ESPN Recruiting Nation Class Rankings

[TheSker]

 

 

 

We got coaches that find talent, coach it up, and put their players in a position to succeed now.

 

With Riley's record, especially over the past 5 seasons, I don't understand statements like this.

 

 

And the apparent numerous mentionings that he was at talent-disadvantaged Oregon State have yet to hit home.

 

........and out of the other side of the mouth, he's supposed to be a master at player development......

[strigori]

What will be fascinating to see is how the new mandated 4 year scholarships are going to impact recruiting. With 85 total, its not going to be the easy thing some teams have of 27 to 29 kids a year. That's a lot of attrition.

[NWHuskerfan]

TheSker.....shhhhhh....quiet nobody wants to talk about that little glitch. All I know the fans in Corvallis, Oregon are still jumping for joy. They finally have a coach that wants to play physical smash mouth football. Top 20 recruiting class I'd be happy with that, but dont see it.

[Elf]

 

 

 

 

We got coaches that find talent, coach it up, and put their players in a position to succeed now.

 

With Riley's record, especially over the past 5 seasons, I don't understand statements like this.

 

 

And the apparent numerous mentionings that he was at talent-disadvantaged Oregon State have yet to hit home.

 

........and out of the other side of the mouth, he's supposed to be a master at player development......

 

 

Three of his former QBs are, (or were,) in the NFL.

 

Mike Riley has compiled the most wins of any coach in the history of Oregon St.

 

Nick Saban only had one good year at Michigan St. His record with the Miami Dolphins was far from stellar. On the other hand, look what he has done at LSU and Alabama.

 

I don't think prior records are always a good indicator of how good a coach someone is. There is more to evaluating a coach than just win/loss records.

[NWHuskerfan]

Sorry but I dont agree with the Nick Saban argument. Saban was at Michigan St for five years and never had a losing record. Mike Riley was at Oregon St for 13. He had 7 years of winning records and 6 years of losing records. In Oct of 2014 Nebraska had 26 former players in the NFL. In October of 2014 Oregon State had 19 players in the NFL. Football is a team sport who cares how many players are in the NFL. If you don't win you're not going to get top recruits plain and simple. Bottom line he wasnt getting it done at Oregon State. Why wouldnt he come to

Nebraska. The heat was getting hot from the Oregon State fanbase. He gets offered a fresh start at a school like Nebraska and that little thing called a million dollars more per year. No brainer why he took the job. Meanwhile the Ducks and Frost pull in the 1, 3 and 5 all purpose backs in the nation. The Ducks still finished out of the top 15. Regardless of my opnion I wish them all

the success in the world.

[True2tRA]

The wins and losses argument is the most basic simplistic argument you can have to support or refute your argument for a coach. I don't understand why so many people refuse to look past that single stat when the game of football is so much more than just win/loss record.

 

When I said Riley and his coaches can evaluate talent, develop that talent, and put his players in position to be successful, at what point did I mention mere wins and losses? I didn't.

 

Watch the games. Look at his players and the things they're doing. Riley and his staff have molded some damn good players over the years. Fundamentally strong players. They execute at their position and the systems these coaches run allow these players the ability to execute at a high level. They also run systems that set the players up for success at the next level.

 

There is so much more that can affect the outcome. Oregon St. played a lot of very good teams and were purely out talented many times. Yet they gave many teams a very good fight and even beat some teams they shouldn't have beat based soley on the fact that they were well coached and sound fundamentally.

 

At what point in the last seven years can you say that for Nebraska under Bo Pelini and his staff? Lack of talent was not an excuse here regardless of who tries to tell you it was. Nebraska hasn't executed or looked fundamentally sound in quite a long time. We were one of the most inconsistent teams in football.

 

The reason folks like me get excited about the future with Riley and his staff is because I believe when you take the talent level at Nebraska, which Riley now has at his disposal, and combine that with good teaching, fundamental execution, and a system which allows the players to play, I think this team has nowhere to go but up.

 

How many times did we say "If Bo could just clean up the little things like turnovers and tackling....so forth".....that this team would take that next big step. Well, we out talented to 9 wins ever hear playing sloppy football. We've now got the coaches who will clean up those little things. So with that logic, I've got to believe this team will be taking that next big step very soon.

