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

[Dansker]

 

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.

 

 

This is a defeatist attitude. Come on, you can't tell me Kyle Whittingham isn't waiting for the right opportunity to captain a MAJOR football program. How many national titles does Utah have anyway? Make an extremely lucrative offer, and he'll give an ear to discuss the opening. Most coaches would. Money talks in today's coaching world.

[cm husker]

 

 

 

 

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.

This is a defeatist attitude. Come on, you can't tell me Kyle Whittingham isn't waiting for the right opportunity to captain a MAJOR football program. How many national titles does Utah have anyway? Make an extremely lucrative offer, and he'll give an ear to discuss the opening. Most coaches would. Money talks in today's coaching world.

I think Utah is overrated, but now that they are in the P12, I don't need know what reason that KW would have to leave that program to head to Lincoln.

 

Money talks the world over. Regardless of profession. So does stability and the resources to build something.

[Danimal]

 

 

Some good quotes about the situation from the local beat writers:

 

From Dirk Chatelain of the Omaha World-Herald, who describes Riley's first season as "a complete disaster":

 

Nebraska basically has two options: Fire the athletic director now, then the coach at the end of the season, as it did in 2007. Or ride this thing out. ... Practically speaking, Nebraska has no choice but to endure this disaster for three more weeks. Hope like heck that Riley can make the proper offseason decisions to turn it around in 2016.

 

 

From Lincoln Journal Star columnist Steven M. Sipple:

 

University leaders may soon -- very soon -- have to make a choice: gamble that Eichorst hired the right guy in Riley and ride out the rough waters, with or without Eichorst. Or start over again from scratch -- new AD, new coaching staff.

 

 

From Omaha World-Herald columnist Tom Shatel:

 

It doesnt get any lower, does it? Mike Riley was hired by Shawn Eichorst to avoid these embarrassments. Now the pitchforks are out and its not because of Halloween. Forget it. Neither Eichorst not Riley is getting fired and shouldnt. The Nebraska job would become radioactive in the coaching frat. Moreover, its not how Nebraska needs to do things. This is Rileys first year. Give the man some room.

 

That's the thing, we aren't going to fire Mike Riley in season one. No matter how bad the results. If we did, there is no way we'd be able to attract a decent coach. Lincoln would be toxic.

That's baloney. Money talks. You throw 4 or 5 mil at a hot young coach who's confident in his abilities and looking to make a name for himself, plus all the resources Nebraska has to offer, and he couldn't care less what the last coach did.

 

 

The problem with this theory is there are only so many hot young coaches & there is a lot of open jobs. I think almost every coach would USC over NU. At this stage Miami & South Carolina might be better jobs. Heck, Maryland might sound like a better job at this point. A little less money, new under armour money & lower expectations.

 

I really wish NU would scrap this current staff & hire Tom Herman or Kyle Whttingham, but I don't think either would have a lot of interest after you fired a 1st year coach.

 

If we lose to Rutgers and it appears we are going to finish the season on a 5-game skid I'd "go through channels" to get an assessment of who would be genuinely interested in the job. If you are looking at Scott Frost, a retread, or an unproven hire then you stand pat. If you are able to get through to somebody(or somebodies) you like and they like us then you make a move.

[cm husker]

No way should this admin pick the next coach.

[Blackshirts007]

there might not many thoughts on a postive season this year, but i do see something that really bothered me in the past with bo. THERE ARE NO BLOWOUTS SO FAR....that is a big success story this year, at least in my book

I'm more pissed there aren't any blowouts. It should be us blowing out Illinois, NW, Purdue. How do we beat a Cain Kolter NW by 3 TD's last year on the road and lose at home to some gangly no name QB. Purdue has a frosh and is trash. ILL didn't even have there best receiver playing. And the arguments about close losses is completely irrelevant when you shouldn't be in close games with garbage teams. Clemson put Miami away in the same stadium after the 1st quarter. You have to be pretty God awful to be last in the B1G West. There is no excuses what so ever.

[Dansker]

Oh, lord. This is going overboard but I chuckled a little bit... is that wrong?

 

COLLEGESPUN

Someone Listed Mike Riley For Sale On Lincoln, Neb. Craigslist

 

 

This has been a rough year for Nebraska football. The proud program is 3-6, with most of those losses coming in gut-punching fashion.

There’s already some whispers about first-year head coach Mike Riley being on the hot seat. In fact, there’s an ad on the Lincoln, Neb. Craigslist putting Riley up for sale.

Yes, you read that correctly. Don’t believe us, here’s the link to the ad. The introductory paragraph is a doozy.

This football coach was taken in at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln eleven months ago, saved from a sad situation in Corvallis, OR. We assumed that, given a better, more luxurious home, he would adapt to his surroundings and thrive in his new environment. This hasn’t been the case. It’s now clear that a larger home with greater responsibilities is not the place for him. He would be better off with a gentler home where less is expected of him.

They’re even offering Nebraska AD Shawn Eichorst as a possible throw-in for a package deal. College football fans are incredible.

