How many years did it take

[COMPTON]

How many years will take before everyone isn't measured to T.O.? Give me a break.

 

THIS. Times have changed. We need to get with it, or get run over. If we continue with the mediocrity we'll have trouble hiring a big-name coach (if it comes to that) and we'll lose ground with big-name recruits. Nebraska will no longer be Nebraska.

Can't argue that.

[Nexus]

I have no qualms with comparisons. Civilizations evolved out of precedents. We should cautiously view precedents in its proper context when doing comparative history though. The overall moral that the OP is suggesting here if I'm not mistaken is this:

 

As a fanbase, we've always bitched, moaned and hollered about coaching, losing, etc. long before Devaney ever stepped foot in Nebraska. Die-hard sports fans hate losing. Period. Knee-jerk reactions are part & parcel of being die-hard fans.

[junior4949]

Am I disappointed about certain games we play? yes

Do I consider this season a success? no

Do I consider this season a failure? no

Should Bo keep his job? yes

Should Bo feel any real pressure right now? no

 

I said before the season we would go 9-3. We had one heck of a schedule to get through. Wisconsin and Ohio State back to back as well as Penn State and Michigan back to back is daunting. Sure we lost to Northwestern, but a lot of other good teams have seen similar upsets. I just hope we show up to our bowl game and play well. I can't stand another Washington failure.

 

This. Bo shouldn't be feeling any heat right now. Those who believe times have changed must have bought into the Notre Dame coaching carousel hype. How's that turned out for them? There are times when coaches should be fired or asked to move on in a short amount of time. It was fairly easy to see that BC was a bad fit here. I can't fault KU for firing Gill either. They should have never hired him in the first place. If you remove his one good season and see how his last season went down, it's easy to see he isn't a very good coach. I wonder how Charles Barkley is feeling nowadays after all the commotion he raised when Auburn didn't hire Gill? While Bo is off to a slower start than Bob Stoops, I still have visions of our program eventually mirroring OU's. I think Bo can get us there.

 

It will be very interesting to see how Sherman does down at A&M considering this year they were a preseason top 10 team and next year they start in the SEC. I might be a bit superstitious, but I believe what goes around comes around. A&M should have never forced Slocum out. They have been paying for it ever since. I guess the same could be said with Nebraska after Solich was fired, but it appears that maybe our run of "paying for it" might be over. Next year, our offense will be better. I still fear what our defense will look like especially considering what players we lose.

[Huskerlambs]

Actually, it started with Fred Dawson in 1924 and Ernest Bearg in 1928.

They should have paid Jumbo Stiehm the $4,250 he deserved! The team went down the crapper after he left in 1915.

[robsker]

Junior:

 

You often post very reasonable and very solid opinions and I respect your opinion. That is why I ask you to explain why you feel this way...

 

you state... "While Bo is off to a slower start than Bob Stoops, I still have visions of our program eventually mirroring OU's. I think Bo can get us there."

 

Earnestly, I desire to know what you see in Bo and his performance that suggests the NU is headed the right direction. I cannot see how Bo's performance is in any way encouraging. You seemingly do see something encouraging. What is it that you see?

 

I appreciate your time in answering this one.

[dergibog]

How long did Solich last? Four years or five? He was fired after a 10-3 season.

[junior4949]

Junior:

 

You often post very reasonable and very solid opinions and I respect your opinion. That is why I ask you to explain why you feel this way...

 

you state... "While Bo is off to a slower start than Bob Stoops, I still have visions of our program eventually mirroring OU's. I think Bo can get us there."

 

Earnestly, I desire to know what you see in Bo and his performance that suggests the NU is headed the right direction. I cannot see how Bo's performance is in any way encouraging. You seemingly do see something encouraging. What is it that you see?

 

I appreciate your time in answering this one.

 

Bo took over a team that finished horribly in 2007. I'm of the opinion that the mental side of the game is far more important than the physical side of the game. The 2007 squad was mentally shot. I think people need to compare where we're at today with 2007 rather than trying to compare the 2011 defense with the 2009 defense. He has drastically turned this team around. Rather than playing flat out poor football every game like 2007, we've only played flat out poor football at times each of the past few years. I hold no illusions we'll be in the NC hunt every year. I'd like to see us in the hunt for a BCS bowl nearly every year. The past three seasons, we've been in the discussion. In 09' we were a late field goal away. Last year, we blew a pretty big lead in the title game. This year, we were in the hunt until the Michigan game.

 

I think most of us can agree that TO was a pretty good coach. There were a lot of years I found myself just as frustrated with him and things he was doing as I have with Bo. Bo seems to have a vision much like TO. A lot of people questioned his reasoning behind starting Martinez a year ago rather than Lee because last year seemed like our best shot at great things given the schedule and such. Martinez is improving. The upside looks rather great. If the boosters and such give Bo time, I believe it will pay dividends.

