Ex - Husker Parrella to be named Husker D-line coach

[Red Five]

Parrella has more experience than a couple of recent B1G peer school hires.

 

Wisconsin just hired Jim Leohnard as there DB coach. He played DB at Wisky from 01-04 and was in the NFL from 05-14. He has not one bit of coaching experience.

 

Mike Vrabel was hired as OSU's LB coach in 2011. He played DE at OSU from 93-96 and was in the NFL from 97-10. He had not one bit of coaching experience.

[C N Red]

I do love the fact he understands the blackshirt tradition. We've needed someone on staff for a long time that can really say he lived and played as a blackshirt when it was held to level it should be.

[NUinID]

 

This hire reminds me of a move USC made years ago when they hired Ken Norton Jr. as a assistant coach. Norton Jr. had only a few years of experience coaching in high school but was a solid hire for the program.

 

USC is a silver platter of talent. Any DL coach would excel there. This isn't a fair comparison either.

 

 

You don't just throw talent out on a field and it plays. USC has always had talent, Texas has always had talent. Someone has to do something with that talent from the HC down. Mike Vrabel was hired at Ohio St as the linebacker coach immediatly after he retired from the NFL he had absolutely no coaching experience. He is now coaching in the NFL.

 

Give him a year before you hate him. Everyone hated Bray as a hire for linebackers. Now everyone wants to give him a raise so he doesn't leave for someplace else.

[Red Five]

Everyone hated Bray as a hire for linebackers.

Completely false.

[The Dude]

I don't think I have a strong opinion of this one way or the other. Huge opportunity for him. Let's see if he's got the goods.

[Enhance]

 

Out of curiosity, would some people feel the same about this hire, or significantly less-thrilled, if he had zero Husker ties?

 

(Disclaimer: I don't hate or love the hire - just in a wait and see mode, and hoping he does great).

 

I think you have to hire a guy who "gets it." Parrella might be the guy who gets it, who understands Nebraska football and can preach it to current and prospective players. I'd say with Parrella having ties to our program, it's a plus. It might not be the sexy hire people want but he could be the guy we need. Like you, I'm in a wait and see mode which I think is FAIR. Coaches should always be judged on a performance basis of wins and losses on the football field and in college, that includes recruitment of players.

That's fair, and I too think the Husker ties are a plus. I just don't put as much stock into them as some other people do, I think.

 

For me, having Husker/Nebraska ties can be a factor that puts one coach over the edge of another candidate if all things are relatively equal. It is not, however, a significant determining factor. It seems some people are really excited simply because he's a Husker, and I would just urge people to look beyond that. Don't let that be the difference between whether or not we think this is a good hire, which it appears is happening to a degree.

 

I think it's a benefit he has a Husker background but it certainly is not weighing very heavily into my initial evaluation of him.

[NUinID]

 

Everyone hated Bray as a hire for linebackers.

Completely false.

 

Ok, that was an exageration. How about this many questioned the hiring of Bray at LB due to his lack of experience.

[ColoradoHusk]

Here are the reasons I like the hire, in no particular order.

 

1) He's a former Husker - while this isn't a necessity to be a NU coach, Parrella is a guy who understands the culture of Lincoln and what it takes to be successful in college football and at NU

2) Long NFL career - 12 years in the NFL can be a great selling point for recruiting guys, even if he's not a house hold name. He has experience in what it takes to be successful at the highest level of football. Yes there is a question in whether he can "teach" it to kids, but I like his chances. Plus, he played for Banker, so he coaching the philosophy of Banker's D isn't going to be foreign.

3) Ties to California - there will be a lot of coaches in California high schools who are familiar with Parrella and who will welcome him into their school

4) Recent knowledge with high school kids - he started a football program in high school, so that takes a lot "recruiting" to get kids to come out for football and he probably has a good understanding of what today's high school kids are thinking about

5) Some coaching experience - I understand Parrella doesn't have 10-20 years of coaching experience, but he does have experience coaching D-line camps and has been coaching in high school and smaller college level. That level of kids aren't oozing with talent, so those kids are going to need good teaching and coaching to become good ball players.

 

Overall, I think he's a good fit with the program and current coaching staff.

[bugeater17]

Here are the reasons I like the hire, in no particular order.

 

1) He's a former Husker - while this isn't a necessity to be a NU coach, Parrella is a guy who understands the culture of Lincoln and what it takes to be successful in college football and at NU

2) Long NFL career - 12 years in the NFL can be a great selling point for recruiting guys, even if he's not a house hold name. He has experience in what it takes to be successful at the highest level of football. Yes there is a question in whether he can "teach" it to kids, but I like his chances. Plus, he played for Banker, so he coaching the philosophy of Banker's D isn't going to be foreign.