[Dansker]

Another good article. There is a poll at the bottom of it. He makes valid points but the one's where he describes firing Riley far outweigh the alternative.

 

SBNATION

Off Tackle Empire

Link

 

 

Mike Riley might not be a good coach...

 

As the seconds ticked down to zero on Saturday, most of Husker Nation had come to one of two very specific conclusions:

Mike Riley should not be allowed to leave West Lafayette and maybe Shawn Eichorst should be left wherever he was that afternoon

Perhaps this program was left in a much larger crater when we fired Bo Pelini and the future is as dark as it has ever been

I would argue that neither of these premises are completely rational, but this seems like a good jumpoff point, right? In what is legitimately the worst season in Nebraska's recent history - if not arguably the worst season (heartbreak wise) ever - there is definitely a fallout coming. The degree of difference between winning and losing is razor thin at the Power 5 level, and the Nebraska Cornhuskers have been skating that line for years. Unfortunately, that miniscule margin of error has reared its ugly head in Lincoln, and close wins are now close losses, leading a fanbase to start pointing fingers. And where would you point in that situation? The new variable: Mike Riley.

That isn't to say that Riley has been playing with a full deck. The loss to Purdue included injuries to the starting RT, QB, leading WR, most dynamic playmaker on offense, and RB. Defensively, the depth at LB has been made known, but to add to those woes, Nebraska is also thin across the entire secondary with both a suspended CB and missing Safety (due to a family funeral). If you did not see the potential for what happened on Saturday, you weren't paying attention. As has been noted vociferously by our friends at Corn Nation, this team is playing the walk-on game like a champ. If you believed Bo Pelini's biggest weakness was development, then this is the year we are paying the piper. Ironically, Mike Riley is sitting in One Memorial Drive, and Bo Pelini is reaping no further specific repercussions in Youngstown.

All that in mind, Mike Riley still might not be a good coach. That statement is absolutely fair despite the protestations of 'give him time' and 'this is Bo's fault'. Especially due to the fact that any of these statements are far from mutually exclusive. Specifically, the question becomes more of a, "Despite the contextual evidence of previous difficulty in his job, is Mike Riley's successes sufficient evidence to point to him being the right man for this job? Is it possible that mistakes were made?" I am not in a position to answer this as even a cratering of this level begs more questions than answers initially. Were we duped? Is this Bo's fault? Is this bad luck? What is the aberration? Regardless of the lack of specific answers, I will say that I am far more open to the discussion of Mike Riley's preparedness for 2015 than I was five games ago. It really has been a tough year.

**

...but firing him now...

The advantages of firing a coach seem to rest on varying incentives for those in power. The first - and generally the most popular - is that by firing a coach, you save your own job as AD. Specifically, you usurp power, prove to a rabid donor and fan base that you believe your school is better than it currently stands, and will not rest until things are made right. This is all fine and dandy, but one would have to also assume that in this scenario, the damage is specifically brought upon by the party is all his - or her depending on the sport - fault. We see this happen all the time, though. Right now, there are close to ten open jobs in football, and we are barely 75% of the way through 2015. In any given year, there are maybe ten really happy fanbases, 15 additional so-so bases, and somewhere around 40 fairly unhappy fanbases. If you just happen to fall into that first group, you scoff at the notion that someone would pull the trigger so easily, but in the thick of things, it's hard to not see the light at the end of a pink slip.

Nebraska fans are specifically accustomed to this approach as we have fought and scratched to national notoriety for the seventeen years since the last time we were notable. Yes, we played for a national championship in 2001, but one would argue that the decline was already on. Getting trucked by Colorado that year was the beginning of the end, but even the most fervent Nebraska fan would hate to believe that. Still, just like you would probably never believe that in fifteen years Ohio State, Oregon, Alabama, or any of the other 'elite' teams of the 2010s would falter and pray for their former self, we know these things come and go as they please.

Of course, the other side to firing a coach is that sometimes you have to move on.

Which brings me back to the firing cycle. Nebraska is on its third coach in nine years, which isn't an absurd clip when you realize one of those guys got seven seasons, but the 60+ wins in that span makes it a tougher pill to swallow. Hubris is not one of Nebraska's strong suits, and it seems the fans in red have been paying their price for years now. Still, if you fire your new coach, what is the plus side? Notre Dame, a team not unlike the Cornhuskers in that they have definitely played that coaching carousel game as well, is a cautionary tale. Yes, the Fighting Irish are more relevant than the Cornhuskers right now, but part of that is that Notre Dame continually asked the question, "Is the next guy better than the current guy, and is the risk worth it?" In what is certainly more of a longterm play, played out in a short term sense, Nebraska could at least benefit from thinking about things from that perspective. Still, Notre Dame has not reached their full potential either. These things are far from an exacting science.

Bottom line? Firing a coach is a risky business. Still, it has to always at least be in play.

