Brion Carnes and Bo's Doghouse

[The Dude]

After it took Compton and Fisher injuries to get Lavonte David on the field, I take any claim that Bo made all the correct personnel decisions with a mountain of salt.

That being said, had Carne's been better than Martinez, it stands to reason he would have made a name for himself somewhere, what with all his "it" factor.

This is possible but it takes a lot of assumptions to get there. David was brand new on campus and trying to catch two guys who'd been here for two years. And Compton is apparently quite a bit better than many give him credit for considering he started five games and was one of the Redskins leading tacklers last year. Obviously the injuries got him on the field a little faster but we don't know if that was one game faster, five games faster or what would have happened if he had to win the job.

Should have been a day 1 starter, regardless. There was no "trying to catch" anyone. He was head and shoulders the best LB on the roster the day he walked on campus. The fact he was behind them at all tells me everything I need to know. Zero assumption.

 

[Hammerhead]

After it took Compton and Fisher injuries to get Lavonte David on the field, I take any claim that Bo made all the correct personnel decisions with a mountain of salt.

That being said, had Carne's been better than Martinez, it stands to reason he would have made a name for himself somewhere, what with all his "it" factor.

This is possible but it takes a lot of assumptions to get there. David was brand new on campus and trying to catch two guys who'd been here for two years. And Compton is apparently quite a bit better than many give him credit for considering he started five games and was one of the Redskins leading tacklers last year. Obviously the injuries got him on the field a little faster but we don't know if that was one game faster, five games faster or what would have happened if he had to win the job.

Should have been a day 1 starter, regardless. There was no "trying to catch" anyone. He was head and shoulders the best LB on the roster the day he walked on campus. The fact he was behind them at all tells me everything I need to know. Zero assumption.

But he didn't play within Bo's scheme! That's super-important!

 

[jmfb]

Kinda surprised Phillip Dillard's name hasn't been mentioned about doghouse. If it weren't for injuries at LB he would have waited longer to get the PT he deserved out of fall camp. All because he didn't get to the playing weight they wanted him at. Don't recall if Els was LB coach at the time, but glad he's gone anyway.

I know Phillip Dillards HS coach. That HS coach warned many colleges off of PD.

IIRC- he said John Blake was in PDs ear, telling him what he wanted to hear

PD had major issues that would have nearly every coach in college football sitting him

PD never got beyond them until very late in his career, probably thanks to the doghouse. That one may have been one BP played right

I call BS on this. Dillard was raised by Tyrone Lynn and his wife from the age of 9. Lynn was a police officer and raised Dillard as one of his own. He was the one that got Dillard into football and was the father figure in his life. Dillard played a lot for us and never had issues except a torn ACL which kept him out his So. yr and a hurt ankle which caused him to miss game at the end of 2008.

Very Wrong on this one

Alan Trimble and his staff are big time clinic speakers- who Ive met and talked to many times

Jenks is a High School legend school even now with NFA head Dub Maddox at the helm

Alan and one of his then assistants and I had business dealings and we talked about Dillard and J Blake one day for about 10-15 minutes after a clinic. Cant remember the assistants name, about 56-57 now is my guess, 6' tan 180, grey hair and tight beard- he works for Glazier Clinics and National Football Academy. Left Jenks due to health issues- Now with Darrin Slacks group. Defensive guy.

They had a lot of problems with Dillard at Jenks- never a doubt a great athlete, but he had lots of discipline issues

He said the younger brother wasnt like Phillip at all. Not sure what happened to that kid, but they said he was being heavily recruited.

He told me how NU got Phiilip and how John Blake told the kid what he wanted to hear all through his senior year, real PITA-

They called the kid a "turd"

I have no personal knowledge that it was in issue here.But looks like it was.

