Putting the 9 wins debate to bed

[Stumpy1]

Pelini took over a roster full of NFL talent. Talent Pelini has never replaced. Hence why we now have so many underclassmen playing....Pelini is a poor recruiter given his resources

The talent didn't become NFL ready until Bo worked with them.

[QMany]

Pelini is a poor recruiter given his resources.

Making sh*t up, like usual.

[Hedley Lamarr]

Pelini is a poor recruiter given his resources.

 

 

Making sh*t up, like usual.

 

Show me something that shows you differently? Are we watching the same games?

[Hedley Lamarr]

Pelini took over a roster full of NFL talent. Talent Pelini has never replaced. Hence why we now have so many underclassmen playing....Pelini is a poor recruiter given his resources

The talent didn't become NFL ready until Bo worked with them.

 

I am actually starting to doubt his ability to develop talent. I used to believe he was excellent at it but am now under the impression that he just happened to walk into a NFL defense that didn't have an identity or scheme. If he was an excellent developer we would not be in the place we are now.

[QMany]

If you don't think he IS a better recruiter than he was, you are full of sh*t.

 

You can't say he IS a terrible recruiter and ignore his last few classes.

 

Given his resources? You mean very little talent in area, 11:00 AM games, very few direct flights to Lincoln, and assistant pay that pales in comparison to those above him in recruiting rankings?

[The Duke]

This whole debate is stupid. Don't compare Osborne to Pelini in terms of 9 wins. How about rankings instead?

 

TO:

 

1972 - 1979 rankings - 4th, 7th, 9th, 9th, 9th, 12th, 8th, 9th

1980 - 1989 rankings - 7th, 11th, 3rd, 2nd, 4th,11th, 5th, 6th,10th,11th

1990 - 1997 rankings - 24th,15th, 14th, 3rd, 1st, 1st, 6th, 2nd

 

Bo:

2008 - 2012 rankings - unranked, 14th, 20th, 24th, 25th, likely unranked

 

So, TO finished outside of the top 15 one time in his entire career with 18 top 10 finishes and Bo's trend is going the wrong direction.

 

Hell, I'm even okay with being ranked 15-20. I'd just like the sloppy bullsh#t to stop.

^

This 1,000 times over!

 

+1!

 

The "9 wins a year" can only be part of the argument for or against Bo depending on where you stand. What beanman has listed here is first of all helpful research, but more importantly offers a better argument IF you want to compare what Bo Pelini has done at Nebraska to what Tom Osborne did during his career.

 

Yes, we have won at least 9 wins every year under Bo Pelini, and yes, we have gone to a bowl game ever year under his watch, and he should be commended for that.

 

However, when you compare our Top 25 rankings to Osborne's it's not even close. Under Pelini we are barely a bottom Top 25 team. At least under Osborne we were consistently in the Top 15...we were at least in the conversation year-after-year as being one of the best teams in the country. And we were rarely blown out during games. We were for the most part, almost always competitive in nearly every game we played under Osborne. You can't say that about Pelini's Nebraska teams to this point...you just can't.

 

Nebraska fans want to win at least 9-10 wins every year, we all know that. But more importantly we want to be competitive, we want to be a part of the national discussion for being one of the Top 15 teams, and we DO NOT want to be consistently embarrassed on the national stage.

 

The 9+ win seasons are not to compare Pelini to Osborne. The Nebraska Cornhuskers that Tom Osborne took over had won back to back national championships. Pelini took over a train wreck and has consistently won 9+ games. That's why the 9 win seasons are good. I use the Osborne comparisons for what can happen when a coach is stuck with, as opposed to this carousel of the past 15 or so years.

I agree with you that consistent 9 win seasons are good. And you are absolutely correct that Tom Osborne took over a team with overall better talent than when Pelini got the job after the Callahan years. Don't forget too that Tom had the luxury of having the man who hired him in the AD chair for much longer than Pelini did.

 

I have argued in the past on this board the point you made about sticking with a coach. I disagreed when Solich was fired after a 9-3 year, and I will be disappointed again if Nebraska gets rid of Pelini IF he has another 9 or 10 win season.

 

My point was that using the 9 win season argument cannot be the only thing that Husker fans use when deciding whether or not the program is either progressing, regressing, or stuck in neutral. We should also look at these factors:

• Is the team competitive, especially against teams with a winning record?
  
• More importantly, are we playing sound, fundamental football? When you ignore 1/3 of a football game (special teams) than I would argue, no, you are not playing sound fundamental football. You could also throw in the consistent turnover problem that has plagued this team for the past 6 years.
  
• Is the team relevant in the national discussion as being one of the Top 15 teams year-in and year-out?
  

