SI Mailbag: What Are Realistic Short-Term Expectations for Nebraska?

[dvdcrr]

On 2/20/2018 at 9:01 PM, dvdcrr said:

 

nice!

[Gage County]

On 2/20/2018 at 10:01 PM, dvdcrr said:

 

You don't mince words.

[HS_Coach_C]

On 2/20/2018 at 8:01 PM, dvdcrr said:

 

 

2 hours ago, dvdcrr said:

nice!

You quoted yourself and told yourself "nice!"...?

 

[Saunders]

I think the over/under is right at 7 wins for this season. Frost inherited a soft program, and it is going to take some time to purge the losing mentality. We have a staff that’s actually worried about what’s best for the team, instead of making a name for themselves. 

 

Im excited, and for the first time in a long, long time... the future is assuredly bright.

[zoogs]

The venn diagram of those calling for significant patience for Frost and those who said Riley had enough talent that he needed to win a B1G by year 3 is a circle. 

 

It's fine, I'm all about patience. I like Frost and we may as well keep him forever. But he turned around a 0-12 team. The cupboard isn't bare here. The team is ready for new leadership. If he's everything we're hoping he is, then he's going to waste little time righting the ship. 

 

If he isn't that, well, that's fine, too -- so long as he's running a clean program and repping well. 

Edited February 23, 2018 by zoogs

[Landlord]

The cupboard wasn't bare on that 0-12 team either.

[zoogs]

I know, it wasn't as bad as it sounds. Still...like, all the arguments for Frost are that he might actually be a real star in CFB, right? That we should have higher ambitions and standards? 

 

C'mon. Let's not shy away from optimism. And I'm not actually arguing for holding him to it, because I don't believe in caring that much about winning. But you have to think there's a possibility that he is going to take the B1G by storm, and soon. I've moderated my Frost excitement for a long time but goodness, he actually went 13-0 last year at UCF. Guy is not messing around.

[caveman99]

2 hours ago, zoogs said:

I know, it wasn't as bad as it sounds. Still...like, all the arguments for Frost are that he might actually be a real star in CFB, right? That we should have higher ambitions and standards? 

 

C'mon. Let's not shy away from optimism. And I'm not actually arguing for holding him to it, because I don't believe in caring that much about winning. But you have to think there's a possibility that he is going to take the B1G by storm, and soon. I've moderated my Frost excitement for a long time but goodness, he actually went 13-0 last year at UCF. Guy is not messing around.

A-freaking-men. 

[dvdcrr]

On 2/22/2018 at 3:07 PM, HS_Coach_C said:

 

You quoted yourself and told yourself "nice!"...?

 

Nice!

[84HuskerLaw]

Again, it all comes down to the play of the O LINE and QB for me.  I think the rest of the team has sufficient ability to win a majority of their games and maybe pull one or two upsets and of course could drop one or two they should have probably won.  If the team works as hard as Frost wants/expects them to, they will certainly NOT be outworked.  If the guys are in better shape and physically ready to play hard for the entire game, they will wear out 4 or 5 teams or more.  A little luck on a few critical plays and we could win a couple that way.  It seems likely we'll get 7 wins in the regular season and hopefully win a bowl game.  8 wins with a decent bowl win is progress for me, especially IF we continue to recruit, recruit, recruit and he lands a top 10 class with about half a dozen of the key players in the key positions to get us on the road to recovery.   Talent is just not there and has not been for 15 years.  Overall, our talent level is near the lowest its been in about 40 years.  That is something you don't fix overnight and will take 3 or 4 years of great recruiting even with about 4 JUCOs a year.   But, the cupboard is not bare so if we find some guys with more talent than has been displayed previously and the team is in tip top shape and about 8 of this year's class make remarkable contributions, we can seem improvement.   Still, a LONG way to go to be where we all want to be.   If the 2017 Huskers played the 1997 Huskers, the score would be 65 - 20 even with Frost coaching them.    

[husker_fan_from_sweden]

It's understandable how most on here are trying to temper expectations after a couple decades of mediocrity.

 

One thing is for certain. SF and his cohorts are good at proving people wrong and doing the seemingly "impossible". We might not win all of our games but they will be much closer and more competitive than the eyesores of previous seasons.

[Moiraine]

6 minutes ago, husker_fan_from_sweden said:

temper expectations

 

We might not win all of our games

 

 

[Big Red 40]

I expect our team to be well coached , well prepared , physically and mentally tough,  and to put in a solid,  4 quarter effort,  every game . When facing a less talented team , especially on our home field, I expect us to win the game ! I expect us to Compete hard against teams more talented than us too . No more blowouts or giving up . 

We haven’t seen those things for a while but I think we will again next year, and the win /loss record will be much better . 

[Landlord]

For me it's not at all about tempering expectations because of some fanhood PTSD avoidance of being disappointed. I don't really care if we go 12-0 or 0-12 as far as it effects my joy and my every day life. For me, it's about the data. I make the best educated guesses I can based on the way I perceive all the evidence available. If Frost goes 10-2 in year one that's amazing, but there won't have really been anything that you could point to as good rational reason to believe that would happen. 

[jsneb83]

I just want us to be better at the end of the year than we were at the beginning