***

...is probably a bad idea

One year is not enough time to judge a coach. Yes, Mike Riley's past history is judged by expectations of mediocrity. I understand that. He is also a proven coach who has shown flashes of brilliance, and he - like most coaches - deserve more than a passing chance at righting the ship. Going back to our friends at Notre Dame, you cannot get yourself in a place where you are paying multiple staffs, handcuffed by buyouts, different schemes, and inconsistency. That is not a recipe for success. Coaches - especially in the college game - need time to bring in kids that fit their point-of-view, their system, their culture. Starting over puts your team in a place where three classes - the core of your team - are part of three different, distinct camps with loyalties resting where they may. Sure, it's about the N on the helmet, but these are people with human instincts. It's less than ideal, and ultimately causes as many problems as it may solve.

That in mind, changes will need to be made. Whether it is at the Defensive Coordinator position, the Secondary, or even Offensive Coordinator, Mike Riley will have to pay the price for what has turned into an abysmal year. Yes, it seems unfair that a few bounces here or there changes this entire conversation, but the expectation is a bowl game. That is the minimum, not the goal. Beyond being spoiled, Nebraska enjoys advantages in history, finances, facilities, and support that most of America dream of. Cratering is not ideal, and fair or unfair, the clock is on for Riley to show some real strides towards improvement. That doesn't mean he should be fired, but there will have to be some payment for a bad year. Still, it's not that easy, and these are real people with complex pieces affecting their every day. There doesn't seem like an easy answer.

Which like I said before, Mike Riley might not be a good coach, but firing him now is probably a bad idea.

 

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Boy, that was a reasonable and well-written piece.

[Hujan]

Article sucked. "Don't be like Notre Dame. Their practice of hiring and firing coaches ultimately landed them Brian Kelly, a coach that took them to the BCS championship game, is bringing in top-level talent, made Notre Dame a perennial playoff contender, and pretty much has them firing on all cylinders, proving, once again, that firing coaches is risky. Er, wait. I guess it actually worked out well for Notre Dame, so bad example. But you get what I'm saying."

[Dansker]

Article sucked. "Don't be like Notre Dame. Their practice of hiring and firing coaches ultimately landed them Brian Kelly, a coach that took them to the BCS championship game, is bringing in top-level talent, made Notre Dame a perennial playoff contender, and pretty much has them firing on all cylinders, proving, once again, that firing coaches is risky. Er, wait. I guess it actually worked out well for Notre Dame, so bad example. But you get what I'm saying."

 

I would argue that what they did was right. I agree, it landed them a coach who was on the rise in Brian Kelly.

[KazLong]

Sorry if all ready posted, but seems ESPN is having a field day crapping on our program.

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/126283/take-two-did-nebraska-make-a-mistake-in-firing-bo-pelini

 

Seems like a fair and balanced article...

 

They seem to crap all over Riley and point out our future is hopeless and we would be better of with Bo, however then say he is so respected and nice if we dare fire him after at least not giving him a few years no one will come here... Never knew how much ESPN had a lingering hate for NU until this season. They see blood in our water and are circling.

 

 

"Take Two: Did Nebraska make a mistake firing Bo Pelini?"

[Dansker]

Sorry if all ready posted, but seems ESPN is having a field day crapping on our program.

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/126283/take-two-did-nebraska-make-a-mistake-in-firing-bo-pelini

 

Seems like a fair and balanced article...

 

They seem to crap all over Riley and point out our future is hopeless and we would be better of with Bo, however then say he is so respected and nice if we dare fire him after at least not giving him a few years no one will come here... Never knew how much ESPN had a lingering hate for NU until this season. They see blood in our water and are circling.

 

 

"Take Two: Did Nebraska make a mistake firing Bo Pelini?"

 

 

Austin Ward: But the truth is the national landscape has changed significantly around Nebraska, perhaps most notably with some of the recruiting advantages it used to possess before every game was on television, scholarships were reduced and the limited number of local talent became a more pronounced problem. Is Nebraska still a great job? Absolutely, and the move to the Big Ten has only made it better. Does it provide an easy path back to winning a national title? Not exactly.

 

This. This is why we need to get a successful coach! Nebraska is still a great job. I just don't think for one second we've actually grown a pair and made a huge offer to anyone. The whole cycle of CFB has shifted now that the B1G won the first ever CFB Playoff. It's great for the conference and it pains me that we didn't take advantage of a great opportunity to get someone successful in here last year.

[BoNeyard]

ESPN has for whatever reason always hated Nebraska.

 

But the article is somewhat correct.

[Dansker]

It's really getting out of hand with the media. We're being mocked by newspapers in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, everywhere Big Ten country and all across the nation. It only takes a complete moron not to see that not only us fans aren't buying into Riley but neither is the outside world and they're simply calling us stupid for hiring Mike Riley. Samuel McKewon made a valid point during a podcast that if we fire Riley, the only person who is going to take this job is Scott Frost. IMO, I would be more than willing to give Scott a chance than Riley, a career loser.

[Dansker]

ESPN has for whatever reason always hated Nebraska.

 

But the article is somewhat correct.

 

I don't know that ESPN has it out for Nebraska. They've done some good things over the years regarding Nebraska i.e. documentaries, the old ESPN Classic games. I think they would like to see Nebraska "be back." Because everyone loves a comeback story.