"I wish I knew." -Bo Pelini 10/6/12

[WAHusker]

I agree with you Nickle (and most of your post in the last 24 hours). just laying it out for him.

 

I would like add - Id rather have a good coach who can IMPROVE players week to week. Paterson and petterson are prime examples of getting the most out of three star talents ..... ahem, much like TO and staff did!

[kid nickels]

Say what you want about Pelini, but the national perception of him is that he's a hothead who verbally abuses his players. I hate to say that, but it's true.

[sd'sker]

i do not think this quote is something we should put too much stock into. what was bo supposed to say? 'that went exactly as i planned'? obviously he does not know why this happens, or else it would not happen. i agree that these humiliating loses where we are just outclassed are unacceptable, but at least bo is willing to admit that he realizes that there are questions that he has no answers for. that can change.

 

what happened last night was obviously caused by an overwhelming talent gap. that can change and it needs to, as soon as possible. signs indicate it should be less of an issue in upcoming years.

 

bo is really in an unfortunate position. i am going to make some excuses for him here. bo coached in the sec before the spread was a legitimate alternative to the more traditional offenses. that means he got top talent to play his scheme that he perfected. he came here with pretty decent talent that he was able to coach up. however, he had to change his defensive scheme as spread offenses became the trend. he was able to accomplish that pretty well and things seemed promising. now we are in the B1G and people like the spread with mobile qbs. also, hurry-up is popular. this trend has even saban concerned as he hedged his bets against oregon and complained about the fairness of these modern offenses. so, once again bo is playing catch-up, but now with ill-suited players.

 

the fact of the matter is that bo needs time. it is as simple as that and i would argue as good of a bet as trying to get a new top tiered coach. bo has made many questionable calls and they all need more time before we can accurately assess them. yes, this is year five and he has his players, but he is still utilizing a trial-and-error approach. i think bo is a different coach with better players, that has to be his second priority. his first has to be getting an offensive line coach that will produce a top line.

 

so, bo does not know, but he knows that and that is a start. you can talk about money and top coaches all you want, but the most valuable commodity is time. bo deserves more time before another coach deserves more money.

[WAHusker]

Skers, this is the same team we beat last year (they actually have less talent than last year). WHats the difference? COACHING. THey got good coaches and look at the difference. There is a talent gap, but its the COACHING talent that is lacking, not the players.

 

We got outcoached at UCLA, and horibbly outcoached last night. You can say the same about most of our losses last year, as well.

[HuskerShark]

For the record, if Bo is fired in the next couple of years, my #1 candidate would be Gus Malzahn. He's realistic, he's an offensive guru, and if he got a good DC, he would be an awesome hire.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

He HAS to make changes to his staff once the season is over, if he doesn't he's signing his own termination papers. Callahan ran into this same problem with Cosgrove and look where that got him. If he doesn't make changes he deserves to be fired, if he does and things still don't change..............he deserves to be fired. Anything's possible with this season as we're only half way through. My losses at the beginning of the season were to Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan and Northwestern. Take Wisconsin out and throw UCLA in there and I still stand by what I predicted. 8-4...............

[strigori]

first off, people throwing names out of coaches who are ranked in the top 10 is kinda ridiculous They are in good spots as it is. The place to look would be trying to find the Urban Meyer at Utah. Like the guy at Cincy, Davis I think, I can't say as I have actively looked for replacements. but it might start to be that time.

 

I don't see the value in having a head guy replace tons of assistants trying to save his job. If you are going to blow it up, blow it all up.

[Jskers95]

Skers, this is the same team we beat last year (they actually have less talent than last year). WHats the difference? COACHING. THey got good coaches and look at the difference. There is a talent gap, but its the COACHING talent that is lacking, not the players.

 

We got outcoached at UCLA, and horibbly outcoached last night. You can say the same about most of our losses last year, as well.

Coaching has a lot to do with it, you are right, but if you honestly think we have the right players to win a conference championship/BCS game then you are only lying to yourself about this football team. This football team is an average Big 10 football team and here's a newsflash for you, an average team in the Big10 isn't very good.

