My take on what needs to be done to right this ship...

[FLU]

"Ohio St is a proven name which is why they got meyer"

 

 

And Nebraska is not a proven name

[FLU]

I have supported Bo thinking we have a coach that will always put a quality defense on the field. Let's give him time with the offense. Boy was I wrong...the defense is actually the weak link and does not look like it has the personnel to run Bo's scheme and not sure if Bo can figure it our either. There are serious questions about if Bo is the guru we thought he could be or did he just have the players at OU, LSU, and then Suh. I give him this season and likely one more. If it is not figured out, we have got to go get someone else. Come 2014 I want to be playing in BCS playoffs or being considered a perennial team that can get there.

 

So, here is my short list of who we HAVE to look at seriously:

Chris Petersen - always puts quality teams on the field. Boise St. could have easily not shown up certain games where they were big favorites but nope they always show up and often upset the big boys. NU has problems showing up for games. Petersen plays to win and he gets it done more often than not. I never feel like Boise St. is out of the game. Last night, I knew we were done at the start of the second half.

Gary Patterson - solid coach who gets more out his team than most. Another solid track record, could recruit Texas and would represent the university well. Could build a solid defense and running game.

Kirby Smart - runs the defense that we should be running here at NU. Alabama is NU from the 90's and plays aggressive downhill defense. He would be a guy I'd take a long interview with and see what he is all about. He will land a head coaching job soon.

 

+1 -- I've also always been a Rich Rodriguez fan, even though I doubt many will agree. Curious to see what he does at Arizona.

[Enhance]

"We're not going to pay a coach $9 million"

 

Why not?

 

I don't think it would take nearly that much. And you're right, I don't see Saban or Meyer leaving where they are, and I wouldn't want Miles anyway. My point is, you have to be willing to pay big bucks nowadays, just like the top-tier schools are doing. If you're not willing to do that, then you can't expect to be a top-tier team.

If we'd want to lure a coach like Miles, Saban, Meyer, etc., I think it would. It's $9 million dollars, man! That's over $3 million more than Saban is making! And as I said in response to another poster above, Saban/Miles have the best jobs in the world. They'd be out of their minds to take the head coaching job at Nebraska which, I must regretfully inform some posters, would be a fairly substantial step down from Bama and LSU. That's why I think it would take big bucks like $8 or $9 million, which we wouldn't pay and no college would pay at this time. Of course, as you agree, this part of the conversation is a farce, because we wouldn't reasonably get them anyways.

 

I understand your point, and I think it's a fair point. But, here's the thing - I don't think there's an available coach, right now, that would be an obvious improvement over Pelini. Even the names you mentioned above have question marks surrounding them, or a lot of logistical problems with them actually coaching here. That's my issue - we could end up being better, or doing more harm than good.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Why would Saban want to even leave Alabama? I doubt he would have to work near as hard as he would here at Nebraska because it's a fine oiled machine down there right now. Just recruiting here would be a huge job compared to Alabama.

[ladyhawke]

I have supported Bo thinking we have a coach that will always put a quality defense on the field. Let's give him time with the offense. Boy was I wrong...the defense is actually the weak link and does not look like it has the personnel to run Bo's scheme and not sure if Bo can figure it our either. There are serious questions about if Bo is the guru we thought he could be or did he just have the players at OU, LSU, and then Suh. I give him this season and likely one more. If it is not figured out, we have got to go get someone else. Come 2014 I want to be playing in BCS playoffs or being considered a perennial team that can get there.

 

So, here is my short list of who we HAVE to look at seriously:

Chris Petersen - always puts quality teams on the field. Boise St. could have easily not shown up certain games where they were big favorites but nope they always show up and often upset the big boys. NU has problems showing up for games. Petersen plays to win and he gets it done more often than not. I never feel like Boise St. is out of the game. Last night, I knew we were done at the start of the second half.

Gary Patterson - solid coach who gets more out his team than most. Another solid track record, could recruit Texas and would represent the university well. Could build a solid defense and running game.

Kirby Smart - runs the defense that we should be running here at NU. Alabama is NU from the 90's and plays aggressive downhill defense. He would be a guy I'd take a long interview with and see what he is all about. He will land a head coaching job soon.

After Solich was fired, didn't we offer the HC job to Chris Petersen and Gary Patterson, and even Urban Meyer. They all said no because we had just fired a coach who had went 10-2!!

[Paul in WI]

How much money are we dumping into the basketball program again? Let's see.......how much money do even the most successful basketball programs bring in? Hmm.......we can afford to dump hundreds of millions into a bottom-dweller program that will never give us a return on investment (even if Miles can turn us into the second coming of Kansas), but we can't drop money on the football program for top-tier coaches? Pfft....

 

Flu, I hear exactly what you're saying, but you're pissing up a rope with this bunch. Nebraska wants to pay for performance--NOT before, so we're going to be forever stuck gambling on unproven commodities rather than spending more money up front to help reduce the risk of failure. All I know is that at best I only have so many more decades to live.

