Early expectations for this year.

[Saunders]

my point, exactly..thank you......i hope he makes the grade, constantly bringing in new coaches is not good for any program, but you can't ride the coat tails of potential forever....

 

No, but you can't look at 9 wins minimum as a "failure" either.

 

 

tell you what....i will give him not 3 but 4 more years to win a CC, if not he is a failure in my book...fair enough?

So, Tom Osborne was a failure.

 

Got it.

 

Nice try, Tom won two conference championships (1975, 1978) in his first 8 years as HC. An Bo is no Tom Osborne, IDK why everyone tries to compare the two.

He got two "shared" titles, which means he didn't win the conference outright. We don't har that luxury nowadays, otherwise Bo would have a title.

 

And of course Bo isn't TO. That's the point, and yet he's the measuring stick. The fans (barely) gave TO (the greatest coach in Nebraska history) 6 years to beat the only team with comparable/better talent in the Big 8, and 9 years to win the conference outright. Seems logical we give Pelini some similar slack.

[skersfan]

Michigan and Ohio State are closing the gates it seems to me. We have 3 recruits according to you form Ohio, but only one is rated in the top 300 of the Big Ten, Ohio State has 5 and Michigan has 17 already committed from the top 300 potential top athletes. That seems like we are losing to me.

 

I am saying that we have lost the edge to get the Texas kids due to not playing there anymore, I am not talking about the past, but the future of our recruiting area. That makes it look like to me that the recuriting is going to be a lot tougher. Numbers being taken will affect all, but he quality of those taken makes a big difference, look at SC, on probation until this year, still recruiting nothing but 5 and 4 star, quality is more important than quanity.

 

Nebraska needs to win and quick or the problems on recruiting will seem a lot different than in the past.

 

I heard that same story from Frank, we recruit who we want, who fits our system. We have no exceptional system any longer, we need the kids that are just as good as the kids Ohio State and Michigan recruit. So with better kids, better coaching, better recruiting how do you see us in a good position?

[bshirt]

Michigan and Ohio State are closing the gates it seems to me. We have 3 recruits according to you form Ohio, but only one is rated in the top 300 of the Big Ten, Ohio State has 5 and Michigan has 17 already committed from the top 300 potential top athletes. That seems like we are losing to me.

 

I am saying that we have lost the edge to get the Texas kids due to not playing there anymore, I am not talking about the past, but the future of our recruiting area. That makes it look like to me that the recuriting is going to be a lot tougher. Numbers being taken will affect all, but he quality of those taken makes a big difference, look at SC, on probation until this year, still recruiting nothing but 5 and 4 star, quality is more important than quanity.

 

Nebraska needs to win and quick or the problems on recruiting will seem a lot different than in the past.

 

I heard that same story from Frank, we recruit who we want, who fits our system. We have no exceptional system any longer, we need the kids that are just as good as the kids Ohio State and Michigan recruit. So with better kids, better coaching, better recruiting how do you see us in a good position?

 

Ouch! Sadly so very true.

 

Just another huge price for being "multiple" (marginal at everything, excellent at nothing). Bo simply "must" use his authority to change that. Even if it's a return to the WCO or another fluffball scheme, pick something we want to be great at and don't back down from anything until we get it.

[zeWilbur]

Michigan and Ohio State are closing the gates it seems to me. We have 3 recruits according to you form Ohio, but only one is rated in the top 300 of the Big Ten, Ohio State has 5 and Michigan has 17 already committed from the top 300 potential top athletes. That seems like we are losing to me.

 

I am saying that we have lost the edge to get the Texas kids due to not playing there anymore, I am not talking about the past, but the future of our recruiting area. That makes it look like to me that the recuriting is going to be a lot tougher. Numbers being taken will affect all, but he quality of those taken makes a big difference, look at SC, on probation until this year, still recruiting nothing but 5 and 4 star, quality is more important than quanity.

 

Nebraska needs to win and quick or the problems on recruiting will seem a lot different than in the past.

 

I heard that same story from Frank, we recruit who we want, who fits our system. We have no exceptional system any longer, we need the kids that are just as good as the kids Ohio State and Michigan recruit. So with better kids, better coaching, better recruiting how do you see us in a good position?

 

While it may not be the edge over the other B1G schools that it used to be we will still be able to pull kids from Texas. Is recruiting Ohio over Texas a 1-1 swap? Absolutely not. But it is pretty good and we will never stop recruiting Texas. Since we have lost that edge in Texas we damn sure better exploit the one we gained in Ohio/Pennsylvania/etc. Is Michigan off to a hot start? Yep. Is Ohio doing well? Absolutely. But they do this almost EVERY year. No point in worrying about it until they figure out how to sign 40-50 kids a year like Bama.

 

It seems like you are hung up on the ESPN 300. You might want to check out Rivals or 24/7. Heck, read Bleacherreport if it helps you sleep at night. The subjectivity in this whole thing is ridiculous.

