Shawn Eichorst's public support of Mike Riley has backfired on a national level.

[Dansker]

 

 

Local guys not exactly buying it either:

 

When Nebraska Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst sent out that statement on Monday, my first thought was a scene from “Animal House.” That’s the one in which Kevin Bacon’s character stands in front of a rioting crowd, throws up his hands and says, “Remain calm. All is well.”

And then he gets run over.

I’m not sure Eichorst’s attempt will achieve different results.

Eichorst and coach Mike Riley acknowledged the “elephant” in the room: The heat is on. The A.D. who said he would never comment on a coach in season just gave a vote of confidence — in his coach’s first season.

This tells me Eichorst is getting a lot of noise from boosters and/or regents about Riley’s 3-6 start. No surprise there.

Riley said he jotted down notes on Sunday night to talk about the state of the program because he expected the topic. Before being asked a question, he said, “with all this going on, we can’t be distracted.”

Welcome to Nebraska, Mike.

It was good to hear from both on the brush fire that is Nebraska football. But these statements don’t put out the fire. If anything, they fan the flames.

The thing that extinguishes fires is winning football games.

 

OWH

 

 

I'm not sure it was necessary for Eichorst to send out that letter, but I also have no problem with it — except for the part where he suggests Riley is rebuilding the program. It was 9-4 last season, not 4-9, right? Then again, if you're in Eichorst's shoes, or share his agenda, such a spin makes perfect sense.

Bottom line, there's no serious harm in Eichorst trying to convince fans that all is well. He might also have been trying to convince himself.

 

LJS

 

Thanks for the links, Mav. Yeah, on that -- not only are the fans not buying it, the local media isn't buying it and the national media isn't buying it either. ADSE is borderline snake oil salesman. This whole debacle has gotten out of hand. I believe with the board's approval along with President Hank Bounds and Chancellor Harvey Perlman, we can get rid of Eichorst. Harvey Perlman can save face just before he steps down next year and get a Nebraska son to be the new AD and to fix this mess. He did it in 2007 but nobody knew Pelini's attitude would be a thing of controversy in Lincoln. For obvious reasons, one has to include Trev Alberts into the mix. If Alberts is hired as the new AD, Erstad stays with the baseball program. Erstad wants out and he may very well get the LA Dodgers job and I don't think he likes working for Eichorst. The administration has been the problem for so long, they've got to own up to it and do something.

 

The stench of the football program's failures could go well beyond into next year and I know people love to talk recruiting but haven't we learned? We CAN'T place an 18 year old kid on a pedestal! The football program doesn't revolve around one single person. I don't care if we have Tommie Frazier 2.0 back there next year or Joe Montana, if we have Mike Riley and this staff here it doesn't matter. I have seen enough where I don't see the defense improving. I don't see a run game all of a sudden becoming efficient.

 

This IS Bill Callahan part II - The biggest danger is if the administration lets this disaster continue for 3-4 years only then will our program be in the depths. It's no secret that Regents, the President, and the Chancellor have all attended practices and most of them were at the game last week. More than half of them are concerned of the same old crap week in and week out, and I am too. I'm tired of this team regressing, I'm tired of listening to Riley and his staff dupe us and do the opposite. I'm not all happy joy joy with his Monday presser's they're more like someone who is trying to defend his job providing small moral victories so the media doesn't chew him up and spit him out and the local media has been very generous to him. Riley and his staff do not know nor do they respect this football program. Riley didn't even know we traditionally wear red pants on the road. This is how misinformed he is. Eichorst made a pitch and it's almost like 75% of fans took it.

 

Now, every week we see him on the sidelines, jaw dropped, frozen in time. Motionless, speechless, not communicating with players, not communicating on his headset. He's just... inactive. These are all signs of someone who is burned out and ready to pack his bags and get out. Nebraska cannot continue to become a national punchline through loss after loss. It is going to damage our image, it's going to hurt recruiting. The gracious thing would be for Riley to resign, but this situation is uglier than that. It's going to take a lot more and from what I have "heard" this whole thing is 50/50 and up in the air. We've got 3 games left, two of them to be nationally televised. The worst is yet to come, IMO and fans are pretty aware of that.

 

 

Kind of like how he praised the defense for their success on first down plays this past weekend....I was dying at that one.