I could go on, but I will stop there. If you or others care to add to this list please feel free to do so. I think we have a great discussion going here. I respect your views on this subject, and look forward to reading your future posts.

[3rd and long]

And every other team in the nation has the same opportunities and has failed to do so.

 

Then they should join the Big10.

[Joe_5700]

9 wins don't mean sh#t with this strength of schedule.

9 wins might mean sh*t with these injuries.

Bingo.

[Stumpy1]

Pelini took over a roster full of NFL talent. Talent Pelini has never replaced. Hence why we now have so many underclassmen playing....Pelini is a poor recruiter given his resources

The talent didn't become NFL ready until Bo worked with them.

 

I am actually starting to doubt his ability to develop talent. I used to believe he was excellent at it but am now under the impression that he just happened to walk into a NFL defense that didn't have an identity or scheme. If he was an excellent developer we would not be in the place we are now.

I will bet you that we will have over half of the current players on defense get drafted when it becomes there time. I will say Pelini's first couple classes where subpar but these last 2 and the current one will change some things for us as far as talent wise. If you are denying that, then you do not pay attention very well.

[Hedley Lamarr]

So 6 of our current starters will be drafted on defense? OK sounds good to me.

Ankrah nope

Randle nope

H. Jackson and Cooper nope

 

 

You will have SJB and maybe Evans for you this season. Now you just have to hope all of the Freshman are draft picks and you win!

[kchusker_chris]

I'll continue to minimize it because it means absolutely nothing when we can't win a conference championship once in awhile. I find it hilarious that people from other Big 10 schools all think we deserve better than Pelini and we can't see it or refuse to acknwoledge that we could be great again so we just settle out of fear that we'll return back to the Cally days.

We're the new Iowa.

[Enhance]

The 9 win season is nothing to scoff at, but even I must admit I have reservations about it, and it's because of the losses. Not the number of losses - four - but the way those losses have happened recently. Big blowouts, crushing defeats and self-inflicted wounds that have been relevant for many years under Pelini. This team is just incapable of getting out of it's own way whether it's dropped passes or turnovers. They seemingly correct them for one game and then fall into similar habits for the next.

 

The 9 wins are great, and the hope is that you every couple of years things comes together and you get that 11 or 12 win season. Unfortunately, Nebraska hasn't been able to do that.

 

Pelini's best team was, arguably, 2010. Things started to decline at the end of the season and have been off-kilter since.

[EZ-E]

The 9 win season is nothing to scoff at, but even I must admit I have reservations about it, and it's because of the losses. Not the number of losses - four - but the way those losses have happened recently. Big blowouts, crushing defeats and self-inflicted wounds that have been relevant for many years under Pelini. This team is just incapable of getting out of it's own way whether it's dropped passes or turnovers. They seemingly correct them for one game and then fall into similar habits for the next.

 

The 9 wins are great, and the hope is that you every couple of years things comes together and you get that 11 or 12 win season. Unfortunately, Nebraska hasn't been able to do that.

 

Pelini's best team was, arguably, 2010. Things started to decline at the end of the season and have been off-kilter since.

 

What happened after 2010?

[beanman]

The 9 win season is nothing to scoff at, but even I must admit I have reservations about it, and it's because of the losses. Not the number of losses - four - but the way those losses have happened recently. Big blowouts, crushing defeats and self-inflicted wounds that have been relevant for many years under Pelini. This team is just incapable of getting out of it's own way whether it's dropped passes or turnovers. They seemingly correct them for one game and then fall into similar habits for the next.

 

The 9 wins are great, and the hope is that you every couple of years things comes together and you get that 11 or 12 win season. Unfortunately, Nebraska hasn't been able to do that.

 

Pelini's best team was, arguably, 2010. Things started to decline at the end of the season and have been off-kilter since.

 

What happened after 2010?

 

Are you implying that Shawn Watson was our key to success?

 

 

 

 

 

Bwahahahaha

[Junior]

The 9 win season is nothing to scoff at, but even I must admit I have reservations about it, and it's because of the losses. Not the number of losses - four - but the way those losses have happened recently. Big blowouts, crushing defeats and self-inflicted wounds that have been relevant for many years under Pelini. This team is just incapable of getting out of it's own way whether it's dropped passes or turnovers. They seemingly correct them for one game and then fall into similar habits for the next.

 

The 9 wins are great, and the hope is that you every couple of years things comes together and you get that 11 or 12 win season. Unfortunately, Nebraska hasn't been able to do that.

 

Pelini's best team was, arguably, 2010. Things started to decline at the end of the season and have been off-kilter since.

 

What happened after 2010?

 

Callahan's best recruits graduated, particularly effected the defense.