 

The only time I shared your concern for the overall athleticism was the Northwestern game last year. Every time Blatchford was in the Nickel he was going to get beat on a drag route. We had to have someone in there that knew the defense because we had far too many that didn't already. I have convinced myself that this was a result of too much youth on the field and that should be rectified with time. Hello one year later! If Pelini can keep a balanced depth chart then it should not be an issue again.

[Excel]

The recruiting issue....isn't Ohio different?

 

In the Big XII you were guaranteed to play at least one game, sometimes two, in Texas each year.

 

With Ohio you play there what? Once every 6-8 years...and it's hundreds of miles further away.

 

That's a much harder sell.

[Hunter94]

recruiting is a problem......period.

['SkersRule]

i think you made his point for him........we couldn't even beat Northwestern......

you didn't really want to see us lose to Wisconsin a 2nd time, did you?

 

I made my own point thank you very little. The point is that Nebraska, for all that went wrong last season, is so precariously close to winning a Big 10 title and more. All they need to do is stop beating themselves. Or stated another way, become the team that pounces on the other team's mistakes and make them pay dearly. We've had far too much of the former recently and not nearly enough of the latter.

 

And regarding a potential rematch with Wisconsin anything could have happened including a WIN. But all you want to see is negativity and gloom. Well have fun with that.

['SkersRule]

recruiting is a problem......period.

 

[skersfan]

skersrule,

 

Do you see us recruiting adequately, numbers make little difference to me. I am looking for quality, play makers, game breakers with good footbally savy. If we were recruiting these by the boat loads I would have expected a lot more freshman playing every down as others do at other programs.

 

Do you feel they are not playing due to the difficulty of the system, too much to learn. We will see what Bo has recruited this year, most will be his kids. Do you feel he has brought in the ability that Hoke and Meyers have brought in in their first years, do you feel we are getting everything out of ours as Hoke seemed to last year. I followed Hoke at San Diego State where he quickly turned that program around, which I never thought could happen.

 

Do you honestly feel that Bo is on a level with either Hoke or Meyers, in any part of the game?

 

Like stated, Bo gets a pass from me for the way he runs the program, he makes the kids grow, become men, or in least in my mind he does. I just don't think he has the skills yet to be a top head coach. Time will develop that I hope, but there are many that do not want him at Nebraska, and it is not just his coaching that they are concerned about. I know most on here laugh that off, but I have friends that put a lot of money into this program, and a growing number are not happy about the face of the program.

 

I think he made tremendous improvement this past year, but I know he has been told he had to. But that is part of growing up and I think he is making strides, but for me there are a lot corrections to be made on the coaching side. I hope his new assistants are as good as he thinks they are or they will take him down I am afraid.

['SkersRule]

skersrule,

 

Do you see us recruiting adequately, numbers make little difference to me. I am looking for quality, play makers, game breakers with good footbally savy. If we were recruiting these by the boat loads I would have expected a lot more freshman playing every down as others do at other programs.

 

Do you feel they are not playing due to the difficulty of the system, too much to learn. We will see what Bo has recruited this year, most will be his kids. Do you feel he has brought in the ability that Hoke and Meyers have brought in in their first years, do you feel we are getting everything out of ours as Hoke seemed to last year. I followed Hoke at San Diego State where he quickly turned that program around, which I never thought could happen.

 

Do you honestly feel that Bo is on a level with either Hoke or Meyers, in any part of the game?

 

Like stated, Bo gets a pass from me for the way he runs the program, he makes the kids grow, become men, or in least in my mind he does. I just don't think he has the skills yet to be a top head coach. Time will develop that I hope, but there are many that do not want him at Nebraska, and it is not just his coaching that they are concerned about. I know most on here laugh that off, but I have friends that put a lot of money into this program, and a growing number are not happy about the face of the program.

 

I think he made tremendous improvement this past year, but I know he has been told he had to. But that is part of growing up and I think he is making strides, but for me there are a lot corrections to be made on the coaching side. I hope his new assistants are as good as he thinks they are or they will take him down I am afraid.

 

Okay let's take this one point at a time:

 

1. In 2011 Nebraska played Aaron Green, Ameer Abdullah and Braylon Heard--all three true freshman RBs. Jamal Turner played WR as a true freshman. Tyler Moore played OT as a true frosh. That's five true freshman I can think of off the top of my head on offense alone--what more do you want?

 

2a. Considering we've been through three different offenses, with two different OC's in the last three years it's literally impossible to say at this point if the "system" is too complicated or not. Taylor was a redshirt freshman in '10 and made freshman mistakes. In '11 his only real bad game was against Wisconsin when he threw three consecutive interceptions. After that debacle he was solid with his decision making although numerous times his WRs and OL didn't hold up their respective ends. Any QB looks a heck of a lot better when those around him execute and make plays consistently. How good do you think Russell Wilson would have looked had he been throwing to our mostly stoned- for hands WRs?

