Athlon: Big Ten Coaches Talk Anonymously About Conference Foes for 2016

[Mavric]

I really ... and I mean REALLY hope everyone gets this out of their system in the two threads currently going on.

Because if future threads devolve into this - nearly making my head explode - I don't know what might happen to the unfortunate soul who happens to be standing too close to the Ban Hammer® when that happens.....

Mavric... I'm asking this as an honest question.

What exactly is "this" ?

I see people speaking honestly. Is that it ?

Or is it rehashing the Bo thing ?

"This" - in general terms - is having the same argument over and over again - always bringing up the same tired talking points over and over again - especially when it has no (or tenuous at best) relationship to the topic at hand and particularly when it concerning things that happened so long ago that the horse has long been beaten past the point of recognition.

 

[cm husker]

Ppl try to use Osborne as some magical case of patience and such. yet forget-or dont know-about the ultimatum after the '77 reg season. Win the liberty bowl or youre gone. The seat was hot. They won it. Then in 1978, finally beat OU. Was in the NC hunt. And went to the Orange Bowl. Then considered bolting for Colorado. This stuff is all documented on multiple,easy to access, NETV documentareis on youtube. One about Osborne. One about Husker football in general. So quite acting like he was always safe. Like someone had some majical crystal ball that he was going to orchestrate some uniquely insane amounts of success a quarter century down the road. This is the definition of revisionist bullsh#t. He had bought himself some more time. The debate will rage on as to whether Solich did. I thought he did. My opinion. Bo DIDNT. What transpired in November of 2014 was another massive failure. ZERO progress was shown in any aspect from 2011 to 2014. Look up stale in the dictionary. There's a picture of Bo Pelini in a gray husker hoodie. It was time.

Who is acting like TO was always safe?

Well, actually, you know what? As long as Devaney was there, he was safe. But I agree that stupid fans have always wanted changes that would set the program back.

I disagree that Bo showed no progress in from 2011 to 2014. He improved on the sideline dramatically and he and his staff were recruiting as well as they ever did (and as well or better than we are now, by the way).

And still melted down on the side lines in the middle of his last season during the Wisconsin game instead of actually coaching the team and rallying the troops to win. The team got demolished. His defense didn't even show up for the last three quarters. Meanwhile, he thought it was more important to cry and yell at the refs and everyone else around him. The assistants and players actually were completely ignoring him while they were trying to coach and play a game.

At that point, it was decided for me that I can no longer defend him as coach. In that game, he was totally worthless and in the way on the side lines.

I know you disagree with me on this because you have said so in the past. But, you are in the minority on that. Nothing wrong with being in the minority. But, just understand you aren't seeing what most others are seeing.

you know what's funny about his meltdown and not coaching? Is that what it wouldve taken to slow down/stop Gordon wouldve been a simple and easy to execute adjustment. Like simple high-school level alignment sh#t. But no. In the words of Tom Banderas, "hulk smash". square peg. chew a$$. throw the fit. meltdown. blowout. rinse. lather. stroke. repeat.

not that time.

And yet he's almost universally loved by his players. So, there's that fly in your ointment.

Anyway, it's amusing that everyone argued that Bo's personality kept his kids from winning and all they needed was a new coach so that they wouldn't be playing so tight, especially on D.

Should be interesting to see the next flipflop from the finicky fans.

 

[cm husker]

We definitely have unrealistic expectations.

and

Bo was justly fired.

Frank wasn't, but likely would have been eventually.

Imo, Frank was justly fired. Look at the quality of NU football at the end of '97 when Tom retired and then look at the product quality when Solich was fired, vastly different and deserving of being fired.

And this ^^^ mentality is why NU football will be mired in mediocrity going forward.

Well at least until we get a real football mind and leader in the AD's office.

 

[Count 'Bility]

I really ... and I mean REALLY hope everyone gets this out of their system in the two threads currently going on.

Because if future threads devolve into this - nearly making my head explode - I don't know what might happen to the unfortunate soul who happens to be standing too close to the Ban Hammer® when that happens.....

Yup. We've got two weeks left of offseason, then the kid gloves come off, and sh#t's gonna get real. This repeated hijacking of threads and devolving into a turd fest isn't going to continue.

shoot. Wait till Wyoming plays us to a 3 point game on opening day........

never mind.

 

[Redux]

So, somebody said something about anonymous coaches talkin bout Braska! What's that about? Guessing they are all jelly of us.

 

[Saunders]

I really ... and I mean REALLY hope everyone gets this out of their system in the two threads currently going on.

Because if future threads devolve into this - nearly making my head explode - I don't know what might happen to the unfortunate soul who happens to be standing too close to the Ban Hammer® when that happens.....

Yup. We've got two weeks left of offseason, then the kid gloves come off, and sh#t's gonna get real. This repeated hijacking of threads and devolving into a turd fest isn't going to continue.

shoot. Wait till Wyoming plays us to a 3 point game on opening day........

never mind.

We'll just lock it down for a week...

 

[Landlord]

We definitely have unrealistic expectations.

and

Bo was justly fired.

Frank wasn't, but likely would have been eventually.

Imo, Frank was justly fired. Look at the quality of NU football at the end of '97 when Tom retired and then look at the product quality when Solich was fired, vastly different and deserving of being fired.

This is where unrealistic expectations come in. You mean to tell me that our program fell from the pinnacle of the greatest run in the history of the sport by any school? You don't say!

Frank would have had his work cut out for him with a hot seat, but he had an upswing with fresh blood in 2003, and that team (with Bo coaching the bowl game) went 10-3 and finished #18.

