So what stage are you in with the hire?

[Sub-Husker]

Who knows where the program would be now if Frank Solich had been given ten more years. His best teams were with Tom Osborne's players, and his biggest failing was not being able to fill the cupboard with talent. An offensive coordinator may have helped, if competent (looking at past hires, not a given). Just like Solich, Bo Pelini's best teams were with the previous guy's players. The unnamed guy could recruit, but could not develop players or coach a decent game plan. Coaching (with head coaches and assistants) has been a tremendous weakness of our past three staffs. Mike Riley has shown that he can coach lesser talent to win some big games. He has yet to prove that he can recruit big talent to a big program. I like the hire, and I expect to see the team lose less than four games next season. I expect to see no more blowouts, and a win over a top 15 team. A lot of noise, good and bad, has been made about Pelini losing four games per year over his six year stint. The fact of the matter is that our teams have been getting worse, but he maintained the wins by the grace of easier schedules. The quality wins were just not there, and the losses were getting uglier.