 

 

Yeah, and when he responds to questions about the run game and says, "We were taking too many tackles for losses on the runs and that was really tough sledding," Riley said. "You really have to have patience to do that, and when you get behind you really don't like it. That's what happened to us." So, his mentality is, "Okay, TFL, run game isn't there but we're averaging 5.0 YPC, so let's try to pass. Incomplete. Okay, let's try that again. Interception. It's okay, shake it off, we'll try that again next series."

[Dansker]

My ears are ringing for the amount of echo in this echo chamber.

 

It's to bad this message board as devolved into the same 5-10 posters saying the exact same thing in every single thread on this board.

 

If you keep shouting it loud enough, eventually it might make you feel better.

 

Then its simple, don't click on the thread. Have a great day buddy!

[brophog]

My ears are ringing for the amount of echo in this echo chamber.

 

It's to bad this message board as devolved into the same 5-10 posters saying the exact same thing in every single thread on this board.

 

If you keep shouting it loud enough, eventually it might make you feel better.

It's making me hungry.

[Dansker]

 

My ears are ringing for the amount of echo in this echo chamber.

 

It's to bad this message board as devolved into the same 5-10 posters saying the exact same thing in every single thread on this board.

 

If you keep shouting it loud enough, eventually it might make you feel better.

It's making me hungry.

 

 

[GOAT]

 

All this "toxic" talk is nonsense. Flash enough money at a coach, and he'll come. It's as simple as that. People on a national level realize that Pelini was a nutjob and needed to go (which is why no other major school hired him despite his 9-win average), and that Riley is an absolute joke. Nobody rational would blame us for firing either one. If a coach is scared to come here because he's afraid he can't be a consistent winner and championship contender then I don't want him anyway.

 

We've made offers in the past to top coordinators and coaches. Urban Meyer turned us down in 2003 while he was at Utah and then took the Florida job. His kids also went on social media laughing saying their dad will not be going to Lincoln back in 2007 and Mark Richt even laughed at the idea back then and AGAIN on a radio program after Bo was fired. There's been rumors we've made offers to: Houston Nutt, Bret Bielema, Mike Zimmer, Jim McElwain, Greg Schiano. And reportedly all turned the job down. The job is not as prestigious as you think BUT... out of all rumored candidates in the past, I do not think the athletic department made a lucrative offer to any of them.

 

If we want quality, we gotta pay up. I'd much rather pay for a successful coach who intends to leave in 2-3 years rather than be stuck in the dumps with a bad coach for 4-5 years that is the world we live in now. Other programs have gotten lucky: LSU, Alabama, Michigan State, Stanford, Oklahoma. I agree to disagree with you. We can't just flash money at every coach. There are going to be a lot of jobs open at the end of the year. We have to be smart about the next hire I do agree we need to hire someone who is not only successful at coaching but is a solid recruiter as well and can surround himself with great associates and recruiters.

 

 

You make valid points. The coaches I'm referring to are guys on the up-and-up, who are looking to take the next step. No way would a guy like Herman or Fuente turn down a $5-million/year offer and opt to stay at Houston or Memphis. That being said, I'm sure there will be others that are courting the two of them when the season is over, so even if we did fire Riley (which I highly doubt), we'd be unlikely to get either one.

[Redux]

The Houston Nutt rumor was basically confirmed.

[HuskerNation1]

 

 

All this "toxic" talk is nonsense. Flash enough money at a coach, and he'll come. It's as simple as that. People on a national level realize that Pelini was a nutjob and needed to go (which is why no other major school hired him despite his 9-win average), and that Riley is an absolute joke. Nobody rational would blame us for firing either one. If a coach is scared to come here because he's afraid he can't be a consistent winner and championship contender then I don't want him anyway.

 

We've made offers in the past to top coordinators and coaches. Urban Meyer turned us down in 2003 while he was at Utah and then took the Florida job. His kids also went on social media laughing saying their dad will not be going to Lincoln back in 2007 and Mark Richt even laughed at the idea back then and AGAIN on a radio program after Bo was fired. There's been rumors we've made offers to: Houston Nutt, Bret Bielema, Mike Zimmer, Jim McElwain, Greg Schiano. And reportedly all turned the job down. The job is not as prestigious as you think BUT... out of all rumored candidates in the past, I do not think the athletic department made a lucrative offer to any of them.

