Barney Cotton - "Nine wins . . . . What do you think of that s&%t?"

knapplc said:
Husker_x said:
knapplc said:
We're rapidly reaching Callahan-esque levels of word watching. Nothing any of these coaches say is going to be taken well for the foreseeable future.
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Is that due to an irrational fanbase, or that words no longer carry weight with the fanbase given the track record?
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A combination of both.

I'm in a weird place where I can see the rationality of all sides here. Barney's right - this is an accomplishment and it's not the worst thing in the world. But those who want his head are right - the bumblery which led us to this particular place cannot go on. The levels of wrong are heavily nuanced.
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I agree, except the #9wins crowd is downright superstitious about the number and how they use it. The team played just as poorly for most of the game yesterday as they have for the past four seasons. If we are truly down to "it's not the worst thing in the world" thinking, we're already entering Apathyville. And that's a problem.

The bolded part, to me, is synonymous with coaching change. It doesn't make any sense to expect the same cast of characters to fix systemic problems that go on year after year, regardless of who's playing or how talented they are.

Nine wins is better than eight, and a lot better than seven. But in our specific situation, it's not the real issue, and shouldn't be elevated to the Trump Card status it's perceived to have.

 
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zoogies said:
We definitely are way past the point of absurd word watching. Years, even.

However, and this may be influenced by my personally not being the biggest Barney fan in the world, this line just seems endemic of the wrong attitude that sometimes pervades much of the team. You can see why they'd be defensive under the circumstances I guess, but defending this kind of record as an accomplishment is not just not what fans want to see. It's a great explanation of why they don't get better results.

Because in spite of the preseason talk from the players, deep down, they don't really want better results. 9-4? They're pretty damn okay with that. Good season guys.
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I believe you are correct, and don't see how or why this attitude could or would change for next season. They'll be happy with 9 wins again next year.

 
Firing Solich was a poor decision, at least the timing wasn't the best. However, hiring Bill Callahan was one of the worst decisions in the history of UNL athletics. The man should never have stepped foot on Nebraska soil, and this was clearly evident during the '07 KSU game. 4th quarter, starters are still in, and we're throwing the ball all over the field to run up the score. Nebraska has never been about that. Then he NFL name-drops and basically disses Osborne. Osborne BUILT this thing.

Pelini isn't nearly as bad as this, but he needs to get things figured out - we're not the enemy, and screaming at young men doesn't work unless you're a drill sergeant.

 
Going to a bowl! Nine wins!

Wow. Really.

Maybe he's excited about the free X-box he might get from the bowl committee. Him and Beck can work on their basketball on grass scheme. I hear they're moving Barney to QB coach next season to appease the fan base.

He does realize we played 12 games right? I just want to make sure someone didn't trick him into believing we won all our games.

 
I've figured out the problem: the coaches and players seem to be trying to win just to have something to rub in reporters' faces.

 
papersun87 said:
why do people always say this? why exactly is nine wins such an accomplishment? seems a pretty arbitrary number, especially since nine wins only earned us third place in our division this year. i guarantee you if we'd have fired solich after the 7-7 season in 2002 there wouldn't be any of this "nine win" nonsense.
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Because nine wins is better than eight wins. Eight is better than seven... etc. Don't read too much into that. Nobody's saying it's an acceptable ceiling.

 
When coaches are propagating this sort of #GoodEnough attitude, it shouldn't be a surprise the players buy in.

Time to start over with an all new staff, top-to-bottom. Hell, it's past time.

 
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Husker_x said:
Nine wins is better than eight, and a lot better than seven. But in our specific situation, it's not the real issue, and shouldn't be elevated to the Trump Card status it's perceived to have.
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That ship has long since sailed. Only a very small fringe are satisfied with nine wins anymore.

 
When I first saw this thread, I thought someone was joking. Come to find out, this is an actual thing. Jeez. Is this what it's come to now? Barney's the poster boy for being satisfied with mediocrity. And I'm resisting an apple-tree reference here...

NebraskaHarry said:
Three coaches that need to be fired.
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Not enough for my money.

QB who can't make progressions: Check.

Horrendous OL play covered up by Heisman-caliber RB: Check.

LBs who like to run fit in pairs: Check.

TEs on milk Cartons: Check.

Safety who tackles Gordon like he lost both arms in 'Nam: Check.

The Dude said:
When coaches are propagating this sort of #GoodEnough attitude, it shouldn't be a surprise the players buy in.

Time to start over with an all new staff, top-to-bottom. Hell, it's past time.
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Ding ding ding!

Winner winner, chicken dinner.

 
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