For comparison, before the championship run, Osborne's 1990, 1991, and 1992 teams all went 9-3 (or 9-2-1) and finished ranked #17/24, #15/16, and #14.

 

[cm husker]

I take your point Mavric, but a central comment of the opening post topic is about the perception that NU runs off good coaches. Rehashing Bo and Frank's situations is actually relevant to talking about that perception and whether NU is being unreasonable.

 

[BigRedBuster]

Ppl try to use Osborne as some magical case of patience and such. yet forget-or dont know-about the ultimatum after the '77 reg season. Win the liberty bowl or youre gone. The seat was hot. They won it. Then in 1978, finally beat OU. Was in the NC hunt. And went to the Orange Bowl. Then considered bolting for Colorado. This stuff is all documented on multiple,easy to access, NETV documentareis on youtube. One about Osborne. One about Husker football in general. So quite acting like he was always safe. Like someone had some majical crystal ball that he was going to orchestrate some uniquely insane amounts of success a quarter century down the road. This is the definition of revisionist bullsh#t. He had bought himself some more time. The debate will rage on as to whether Solich did. I thought he did. My opinion. Bo DIDNT. What transpired in November of 2014 was another massive failure. ZERO progress was shown in any aspect from 2011 to 2014. Look up stale in the dictionary. There's a picture of Bo Pelini in a gray husker hoodie. It was time.

Who is acting like TO was always safe?

Well, actually, you know what? As long as Devaney was there, he was safe. But I agree that stupid fans have always wanted changes that would set the program back.

I disagree that Bo showed no progress in from 2011 to 2014. He improved on the sideline dramatically and he and his staff were recruiting as well as they ever did (and as well or better than we are now, by the way).

And still melted down on the side lines in the middle of his last season during the Wisconsin game instead of actually coaching the team and rallying the troops to win. The team got demolished. His defense didn't even show up for the last three quarters. Meanwhile, he thought it was more important to cry and yell at the refs and everyone else around him. The assistants and players actually were completely ignoring him while they were trying to coach and play a game.

At that point, it was decided for me that I can no longer defend him as coach. In that game, he was totally worthless and in the way on the side lines.

I know you disagree with me on this because you have said so in the past. But, you are in the minority on that. Nothing wrong with being in the minority. But, just understand you aren't seeing what most others are seeing.

you know what's funny about his meltdown and not coaching? Is that what it wouldve taken to slow down/stop Gordon wouldve been a simple and easy to execute adjustment. Like simple high-school level alignment sh#t. But no. In the words of Tom Banderas, "hulk smash". square peg. chew a$$. throw the fit. meltdown. blowout. rinse. lather. stroke. repeat.

not that time.

I had to look it up again....yep....408 yards.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

When someone says that a coach should be fired for not winning anything, someone brings up Osborne... Give me a damn break. It's the past... Stop with the creepy fascination of an old ball coach.

It's called setting expectations based on a reasonable standard.

Although Psycho is the only one who will say it out loud, what many here have ended up arguing is that we are justified in firing any coach who doesn't start off his career with a record equal to a future HOFer (and, imo, the goat).

And that seems really really ill fated to me.

Earlier this thread you said Solich and Pelini had not been picked up by another Power 5 school for "myriad reasons."

I think you'll find there were myriad reasons for their firing, too. It wasn't merely the on field record. It wasn't merely the off-field liabilities. It wasn't just the AD's issues. It wasn't just the fan expectations.

They all came together to create "myriad" reasons.

 

[Elf]

We definitely have unrealistic expectations.

and

Bo was justly fired.

Frank wasn't, but likely would have been eventually.

Imo, Frank was justly fired. Look at the quality of NU football at the end of '97 when Tom retired and then look at the product quality when Solich was fired, vastly different and deserving of being fired.

This is where unrealistic expectations come in. You mean to tell me that our program fell from the pinnacle of the greatest run in the history of the sport by any school? You don't say!

Frank would have had his work cut out for him with a hot seat, but he had an upswing with fresh blood in 2003, and that team (with Bo coaching the bowl game) went 10-3 and finished #18.

For comparison, before the championship run, Osborne's 1990, 1991, and 1992 teams all went 9-3 (or 9-2-1) and finished ranked #17/24, #15/16, and #14.

Frank was no longer recruiting well enough to remain our coach. Every game we lost in 2003 was a yet another blowout.

Frank also had off the field issues with alcohol and co-eds, Tom never had off the field issues. Firing Frank was inevitable.

It's not just that the program experienced a drop off under Frank, its the size of the drop off that matters in this case.

 

[cm husker]

If frank wasn't recruiting well enough, then neither was Callahan, Bo or Riley.

We need to come to grips with the implication of that conclusion.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

If frank wasn't recruiting well enough, then neither was Callahan, Bo or Riley.

We need to come to grips with the implication of that conclusion.

I don't think there's much argument here.

Recruiting dropped off under Solich and never recovered.

Some of this is on each coach, obviously, but some of it is the changing landscape of college football, bypassing a dynasty that couldn't rest on its laurels.

 

[Landlord]

If frank wasn't recruiting well enough, then neither was Callahan, Bo or Riley.

We need to come to grips with the implication of that conclusion.

I don't think there's much argument here.

Recruiting dropped off under Solich and never recovered.

Some of this is on each coach, obviously, but some of it is the changing landscape of college football, bypassing a dynasty that couldn't rest on its laurels.

Dropped off compared to the late 90's championship run, sure, but not compared to what Nebraska was historically capable of.

 

[Saunders]

What are these unrealistic expectations?