[WAHusker]

i think we have the talent, they are just not on the field or in the wrong position. Baker should have never been a DT, our freshman LBs should be seeing more playing time, Martin should have started last year at DE, etc. I think we have the talent to win the B1G, we just dont have the coaches to utilize them and coach them up. THere are a ton of teams with equal or less talent than us, that perform MUCH better. Michigan last year, Okie Lite, Stanford, WVU, KSU etc. They arent stocked with 5 star talent, yet still find ways to win. I dont have to mention what TO and staf was able to do with 2-3 stars, let alone walkons that played for years in the NFL. Talent is a good start, but coaching players wins games.

 

Do we have talent to take on Alabama? No, but geting to a BCS game and winning will start bringing in that talent. Look at Michigans recruiting class this year, its unreal. All from one good season and winning a BCS game.

 

Speaking of Michigan, look at what a coaching change did for them. Under RR, they sucked. Change coaches with the same players and they go to a BCS game.

[krc1995]

Say what you want about Pelini, but the national perception of him is that he's a hothead who verbally abuses his players. I hate to say that, but it's true.

so which is it- do we love his enthusiasm or hate his temper? He is way too emotional to be a HC. You need a steady eddy at the wheel.

[WAHusker]

KRC, he is talking about what OUSIDERS view him as. I like his fire, but ESPN makes it look like he is a lunatic. So, some players only see the ESPN side of it, which may hurt recruiting.

[The Duke]

What happened to the Nebraska football program?

 

1. Frank stopped recruiting

2. Steve P. stopped tradition

3. Cosgrove stopped the Blackshirts

4. Bo kept the status quo.

 

WE ARE NEBRASKA!!! And Nebraska does have standards.

• We believe in running the football and stopping the run on defense.
  
• We believe in physically dominating the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.
  
• We believe in option football. We believe in power football.
  
• We believe in a play-action passing game.
  
• These spread offenses may work for other teams, but we had an identity that worked for over 50 years, and it wasn't the spread.
  
• We understand that penalties are part of the game, but many of these stupidly repeated penalties lately have to stop. It's not just a coincidence anymore, the frequency of the same penalties have become a habit, and they are costing us games.
  
• We believe in winning at least 9 games a year, at least competing for a conference championship every year, playing in a bowl game, and being consistently in the Top 10.
  
• We believe in playing for a National Championship before we ever think about roses.
  

So a message to you Coach Pelini, your efforts the last 5 years have been respectable, but these last two years your teams are starting to slip below our standards for our Nebraska Cornhuskers. Defensive performances such as UCLA this year, and Ohio State are examples of the Nebraska brand being embarrassed on national tv. It may surprise you but we can tolerate a loss in Nebraska. However these kind of performances at UCLA and Ohio State are unacceptable. A change in defensive and offensive schemes are no longer just a suggestion, they are now a requested demand.

 

Thanks for copying and pasting my original post from last night's game discussion.

[AFhusker]

i do not think this quote is something we should put too much stock into. what was bo supposed to say? 'that went exactly as i planned'? obviously he does not know why this happens, or else it would not happen. i agree that these humiliating loses where we are just outclassed are unacceptable, but at least bo is willing to admit that he realizes that there are questions that he has no answers for. that can change.

 

what happened last night was obviously caused by an overwhelming talent gap. that can change and it needs to, as soon as possible. signs indicate it should be less of an issue in upcoming years.

 

bo is really in an unfortunate position. i am going to make some excuses for him here. bo coached in the sec before the spread was a legitimate alternative to the more traditional offenses. that means he got top talent to play his scheme that he perfected. he came here with pretty decent talent that he was able to coach up. however, he had to change his defensive scheme as spread offenses became the trend. he was able to accomplish that pretty well and things seemed promising. now we are in the B1G and people like the spread with mobile qbs. also, hurry-up is popular. this trend has even saban concerned as he hedged his bets against oregon and complained about the fairness of these modern offenses. so, once again bo is playing catch-up, but now with ill-suited players.

 

the fact of the matter is that bo needs time. it is as simple as that and i would argue as good of a bet as trying to get a new top tiered coach. bo has made many questionable calls and they all need more time before we can accurately assess them. yes, this is year five and he has his players, but he is still utilizing a trial-and-error approach. i think bo is a different coach with better players, that has to be his second priority. his first has to be getting an offensive line coach that will produce a top line.