 

2b. This is the first time in Taylor's career that he's been in the same offense in consectutive years and I think we'll see a much improved offense all around.

 

3. If you look at simply recruiting sites and judge talent by recruiting rankings then no Bo has not brought in the kind of talent that Hoke and Meyer have. However, recruiting rankings, while fun to point to and brag about, are pretty much meaningless once the recruits join the team. How smart they are, how they take to coaching, living on their own for the first time, staying out of trouble, coaching changes (whether their position coach moves on or the head coach is fired), their attitude, focus, and work ethic are all unquantifiable variables that make recruiting the inexact science it is. At this point all I can do is look at the film of the recruits we've signed and contrast that with film from other recruits and make an educated guess that athletically we're right there with most of the top teams. We certainly don't have the elite 1st round talent of Alabama but then again no one else does either. Because once you get past the Su'a Cravens (which are few and far in-between) it's a virtual crap-shoot as to which recruits become stars or busts. I mean really, how do you differentiate on a consistent basis if some 3* is automatically worse than a 4 or 5*? It's what the coaching staff does with them once they get onto campus and to this point the jury is still out regarding Bo. I do know one thing though, in 2010 three players from our secondary were drafted: Prince, Gomes, and Haag. That has to count for something.

 

4. I'm right there with you in agreeing that Bo still has tremendous room for improvement. However, let's look at the situation through honest evaluation and compare Bo to a coach that I think everyone can agree is at the top of college football right now: Nick Saban. This is Bo's first tour as a head coach and he's in year 5 which is upcoming. Nick Saban had two different stops at Toledo and Michigan State encompassing 10 years before landing at LSU in 1999. It then took him another three seasons, in an elite talent rich state like Louisiana no less, to win a national championship.

 

5a. I totally get that you're skeptical because there's absolutely nothing wrong with a healthy dose of it nor is there anything wrong with viewing something (even Nebraska football) with a critical eye. But when you only see the bad and down play what went right that's when I think a person isn't being fair-minded.

 

5b. What if Nebraska doesn't throw three interceptions in a row against Wisconsin? Do we win? Maybe, maybe not but the score wouldn't have such an embarrassing road loss. What about the game against Michigan? Trailing at halftime by 7, what if, instead of fumbling, Kenny Bell scores a TD or at the least hangs onto the ball? What about the other turnovers we lost, the punt which was blocked, the lame roughing the punter call? If none of those things happen, do we beat Michigan? I don't know. And then there was the bowl against South Carolina. We're up 13-9 and then we lose two turnovers in the red zone and miss a FG--could have been up by 21 heading into halftime.

 

See the pattern here? Last season was Nebraska's coulda, shoulda, woulda but didn't season.

 

If we can just stop beating ourselves I seriously do not think any team can beat us. But Nebraska needs to get it right between their ears because that's the last hurdle in their way.

['SkersRule]

Point of clarification: If Nebraska would have played Wisconsin, Michigan, and South Carolina with almost no mistakes and still got rolled then I'd be so much more concerned. But guys Nebraska is close, so close, to becoming a really great football team. They just have to want it.

[H2h]

Again . . . I hope that you're right but I don't think someone who expects Nebraska to win the Big 10 this year has much room to accuse others of being disconnected from reality.

 

You do understand that if Nebraska would have beaten Northwestern last year they would have been in Indianapolis playing Wisconsin in a rematch for the inaugural Big 10 championship...right?

 

Of course you do being so grounded in reality as you are.

 

 

That's not even true to start with. MSU went 7-1 in conference, that still only puts NU at 6-2 if we had beaten NW. Or still 3rd place in our division. (Tied for 2nd but Michigan won the head to head so I count that as 3rd)

[skersfan]

Not exactly certian on this, but I think it is pretty close. Every NC in the last 10 years has a top 3 recruiting class just prior to winning the NC. I know it can be said for Bama, LSU, SC, Florida, that is five years right there. Kids with more talent normally develop as they have accepted training and the ability to learn. Most do not fall off the wagon as soon as they are signed. Quality is paramont in winning the big dance it seems or the recent past history is showing that.

 

5 freshman that played, not much compared to others at other places. I hope you guys are right about talent, but I really do not believe it. IF we do not start winning and doing it on regular basis agains those that are percieved as better, our problems will only get bigger. Winning cures all I guess, here is hoping that starts this year with out bone head plays, and players ready to play every game no matter who it is.

[Saunders]

Posts about simplifying the defensive scheme are puzzling. It works, and works well. Alabama runs the same system (conceptually) out of a 3-4. We just need the proper athletes. Bo's problem, is that his first 2 classes were average, and it's catching up to us. Last year's class and 2013 should pay dividends.

[Saunders]

recruiting is a problem......period.

Last year, I would have agreed. However, this class is shaping up rather nicely (notice it's after Bo made changes).