Begin the season as The Blackshirts?

[Landlord]

Give it to the 11 starters for the first game, and if the coaches think one or more of those 11 did not play up to Blackshirts standards in that game, you strip them of their Blackshirt...give it to the next man on the depth chart, and tell the young men who lost their Blackshirt "You want that Blackshirt back...EARN IT!"

 

 

The problem with this is that the next man on the depth chart didn't necessarily earn it either - the only reason he has it is because the guy in front of him screwed up. What makes #2 deserve or earn it?

[Hunter94]

giving a player something before earning it in an actual game, negates the reward......

[drummer7]

I agree with you. Blackshirt are traditionally handed out to the first string D. Over the course of a few yrs, the name blackshirts became so much more, the proud tradition of wearing a black shirt in practice became legendary. It has nothing to do with how good you are as a D, it's that you are the First String Defense for the University of Nebraska, even if you aren't as good as some before you. We're spoiled by years of success with BD, TO. legendary coaches aren't replaced easily. This D will be the most improved in the B1G this year. If the season begins and you're starting D, you should get a blackshirt. Pride has been know to win games at times. GBR

 

 

This is spot on. The Blackshirt is for earning a starting position on the roster. The video boards still announce the defense as the Blackshirts, no matter if they've been handed out or not. Awkward.

[BaytownHusker]

Give it to the guys who EARN it.. If thats only 4 or 5 guys then so be it.. Give the rest of the guys a reason work and fight that much more.. I mean I would hate to be starting Dt or Lb and look over and the guy beside me has a BlackShirt to his name but I dont..

[knapplc]

giving a player something before earning it in an actual game, negates the reward......

 

That's how they did it until Bo got here, though. You can't say it was a bad idea through McBride's good defenses, or throughout the 1970s and 1980s, can you?

[BaytownHusker]

giving a player something before earning it in an actual game, negates the reward......

 

 

I disagree. Thats what working hard the whole off season and practices up to the 1st game is for.

[The Duke]

Give it to the 11 starters for the first game, and if the coaches think one or more of those 11 did not play up to Blackshirts standards in that game, you strip them of their Blackshirt...give it to the next man on the depth chart, and tell the young men who lost their Blackshirt "You want that Blackshirt back...EARN IT!"

 

 

The problem with this is that the next man on the depth chart didn't necessarily earn it either - the only reason he has it is because the guy in front of him screwed up. What makes #2 deserve or earn it?

I think whoever #2 is wouldn't necessarily "deserve" or "earn" the Blackshirt and starting spot. I think it's more of a case that whoever the starter was didn't do his job in the coaches' eyes, so it's more of a "next man up" mentality in my opinion. The #1 starter who lost his Blackshirt & starting position would have to earn it back.

 

Also to those that say the starting Blackshirts should earn it on the field instead of handing them out before the first game, I would argue that by awarding the Blackshirts the way Charlie McBride did, the players did earn those Blackshirts on the field...during fall camp, which is is about 29 total practices. Those practices would determine your first starting 11. As the season would go on those who had the starting Blackshirt jersey could fluctuate throughout the season.

 

Finally, I would just like to commend everyone in this thread. This has been a GREAT discussion, with valid points for both sides.

[Landlord]

Give it to the 11 starters for the first game, and if the coaches think one or more of those 11 did not play up to Blackshirts standards in that game, you strip them of their Blackshirt...give it to the next man on the depth chart, and tell the young men who lost their Blackshirt "You want that Blackshirt back...EARN IT!"

 

 

The problem with this is that the next man on the depth chart didn't necessarily earn it either - the only reason he has it is because the guy in front of him screwed up. What makes #2 deserve or earn it?

I think whoever #2 is wouldn't necessarily "deserve" or "earn" the Blackshirt and starting spot. I think it's more of a case that whoever the starter was didn't do his job in the coaches' eyes, so it's more of a "next man up" mentality in my opinion. The #1 starter who lost his Blackshirt & starting position would have to earn it back.

 

Also to those that say the starting Blackshirts should earn it on the field instead of handing them out before the first game, I would argue that by awarding the Blackshirts the way Charlie McBride did, the players did earn those Blackshirts on the field...during fall camp, which is is about 29 total practices. Those practices would determine your first starting 11. As the season would go on those who had the starting Blackshirt jersey could fluctuate throughout the season.

 

Finally, I would just like to commend everyone in this thread. This has been a GREAT discussion, with valid points for both sides.

 

So let's go with this scenario. Starter x doesn't perform well on gameday, and has his blackshirt taken away and given to backup y.

 

Starter x is told "you want it back? earn it" and so he does. He is a much better player than backup y (hence being a starter), so after owning backup y's lunch in practice on monday he gets his blackshirt back, having earned it over the player that shouldn't have ever been in front of him in the first place.

 

What does this accomplish? It's like firing a welder or a cook and hiring an inexperienced student in their place telling them to earn their job back - after 5 minutes, they have earned it back because they were more deserving of it in the first place. Seems like a pointless exercise.

[jager]

I don't think player y necessarily gets the blackshirt if player x loses it. It should be an open spot that is given to the player that earns it that week in practice.

[The Duke]

I don't think player y necessarily gets the blackshirt if player x loses it. It should be an open spot that is given to the player that earns it that week in practice.

Exactly!

 

So say after Week 1's game starter (x) is put on notice that his play during the first game wasn't quite up to Blackshirt standards, so for the practices leading up to Week 2 either he or player (y) could earn that spot's Blackshirt for the 2nd game. It would be an open competition.

 

There would always be 11 Blackshirts handed out before each game, but they would all be earned based off of film study, play in practices and play in games leading up to the next week.