[I AM FOOT FOOT]

lots of good points either way on Riley here! NO ONE on this board or anywhere was thinking Mike Riley is the man for the job when Bo was let go.i was pissed! like most here I spent a great deal of time researching MR soon after. the guy has respect from a lot of people in the know. great at finding and developing talent,wants guys coaching under him that know more than he does at coaching positions. Nicest guy you will ever meet, ect ect. but that record the last 5 years at O ST is still there. if he was hired before his slide in wins it would of made more sense. here comes the its hard to win at Ost due to the Ducks and all the flash in the Pac 12. Baylor and TCU are doing it in texas of all places.

but here we are,Rileys the guy,hes brought in some quality coaches with the exception of a solid DC.we now have some one with a clue on developing qb s! He went right to work and saved some great recruits from Bo s staff and added some of his own.all this isn't easy in the short time he had to do it in.

Maybe Riley sees this at his shot at winning big and is all in on making it happen. but in 4 years if we have some 5 and 7win seasons hes a bust, out the door with SE. and we all realize that we have just been polishing a turd. but as of today without playing a game his work here has been great. all I can do as a fan is support the guy. he hasn't let Nebraska down yet.

[True2tRA]

I can understand reluctant support or the "wait and see" approach. It's the guy who pops up in every thread to sh#t on the Positive vibes in the program with Riley and staff, that's what I don't get. He is the new Head Coach whether you like it or not. Whether you believe he deserves a chance it doesn't matter, he's getting one. You would think you could atleast support him until he gives you a reason not to.

 

 

Hell, even I tried supporting Bo for awhile.

[The Dude]

All I know the fans in Corvallis, Oregon are still jumping for joy. They finally have a coach that wants to play physical smash mouth football. Top 20 recruiting class I'd be happy with that, but dont see it.

Do Beaver fans think he's going to bring Wisconsin's offense with him? The spread he ran at Utah State was quite a bit different than what Barry made him run at Wisconsin. On the other hand, Paul Chryst's offense is exactly like Wisconsin's, and he learned under Riley.

 

As for this class, Riley did a great job with the limited time he had. Which gives me hope for recruiting in the future. Can't wait to see what he can do with a full cycle.

[Hedley Lamarr]

For me it feels very odd being on the positive side of things finally. However I did give the previous regime 4 years of positive support before I saw the writing on the wall. How some of you can't sit back and enjoy a fresh start blows my mind. Riley was voted BY HIS PEERS as the 2nd most underrated coach in the nation. Maybe we should give him our full support. Lets all get along until we are given a reason not to.

[I AM FOOT FOOT]

For me it feels very odd being on the positive side of things finally. However I did give the previous regime 4 years of positive support before I saw the writing on the wall. How some of you can't sit back and enjoy a fresh start blows my mind. Riley was voted BY HIS PEERS as the 2nd most underrated coach in the nation. Maybe we should give him our full support. Lets all get along until we are given a reason not to.

this! Riley has for the most part brought in some solid position coaches. Bo struggled heavily in this area. no more learning on the fly from someone to stubborn to change what isn't working. im not sold on the DC hire but I like his plan better than the wait and react patty cake sh#t we have seen. we have not one but 2 guys who can coach a QB!! we have a real special teams coach!.take Bos 9 wins by just talent alone and give this team talent AND coaching where we need it the most and we could be special in years to come.

[TheSker]

 

For me it feels very odd being on the positive side of things finally. However I did give the previous regime 4 years of positive support before I saw the writing on the wall. How some of you can't sit back and enjoy a fresh start blows my mind. Riley was voted BY HIS PEERS as the 2nd most underrated coach in the nation. Maybe we should give him our full support. Lets all get along until we are given a reason not to.

this! Riley has for the most part brought in some solid position coaches. Bo struggled heavily in this area. no more learning on the fly from someone to stubborn to change what isn't working. im not sold on the DC hire but I like his plan better than the wait and react patty cake sh#t we have seen. we have not one but 2 guys who can coach a QB!! we have a real special teams coach!.take Bos 9 wins by just talent alone and give this team talent AND coaching where we need it the most and we could be special in years to come.