I do know he didnt play in the first 2 games of the 2009 season- they didnt let him play until the Va Tech game- looks like it was because of discipline issues

http://www.theindependent.com/huskershq/huskers-return-to-practice-after-storms/article_a006a8a6-3874-5d46-a3f2-f3193959bbd8.html?mode=jqm

http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2010/05/giants_rookie_phillip_dillard.html

http://www.cornnation.com/2010/4/15/1422759/2010-nebraska-spring-football

"Dillard, who started five games during his injury-shortened 2008 season, was almost a non-factor during spring practices, at times working with the third and fourth teams. He didn’t speak with the press. The NU coaches declined to detail his transgressions. All the silence resulted in much speculation about the one-time star recruit’s slide off the radar screen.

He was never in the “doghouse,” Dillard said, but the coaches did punish him for his insubordination.

“I’ve got to accept the responsibility,” Dillard said Saturday. “All I can do is work hard and ask for forgiveness to my teammates and just keep doing what the coaches ask me, regardless what that is.”

GSM

 

[Enhance]

After it took Compton and Fisher injuries to get Lavonte David on the field, I take any claim that Bo made all the correct personnel decisions with a mountain of salt.

That being said, had Carne's been better than Martinez, it stands to reason he would have made a name for himself somewhere, what with all his "it" factor.

This is possible but it takes a lot of assumptions to get there. David was brand new on campus and trying to catch two guys who'd been here for two years. And Compton is apparently quite a bit better than many give him credit for considering he started five games and was one of the Redskins leading tacklers last year. Obviously the injuries got him on the field a little faster but we don't know if that was one game faster, five games faster or what would have happened if he had to win the job.

Should have been a day 1 starter, regardless. There was no "trying to catch" anyone. He was head and shoulders the best LB on the roster the day he walked on campus. The fact he was behind them at all tells me everything I need to know. Zero assumption.

Lavonte David is the best linebacker Nebraska has had in years and he obviously proved himself on the field. But, go back a couple of years - what gives you the definitive proof that he should've been a day one starter? Would you have made that claim the first time he walked on campus a few years ago? Would most people? I doubt it. You're acting out of hindsight and retrospect. David came in with a lot of people thinking he could be something special but he also had a lot of questions. It's easy to sit here now and say without hesitation he should've been the guy, but, things weren't so cut and dry at the time.

Nobody said Bo made all the correct personnel decisions, but he definitely was a 'play-within-the-scheme' kind of guy, and that probably played a role in some players not seeing the field that much.

I agree with you about Carnes, though. True talent finds it's way onto the field in my opinion, no matter what.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

If we're going to move forward with our fixation on the past, we probably can't just attach Bo Pelini's name to everything that went wrong with Nebraska football.

I want us to come together and disparage Bo Pelini for all the right reasons.

He definitely seems like a guy who would have a doghouse, and we know he doesn't like to change his mind, but it's likely some if not most of the players earned it.

It happens in every team sport and it's usually the stuff you don't see . The practices and locker rooms. Players with tons of talent but questionable work ethic and difficult personalities. Behind the scenes behavior you can't reward or it sends a bad message to the team.

Also, the guys who still see themselves as the stud on their highschool team, and refuse to accept their demotion to second team.

If it leaks out that fellow coaches and multiple teammates think a Husker player got a raw deal, I'll definitely listen.

 

[jmfb]

If we're going to move forward with our fixation on the past, we probably can't just attach Bo Pelini's name to everything that went wrong with Nebraska football.

He definitely seems like a guy who would have a doghouse, and we know he doesn't like to change his mind, but it's likely some if not most of the players earned it.

It happens in every team sport and it's usually the stuff you don't see . The practices and locker rooms. Players with tons of talent but questionable work ethic and difficult personalities. Behind the scenes behavior you can't reward or it sends a bad message to the team.

Also, the guys who still see themselves as the stud on their highschool team, and refuse to accept their demotion to second team.

If it leaks out that fellow coaches and multiple teammates think a Husker player got a raw deal, I'll definitely listen.

