USC

[Hujan]

As I watched the Stanford-USC game last night, I realized that a look at the USC program might help put things in perspective for those of us who still have doubts that Pelini needs to go.

 

"It's not just the coach"

 

One big argument against holding Bo responsible for the poor play of our teams year in and year out is that a head coach doesn't drop a pass, fumble a ball, muff a punt, jump offsides, etc. In other words, Bo can only lead the horse to water but can't make it drink.

 

This argument might have traction if the mistakes were a rare aberration. But the only consistency our team has is tendency to turn the ball over and fail to execute. That alone should make you question the idea that the head coach has nothing to do with it. After all, the players dropping the passes and fumbling the ball change from year to year and game to game. The only common denominator is Pelini.

 

A look to USC confirms this. If you watched USC during the first few games this season under Kiffin, they were making tons of mistakes and generally failing to execute. The play calling was suspect and the team was underachieving relative to the immense talent it had on the roster. (Sound familiar?) USC changes just onething -- the head coach -- and leaves everything else in place. What happens? All of a sudden, USC is one of the hottest teams in a very competitive conference and knocks off a very solid #4 Stanford.

 

It's hard to imagine a more poignant example of how the wrong head coach can so thoroughly depress a program, and how that depression can manifest in a multiplicity of fundamental, consistent mistakes. But if you're still not convinced, look at Auburn. Last year, Auburn went 3-9 overall and 0-8(!) in the SEC. What did they do? Fired their head coach (Gene Chizik) and brought in Gus Malzahn. The result? A 10-1 season and the inside track to the Sugar Bowl. You could even look at Ohio State, which was mediocre in 2011, only to bring in Urban Meyer and go undefeated in 2012 and likely again this season.

 

Bottom line: This idea that the program has numerous problems that have nothing to do with Pelini is very suspect. Many programs have demonstrated similarly fundamental problems only to radically turn their programs around by replacing nothing more than the head coach. Contrary to what the author of "Tunnel Walk of Shame" might say, it's quite likely that Nebraska can be a dominant program again with nothing more than a change to our coaching staff.

 

"We're a young team, we've had injuries . . . ."

 

Another frequent argument against firing Bo is the claim that we should give Bo a break because of [insert excuse here]. It seems every year, I'm being told to be patient because we have a "young team." The water coolers in the locker room must be pumped with water from the Fountain of Youth because our teams seem to perpetually be described as "young." It also seems that every year we have an "unusually high number of injuries."

 

One could make the argument that both issues -- youth and injuries -- are themselves a symptom of a flawed coaching staff. For example, it could be argued that having to overly rely on young, inexperienced players is a result of poor recruiting and player management. It could also be argued that having a unusually high number of injuries is due to a poor strength-and-conditioning program, since proper strength training should help prevent such injuries.

 

But I'm not going to touch on those arguments here. Rather, I'll just point out that USC, a team playing with less than 50 scholarship players due to sanctions, is 5-1 since firing Kiffin, which includes the win over #4 Stanford. Equally impressive, the only loss was a 4-point loss at Notre Dame in Orgeron's second week as head coach. My God, if a team every had a "no seriously, this sh#t never happens" excuse to make for poor results, it would be USC. But they aren't making excuses because they're too busy winning games.

 

What's the point? Injuries, youth, etc. are part of the -- dare I say it? -- process. It's inevitable that you are going to lose star players to injury or have to replace graduated starters with underclassmen. It happens at every program in the country. Let's stop pretending that we are uniquely bitten by the injury bug or rely on young players more than anyone else over a comparable timespan. Let's stop pretending that next year those things -- youth and injuries -- are going to get out of our way and Bo will triumphantly march to a conference championship. Assume we're going to have to deal with those obstacles every year under Bo and that it means at least 4 losses a year. You still good with him?

[suh_fan93]

+1

[Eric the Red]

it's hard to ignore but Pelini's teams have been consistent in being a leader in turning the ball over and penalties. The team will always draw from and ooze the personality of the head coach. Pelini's personality also brings hard hitting and play all out mentality.

