girlknowsfootball Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 This may have already been posted in another thread, but I have heard a lot of people talk about Pelini as having a much better win-loss record than Mike Riley. I've done some digging and i'm not so sure about that... Look at their coaching Careers since 2003... 2003 Riley - 8-5, Head Coach, won las vegas bowl vs new mexico Pelini - 10-3, DC, interim HC, won alamo bowl vs michigan state 2004 Riley - 7-5, Head Coach, won insight bowl Pelini - 12-1, CoDC Oklahoma, played for national championship against USC and lost 2005 Riley - 5-6, Head Coach, no bowl game Pelini - 11-2, DC LSU, played in peach bowl and beat Miami 2006 Riley - 10-4, Head Coach, played in sun bowl and beat Missouri Pelini - 11-2, DC LSU, played in sugar bowl and beat Notre Dame 2007 Riley - 9-4, Head Coach, beat Maryland in the Emerald Bowl Pelini - 12-2, DC LSU, won national championship against Ohio State 2008 Riley - 9-4, Head Coach, beat Pittsburgh in the Sun Bowl Pelini - 9-4, Head Coach NU, beat Clemson in the Gator Bowl 2009 Riley - 8-5, Head Coach, lost to BYU in Las Vegas Bowl Pelini - 10-4, Head Coach NU, beat Arizona in Holiday Bowl 2010 Riley - 5-7, Head Coach, no bowl game Pelini - 10-4, Head Coach NU, lost to Washington in holiday bowl 2011 Riley - 3-9, Head Coach, no bowl game Pelini - 9-4, Head Coach, lost to South Carolina in Capitol One Bowl 2012 Riley - 9-4, Head Coach, lost to Texas in Alamo bowl Pelini - 10-4, Head Coach, lost to Georgia in Capitol One Bowl 2013 Riley - 7-6, Head Coach, beat Boise State in Hawaii bowl Pelini - 9-4, Head Coach, beat Georgia in Gator Bowl 2014 Riley - 5-7, Head Coach, no bowl game Pelini - 9-4, lost to USC in Holiday Bowl Here it clearly looks like Pelini is the better coach. But let's also look at the recruiting rankings... 2002 - Nebraska 40th, Oregon State 52nd, Oklahoma 7th, LSU 15th 2003 - Nebraska 42nd, Oregon State 51st, Oklahoma 4th, LSU 1st 2004 - Oklahoma 11th, Oregon State 31st, LSU 2nd, Nebraska 58th 2005 - Nebraska 5th, Oregon State 47th, LSU 22nd 2006 - Nebraska 20th, Oregon State 41st, LSU 7th 2007 - Nebraska 13th, Oregon State 47th, LSU 4th 2008 - Nebraska 30th, Oregon State 52nd 2009 - Nebraska 28th, Oregon State 54th 2010 - Nebraska 22nd, Oregon State 44th 2011 - Nebraska 15th, Oregon State 56th 2012 - Nebraska 25th, Oregon State 39th 2013 - Nebraska 17th, Oregon State 39th 2014 - Nebraska 32nd, Oregon State 54th 2015 - Nebraska 31st, Oregon State 71st It is clear that Pelini had much better talent to work with. It is also clear that Callahan was a much better recruiter than Pelini and that Pelini walked into a team stockpiled with talent. This makes sense why the defense was so good Pelini's first two years and then got worse as time went on. He wasn't able to recruit the caliber players Callahan recruited. Pelini did really well at Oklahoma when he had top 10 recruiting classes and ran the defense only. He did really well at LSU when he had top 15 recruiting classes and ran the defense only. He also did really well at Nebraska with defense when he inherited two top 15 classes and ran the defense. If you remember he let Watson run the offense and the offense did horrible. This past class, even before Pelini got fired, was shaping up to be the worst recruiting class in Nebraska in 10 years. We also lost most of the high caliber players from the 2011 class, many of whom didn't feel like they were being given fair chances to play. I think Pelini, a perfectionist and an introvert by nature, couldn't handle the duties that went along with being a HC off the field, and I think he got really frustrated with the players that weren't top notch skilled. Over the past few years you could tell Pelini wasn't enjoying his job anymore... he seemed to make less efforts in recruiting, had a worse attitude, and seemed worn out by the job. Look at Riley's recruiting classes over the past 12 years... His best class was rated 31st. He never coached a top 25 class... yet he still had 4 nine win seasons. He put about the same number of players in the NFL as Pelini did, and these guys had fewer stars coming out of high school. Yeah he had 8 season of 5 losses or more, but he won as many games as Pelini 2006-2009 and he had recruiting classes ranked in the 40's and 50's with no walk on program like Nebraska's. Pelini's classes those years were mostly top 20. People want to look at Mike Riley and say he is going to be a worse coach than Pelini... but it's comparing apples to oranges. He's never had a top 20 recruiting class. This year he has the past 4 classes of 25th, 17th, 32nd, and 31st to work with. At Oregon State he would have had 39th, 39th, 54th, and 71st. This year his staff is on track to pull the 35th best class, while oregon state is 73rd. Now... many of you will say, who cares about recruiting rankings, they don't mean anything. But Look at who is winning national championships and where their athletes are ranked. Ohio State - 2015 - 9th 2014 - 3rd 2013 - 2nd 2012 - 4th 2011 - 11th Florida State - 2014 - 4th 2013 - 10th 2012 - 6th 2011 - 2nd 2010 - 10th Alabama - 2014 - 1st 2013 - 1st 2012 - 1st 2011 - 1st 2010 - 5th 2009 - 1st Auburn - 2010 - 4th 2009 - 19th 2008 - 20th 2009 - 7th 2008 - 10th Look at what Pelini Had with Oklahoma and LSU and his first couple of years at Nebraska Oklahoma - 2004 - 11th 2003 - 4th 2002 - 7th LSU - 2007 - 4th 2006 - 7th 2005 - 22nd 2004 - 2nd 2003 - 1st 2002 - 15th Nebraska - 2008 - 30th 2007 - 13th (class with amukamara, haag, crick, asante, helu, paul, etc all in the NFL) 2006 - 20th 2005 - 5th (class with suh, dillard, bowman, etc all in the NFL) If you compare the talent at the places Pelini has been with the talent at the places Riley has been there is no question they have not coached the same caliber of teams. Riley sure did seem to win a lot of bowl games. He sure did seem to get the most out of his players. He sure did seem to have the fans and the media's love. There is no doubt Pelini can coach top caliber players playing in college with NFL skill sets, but he couldn't coach the players that didn't have top end skill sets... he got frustrated with them and benched them... or he got frustrated with them and yelled at them. Pelini flourishes when he gets to focus on defense only, and his defense is a top 10-15 class talent with a solid 2 deep of that level of talent. I think Riley is a better fit for NU since we will consistently be in the high 20's with our classses... we have to have the guy that can coach up the middle level talent and mature the still growing players to reach their maximum potential. What the numbers tell me is that Pelini was always on great teams.. and when he wasn't he didn't win as much, the pressure got to him and his perfectionistic mentality became abrasive more and more as he didn't have as much talent to work with and more was expected of him. 7 Quote Link to comment