 

so, bo does not know, but he knows that and that is a start. you can talk about money and top coaches all you want, but the most valuable commodity is time. bo deserves more time before another coach deserves more money.

 

I completly disagree. He's had his time and the failures because of talent are on him due to this a team entirely of his doing. He has no more excuses, and deserves nothing for this embarrassing product that he has given the school.

[Klondike Cat]

Yes, we are f'ing Nebraska. And we've created such insatiable expectations that no seasoned, established exceptional coach wants anything to do with us. So what's wrong with these guys learning on the job for a few year while we rattle off some 9 and 10 win seasons. I dont see the issue yet. It's a talent gap right now. This year is lead by his first couple of recruiting classes that were not very good(in comparison to what they need to be). That aspect has gotten better. As far as comments at a post game presser, statements like "I wish I knew" I dont lead into too much. I'll wait for the monday presser when he's had time to view film on what actually happened.

 

That is BS, in my opinion. LSU and Bama and other top-tier teams have the same expecatations (if not higher) and any coach would jump at the chance to coach at those schools. We have to stop making excuses for our shortcomings. Money talks.

The lim-fac IMO is finding a good coach who won't come in and change the entire culture of the program. Callahan tried it and look how that turned out for him.

 

Yeah, but just because it failed with Callahan doesn't mean that we shouldn't try it again. Callahan wasn't an established college coach. We need an established coach and proven recruiter. We can't roll the dice on another unestablished commodity.

 

Callahan is a good coach, but wrong for this organization. His skill set is best for being an offensive coordinator in the NFL. In fact, he's in his first year as the O-line coach for the Dallas Cowboys, where I expect him to do well. He coached the Raiders to an AFC Championship. But he was absolutely the wrong fit for Nebraska football. Hiring a head coach is about much more than finding someone who's talented. It's about finding someone who's a good fit for the organization.

[AFhusker]

I want to add something. I'm not a big "get mad and demand coach X gets fired" person just because we lost. I'm not even mad. Or calling for heads. I expected this season would suck, and lo and behold, it does. The people who think we're about to win out I'm not even going to address. They're too far gone.

 

For the rest of us, I think Bo knows he's boxed himself in. I hope he has the clarity to look past friendship and see that his method is failing. When that happens sometimes staying the course is a bad decision, maybe even the worst of all possible decisions.

 

The season sucks because we're 1-1 in the big ten after losing on the road to a team 10 ranks higher than us and in the other division?

 

Was hoping to see some perspective and the realization that we're not in a bad position Big 10 wise, except for a relatively tough schedule. Ohio State also beat MSU, making our job easier. We showed we have strength, talent, and can make big plays as well as big mistakes, but this was not a must win game nor were we favored.

 

I suggest we come back down from the edge, stop acting like Iowa fans- who actually have something to really complain about, and just breathe into a paper bag for 2 weeks.

 

Tough Schedule? Says' who? The B1G is a terrible conference and is lucky that the ACC (America's Crapiest Conference) the Big Least are around to take some of the attention to how bad this conference really is. The only way you can consider it tough is if you take our HC's inability to defend mobile QB's, and then yes, you can call it tough, but that is because we don't have a competent defense.

 

Whether you want to admit it or not, there is a very good possibility that NU will be 4-4 when they head to Spartan Stadium.

 

I don't disagree with that. There is also a good possibility they will be 5-3 or 6-2. OSU is likely the best team in the Big 10. Nebraska is certainly one of the best in the Legends division. Are we going to support them and let this play out or screech out our bile and pain to the world while uttering foul and nasty things about them?

 

That isn't a rhetorical question. I'm relatively new to being a Husker fan but moved to Lincoln two years ago and LOVE them. I came from Iowa and still follow that team but on 11/23, I expect a solid Husker win here.

 

They are big boys, they can take the criticism. This isn't a pe-wee league team and the HC is getting paid over 3M and isn't meeting expectations, so whining that we may hurt his feelings is silly.