

 

Play 1 led to a TD, 2 & 3 combined to give up a TD, 4 led to a TD, 5 & 6 combined to lead to a TD, and 8 led to a TD. That's 35 of thier 45 points directly from player screwups.

 

I'm not saying there isn't plenty more blame to go around but please explain to me exactly what the coaching staff could have done differently to prevent any of those eight plays. The only thing you could say was possibly not call the punt block but if it works, it's a great call. If it's only running into the kicker or he misses him completly, nobody remembers it. Tough call but it was worth the gamble at that point. What other coaching move would have changed any of those plays?

[knapplc]

This Huskers team and last year's have been two of the most mentally volatile teams I've ever seen. Inconsistency is the ultimate program progress killer.

 

 

Mentally volatile. Great phrase. That's exactly what these teams have been.

[beanman]

At the split second after sending a kid in to try and block that punt when the Huskers had the momentum and great field position. Horrible!

 

Hindsight is always 20/20. The punter didn't even get touched so the guy sent in to block it did what he was supposed to do. I couldn't even begin to tell you what is wrong with this team, but I'm hoping that it is simply lack of talent and lack of maturity.

 

If it's lack of talent then I guess we're completey screwed. I hope you're wrong.

[quitou]

Hard to tell. Coaches do what they can with the talent they get. Bo has been consistent with his record, and tends to have a few games a year when the players just don't compete like they do the rest of the year. This isn't a rare thing for Bo or any other coach; you rarely see a football team that doesn't get tripped up once in an entire season, and those are usually done by outstanding top-5 coaches.

 

Is Bo a top 5 coach? Not right now, but he's keeping Nebraska competitive and learning, getting personnel around him he likes while also recruiting to try and handle a brand new conference. Okie State just lost to Iowa State yesterday... does that make their coach suck? No, it just means they had a bad week, and it happens.

 

I think you can blame either one and be correct, but you're talking about a grown man in his 40's trying to motivate and coach a bunch of college kids that want to drink and party just as much as they want to play football probably. Getting 19-23 year old students to concentrate for an entire year is clearly tough, otherwise you'd see every football team with 9 win seasons.

 

Bo's a young coach in the grand scheme of thing... coaches that consistently succeed tend to have decades of experience and be in their 50's or 60's. I can't get mad at college kids that have an off week, though I can get mad if a coach calls a bad game, or leaves his players unprepared too many times a season. Bo's doing fine, so are the players. This is an off season, and transitional season both with the offense and with Bo changing the defensive scheme to play against Big 10 teams.

 

You can be disappointed in the season, even pissed off, but don't go calling for the heads of staff when you're still getting 9 and 10 win seasons.