Let's take a look at this ignorance for a moment. Are you saying that you make important monetary decisions based on hopes and dreams over reasonable analysis? There isn't a single current coach out there who is worth the same or more than Pelini that would leave their current job, and anybody worth Pelini is no worse or better at face value. You'd be hiring a coach a lot like Pelini, as corncraze said.

 

Is that truthfully a reasonable gamble, in your opinion? Do you honestly feel that our problems can be solved by hiring another Pelini-level coach? The logistics behind hiring a great coach are unreasonable, so you're saying you want us to dump millions on someone who may or may not be better than Pelini, and that we should play this coaching carousel game until we find the right person?

 

Wow! (laughing here) Clearly I struck a nerve. That's a pretty impressive list of conclusions that you're drawing from what I said, kiddo! You need more than a little bit of work on that A to B to Conclusion thing. Mercy......lol

[Flood]

After Solich was fired, didn't we offer the HC job to Chris Petersen and Gary Patterson, and even Urban Meyer. They all said no because we had just fired a coach who had went 10-2!!

 

 

This is a huge issue. Our sense of entitlement ran in the blood of the fans, the admin, the athletes, everyone. 10-2 was not good enough? It would take one foolish coach to walk into that chainsaw. Every coach in the country knows you can be upset, and sometimes badly, any game of the season. It takes just a few small things, a kid playing a bad game who is usually on top of his game. The opposing team lighting up the field in ways never expected or seen in the past. A kicker having a horrible day. It happens.

 

No matter how bad the losses were, we fired a guy with one of the best coaching records in CFB at the time. 10-2?

 

No wonder these guys weren't interested. We do it again with Bo, in a relatively quick fashion, we better be ready to fade away or pay HUGE money.

 

Another factor: Nebraskans are, I think, generally supportive of our team, even those who don't follow football much. But I wonder how accepting mom and pop out in Scottsbluff, or up in Chadron, or La Vista, the average Nebraskan, how they would feel if we started paying out 8 mil a year to a football coach. And if they did accept this, do we also begin to push the NCAA boundaries in the way that some schools are, to win games?

 

Nebraskans might accept the huge salaries, I don't honestly know. If the wins come at a financial cost, people might be okay with that. But I wonder if the average Nebraskan, especially those who don't follow the team, would be happy to sell our souls, morals, and ethics for a win-at-all-costs type of program. That seems the antithesis of what Nebraska has been for decades.

[FLU]

Well, like I've said before, until we get out of this "pay for performance" mentality, nothing is going to get any better.

 

As for getting Saban or Meyer, not going to happen.

 

As for getting another top-tier coach such as Petersen et al, I think it's definitely possible, for the right price.

 

That being said, I say Bo gets this year and next year to win something. Next year Martinez will be a SR, the RBs will have experience and this team will have no excuses for failure. If he can't win something by the end of next year, he's gotta go. A lot can change in the coaching world between now and then.

[FLU]

Until we are willing to pay for the best, we can't be upset about the resulting product. It's like buying a Hyundai, which is an average car, and then complaining that it can't match up with a Mercedes.

[chamrocck]

Until we are willing to pay for the best, we can't be upset about the resulting product. It's like buying a Hyundai, which is an average car, and then complaining that it can't match up with a Mercedes.

I agree with FLU. The issue with Solich was not the record but NU fans knew there were systemic problems on how we were suddenly just being whacked in dramatic fashion. This does not happen with elite programs. Yes, they get upset, yes the kicker misses one, yes another team rises up and wins...I can accept that and this is not what we are talking about. We are talking about a defense that is regressing and one of the worst units I can remember, a team that often comes out flat, cannot make second half adjustments and is outcoached, a team that can't compete with the powers but also loses to teams that have no business beating us. This is UCLA who just last year lost 8 games including to Utah 31-6, USC 50-0, and Illinois 20-14! And they went up and down the field all over us!

 

No, this job is not for the fickle hearted...it is for someone who wants a challenge and understands the situation. We need to find someone that understands we can pay you big for a 5-year contract and yes we expect to win and play sound football even in defeat...not handing games over to the other teams. Sure some may pass on the job...but there is really not much downside as this level of coach (including Pelini) can get coaching jobs easily elsewhere or go and live a nice life as a coordinator in the NFL. What's the risk people?

[RexIsMyDogg]

I have supported Bo thinking we have a coach that will always put a quality defense on the field. Let's give him time with the offense. Boy was I wrong...the defense is actually the weak link and does not look like it has the personnel to run Bo's scheme and not sure if Bo can figure it our either. There are serious questions about if Bo is the guru we thought he could be or did he just have the players at OU, LSU, and then Suh. I give him this season and likely one more. If it is not figured out, we have got to go get someone else. Come 2014 I want to be playing in BCS playoffs or being considered a perennial team that can get there.

 

So, here is my short list of who we HAVE to look at seriously:

Chris Petersen - always puts quality teams on the field. Boise St. could have easily not shown up certain games where they were big favorites but nope they always show up and often upset the big boys. NU has problems showing up for games. Petersen plays to win and he gets it done more often than not. I never feel like Boise St. is out of the game. Last night, I knew we were done at the start of the second half.

