Stanford is NU

[lo country]

An interesting article about the recent success of Stanford and how they (IMO) mimicked NU of old.

 

 

Stanford hired Jim Harbaugh, a high-profile coach with zero experience at the FBS level. What Harbaugh did have was a chip on his shoulder. A nasty side. He looked at Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly and decided the best way to beat ‘em was to beat ‘em up. And he built the most physical program in the country. At Stanford of all places. Flabbergasting.

 

What’s it mean? You can win big anywhere — ANYWHERE — with the right coach and the right vision. If I were Shawn Eichorst, I’d take a long, hard look at the Stanford blueprint. Eichorst surely has an appreciation for it; he worked for Barry Alvarez at Wisconsin, who ran basically the same system.

 

Both those programs recognized over the past 20 years that they probably couldn’t out-run college football’s big dogs. But they could recruit power. I like watching Kenny Bell and Jamal Turner. But the identity of this program needs to be toughness.

 

That’s exactly what Bo Pelini intended when he took over. He talked about it all the time. Physical, physical, physical.

 

But something went wrong the past few years. Nebraska’s defense consistently loses the battle at the line of scrimmage. And its offense, when the going gets tough, too often leans on its quarterback’s arm rather than its running backs’ legs. Doesn’t help when it also loses its best in-state lineman — Harrison Phillips — to the school that has seized the very identity Nebraska once perfected.

 

 

 

I have to agree. Get back to mean and nasty, on both sides. I remember hearing about by the 2nd half the opposing DL was already beat, no desire to get hit anymore. I still have no idea what our identity is on either side.

 

For the record, I think are receivers are some of the toughest on the team if not the country.

 

 

 

Link

 

http://sports.omaha....-calvin-strong/

[The Dude]

I'm bothered every time I watch Stanford (Stanford, for god's sake) out-Nebraska Nebraska.

[True2tRA]

Einhorn is Finkle!

 

[robsker]

An interesting article about the recent success of Stanford and how they (IMO) mimicked NU of old.

 

 

Stanford hired Jim Harbaugh, a high-profile coach with zero experience at the FBS level. What Harbaugh did have was a chip on his shoulder. A nasty side. He looked at Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly and decided the best way to beat ‘em was to beat ‘em up. And he built the most physical program in the country. At Stanford of all places. Flabbergasting.

 

What’s it mean? You can win big anywhere — ANYWHERE — with the right coach and the right vision. If I were Shawn Eichorst, I’d take a long, hard look at the Stanford blueprint. Eichorst surely has an appreciation for it; he worked for Barry Alvarez at Wisconsin, who ran basically the same system.

 

Both those programs recognized over the past 20 years that they probably couldn’t out-run college football’s big dogs. But they could recruit power. I like watching Kenny Bell and Jamal Turner. But the identity of this program needs to be toughness.

 

That’s exactly what Bo Pelini intended when he took over. He talked about it all the time. Physical, physical, physical.

 

But something went wrong the past few years. Nebraska’s defense consistently loses the battle at the line of scrimmage. And its offense, when the going gets tough, too often leans on its quarterback’s arm rather than its running backs’ legs. Doesn’t help when it also loses its best in-state lineman — Harrison Phillips — to the school that has seized the very identity Nebraska once perfected.

 

 

 

I have to agree. Get back to mean and nasty, on both sides. I remember hearing about by the 2nd half the opposing DL was already beat, no desire to get hit anymore. I still have no idea what our identity is on either side.

 

For the record, I think are receivers are some of the toughest on the team if not the country.

 

 

 

Link

 

http://sports.omaha....-calvin-strong/

Your post makes it seem like somehow Stanford is the desert of college sports and that it is surprising that a great program is emerging there. Well... Stanford has the best overall college sports program in America. Stanford wins the Sears Cup (I think that is what it is called) every year almost. Putting together killer sports teams at Stanford is the norm. Sure... football has been the rarity there in that it has not been emphasized much ... but still, Stanford is a perfect place to build a great program.

 

I agree though that you can win anywhere (almost) with the right coach and the right vision. And your post is spot on --- NU needs to have conditioned, tough, physical players (which, of course, currently they do not have). They need a good HC and assistant coaches too --- and NU does not have that either.