3) Ties to California - there will be a lot of coaches in California high schools who are familiar with Parrella and who will welcome him into their school

4) Recent knowledge with high school kids - he started a football program in high school, so that takes a lot "recruiting" to get kids to come out for football and he probably has a good understanding of what today's high school kids are thinking about

5) Some coaching experience - I understand Parrella doesn't have 10-20 years of coaching experience, but he does have experience coaching D-line camps and has been coaching in high school and smaller college level. That level of kids aren't oozing with talent, so those kids are going to need good teaching and coaching to become good ball players.

 

Overall, I think he's a good fit with the program and current coaching staff.

 

Completely agree. Also, I think people are underestimating the inroads he made in California as a high school coach. As you mentioned, not only did he start a program but I am sure he is somewhat familiar with the landscape, other coaches and what kids from Cali are looking for in a school.

[ScottyIce]

Man, everyone just wants to be no record saying whether they thought it was a good hire or not so that in a year from now they can go back and be like LOOK! SEE! I KNEW IT!

 

Give the guy a chance to coach and recruit, then belly ache or praise it later. No one is going to remember anything from this thread other than Porter being completely off.

[huskered17]

He is a former Husker, that's a plus for my thinking.

 

I'm willing to wait and see if he can coach and recruit.

 

GBR!!!

[Guy Chamberlin]

I think it helps Riley to have a trusted Nebraska colleague to translate Nebraskan for him.

[BigRedBuster]

Here are the reasons I like the hire, in no particular order.

 

1) He's a former Husker - while this isn't a necessity to be a NU coach, Parrella is a guy who understands the culture of Lincoln and what it takes to be successful in college football and at NU

2) Long NFL career - 12 years in the NFL can be a great selling point for recruiting guys, even if he's not a house hold name. He has experience in what it takes to be successful at the highest level of football. Yes there is a question in whether he can "teach" it to kids, but I like his chances. Plus, he played for Banker, so he coaching the philosophy of Banker's D isn't going to be foreign.

3) Ties to California - there will be a lot of coaches in California high schools who are familiar with Parrella and who will welcome him into their school

4) Recent knowledge with high school kids - he started a football program in high school, so that takes a lot "recruiting" to get kids to come out for football and he probably has a good understanding of what today's high school kids are thinking about

5) Some coaching experience - I understand Parrella doesn't have 10-20 years of coaching experience, but he does have experience coaching D-line camps and has been coaching in high school and smaller college level. That level of kids aren't oozing with talent, so those kids are going to need good teaching and coaching to become good ball players.

 

Overall, I think he's a good fit with the program and current coaching staff.

I'll add one more.

 

He went from being a walk-on TE to being one of the best D tackles in the nation.

 

That takes a totally different mind set than someone who comes in as a 4* player and everyone expects they are going to do great things. He had to work his ass off to get noticed and become the player he became.

I always believe those kind of guys have a better chance of being a good coach because they know what it is like to have to work extremely hard to be able to do what is expected. Maybe they don't have the God given talent other players have but, he had the work ethic to over come that. Also, he knows kids can be developed like that.

[ColoradoHusk]

I think it helps Riley to have a trusted Nebraska colleague to translate Nebraskan for him.

I think it's very helpful to the other coaches on the staff to have a guy who has first-hand experience on what it's like to be a Nebraskan and a former player/Blackshirt at the school.

[RedSavage]

 

Here are the reasons I like the hire, in no particular order.

 

1) He's a former Husker - while this isn't a necessity to be a NU coach, Parrella is a guy who understands the culture of Lincoln and what it takes to be successful in college football and at NU

2) Long NFL career - 12 years in the NFL can be a great selling point for recruiting guys, even if he's not a house hold name. He has experience in what it takes to be successful at the highest level of football. Yes there is a question in whether he can "teach" it to kids, but I like his chances. Plus, he played for Banker, so he coaching the philosophy of Banker's D isn't going to be foreign.

3) Ties to California - there will be a lot of coaches in California high schools who are familiar with Parrella and who will welcome him into their school

4) Recent knowledge with high school kids - he started a football program in high school, so that takes a lot "recruiting" to get kids to come out for football and he probably has a good understanding of what today's high school kids are thinking about

5) Some coaching experience - I understand Parrella doesn't have 10-20 years of coaching experience, but he does have experience coaching D-line camps and has been coaching in high school and smaller college level. That level of kids aren't oozing with talent, so those kids are going to need good teaching and coaching to become good ball players.

 

Overall, I think he's a good fit with the program and current coaching staff.

I'll add one more.

 

He went from being a walk-on TE to being one of the best D tackles in the nation.

 

That takes a totally different mind set than someone who comes in as a 4* player and everyone expects they are going to do great things. He had to work his ass off to get noticed and become the player he became.

I always believe those kind of guys have a better chance of being a good coach because they know what it is like to have to work extremely hard to be able to do what is expected. Maybe they don't have the God given talent other players have but, he had the work ethic to over come that. Also, he knows kids can be developed like that.

 

Now we can have an entire line of Jack Gangwish's!

 

In seriousness, I do agree with what you are saying that it's advantageous having a former walk-on player, turned star, with that different perspective than most coaches. He's lived it so he knows better than most what it takes.