ESPN recruiting guru comments on Husker QB commits.

[Saunders]

[Eric the Red]

This is pretty damn powerful..

 

Good find Saunders45

[skersfan]

Just the beginning of some great recruiting I think. Hard to meet coach Riley in your living room and not like him. Never had him mine, but he would be welcome. Moms are going to love the guy. He represents what parents want their kids to be. I am a Nebraska fan, have been for a very long time, but I really like this guy and what he brings to the table.

 

Thanks for sharing Saunders45

[jmfb]

Just the beginning of some great recruiting I think. Hard to meet coach Riley in your living room and not like him. Never had him mine, but he would be welcome. Moms are going to love the guy. He represents what parents want their kids to be. I am a Nebraska fan, have been for a very long time, but I really like this guy and what he brings to the table.

 

Thanks for sharing Saunders45

That I can agree with about Riley- not sold on great recruiting just yet. But from a does it feel good to have my son play for coach X standpoint- yes he passes that test with flying colors.

With the Caveat- this isnt Oregon State and we arent shooting for 6-7 wins a year here. I expect NU to recruit better players than OSU got thanks to the brand, resources and facilities. Im no coolaid drinker- I dont expect us to rank in the top 10 recruiting wise- but fewer misses than last staff, better retention and more wins over the long haul with the better 3 star and low 4 star recruits.

 

When I travel Im surprised a bit at what people say about our team and coaching staff

Most of the people here talk football with other people from Nebraska- that is a very different viewpoint because IF you pay attention you can find surface level stuff about the program in the local media 364 days a year. Most Nebraskans will know on the surface level anyways much more about NU football than most people in California or Georgia.

In the last 5+ years probably 150 trips, 30-35 states. The coaches always ask and talk NU football, I spend hours with a bunch of these guys at every stop, dinner, beers etc. 100s of guys. These are people in the field who know football, know coaching and pay attention.

To put it conservatively this was roughly the breakdown on what they thought of Bo Pelini:

5% liked him- old school hard line guys

15%- think coaches sometimes need to be hard, knew his kids liked him, might be some good under it all, thought he knew how to coach D at some point in his career. They were tolerant of him.

20%- no opinion- or too polite to say anything one way or another

20%- Moderately disliked him- his performance was sub standard to what NU was used to or deserved

40% really disliked him, couldnt believe NU would have a coach like this- would never consider letting their son play for a guy like that, an embarrassment to the University

 

Im not sure how any casual mom fan who watched Bo would let Bo into her living room to recruit their son. That alone should give us a little bump. Yeah he had the kids back and would make sure they graduated, but he doesnt even get into the living room of many. Im no Bo fan, but he did connect well with some people 1-1 and I know several of my former players love the guy, Im guessing Riley should do much better on that front

All of the TV tirade shots of Bo did him no favors when it came to national public opinion- Bo did that all to himself. Bos no CEO or face of a program, in over his head as a HC in a big program- never learned how to manage. Riley has the CEO, management and PR thing down, now let's see if he can execute and recruit the kind of kids we need to win league titles.

[Stumpy1]

 

Just the beginning of some great recruiting I think. Hard to meet coach Riley in your living room and not like him. Never had him mine, but he would be welcome. Moms are going to love the guy. He represents what parents want their kids to be. I am a Nebraska fan, have been for a very long time, but I really like this guy and what he brings to the table.

 

Thanks for sharing Saunders45

That I can agree with about Riley- not sold on great recruiting just yet. But from a does it feel good to have my son play for coach X standpoint- yes he passes that test with flying colors.

With the Caveat- this isnt Oregon State and we arent shooting for 6-7 wins a year here. I expect NU to recruit better players than OSU got thanks to the brand, resources and facilities. Im no coolaid drinker- I dont expect us to rank in the top 10 recruiting wise- but fewer misses than last staff, better retention and more wins over the long haul with the better 3 star and low 4 star recruits.

