A decision could be made sooner than we thought

Comfortably Numb said:
I have to ask.....Can you explain your rationale for being on board with keeping Riley another season? I don’t need any slam dunk answer just maybe some brief example of how you’ve seen any indication whatsoever that Riley can possibly be successful here, in the face of a 20 year career that screams otherwise. I mean are you okay with 5 or 6 win seasons being the ceiling as long as he’s a nice guy and otherwise (other than football) helps develope these young men, keeps their grades up etc.? That seems like a job for others at the University and shouldn’t be the sole success of the head football coach.
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I'm an eternal, unabashed optimist. Really it's just that we see some coaches go through bad years. Very, VERY bad years. But a new season and it's a different story. That's how it goes. The next coach will probably have some bad years. I don't get too mad about them and just hope for the best. 

Also, I think Riley's a pretty respected coach and recruiter for a reason. He spent his career at Oregon State, and he dealt with some tough years here. There's both an unsurprising aspect to that -- I said this in another thread, but I could've expected some serious bumps in the first three years post-Bo. Not to mention the 7-loss 2015 number was pretty darn flukey. Anyway, that's just how I am. When Callahan went 5-7 in 2007 I felt we should stay the course and probably would've bounced back to 8-win territory at minimum by '08. That still might've been true, by the way, which isn't to say he was some great generational must-keep coach or anything.

There's a difference between a coach having earned his ticket out and losing the chance to try to steer the ship back...and us interpreting them as totally incompetent people who could never have another good season. If, for some reason, we were never allowed to make another coaching chance Riley would maybe have a couple of other tough seasons, but he'd have some 9-win ones again, too -- and maybe better here or there. But he's not going to have that chance, and that's probably for the best.

 
knapplc said:
How are they "hurting the program?"  We're losing games.  Every team does that.  Is Mark Dantonio hurting Sparty?  Was Kirk Ferentz hurting Iowa in 2012?

"Hurting the program" is doing something unfixable. It's the kind of PR damage Bo did to the program, or Eichorst did with his "Had to evaluate where Iowa was" comment. 

Riley is just losing games.  Most coaches do that at some point, which is why they get fired.

Most coaches end their time at a school by being fired.  This is normal.
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I feel it is hurting these players to have no purpose in playing the game. I don’t care about winning or losing at this point. I know the current situation sure isn’t doing them any good. Imagine going into a war zone with no purpose and not caring about your boss, your fellow soldier or, to an extent, even yourself. I just want these kids to have a reason to play the game. I don’t expect or even desire it to have a winning effect but dang, let them try to salvage a shred of dignity in the process. An interim situation is not great but it may give a few of them some renewed interest in the process. That’s my only point. If it doesn’t happen until after the Iowa game, then it is what it is.

 
Comfortably Numb said:
I feel it is hurting these players to have no purpose in playing the game. I don’t care about winning or losing at this point. I know the current situation sure isn’t doing them any good. Imagine going into a war zone with no purpose and not caring about your boss, your fellow soldier or, to an extent, even yourself. I just want these kids to have a reason to play the game. I don’t expect or even desire it to have a winning effect but dang, let them try to salvage a shred of dignity in the process. An interim situation is not great but it may give a few of them some renewed interest in the process. That’s my only point. If it doesn’t happen until after the Iowa game, then it is what it is.
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Will firing Mike Riley after this game give the players purpose? Or will it piss them off that the coach who recruited them has been let go?

How did that work out when we fired the last staff?

 
knapplc said:
So we fire Mike Riley tomorrow. 

What happens then? We can't talk to the coaches we're targeting until after the regular season anyway.

We aren't going to a bowl game no matter who coaches the next two games.

Our recruiting class won't improve if we fire Riley now. 

There's literally no upside to firing him right now.  He is not hurting the program any more by staying two more games than if he's let go after this game. 
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There's no downside either.  The season is basically lost, as probably is the current recruiting class, Nebraska just got hammered badly by another team that was 4-5 when we played them, etc... 

 
knapplc said:
Will firing Mike Riley after this game give the players purpose? Or will it piss them off that the coach who recruited them has been let go?

How did that work out when we fired the last staff?
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Then maybe they should have played harder and won more games.

Maybe not lose by 45 to Ohio State.  Maybe not get embarrassed by Northern Illinois.  Maybe not get trounced by Oregon.  Starting to see a pattern here?

If these players "love" their coach so much then they have a funny way of showing it. 

 
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knapplc said:
So we fire Mike Riley tomorrow. 

What happens then? We can't talk to the coaches we're targeting until after the regular season anyway.

We aren't going to a bowl game no matter who coaches the next two games.

Our recruiting class won't improve if we fire Riley now. 

There's literally no upside to firing him right now.  He is not hurting the program any more by staying two more games than if he's let go after this game. 
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You sure about that

 
Making Chimichangas said:
There's no downside either.  The season is basically lost, as probably is the current recruiting class, Nebraska just got hammered badly by another team that was 4-5 when we played them, etc... 
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Firing Mike now could chase off recruits that might stay with less time to think about it... and less time before hearing who the replacement is. There is a downside.

 
Making Chimichangas said:
There's no downside either.  The season is basically lost, as probably is the current recruiting class, Nebraska just got hammered badly by another team that was 4-5 when we played them, etc... 
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i am sorry, he no longer deserves to coach these kids........i don't care if Howdy Doody takes over, i  am mortified by what i see now..........plz stop.

 
Let me settle this once and for all.  If we fire Riley tomorrow, Diaco coaches remaining two games.  Why chance a fluke win against Penn State or Iowa that could see Dicrappo end up getting the damn job???

Let Riley sink with the ship.

 
Bornhusker said:
Firing Mike now could chase off recruits that might stay with less time to think about it... and less time before hearing who the replacement is. There is a downside.
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I am willing to make that gamble.  And besides, why do we always assume that the recruits we lose will be better than the ones we gain?   

 
Making Chimichangas said:
I am willing to make that gamble.  And besides, why do we always assume that the recruits we lose will be better than the ones we gain?   
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Because it's too late to get good players from scratch this late in the game.  Nobody good who wasn't already considering Nebraska is going to come.  

\

This recruiting class will be crap and that's okay.  We have to clean house NOW.  There is no excuse for this!

 
You have less time to recruit the player to a new school. Most players have tied up where they are going. 

 
Bornhusker said:
NU can't afford to lose any! We already know we will lose some, so reducing that number is the smartest way to go about it.
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There's no question about the bolded part.  However, we're dealing with a situation that extends much further than worrying about the 2018 recruiting class.  The football program literally keeps the entire athletic department's budget in the black.  Then there is the sell-out streak, season ticket renewals, booster contributions, etc.  All of these issues are more important than one recruiting class.

 
Honestly, really how worse could it go.  Do you want to find out, if the recruiting class is lost then its lost.  Let the next guy who every it is try to do what he can with the players coming in or try to save the ones who were already reached out to.  You dont produce good product on the field no one is going to want to come to that.  You are keeping the infected toe on your foot just so you can have all 10 when you go to the big dance.  If you hack it off you have a chance to learn how to dance without it.  Just time to get the dam thing overwith.  Its more obvious then using your hands to go to the bathroom.  And also if we did fire riley whoever takes his place would have a shot to show what there made of and help make a name for themselves before they need to move on.  Its over, he doesnt care he knows hes gone how can you not see that. HE IS GONE so there is no point in him roaming around the sidelines until its made official.  Just need to be like elsa man and just let it go.

 
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