 

I would very much agree about the assistant coaching staff as a whole.

[STL Husker]

I actually think we ended up with a higher ranked class with Riley than if Bo was still here to finish it out. When it was all said and done, I think the guys who left would have decommitted in the end anyway and we picked up a couple of guys that we wouldn't have with Bo. I am more than happy with what Riley was able to do in a short period of time.

[junior4949]

 

 

 

 

 

How much does Riley have to improve recruiting at Nebraska for NU to compete and defeat Ohio state? Does Nebraska need top ten classes or is Riley a better coach than Meyer that he can achieve the same success with lower rated classes. I know people here don't think stars and class rankings matter but it has to when you look at where teams that win national titles are ranked in recruiting. Perhaps some smarter than me could help me out.

Overall, some, but not a ton. Except for the QB position.... I follow recruiting pretty closely, but I think people exaggerate the difference between the #25 class, and the #8 class for example. There are a lot of variables in play, and it's hard to seperate the classes from a pure talent standpoint. Especially when you get into projecting that talent.

 

Our offensive line better improve BIG TIME before we step onto the field with those guys. The rest is really hard to say.

 

Absolutely.... Win in the trenches, as they say.

 

I would prefer to have the best OL in the country than the best QB and the best RB. Hopefully the new strength and conditioning team can make some improvements.

 

I agree, but mediocre QB play has killed this program for quite some time.... That position needs addressed.

 

Chicken, egg here. One could easily argue that the mediocre QB play could be directly attributed to by the performance of the OL. However, I don't think anyone will argue that the mediocre QB play affected the performance of the OL. Our OL play has been poor for well over a decade.

 

I'm a lot less concerned about the QB play heading into the 15' season than I am about the OL play. If we get back to the basics and win the trench war, we'll win more football games. TO had some QB's back in the day that quite simply weren't very good, but we won because of the OL play.

[True2tRA]

Sorry but I dont agree with the Nick Saban argument. Saban was at Michigan St for five years and never had a losing record. Mike Riley was at Oregon St for 13. He had 7 years of winning records and 6 years of losing records. In Oct of 2014 Nebraska had 26 former players in the NFL. In October of 2014 Oregon State had 19 players in the NFL. Football is a team sport who cares how many players are in the NFL. If you don't win you're not going to get top recruits plain and simple. Bottom line he wasnt getting it done at Oregon State. Why wouldnt he come to

Nebraska. The heat was getting hot from the Oregon State fanbase. He gets offered a fresh start at a school like Nebraska and that little thing called a million dollars more per year. No brainer why he took the job. Meanwhile the Ducks and Frost pull in the 1, 3 and 5 all purpose backs in the nation. The Ducks still finished out of the top 15. Regardless of my opnion I wish them all

the success in the world.

Just to be clear on the Saban argument, I do think he is a good coach and I won't debate that, but his record at Michigan St. is not all pretty and shiny either.

 

1995 -6-5-1: They lost to Nebraska 50-7. They also lost to Iowa, Wisconsin, Penn St. and LSU.Wins against Louisville, Boston College, Illiois, Minnesota, Michigan and Indiana. Only Michigan was ranked. They tied Purdue.

 

1996 - 6-6 They lost 55-14 to Nebraska. They managed to lose to Louisville this time. Also lost to Iowa, Michigan 45-29, Penn St.,and Stanford. Wins against Purdue, Eastern Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Indiana.

 

1997- 7-5

 

1998- 6-6

 

1999- 9-2

 

You get the theme don't you? Wins against bottom-middle tier teams and losses to most anyone of significance.

 

Without that 9-2 season, LSU would never have hired Saban in 2000. The difference is, Saban did leave after that one "good" year, and we have all witnessed his rise since with LSU and Alabama. Until Saban found his spot where he was able to recruit better talent and to pay better coaches, his record didn't really reflect the level of coach he was.

 

Riley is highly respected as a coach by many., as are his staff members. Maybe Riley would be thought of differently if he had taken one of those other jobs he was offered after one of those really good seasons at Oregon St.?

 

Maybe this Nebraska job is Riley's time to show what he can do with those resources.