[BaytownHusker]

Just because you take it away dont mean it was earned by another!!

[EZ-E]

Give it to the fullback!

 

Jason Peter should be our DC!!!!!

 

We weren't too far off from this are we??

[Landlord]

I don't think player y necessarily gets the blackshirt if player x loses it. It should be an open spot that is given to the player that earns it that week in practice.

Exactly!

 

Umm.....

 

 

you strip them of their Blackshirt...give it to the next man on the depth chart

 

 

so it's more of a "next man up" mentality in my opinion.

[Joe_5700]

The biggest problem I have with Bo's method is there's no consistency. The criteria for earning them doesn't seem set in stone, and it appears he uses them as a motivational tool. Unfortunately, it often doesn't motivate anything.

 

Look at how the team has earned them, and what happened after they earned them, through Bo's tenure.

 

2008

 

Earned: Blackshirts were handed out after the 10th game, a victory over Kansas where we gave up 35 points and 422 yards. A fair portion of those points/yards came in garbage time, as Nebraska led 31-21 in the fourth quarter before both teams' defenses coasted and each scored twice more.

 

Next Game: A victory over Kansas State where we gave up 28 points and 247 yards. The Huskers won their last three games after receiving the Blackshirts.

 

 

2009

 

Earned: Blackshirts were handed out after the 6th game, a loss at home to Texas Tech where we gave up 31 points but only 259 yards. This was the game where the Tech QB (I forget his name) threw up half a dozen prayers and his WRs made circus catches. Tremendously lucky game for Tech.

 

Next Game: A loss at home to Iowa State where we gave up 9 points and 239 yards. This was the infamous 8-turnover game where everyone fumbled and Lee threw costly picks. The Huskers won six of their last seven games after receiving the Blackshirts, the lone loss coming against Texas in the Big XII CCG, the infamous 00:01 game.

 

 

2010

 

Earned: Blackshirts were handed out after the 4th game, a victory over South Dakota State where we gave up 3 points and 236 yards. This was a very ugly game, you'll recall, where the Jackrabbits had several concerning drives. Error-filled on the part of the offense, though.

 

Next Game: A victory over Kansas State where we gave up 13 points and 315 yards on Bill Snyder's birthday. A parting gift as we left the Big XII for Eric the Red's favorite team. The Huskers went 5-4 to finish the season and lost three of their last four. The defense gave up an average of 18 points per loss, but the offense was terrible.

 

 

2011

 

Earned: Blackshirts were handed out after the 8th game, a victory over Michigan State where we gave up 3 points and 187 yards. Nobody can say the defense didn't earn their Blackshirts after this game as they stifled a decent Sparty offense, holding the Big 10's best WR, BJ Cunningham, without a catch.

 

Next Game: A loss to Northwestern where we gave up 28 points and 468 yards to a team that finished the season 6-7. We couldn't stop a simple crossing pattern all game long and appeared disinterested on defense. Nebraska went 2-2 to end the season, including losses to Michigan and South Carolina where we gave up 45 and 30 points.

 

 

2012

 

Earned: Blackshirts were handed out after the 8th game, a victory over Michigan where we gave up 9 points and 188 yards. The cynic will say that Denard Robinson only played half the game and his replacement, Ron Bellomy, was inept, but Robinson had only rushed for 46 yards (10 carries) and passed for 55 yards (6 of 11) prior to his injury.

 

Next Game: A win at Michigan State where we gave up 34 points and 361 yards in a very hostile environment. The defense played well enough that game, but they allowed Sparty to move the ball with ease. Nebraska finished the season 3-2, giving up 70 and 45 points in back-to-back season-ending losses to Wisconsin and Georgia.

 

 

 

Over Bo's tenure, without the Blackshirts we're 27-9 (.750 winning percentage) and we give up an average of 20.4 points per game.

 

With the Blackshirts we're 21-11 (.656) and we give up an average of 22.2 points per game.

 

The one caveat to these stats is that the easier non-conference schedule is included in the "without Blackshirts" schedule, skewing the numbers slightly in favor of "without."

 

 

 

 

This is the problem as I see it - there doesn't appear to be any motivation the team derives from earning their Blackshirts. They don't appear to improve, they don't have any great swagger, and they don't appear to carry the pride of earning those Blackshirts onto the field. Of our six worst losses in the past two years (2011: Wisconsin, Michigan; 2012: UCLA, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Georgia), three have come with the Blackshirts and three without.

 

There is no discernible difference between the defense's play with or without the Blackshirts. There is no discernible merit to "making them earn it," judging either by wins/losses or points/yards allowed.

 

 

It's a distraction. It becomes a story line where no story needs to exist. It becomes one more thing an already-struggling unit has to think about.

 

 

That's my reasoning for getting rid of Bo's method. Just give them the Blackshirts after Fall Camp and let them get down to the business of playing the game.

This. So much this.

 

Yes +1 times a thousand. Hand them out just before the first game and be done with the drama already Bo...

[The Duke]

I don't think player y necessarily gets the blackshirt if player x loses it. It should be an open spot that is given to the player that earns it that week in practice.

Exactly!

 

Umm.....

 

 

you strip them of their Blackshirt...give it to the next man on the depth chart

 

 

so it's more of a "next man up" mentality in my opinion.

I'll grant you Landlord that I somewhat contradicted myself with those last few posts. Jager pretty much summed up what I was trying to say in a much better way.

 

With that said, in a sense you are stripping the starter of his Blackshirt, so the next man in line on the depth chart now has a chance to earn that spot, and thus would earn that Blackshirt. Basically it simply becomes an open competition.

 

But I give you a lot of credit Landlord for calling me out on this one. I did contradict myself without realizing it, so your post is appreciated.