State of the program - Spring 2017

[Redux]

I just want to head into a season with real hope that we can win a league championship. I haven't had that feeling since 2010, maybe 2012 but I'd be lying. I don't have that feeling yet for this season, although I think we surprise the hell out of some people.

[Saunders]

I still think we're a year away from being able to win a CCG, because I don't think our OL is good enough. As for this season, I see 3 "lock" wins, 4 probable wins, 3 toss ups, and two probable losses.

[Enhance]

I still think we're a year away from being able to win a CCG, because I don't think our OL is good enough. As for this season, I see 3 "lock" wins, 4 probable wins, 3 toss ups, and two probable losses.

This, especially the part about the OL.

[teachercd]

 

 

There is no way Riley will be on the hot seat if he goes 9-4. If SE is still here and Riley is winning 9 games a year he's safe.

why do you say that?

 

Because Riley's not the a**hole Pelini was. If Riley had identical records to Pelini he would never be fired as long as SE is in charge.

 

Yep...and if Riley keeps going 9-4 he will stay here until he wants to retire.

[teachercd]

A bunch of "Negative Nancy's" on here anymore. We will finally have a QB behind the center, instead of an athlete posing as a QB. That alone makes us light years ahead.

Until he has to scramble.

[ColoradoHusk]

 

 

 

There is no way Riley will be on the hot seat if he goes 9-4. If SE is still here and Riley is winning 9 games a year he's safe.

why do you say that?

 

Because Riley's not the a**hole Pelini was. If Riley had identical records to Pelini he would never be fired as long as SE is in charge.

 

Yep...and if Riley keeps going 9-4 he will stay here until he wants to retire.

 

And because he is a nice guy, fans will still think Riley has the program trending upward.

[TonyStalloni]

I still think we're a year away from being able to win a CCG, because I don't think our OL is good enough. As for this season, I see 3 "lock" wins, 4 probable wins, 3 toss ups, and two probable losses.

And while there is never a "good" loss, playing good/great teams close says we are doing something right. A game where one or two plays is the difference in winning or losing where in the past those teams ravaged our defense indicates an upward trend. Too many past years our depth has been such that if one or two key players go down we became a shell of a team. I see that improving. Having a QB who can locate the open receiver quickly should be to our advantage. Time will tell but I'm positive.

[Redux]

 

 

 

 

There is no way Riley will be on the hot seat if he goes 9-4. If SE is still here and Riley is winning 9 games a year he's safe.

 

why do you say that?

Because Riley's not the a**hole Pelini was. If Riley had identical records to Pelini he would never be fired as long as SE is in charge.

Yep...and if Riley keeps going 9-4 he will stay here until he wants to retire.

And because he is a nice guy, fans will still think Riley has the program trending upward.

I call BS on that. The fans got tired of going 9-4 under Bo. What was once praise for a fiery coach became an excuse to lynch him. If Riley can't get us over the 4 loss hump in say 5-6 years, nice guy won't matter. It will be the excise to lynch him too.

[teachercd]

 

 

 

 

 

There is no way Riley will be on the hot seat if he goes 9-4. If SE is still here and Riley is winning 9 games a year he's safe.

why do you say that?

Because Riley's not the a**hole Pelini was. If Riley had identical records to Pelini he would never be fired as long as SE is in charge.

Yep...and if Riley keeps going 9-4 he will stay here until he wants to retire.

And because he is a nice guy, fans will still think Riley has the program trending upward.

I call BS on that. The fans got tired of going 9-4 under Bo. What was once praise for a fiery coach became an excuse to lynch him. If Riley can't get us over the 4 loss hump in say 5-6 years, nice guy won't matter. It will be the excise to lynch him too.

 

I guess I could see where fans all of a sudden pretend that they don't want "nice" anymore...you know what I mean?

[Hedley Lamarr]

For those of you saying we HAVE to make the ccg this year....what if we go 11-1 and our only loss is to Wisconsin who goes 12-0?

[NUance]

 

 

 

 

 

There is no way Riley will be on the hot seat if he goes 9-4. If SE is still here and Riley is winning 9 games a year he's safe.

why do you say that?

Because Riley's not the a**hole Pelini was. If Riley had identical records to Pelini he would never be fired as long as SE is in charge.

Yep...and if Riley keeps going 9-4 he will stay here until he wants to retire.

And because he is a nice guy, fans will still think Riley has the program trending upward.

I call BS on that. The fans got tired of going 9-4 under Bo. What was once praise for a fiery coach became an excuse to lynch him. If Riley can't get us over the 4 loss hump in say 5-6 years, nice guy won't matter. It will be the excise to lynch him too.

 

 

Yeah, maybe the fans weren't satisfied with 9-4 but I don't think Bo's overall record on the field is what got him fired. I think Bo got fired because of his childish tantrums on and off the field. And because he routinely got blown out of the water in big games. If Pelini has fixed those two things he would still be our coach. But he didn't. And he got canned as a result. /jmho

[Redux]

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is no way Riley will be on the hot seat if he goes 9-4. If SE is still here and Riley is winning 9 games a year he's safe.

 

why do you say that?

Because Riley's not the a**hole Pelini was. If Riley had identical records to Pelini he would never be fired as long as SE is in charge.

Yep...and if Riley keeps going 9-4 he will stay here until he wants to retire.

And because he is a nice guy, fans will still think Riley has the program trending upward.

I call BS on that. The fans got tired of going 9-4 under Bo. What was once praise for a fiery coach became an excuse to lynch him. If Riley can't get us over the 4 loss hump in say 5-6 years, nice guy won't matter. It will be the excise to lynch him too.