[GBRedneck]

Yay! Let's hire Orgeron!

 

[Hujan]

Yay! Let's hire Orgeron!

 

 

No way. I want to be able to understand what my coach is saying at pressers.

[irafreak]

A well written critique....I was thinking the same watching that USC game last night. Unfortunately I believe the coordinators are poor versions of Bo so cut Bo and things probably get worse. Finish out the season and see what happens but I don't have confidence in this current staff going forward. Bo goes out and gets some proven coordinators that bring in more experience and I will take a swig of koolaid but no changes and I'd be stunned if we took the necessary strides in the coming seasons. Something has to change.

[NUance]

USC is not a good point of comparison. They have a MUCH easier road to recruiting than we do. Their roster oozes with talent. Sure, they just upset a tough Stanford team. But they've dropped three games this year including losses to Washington State Neutre Dame. Given the talent on their roster I'd say USC is way under achieving.

[Hujan]

USC is not a good point of comparison. They have a MUCH easier road to recruiting than we do. Their roster oozes with talent. Sure, they just upset a tough Stanford team. But they've dropped three games this year including losses to Washington State Neutre Dame. Given the talent on their roster I'd say USC is way under achieving.

 

Did you read the post?

 

2 of those 3 losses were before they fired their version of Pelini. The only other loss was a 4-point loss at Notre Dame. They have a lot of talent, but they are also only playing with 48 scholarship players to our +80. Does USC have talent? Sure, but they're also playing higher caliber teams in the Pac-12 than we are in the Big Ten.

[In the Deed the Glory]

USC is not a good point of comparison. They have a MUCH easier road to recruiting than we do. Their roster oozes with talent. Sure, they just upset a tough Stanford team. But they've dropped three games this year including losses to Washington State Neutre Dame. Given the talent on their roster I'd say USC is way under achieving.

 

They have a more difficult schedule playing against better players than Nebraska does, that is kind of the point if the thread. By the way, that's same Notre Dame team beat Michigan State. The same MSU that just came to Lincoln and all but locked up the division.

[southernoregonhusker]

I made mention of USC last night in one of these threads. Watching last night's game against Stanford, USC was energized and so was the crowd. That team is a night and day difference from what they were at the beginning of the season.

[Ratt Mhule]

Difference between Pelini and Kiffin is the players actually enjoy playing for Pelini. Not so much with Kiffin. When you have recruits saying you will only commit to USC if Kiffin is fired, you have a problem.

[EZ-E]

Difference between Pelini and Kiffin is the players actually enjoy playing for Pelini. Not so much with Kiffin. When you have recruits saying you will only commit to USC if Kiffin is fired, you have a problem.

 

^This.

[skersfan]

He has changed that program almost instantly. I have attended many SC games. I have not seen the passion for the team that was shown last night. A sell out, and that is rare for them. They rushed the field, one of the name sakes in college football. The coach was in the stands after the game. He is not your normal coach. He learned from his first rodeo, maybe Bo will to.

 

I had the chance to go to the game, but I would have had to miss watching Nebraska. I chose to stay home and watch my beloved Huskers. No regrets, but I would have loved to have been there and seen it first hand.

[Ratt Mhule]

Difference between Pelini and Kiffin is the players actually enjoy playing for Pelini. Not so much with Kiffin. When you have recruits saying you will only commit to USC if Kiffin is fired, you have a problem.

 

^This.

 

I have no idea how the players would react if Pelini is fired. It is not a secret that the players love him and want him to be their coach. If you fire a guy they like, they could rebel and not play hard for the next coach. We'd probably see a bunch of players transfer also.

[Blackshirt39]

Yay! Let's hire Orgeron!

 

 

I'll say one thing, if he doesn't get a head coaching gig out this it will be a crime. That turnaround can't be ignored. I've never liked U$C, but he could change that. Seems like a cool dude.