[True2tRA]

The greatest of all time came from there. That's a good football team, well coached. At the end of the day.

 

[zoogs]

Both those programs recognized over the past 20 years that they probably couldn’t out-run college football’s big dogs. But they could recruit power.

 

Wisconsin hasn't had that much success. They've been OK...and Nebraska's been OK.

 

Stanford has had that much success. Why? Probably because they had one of the best coaches ever in Harbaugh, handed it off to what looks like a tremendous success in Shaw, and along the way one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game.

 

That's the "formula" -- identifying incredibly talented program-building coaches and hitting on the hires. Not "recruiting power" and "selecting the right offensive playbook."

[True2tRA]

The fact is Nebraska has been okay. I believe we are literally an assistant or two away from being an elite program. The sky is not falling by any means. We just have to take the next step at some point guys. The expectation I think was that we would have been there by now considering we were playing in a CC game so quickly. Most thought we would win one.

 

What happens if we win out and play for one this year? Do we put the torches and pitchforks away? Maybe the decision has been made. Maybe Bo decides to leave on his own.

 

Interesting times here.

 

Just curious, did any of you hear something about a game at Michigan tomorrow? Probably just a rumor but it seems to be a popular one. Lots of people saying we are still competing for our division and a win against Michigan could be huge for us. Lol....I know. Crazy rumors. Anybody else hearing this?

[The Dude]

Wisconsin hasn't had that much success. They've been OK...and Nebraska's been OK.

What?

[lo country]

Both those programs recognized over the past 20 years that they probably couldn’t out-run college football’s big dogs. But they could recruit power.

 

Wisconsin hasn't had that much success. They've been OK...and Nebraska's been OK.

 

Stanford has had that much success. Why? Probably because they had one of the best coaches ever in Harbaugh, handed it off to what looks like a tremendous success in Shaw, and along the way one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game.

 

That's the "formula" -- identifying incredibly talented program-building coaches and hitting on the hires. Not "recruiting power" and "selecting the right offensive playbook."

Agree with the above. Get a staff that can develop players who can play. Create/adapt the scheme on both sides to use the talent on hand. Also create an identity or brand if you will (again on both sides) that translates to continuity from year to year and player to player. ie QB goes down, run the same scheme, Mike LB out, same scheme etc........ Again, I still have no idea of our identity on either side. I would say on O we have the horses to run power, but that doesn't seem to be the identity either.

[robsker]

Both those programs recognized over the past 20 years that they probably couldn’t out-run college football’s big dogs. But they could recruit power.

 

Wisconsin hasn't had that much success. They've been OK...and Nebraska's been OK.

 

Stanford has had that much success. Why? Probably because they had one of the best coaches ever in Harbaugh, handed it off to what looks like a tremendous success in Shaw, and along the way one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game.

 

That's the "formula" -- identifying incredibly talented program-building coaches and hitting on the hires. Not "recruiting power" and "selecting the right offensive playbook."

 

Wisconsin has been much more successful than NU over the past decade and it is not even close... if Wisconsin has been OK than NU is well below OK --- or, if NU has been OK than Wisconsin has been really good. The two programs are on entirely different levels. How many conference championships for Wisconsin in the last decade... how many for NU? Bowl wins? BCS games? No the Badgers (I hate to admit because I do not like that program) are at not one, but two full levels above NU.

[zoogs]

Yeah, Wisconsin's had a couple of good years. What I mean to say is they're clearly below Stanford's level (The Badgers were 8-6 last year!) and can't match Stanford's upwards trajectory under what Harbaugh put in place there in a short amount of time, which Shaw is now continuing.

 

The larger point remains, that it's about getting an elite coaching staff in place. Not about selecting the flavor du jour scheme of football.

 

lo, our identity on offense is pretty clear under Beck & Armstrong. We do a lot of running, a lot of option attacks, a lot of similarities with what Oregon does. A significant component of the run game keys off the QB. It's a physical offense and we also ask the QB to hit them downfield. Really, it's pretty similar to what we did in the 90s, I'd think...a modern evolution of that, which, also, is how Oregon's offense has been described.