Yeah, maybe the fans weren't satisfied with 9-4 but I don't think Bo's overall record on the field is what got him fired. I think Bo got fired because of his childish tantrums on and off the field. And because he routinely got blown out of the water in big games. If Pelini has fixed those two things he would still be our coach. But he didn't. And he got canned as a result. /jmho

The attitude was an attribute at first when you would ask people about it. The difference was it appeared we were back to competing at a national level. You think Bama fans actually like the fact Saban is a prick lunatic? Well, maybe they do. If he were here we would hate his attitude, but we would LOVE those results. 9-4 and a sh**ty attitude gets you gone.

 

9-4 and a nice guy attitude will get you several years too, but our patience as a fanbase is not great. We demand titles.

[Elf]

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is no way Riley will be on the hot seat if he goes 9-4. If SE is still here and Riley is winning 9 games a year he's safe.

why do you say that?

 

Because Riley's not the a**hole Pelini was. If Riley had identical records to Pelini he would never be fired as long as SE is in charge.

 

Yep...and if Riley keeps going 9-4 he will stay here until he wants to retire.

 

And because he is a nice guy, fans will still think Riley has the program trending upward.

 

I call BS on that. The fans got tired of going 9-4 under Bo. What was once praise for a fiery coach became an excuse to lynch him. If Riley can't get us over the 4 loss hump in say 5-6 years, nice guy won't matter. It will be the excise to lynch him too.

 

Yeah, maybe the fans weren't satisfied with 9-4 but I don't think Bo's overall record on the field is what got him fired. I think Bo got fired because of his childish tantrums on and off the field. And because he routinely got blown out of the water in big games. If Pelini has fixed those two things he would still be our coach. But he didn't. And he got canned as a result. /jmho

 

I don't think this is just your opinion, I think its what actually happened. Some folks try to make it seem like his record just wasn't good enough somehow and they can't seem to grasp that if you are an a-hole towards your superiors, you're not going to be employed for long. The tolerance level for bad behavior would have likely gone up if he hadn't kept getting blown out in big games.

 

Regardless, I was never convinced he was the right coach in the beginning.

[Huskerzoo]

95 Redux: I would say you summed up things fairly well in your intro post. I do believe that we are on the brink of our first really 'top ten' recruiting class since early Solich years or so. We may have had a couple thereafter but they turned out to be mirages in many ways. But, to finish this class with half a dozen more 'elite-ish' guys AND ACTUALLY SIGN THEM next Feb will be very much tied to the success on the field this fall. If we find a way to get to the conf championship game and playwell (win or lose), we will hold the class together and we will have taken a giant leap forward as a program going into 2018.

 

2018 will be a gauntlet of a schedule and to manage 9 or so wins then will be 'coach of the year' type results for Riley. Of course he won't be coach of the year but it will be monumental in my view.

 

All this being said, this fall has the potential to be Riley's make or break year as a result. If the wheels fall off and the team loses confidence, or the QB gambit blows up in Riley's face (it surely could), then all bets are off. There remains a lot of weak links in this chain, although it is getting better in some areas. As many have mentioned, the O line remains a big "if" and two or three injuries there could spell disaster. We do have several RBs with ability and WRs have skills. The defense, IF we are able to build a front "3 or 4" as it turns out to be, should be pretty good and surely ought to be sufficient to keep us in the games, and if they grow a bunch as a group, keep us within 3 or 4 TDs of the Buckeyes. The offense, by then, has the potential to be able to play some catch up and take quick advantage of any turnovers or other breaks.

The kicking game, by golly, surely can improve dramatically by year three. A senior placekicker gives a chance to make those key field goals to keep the score from getting out of hand before half time. Anything can happen in a couple quarters, especially as DBs get a little fatigue in their legs by the 4th Qtr crunch time.

 

We have been hopeful and overly optimistic as it turns out nearly every season for the past 20. It is not a surprise that many of us are getting a little excited and hopeful yet again. But, as to the 'state of the program', I believe there are more positives than negatives at this point in time. We have a pretty good staff, overall, and Riley is a very good coach. Can't say 'great' yet, really in regards to any of the players or the coaches but 'very good' is better than we have had for a decade or more. How many all conference preseason pickes do we have? Probably NONE. That is not a good sign but there is one important consideration that we must recognize: the Big Ten is now the premiere conference in the country, as I have predicted for years. When Nebraska joined the league, it was apparent to me that we would make the Big Ten 'elite' and the Big 12 irrelevant. It has happened. This is the gravitas that is Nebraska football nationally. Whether or not we are rated highly, we are STILL Nebraska. The difference, evidenced by the alarmingly rapid rise last fall in the rankings by simply going 7-0, is that there are many millions of college football fans and commentators, etc, who really WANT us to be back where we belong. We aren't facing the headwinds that Bill Callahan and even Pelini faced towards the end there. We will get the benefit of the doubt more because many around the college football world want to see Nebraska in the big picture. Let's hope that come January, 2018, we are there. If so, the state of the program will be GOOD. We are on the rise but we have a long way to go.

 

I just want to highlight what I feel is a high quality post. I think too often good posts get overlooked and talked around instead of thoughtful conversation.

[BigRedBuster]

 

 

There is no way Riley will be on the hot seat if he goes 9-4. If SE is still here and Riley is winning 9 games a year he's safe.

why do you say that?

because of his positive relationship with SE. Bo wasn't fires because of his record. Riley is SE's guy and as long as he keeps Nebraska respectable on and off the field he isn't going anywhere as long SE is AD.

 

Coaches have been fired before that had good relationships with the AD. I wouldn't say the firing of Bo wasn't at least in some part tied to his record. If he had won conference championships, his childish antics would have been over looked by more people.

 

I could definitely see a scenario where Riley wins 9 games a year but is fired in 5-7 years even with SE still here.