 

When I travel Im surprised a bit at what people say about our team and coaching staff

Most of the people here talk football with other people from Nebraska- that is a very different viewpoint because IF you pay attention you can find surface level stuff about the program in the local media 364 days a year. Most Nebraskans will know on the surface level anyways much more about NU football than most people in California or Georgia.

In the last 5+ years probably 150 trips, 30-35 states. The coaches always ask and talk NU football, I spend hours with a bunch of these guys at every stop, dinner, beers etc. 100s of guys. These are people in the field who know football, know coaching and pay attention.

To put it conservatively this was roughly the breakdown on what they thought of Bo Pelini:

5% liked him- old school hard line guys

15%- think coaches sometimes need to be hard, knew his kids liked him, might be some good under it all, thought he knew how to coach D at some point in his career. They were tolerant of him.

20%- no opinion- or too polite to say anything one way or another

20%- Moderately disliked him- his performance was sub standard to what NU was used to or deserved

40% really disliked him, couldnt believe NU would have a coach like this- would never consider letting their son play for a guy like that, an embarrassment to the University

 

Im not sure how any casual mom fan who watched Bo would let Bo into her living room to recruit their son. That alone should give us a little bump. Yeah he had the kids back and would make sure they graduated, but he doesnt even get into the living room of many. Im no Bo fan, but he did connect well with some people 1-1 and I know several of my former players love the guy, Im guessing Riley should do much better on that front

All of the TV tirade shots of Bo did him no favors when it came to national public opinion- Bo did that all to himself. Bos no CEO or face of a program, in over his head as a HC in a big program- never learned how to manage. Riley has the CEO, management and PR thing down, now let's see if he can execute and recruit the kind of kids we need to win league titles.

 

I think a lot of people hate Bo because of his coaching personality. My wife and I have been around Bo a few times over the last couple years because his boy and mine played sports with each other and against each other. He really is a quite guy when not coaching and is out and about. My wife seemed to really get along with him and has liked him ever since. She said he is not the same person when he is coaching as he is when off the job.

 

I agree with you jmfb that he was way over his head being the HC of Nebraska and he let that get to him. He is better off where he is at and in time, might get back up to D1 coaching ranks again.

[jmfb]

One on one doesnt matter much from a national perspective, it is what it is

Very few will ever get beyond the very surface

 

Yes at Michaels basketball games everyone crowded around Bo so no one can approach him and he's on his best behaviour

Hes great to his kids coaches- I know several of them

He drops his kids off to school, great dad etc

My friends who have been in his home, spent time with him, genuinely like the guy

That's all great stuff, Unfortunately that doesnt make him a good CEO

 

Ive been in his office and rubbed shoulders with him, attended a clinic he spoke at. He e-mailed me a few times on something I was working on for him, but never formally met the man.

I wish him the very best in spite of all of his terrible mistakes.

[Blackshirtsguru]

I am very excited to see this coaching staff go after players that they feel will fit their system

[skersfan]

Never a fan, last year tried to support him, as felt the program was stuck with him financially. He did some good things, but outside the state of Nebraska, he destroyed the image of Nebraska and its football team.

 

Riley has not had the advantages that some have. Oregon State is tough to recruit to. But what Riley brings to the table that the last two coaches did not, was the ability to get the kids up for the big game. I have seen Oregon State beat top ranked programs, be in games they were not supposed to be. The last seven years, that was normally not the case the four before, more of the same. With Riley we at least have the chance and a history that we could beat a top ranked team, IE Ohio State or Wisconsin, Michigan State. That gives me hope for Nebraska, Riley and the improvement of recruiting.

 

Positives are possible, rather than a continuous string of negatives and an attitude it was all the fans/administration's fault.

[TGHusker]

Great OP - that is very encouraging.

[teachercd]

I get the feeling that "3 star" guys are more like 4 star guys with Riley and his staff and they way they see talent and develop it.

[mnhusker]

Nice bit of support for the staff, and it is aligns with what was generally expected from Riley so that seems like good news.