Is 5 games too early to judge the coaches?

[GBRedneck]

I was told 3 games was too early. And then 4 games was too early.

 

Is 5 too early? Or can we judge them now?

[Husker66]

the trend is certainly not in the right direction. There seems to be much earlier warning signs this time that has nothing to do with players. some of the "in game" decision making by this coaching staff is just breath taking.

[shyndy]

i think the problem for all of us is how much this reminds us of 04. We all bought into the "time" thing and then we saw a little bit of progress at times, right before the wheels came off.

[lo country]

It's 5 games at NU and a career of .536 at the collegiate level that Riley brings here. I was not excited about the hire to begin with, but thought he deserved a chance. Get his system, schemes, players etc..... But his scheme,players, system etc still made him a .536 coach at OSU. I also thought that the experienced staff would be an upgrade over Bo. I thought it would equate to 1-2 more wins per season. Unfortunately, I compared that to Bo's 9 win mark. I should have compared that to his basic overall of 6-6 career at OSU.

 

To date we are dead last in pass defense. We are near the bottom of penalties per game. We have no running game, no definitive starter at RB. We have a team Cpt that twice now has acted like an idiot via social media or his actions. We have seen an inability to manage the clock on several occasions. We threw the ball yesterday with TA going 10-31 IIRC. Riley and Langs are another rendition of Cally and Co. Square peg meet round hole.

 

I do not think that Riley will be successful here. I do not want to give the guy 4 years to "get his guys" here to see what he can produce. I look to the west and see the results. I look at 5 games and see the results. It's not like he took over some 2-10 team. He took over a 9 win team. He wasn't hired to "lose by less", he was hired to win. After yesterdays debacle, IMO, we are more a 2-10 team now than a team that will be bowl eligible.

 

We have the talent and athleticism. We just don't have the staff......

[louisianared]

No, it is never too early to judge a coaching staff. As of now they haven't done what is needed to do for us to be a successful team this year. In particular yesterday's loss is definitely on them as the end of the game was horribly mismanaged.

 

With that said, 5 games is too early to crucify a coaching staff. I believe they should have more than a year to get their system/personnel in place. If major improvement isn't shown once that system and personnel is installed then you simply have to go in another direction.

 

Granted if we end up with a losing season this year and it isn't turned around significantly next year then I'd have no issue with a change being made at that time.

 

I prefer to see how this season plays out before rushing to judgement.

[NUance]

It depends on what you mean by judge. Do you mean critique or call for their heads? Five games is certainly not too early to critique Riley and his staff. And they seem to have some deficits. Clock management and pass defense being two of the more glaring ones.

Or by judge do you mean to call for his head? When you fire a coach and hire a new one you might as well plan on throwing a couple of years or more down the toilet. You'd lose most of a recruiting class, and the new guy would bring in his own system for which the current players might not be well suited. Also, every time a school fires a coach it makes it a little bit harder to bring in quality talent. What coach would take a job at a place that fired two coaches within the past ten months? Finally, there would be the buyout. UNL is already paying one rather expensive buyout. I don't think the taxpayers would want to add another half million or so per year towards paying another coach not to coach the Huskers.

[germanforbigred]

Could someone please explain the thought process behind some of MR decisions. I mean why in the world don't you call a timeout before that 3rd and 7 play. Tell your offense to not stop the clock whatever happens. Don't throw the ball don't step out of bounds. Why wouldn't you do that? I don't get it. Is there a deeper thought to it that I don't see? And that wasn't the first problem with clock and game management. And the guy is coaching for 4 decades. How can this possibly be an issue? Screw ups happen but it seems like there is no strategy for these situations.

[AFhusker]

Yes it is overall, but not on things such as time management and play calling. Passing 31 times yesterday in that weather is unacceptable with the success that we were having running the ball once Newby was taken out. I know they want balance and they got it with 34 runs and 31 passes, but things such as weather and what is working should cause them to adjust their play calling. TA shouldn't have thrown it more than 20 times in that weather, and the majority of the 11 plays would have just taken away the mindless bombs that TA was throwing. IDK if that is coming from our OC, or if TA is just focusing on the deep ball and ignoring the shorter routes, but that needs to get fixed one way or the other.

[huskerfan92]

We can certainly judge them. Riley has a track record of poor clock management

 

https://hailvarsity.com/news/commentary/culture-shock/2015/10/

[Lux]

First year staff deserve a year to review. Then they also need considerations to attain their "own" guys for the system.

[Redux]

Yeah, because football is impossible to coach unless the current staff recruited the players. Thats why Florida just lost Ole Miss. Oh wait...

[AFhusker]

Yeah, because football is impossible to coach unless the current staff recruited the players. Thats why Florida just lost Ole Miss. Oh wait...

Florida didn't have the sh**ty recruiting of the last staff either. I swear all they did was recruit one playmaker on each side of the ball and then hand out schollies to the Cotton family.

[RunMickeyRun02]

Depends on how rational your judgement's are. If you are demanding they all be fired yesterday right after the game, that might be a bit much. On the other side of the coin if you believe that they haven't made any mistakes or that the pass defense isn't a night mare that is also not logical as well.

[huskerenner]

These are seasoned coaches,with NFL experience?

[HuskerPowerVA]

Fans judge their team after every game. That is part of the sport, every sport. The question is if it is fair to call for his head after five games. The honest answer is probably no. To turn around a program takes time.

 

However, there are both emotional variables and real warning signs all over the place. Some, including me, were uneasy about this hire from the beginning. We were lectured by others that this was a great hire and raising questions meant we were bad fans, had blind loyalty to the last coach, or didn't know enough about the game.

 

Now, five games in, we are not a fun team to watch, but the losses haven't even told the whole story. The defense is amongst the worst in the game. They don't run the ball. They don't play disciplined and smart. The team has gone from disappointing to a complete counter-culture of everything that defined Nebraska football. It is easy to look at what has been done at Michigan, in the same amount of time, and be envious.

 

So to answer, no, it is not too early. Everything affects everything. Losses to bottom tier teams impact more than the current win-loss column. How do you think recruiting will be impacted in a conference that has good options closer to the home for many targets? In the social media era, everything is magnified. It will be a long year, but will next year be something to look forward to with the current staff.