[junior4949]

How long did Solich last? Four years or five? He was fired after a 10-3 season.

 

6 years

[majech]

In the end, Osborne needed 9 years to win a conference title outright (1981).... but early in that season, the Huskers were 1-2 and getting booed at home. One of the very first games I went to was a game against Auburn where we had lost the week before and were down 3-0 at halftime. That's when Turner Gill came in and changed everything.

 

Shatel's article is interesting because it points out a key difference between Tom and Bo in terms of expectations - Osborne got 9 years, but Pelini may not have that luxury only because the years preceding him were obviously much darker than the ones that immediately preceded Osborne (*ahem* 70-71) so the "win now" segment is much more vocal, having sat through most of the last decade of futility without any trophies.

 

Which to me is the massive hypocrisy in all this. If it was so bad for that 4 years, then why in the hell are we in meltdown mode after 4 straight 9 win seasons, and possibly a 3rd straight 10 win season. I know everyone is ready for that next step that shouldve been taken already, but I still cant understand why some dont accept this as an improvement from the previous status quo.

 

I've never considered what Callahan did here as the status quo. He was a moronic outlier. The Nebraska "standard" in my mind is Devaney, Osborne, & Solich. Holding a coach to the 93-97 stardards is not reasonable, but holding him to the 04-07 standards is not reasonable either.

[majech]

How long did Solich last? Four years or five? He was fired after a 10-3 season.

 

He was fired by an idiot though. What Steve Pederson did doesn't pull much weight around here, at least it shouldn't imo.

[Joe_5700]

What are people going to do when we do have that down season and go 5-7? I do not want it to happen, but a season of bad luck, injuries etc. can happen to even the great programs. Hopefully we do not over react and pull a Pederson...

[Mavric]

Junior:

 

You often post very reasonable and very solid opinions and I respect your opinion. That is why I ask you to explain why you feel this way...

 

you state... "While Bo is off to a slower start than Bob Stoops, I still have visions of our program eventually mirroring OU's. I think Bo can get us there."

 

Earnestly, I desire to know what you see in Bo and his performance that suggests the NU is headed the right direction. I cannot see how Bo's performance is in any way encouraging. You seemingly do see something encouraging. What is it that you see?

 

I appreciate your time in answering this one.

 

Bo's four years at Nebraska:

2008: 9-4

2009: 10-4

2010: 10-4

2011: 9-3

Overall: 38-15 (.717)

 

Two Bowl wins; 2 CCGs

 

 

Stoops last four years:

2008: 12-2

2009: 8-5

2010: 12-2

2011: 9-2

Overall: 41-11 (.789)

 

Two Bowl wins; Two Conference Championships

 

 

Bo is a couple of plays in the last couple conference championship games from having an identical number of wins and being up 2 to 1 in conference championships. Yes, I know, we didn't win those games. But that doesn't seem very far away to me, especially considering we were 5-7 the year before Bo got here. Looks like the right direction to me.

[tschu]

How long did Solich last? Four years or five? He was fired after a 10-3 season.

Yeah, but LOL Steve Pederson.

 

One of the great burning questions that I've had in my mind for 5 years now is, Where would the program be had Solich not been fired? Would he still be coaching? How successful would he have been? Too bad we'll never know.

[holvy83]

How long did Solich last? Four years or five? He was fired after a 10-3 season.

Yeah, but LOL Steve Pederson.

 

One of the great burning questions that I've had in my mind for 5 years now is, Where would the program be had Solich not been fired? Would he still be coaching? How successful would he have been? Too bad we'll never know.

 

From what I have read in the past is that the talent pool was draining under Solich which was pretty evident in Callahan's first couple years, also that Solich didn't have much of the attention and respect from the players during his stint. But to also answer your question is that it would have been interesting to see what he "could" have done, but at the same time probably not bring in the talent that Callahan did, Taylor, Lucky, Suh, Prince etc...

[Mavric]

Personally, Frank may have been a decent Head Coach but I don't think he had it as an Offensive Coordinator. He just didn't have a feel for play-calling.

 

I remember listening to a post-game interview one time when they asked him why they ran the fullback so much in that game. His response was something to the effect of "you have to run the fullback so they don't over-commit to the option outside." Really?!??!? Have you been watching the last 15 years where we run the option all game then finally bust the fullback up the middle for big gains in the fourth quarter once they've forgotten about him (see the 1995 Oragne Bowl vs. Miami). I just don't think he quite had it.

 

I'm not sure if he calls plays at Ohio now (probably does) and he's had good success there so maybe he's learned but I'm guessing it's a little easier to make things work in the MAC.