Harbaugh-Riley; who's the better coach now?

[HuskerNation1]

Wow, what a dumb question to be asking. For starters, if you are looking solely at the BYU game, two key assumptions are being made when comparing Riley and Harbaugh as new coaches for their programs:

 

1. The talent level Riley inherited is on the same level as Harbaugh. From what I recall, Michigan has had better recruiting classes the past 4 years than NU on average.

 

2. NU and Michigan played the same BYU team with the same experience level with the new staff. In other words, had Michigan opened the season against BYU and BYU had Hill most of the game, would Michigan have performed the way they did today? Probably not. Also, keep in mind, heading into today's game, BYU probably have the toughest 3-game opening stretch of any team in the country, and I'm sure they were physically and mentally exhausted heading into today's game.

 

Another way of looking at this silly scenario is that, since Michigan State beat Oregon, and if Oregon would beat Utah today, and given Utah beat Michigan, that Michigan State would blow out Michigan when they play. I don't think trying to make these comparisons does a lot of good. College teams performance will vary from week to week, especially with a new coaching staff. Michigan may have looked good today, they could come out next week and suck it up, and then down the road beat OSU or MSU.

[TheSker]

Wow, what a dumb question to be asking. For starters, if you are looking solely at the BYU game, two key assumptions are being made when comparing Riley and Harbaugh as new coaches for their programs:

 

1. The talent level Riley inherited is on the same level as Harbaugh. From what I recall, Michigan has had better recruiting classes the past 4 years than NU on average.

 

2. NU and Michigan played the same BYU team with the same experience level with the new staff. In other words, had Michigan opened the season against BYU and BYU had Hill most of the game, would Michigan have performed the way they did today? Probably not. Also, keep in mind, heading into today's game, BYU probably have the toughest 3-game opening stretch of any team in the country, and I'm sure they were physically and mentally exhausted heading into today's game.

 

Another way of looking at this silly scenario is that, since Michigan State beat Oregon, and if Oregon would beat Utah today, and given Utah beat Michigan, that Michigan State would blow out Michigan when they play. I don't think trying to make these comparisons does a lot of good. College teams performance will vary from week to week, especially with a new coaching staff. Michigan may have looked good today, they could come out next week and suck it up, and then down the road beat OSU or MSU.

Michigan has looked improved each week.....and their opener was on the road at Utah. Michigan is doing it with a strong defense and a running game.......which are two things Riley led teams have been historically less than stellar.

[Bowfin]

If anyone figures this out, what exactly do we do with that information once we have it? Do we sell it, do we wield it as power, can it be used to enrich our lives or to save our souls?

 

This question will either sort itself out or never be fully answered. But for me it doesn't take on the importance of a question like "Should I have a bowl of ice cream tonight?" or "What ever happened to my third best #1 Phillps screwdriver?" So I will skip over pondering this one for now and probably forever.

[Husker67]

If anyone figures this out, what exactly do we do with that information once we have it? Do we sell it, do we wield it as power, can it be used to enrich our lives or to save our souls?

 

This question will either sort itself our or never be fully answered. But for me it doesn't take on the importance of a question like "Should I have a bowl of ice cream tonight?" or "What ever happened to my third best #1 Phillps screwdriver?" So I will skip over pondering this one for now and probably forever.

this is funny

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Alright, no more BoLeaver vs Boliever arguments here. This thread is discussing Mike Riley vs. Jim Harbaugh, and it's best to keep it that way. If you want to continue that tired, pointless, and ridiculous fight, please take it to the Woodshed. I've even made a thread for you! Thanks!

[HuskerNation1]

 

Wow, what a dumb question to be asking. For starters, if you are looking solely at the BYU game, two key assumptions are being made when comparing Riley and Harbaugh as new coaches for their programs:

 

1. The talent level Riley inherited is on the same level as Harbaugh. From what I recall, Michigan has had better recruiting classes the past 4 years than NU on average.

 

2. NU and Michigan played the same BYU team with the same experience level with the new staff. In other words, had Michigan opened the season against BYU and BYU had Hill most of the game, would Michigan have performed the way they did today? Probably not. Also, keep in mind, heading into today's game, BYU probably have the toughest 3-game opening stretch of any team in the country, and I'm sure they were physically and mentally exhausted heading into today's game.

 

Another way of looking at this silly scenario is that, since Michigan State beat Oregon, and if Oregon would beat Utah today, and given Utah beat Michigan, that Michigan State would blow out Michigan when they play. I don't think trying to make these comparisons does a lot of good. College teams performance will vary from week to week, especially with a new coaching staff. Michigan may have looked good today, they could come out next week and suck it up, and then down the road beat OSU or MSU.