Gary Patterson - solid coach who gets more out his team than most. Another solid track record, could recruit Texas and would represent the university well. Could build a solid defense and running game.

Kirby Smart - runs the defense that we should be running here at NU. Alabama is NU from the 90's and plays aggressive downhill defense. He would be a guy I'd take a long interview with and see what he is all about. He will land a head coaching job soon.

 

+1 -- I've also always been a Rich Rodriguez fan, even though I doubt many will agree. Curious to see what he does at Arizona.

 

Chris Peterson- wont come here for reasons already mentioned

Garry Patterson- no way he leaves the recruiting hotbed of Texas to come here. That might be why he's done so well-cause he's in Texas.

Kirby Smart- great defensive coordinator at a big time SEC school. Sound familiar? See Bo atLSU.

 

Flu- do you have $9 million to give to a coach? Maybe our boosters don't have as much money as you think they do...

 

[Paul in WI]

Until we are willing to pay for the best, we can't be upset about the resulting product. It's like buying a Hyundai, which is an average car, and then complaining that it can't match up with a Mercedes.

I agree with FLU. The issue with Solich was not the record but NU fans knew there were systemic problems on how we were suddenly just being whacked in dramatic fashion. This does not happen with elite programs. Yes, they get upset, yes the kicker misses one, yes another team rises up and wins...I can accept that and this is not what we are talking about. We are talking about a defense that is regressing and one of the worst units I can remember, a team that often comes out flat, cannot make second half adjustments and is outcoached, a team that can't compete with the powers but also loses to teams that have no business beating us. This is UCLA who just last year lost 8 games including to Utah 31-6, USC 50-0, and Illinois 20-14! And they went up and down the field all over us!

 

No, this job is not for the fickle hearted...it is for someone who wants a challenge and understands the situation. We need to find someone that understands we can pay you big for a 5-year contract and yes we expect to win and play sound football even in defeat...not handing games over to the other teams. Sure some may pass on the job...but there is really not much downside as this level of coach (including Pelini) can get coaching jobs easily elsewhere or go and live a nice life as a coordinator in the NFL. What's the risk people?

 

I agree with both of you. I also don't think that the average fan realizes just how small a coaching staff's salary is to the total revenue stream that is generated from the sport and how it can be increased much further by having a program at the highest levels of national prominence. In essence, it is being penny-wise and dollar-foolish. You can go to any state in the country and see Bama merchandise everywhere. You can't say that about Nebraska anymore.

[RexIsMyDogg]

Double post

[chamrocck]

I have supported Bo thinking we have a coach that will always put a quality defense on the field. Let's give him time with the offense. Boy was I wrong...the defense is actually the weak link and does not look like it has the personnel to run Bo's scheme and not sure if Bo can figure it our either. There are serious questions about if Bo is the guru we thought he could be or did he just have the players at OU, LSU, and then Suh. I give him this season and likely one more. If it is not figured out, we have got to go get someone else. Come 2014 I want to be playing in BCS playoffs or being considered a perennial team that can get there.

 

So, here is my short list of who we HAVE to look at seriously:

Chris Petersen - always puts quality teams on the field. Boise St. could have easily not shown up certain games where they were big favorites but nope they always show up and often upset the big boys. NU has problems showing up for games. Petersen plays to win and he gets it done more often than not. I never feel like Boise St. is out of the game. Last night, I knew we were done at the start of the second half.

Gary Patterson - solid coach who gets more out his team than most. Another solid track record, could recruit Texas and would represent the university well. Could build a solid defense and running game.

Kirby Smart - runs the defense that we should be running here at NU. Alabama is NU from the 90's and plays aggressive downhill defense. He would be a guy I'd take a long interview with and see what he is all about. He will land a head coaching job soon.

 

+1 -- I've also always been a Rich Rodriguez fan, even though I doubt many will agree. Curious to see what he does at Arizona.

 

Chris Peterson- wont come here for reasons already mentioned

Garry Patterson- no way he leaves the recruiting hotbed of Texas to come here. That might be why he's done so well-cause he's in Texas.

Kirby Smart- great defensive coordinator at a big time SEC school. Sound familiar? See Bo atLSU.

 

Flu- do you have $9 million to give to a coach? Maybe our boosters don't have as much money as you think they do...

Petersen and Patterson are more known commodities. You still have to try with Petersen...not high likelihood but becoming part of the mish-mash of the new Big East does not appeal to me. Patterson would fit very well in the coaching ranks of the Big 10...he could win in the Big 10. Kirby Smart...I spend a ton of time with this guy and see if he has the make-up for a major challenge. Younger guy could bring some energy and enthusiasm especially to restore the Blackshirts tradition. I thought we had this with Pelini but not looking like it...

[FLU]

I don't agree that we don't have the $$ to spend. That is pure BS. When the numbers are released each year regarding revenue, NU is consistently in the Top 10.