ColoradoHusk Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 It's impossible to compare Pelini vs. Riley win-loss records over the past 10 years. Bottom line, Nebraska is a much better football program than Oregon State, so Bo at NU will have a better winning percentage than Riley at Oregon State. 2 Quote Link to comment
NUance Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 Yeah, comparing Pelini/Riley win-loss records is like comparing apples to watermelons. But that's just the sort of thing we do in the offseason. Another point of comparison is coaching offers. I seems to recall that, over the years, Riley has had offers (or consideration?) to coach Alabama, USC and UCLA. When Pelini became available eight months ago ... (crickets). Just sayin... 2 Quote Link to comment
Landlord Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 I'd like to see some deeper analytics between the two as far as win percentage against teams when favored, and numbers regarding ranked teams as well. Quote Link to comment
teachercd Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 I'd like to see some deeper analytics between the two as far as win percentage against teams when favored, and numbers regarding ranked teams as well. Uh oh...now the "The line doesn't mean anything about who Vegas thinks will win" crowd is going to be out in full force. Quote Link to comment
I AM FOOT FOOT Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 Yeah, comparing Pelini/Riley win-loss records is like comparing apples to watermelons. But that's just the sort of thing we do in the offseason. Another point of comparison is coaching offers. I seems to recall that, over the years, Riley has had offers (or consideration?) to coach Alabama, USC and UCLA. When Pelini became available eight months ago ... (crickets). Just sayin... ya but YSU isn't a stepping stone its a fit for family reasons.... and no one wanted him Quote Link to comment
Moiraine Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 The people who are already anti-Riley seem to thinks it's comparing apples to apples. 4 Quote Link to comment
MichiganDad3 Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 Just make the blowouts end ... unless we are on the winning side 2 Quote Link to comment
Scratchtown Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 I'd like to see some deeper analytics between the two as far as win percentage against teams when favored, and numbers regarding ranked teams as well. Uh oh...now the "The line doesn't mean anything about who Vegas thinks will win" crowd is going to be out in full force. Didn't even know that was a group of people. Quote Link to comment
teachercd Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 I'd like to see some deeper analytics between the two as far as win percentage against teams when favored, and numbers regarding ranked teams as well. Uh oh...now the "The line doesn't mean anything about who Vegas thinks will win" crowd is going to be out in full force. Didn't even know that was a group of people. It is a HUGE group. Quote Link to comment
StPaulHusker Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 So why is there a comparison between Pelini as DC against Riley as HC? Quote Link to comment
TGHusker Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Yeah, comparing Pelini/Riley win-loss records is like comparing apples to watermelons. But that's just the sort of thing we do in the offseason. Another point of comparison is coaching offers. I seems to recall that, over the years, Riley has had offers (or consideration?) to coach Alabama, USC and UCLA. When Pelini became available eight months ago ... (crickets). Just sayin... Good point regarding the crickets. The people that know... know. Reputation speaks louder than a loud mouth. Quote Link to comment
junior4949 Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 "I think Riley is a better fit for NU since we will consistently be in the high 20's with our classses... we have to have the guy that can coach up the middle level talent and mature the still growing players to reach their maximum potential." Gotta admit, I'm surprised no one has mentioned this much less blew a gasket over it. I agree with it. While we may occasionally crack the top 20 for a recruiting class, I highly doubt our average recruiting class comes in much better than mid-20's. It became quite obvious that without top notch talent, Bo's teams were going to get taken behind the shed by teams with a pulse. Over the years, great players have masked some pretty glaring problems with Bo's defense. Quote Link to comment
skersfan Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Is this Bo guy a coach at Nebraska? Why should I care about this guy. What is he going to do for Nebraska today, besides badmouth us to anyone who would listen. He is gone, do you guys stand over the toilet and wave good bye and pine for what left. Same difference. Quote Link to comment
Moiraine Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Not a fan of the "pretend he never coached here" posts. He was only fired 8 months ago and the comparisons are going to continue for a lot longer. 3 Quote Link to comment
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