 

If we want quality, we gotta pay up. I'd much rather pay for a successful coach who intends to leave in 2-3 years rather than be stuck in the dumps with a bad coach for 4-5 years that is the world we live in now. Other programs have gotten lucky: LSU, Alabama, Michigan State, Stanford, Oklahoma. I agree to disagree with you. We can't just flash money at every coach. There are going to be a lot of jobs open at the end of the year. We have to be smart about the next hire I do agree we need to hire someone who is not only successful at coaching but is a solid recruiter as well and can surround himself with great associates and recruiters.

 

 

You make valid points. The coaches I'm referring to are guys on the up-and-up, who are looking to take the next step. No way would a guy like Herman or Fuente turn down a $5-million/year offer and opt to stay at Houston or Memphis. That being said, I'm sure there will be others that are courting the two of them when the season is over, so even if we did fire Riley (which I highly doubt), we'd be unlikely to get either one.

 

 

I agree with both of you, including your initial comments Goat. To me if someone is confident enough in themselves and willing to take a challenge, we could land some good prospects. With Riley getting our program in the ditch, it might actually be more appealing for another coach as the only way to go is up.

 

I'm not buying that we went for McElwain, BB, and others. I think Riley was SE's guy all along, and he really didn't look around much. He was looking for a coach that was the polar opposite of hothead Pelini, and chose a nice guy that doesn't know how to coach. He provided the timeline for his search. Bo was fired on a Sunday morning, Harvey ran into Riley that day or Monday, and things were already moving. If we really were willing to outpay Florida for McElwain we could have gotten him.

[olddominionhusker]

I don't think we were getting him from Fla. Florida is a better job and much easier to recruit. They would have matched any offer I would guess

[Redux]

 

 

 

All this "toxic" talk is nonsense. Flash enough money at a coach, and he'll come. It's as simple as that. People on a national level realize that Pelini was a nutjob and needed to go (which is why no other major school hired him despite his 9-win average), and that Riley is an absolute joke. Nobody rational would blame us for firing either one. If a coach is scared to come here because he's afraid he can't be a consistent winner and championship contender then I don't want him anyway.

 

We've made offers in the past to top coordinators and coaches. Urban Meyer turned us down in 2003 while he was at Utah and then took the Florida job. His kids also went on social media laughing saying their dad will not be going to Lincoln back in 2007 and Mark Richt even laughed at the idea back then and AGAIN on a radio program after Bo was fired. There's been rumors we've made offers to: Houston Nutt, Bret Bielema, Mike Zimmer, Jim McElwain, Greg Schiano. And reportedly all turned the job down. The job is not as prestigious as you think BUT... out of all rumored candidates in the past, I do not think the athletic department made a lucrative offer to any of them.

 

If we want quality, we gotta pay up. I'd much rather pay for a successful coach who intends to leave in 2-3 years rather than be stuck in the dumps with a bad coach for 4-5 years that is the world we live in now. Other programs have gotten lucky: LSU, Alabama, Michigan State, Stanford, Oklahoma. I agree to disagree with you. We can't just flash money at every coach. There are going to be a lot of jobs open at the end of the year. We have to be smart about the next hire I do agree we need to hire someone who is not only successful at coaching but is a solid recruiter as well and can surround himself with great associates and recruiters.

You make valid points. The coaches I'm referring to are guys on the up-and-up, who are looking to take the next step. No way would a guy like Herman or Fuente turn down a $5-million/year offer and opt to stay at Houston or Memphis. That being said, I'm sure there will be others that are courting the two of them when the season is over, so even if we did fire Riley (which I highly doubt), we'd be unlikely to get either one.

I agree with both of you, including your initial comments Goat. To me if someone is confident enough in themselves and willing to take a challenge, we could land some good prospects. With Riley getting our program in the ditch, it might actually be more appealing for another coach as the only way to go is up.

 

I'm not buying that we went for McElwain, BB, and others. I think Riley was SE's guy all along, and he really didn't look around much. He was looking for a coach that was the polar opposite of hothead Pelini, and chose a nice guy that doesn't know how to coach. He provided the timeline for his search. Bo was fired on a Sunday morning, Harvey ran into Riley that day or Monday, and things were already moving. If we really were willing to outpay Florida for McElwain we could have gotten him.

Bielma sounds like he did get it and was 50/50 but his agent advised him against it.