 

Obviously, we don't have the horses at the moment, as we are quite beat up on the line. And of course, we're babying a freshman quarterback out there who's been thrown into the fire.

 

On defense, it should be pretty clear that Bo has a scheme and he's sticking with it. I'm not sure what the confusion is there.

[HuskerNationNick]

Both those programs recognized over the past 20 years that they probably couldn’t out-run college football’s big dogs. But they could recruit power. I like watching Kenny Bell and Jamal Turner. But the identity of this program needs to be toughness.

 

This is something that completely baffles me. I just don't understand how Bell and/or Turner steer away the identity of the toughness in the program. If anything, a player like Bell is exactly what this program has been all about for many years. A kid with a LOT of heart and passion for the game. He is a blocker more than he is a receiver, and he doesn't complain about it. The only exception, they are extremely talented receivers. They get hit, they get back up.

 

This offense is tough. Might not be productive at times, but I think that has more to do with Beck than anything. I do think our OL does need to toughen up, but our future looks bright.

[Hunter94]

Both those programs recognized over the past 20 years that they probably couldn’t out-run college football’s big dogs. But they could recruit power.

 

Wisconsin hasn't had that much success. They've been OK...and Nebraska's been OK.

 

Stanford has had that much success. Why? Probably because they had one of the best coaches ever in Harbaugh, handed it off to what looks like a tremendous success in Shaw, and along the way one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game.

 

That's the "formula" -- identifying incredibly talented program-building coaches and hitting on the hires. Not "recruiting power" and "selecting the right offensive playbook."

 

Wisconsin has been much more successful than NU over the past decade and it is not even close... if Wisconsin has been OK than NU is well below OK --- or, if NU has been OK than Wisconsin has been really good. The two programs are on entirely different levels. How many conference championships for Wisconsin in the last decade... how many for NU? Bowl wins? BCS games? No the Badgers (I hate to admit because I do not like that program) are at not one, but two full levels above NU.

 

would have to agree...I started a thread here several weeks ago....asking what is our identity on offense?....there never was a consensus because we have no identity....it's like Halloween every season....we don't know who we want to be!! we would be moving forward if we decided our philosophy of play and recruited to it....Oregon?...we will never be as Oregon...better to be smash-mouth Huskers of old...recruit beef and make them bulls!

[TheSker]

Stanford is a great program. I think we should also realize the media will make them the flavor of the week with their win over Oregon. Stanford is tough.....watching Florida State, the media would be referencing the speed and maybe saying Nebraska needs to get more speed. The correct answer is likely both.....Nebraska needs to get tougher and faster. In other words better. I think the coaching staff has that same desire. We'll see what team the media makes the flavor of the week next week. This week it's probably Stanford.

[True2tRA]

Stanford is a great program. I think we should also realize the media will make them the flavor of the week with their win over Oregon. Stanford is tough.....watching Florida State, the media would be referencing the speed and maybe saying Nebraska needs to get more speed. The correct answer is likely both.....Nebraska needs to get tougher and faster. In other words better. I think the coaching staff has that same desire. We'll see what team the media makes the flavor of the week next week. This week it's probably Stanford.

 

Yes. The important thing to remember is that it's all the players faults. They just aren't good enough, or fast and tough enough like you said. Either way, they just aren't good enough to execute what these coaches want. Sorry ass players.....

 

It's just too bad that these players are holding these coaches back. It's really not fair to these coaches. I mean, here these coaches are busting their butts, just to have these players not be good enough. And I mean really, we have heard multiple, MULTIPE former players say this scheme is not complicated. So what the hell is wrong with these guys? These guys just can't execute it. I mean we hear Bo constantly blame them that they just didn't execute so at this point it is clearly not a scheme problem.

 

Yep, someday Bo will get these players he's been searching for. Once he has four Suh's across that defensive line, then things are going to work great! Then we will see what a great scheme this is! All these naysayers will have to eat it. Clearly these players are just holding this staff back from furthering their careers and becoming head coaches at other universities.

 

Damn players......