Michigan has looked improved each week.....and their opener was on the road at Utah. Michigan is doing it with a strong defense and a running game.......which are two things Riley led teams have been historically less than stellar.

 

 

I think you are missing the point. This whole thread appears to be a gut reaction based upon one common opponent (BYU). NU and Michigan have 3 more common opponents this season (NW, MSU, and at Minnesota). I think we need to not only let this season play out, but let both coaches have 2 to 3 years to get more of their players in the system, and then see where things stand. I think the only thing that can be said with certainty if you are doing a comparison is that, after 4 games, Harbaugh has won one more game than Riley has.

[Bigred_inSD]

Scott Frost isn't looking too hot right now. So he's what, third on this list?

[ColoradoHusk]

Scott Frost isn't looking too hot right now. So he's what, third on this list?

I was waiting for a post against Frosty. I'm not Power T, but I still am a Frost fan.

 

I think Frost would know what NU is like and would be able to field a team that is ideal for the style of NU and the Big Ten. I think he would blend what is done at Oregon, as well as what he did at NU under Osborne.

 

Finally, people would be against his inexperience, but we have a coach now who has been through 20 years as a head coach with average results. Sometimes it's worth going with the unknown in order to hit it big.

[dvdcrr]

Harbaugh has done a better job to date. Michigan was clearly organized and on a singular mission today soundly beating the team that beat us. Michigan is looking like Michigan again. Adding that Harbaugh is a good fit there, much better fit than Riley is here. Riley doesnt have Nebraska playing Nebraska football. Not even close.

[Count 'Bility]

What is Nebraska football anymore?

 

What is this "identity" the we so furiosly seek?

 

Its been 15 years since weve been at the level of relevance that we expect.

[huskerfan92]

How is this thread still up? Obviously we would all rather have Harbaugh, and obviously there was a .00000001% chance Harbaugh would come to our school.

[Hip Hip Hooray]

Um.........no​

[Elf]

Objectively, both teams played BYU and so that should give a good comparison point between two coaches. But that's simply not what we have. BYU did not have Taysom Hill at QB for their game against Michigan and even though Tanner Mangum showed good composure and ability against Boise State and UCLA, fact is he's still a freshman and there was bound to be some regression to the mean. He wasn't going to go out and set the world on fire in every one of his starts.

 

Also, if you want to have a perfect comparison of the coaches, every other factor has to be equal between the two. They're not. Michigan undoubtedly has more talent at their disposal than Nebraska and that's naturally going to make Harbaugh look a lot better than Riley.

 

Obviously, everybody knew that Harbaugh was and is a pretty good coach. He won at Stanford and he won in San Francisco. Riley didn't produce the same level of results at Oregon State and in San Diego. Those are truths, and that makes it easier for us to declare that Harbaugh is a better hire than Riley.

 

None of this is to say that Harbaugh will always be a better coach than Riley, but I think the more important question is: why do we even care? There was a 0% chance that Harbaugh was going to coach at Nebraska and so drawing comparisons between the two like we passed over Harbaugh for Riley is a little silly. About the only question we should care about is: Is Mike Riley the right coach for Nebraska? The jury's still out on that question as we are still very early into his time here.

 

I certainly hope he is; it's fun to root for a guy who is genuine and open, honest and humble.

 

 

 

 

This is necessary.

In deed it is. Need to open up the eyes of certain supporters. When I saw the BYU-Mich score scroll by I LOL'ed pretty hard and grinned.

 

Why are you on a husker board?

 

I asked the same question when the board turned against the coach who actually brought the program back to relevance. With that being said... Bo should have been fired. His heart wasn't in it the last season(although its easy to see why). I knew that, You knew that and your mother even knew that. She makes a mean lasagna btw. Back on topic.. I was strongly against Riley being hired. Although I understand him accepting the job. I would, You would and your mother would. That's BIG TIME money and an opportunity. However, he is not the guy to get it done here. I know that..., you know that.. ah heck you know how it goes.

 

Bo's heart was never really into his job here. He was always looking for greener pastures. With better behavior (on and off the field) and better results on the field, Bo would have likely found those greener pastures he desired. Now that he is gone, I see him as another Frank Solich, both did alright at Nebraska but alright isn't good enough at Nebraska. It's not likely that either coach will ever coach at a top school ever again.

[Elf]

Harbaugh has done a better job to date. Michigan was clearly organized and on a singular mission today soundly beating the team that beat us. Michigan is looking like Michigan again. Adding that Harbaugh is a good fit there, much better fit than Riley is here. Riley doesnt have Nebraska playing Nebraska football. Not even close.

How many years has it been since a coach has had Nebraska playing like Nebraska? I don't think either Bo or Bill accomplished that task. We gave Bill four years and Bo 7. And Solich didn't either his last few years.