[NebraskaShellback]

 

 

 

All this "toxic" talk is nonsense. Flash enough money at a coach, and he'll come. It's as simple as that. People on a national level realize that Pelini was a nutjob and needed to go (which is why no other major school hired him despite his 9-win average), and that Riley is an absolute joke. Nobody rational would blame us for firing either one. If a coach is scared to come here because he's afraid he can't be a consistent winner and championship contender then I don't want him anyway.

 

We've made offers in the past to top coordinators and coaches. Urban Meyer turned us down in 2003 while he was at Utah and then took the Florida job. His kids also went on social media laughing saying their dad will not be going to Lincoln back in 2007 and Mark Richt even laughed at the idea back then and AGAIN on a radio program after Bo was fired. There's been rumors we've made offers to: Houston Nutt, Bret Bielema, Mike Zimmer, Jim McElwain, Greg Schiano. And reportedly all turned the job down. The job is not as prestigious as you think BUT... out of all rumored candidates in the past, I do not think the athletic department made a lucrative offer to any of them.

 

If we want quality, we gotta pay up. I'd much rather pay for a successful coach who intends to leave in 2-3 years rather than be stuck in the dumps with a bad coach for 4-5 years that is the world we live in now. Other programs have gotten lucky: LSU, Alabama, Michigan State, Stanford, Oklahoma. I agree to disagree with you. We can't just flash money at every coach. There are going to be a lot of jobs open at the end of the year. We have to be smart about the next hire I do agree we need to hire someone who is not only successful at coaching but is a solid recruiter as well and can surround himself with great associates and recruiters.

 

 

You make valid points. The coaches I'm referring to are guys on the up-and-up, who are looking to take the next step. No way would a guy like Herman or Fuente turn down a $5-million/year offer and opt to stay at Houston or Memphis. That being said, I'm sure there will be others that are courting the two of them when the season is over, so even if we did fire Riley (which I highly doubt), we'd be unlikely to get either one.

 

 

I agree with both of you, including your initial comments Goat. To me if someone is confident enough in themselves and willing to take a challenge, we could land some good prospects. With Riley getting our program in the ditch, it might actually be more appealing for another coach as the only way to go is up.

 

I'm not buying that we went for McElwain, BB, and others. I think Riley was SE's guy all along, and he really didn't look around much. He was looking for a coach that was the polar opposite of hothead Pelini, and chose a nice guy that doesn't know how to coach. He provided the timeline for his search. Bo was fired on a Sunday morning, Harvey ran into Riley that day or Monday, and things were already moving. If we really were willing to outpay Florida for McElwain we could have gotten him.

 

Riley and Shawn had the same agent

[GOAT]

That's why I'm not sure why people keep tossing names such as Tom Herman around. He is THE hot name right now, along with Fuente. Every school looking for a coach will be courting him after the season, and he'll have his pick of the lot. If/when Riley is fired, we'll have to target someone lower on the "MOST WANTED" scale. Frost will likely be available, or maybe steal Wittingham? Who knows.

[Xmas32]

All this coaching talk is frankly, completely ridiculous and deep down I think we all know it. That being said...Kyle Whittingham is your answer? I dunno...he hasn't exactly lit the world on fire since Utah switched to the Pac-12 (this season withstanding). Also he's a LDS so that would be a tough pull.

[Saunders]

Have any of the top 15 winning programs in cfb ever hired a bad coach and fired him after one season?

 

 

 

Really curious as to any precedent for this.

Have any of them fired two coaches who never had a losing season?

[Landlord]

 

Have any of the top 15 winning programs in cfb ever hired a bad coach and fired him after one season?

 

 

 

Really curious as to any precedent for this.

Have any of them fired two coaches who never had a losing season?

 

 

 

 

I don't think so.

[HuskerNation1]

That's why I'm not sure why people keep tossing names such as Tom Herman around. He is THE hot name right now, along with Fuente. Every school looking for a coach will be courting him after the season, and he'll have his pick of the lot. If/when Riley is fired, we'll have to target someone lower on the "MOST WANTED" scale. Frost will likely be available, or maybe steal Wittingham? Who knows.

 

Every year there are hot names, I agree. What I don't understand is why Whittingham would ever consider leaving Utah now. They are leaps and bounds ahead of NU as a program, and he's got the right schemes to compete well in the Pac 12. I don't think these days NU would be a step up in any way for him.