Maybe those who don't believe that- have never played football or been part of a big locker room, Because what you say is 100% true

But some won't even take a players own words (Phillip Dillard) or the words from the players own High School coach

I can see why so many college coaches get frustrated with unreasonable and uninformed fans.

Glad Bos gone, but no one outside the locker room knows all the details. The newspapers arent the source for what's what when it comes down to that kind of stuff.

I find it difficult to believe that a kid with only one other offer- Western KY and who couldnt break the starting lineup at Northern Iowa= was held out due to bias

 

[RunMickeyRun02]

I go to all the Beef games, but I live in Lincoln, so I'm not 100% up to speed on what the QB situation is as far as why they signed Brion. I wasn't impressed with the last guy that started, other than his scrambling ability, but part of the reason is for sure that he has Nebraska ties and they need butts in seats. Especially since they are ending their worst season in franchise history.

Remember they also tried to sign Tebow a couple years back arguably as purely a headline grabber, it worked, they made SportsCenter.

 

[zoogs]

Here's the thing. I don't think people really expected Carnes to take over for Taylor, but with Watson being supposedly pretty high on him after 2010, there was some hope that Carnes would continue to be one of those promising developing guys -- in a position like Bush or Darlington find themselves in now. And I think he was, for a Spring.

And then he completely disappeared. It's not like we had great QB depth in those years and he was being passed by. Green was falling apart and on his way out, too. We just had QB depth issues, if I recall. Very quickly it became apparent that coaches were not high on him and regarded him as neither present nor future. With plenty of time as well as opportunity to be in the "mix" of competition, it might have been much better simply to make it clear that they believed in their No.2 and were working on improving his game. I don't remember that being the case. He was treated as someone that didn't even deserve to be on the roster (maybe that was true?), and eventually, moved to receiver and then left the roster.

Probably the best way to think of it is that he and Green (who also had position switch discussed, right?) were really left behind by the coaching and scheme change. But again maybe that staff simply was not being great with their quarterbacks.

 

[Mavric]

After it took Compton and Fisher injuries to get Lavonte David on the field, I take any claim that Bo made all the correct personnel decisions with a mountain of salt.

That being said, had Carne's been better than Martinez, it stands to reason he would have made a name for himself somewhere, what with all his "it" factor.

This is possible but it takes a lot of assumptions to get there. David was brand new on campus and trying to catch two guys who'd been here for two years. And Compton is apparently quite a bit better than many give him credit for considering he started five games and was one of the Redskins leading tacklers last year. Obviously the injuries got him on the field a little faster but we don't know if that was one game faster, five games faster or what would have happened if he had to win the job.

Should have been a day 1 starter, regardless. There was no "trying to catch" anyone. He was head and shoulders the best LB on the roster the day he walked on campus. The fact he was behind them at all tells me everything I need to know. Zero assumption.

But he didn't play within Bo's scheme! That's super-important!

He broke a bunch of records in Bo's scheme. So there's that.

 

[Hammerhead]

After it took Compton and Fisher injuries to get Lavonte David on the field, I take any claim that Bo made all the correct personnel decisions with a mountain of salt.

That being said, had Carne's been better than Martinez, it stands to reason he would have made a name for himself somewhere, what with all his "it" factor.

This is possible but it takes a lot of assumptions to get there. David was brand new on campus and trying to catch two guys who'd been here for two years. And Compton is apparently quite a bit better than many give him credit for considering he started five games and was one of the Redskins leading tacklers last year. Obviously the injuries got him on the field a little faster but we don't know if that was one game faster, five games faster or what would have happened if he had to win the job.

Should have been a day 1 starter, regardless. There was no "trying to catch" anyone. He was head and shoulders the best LB on the roster the day he walked on campus. The fact he was behind them at all tells me everything I need to know. Zero assumption.

But he didn't play within Bo's scheme! That's super-important!

He broke a bunch of records in Bo's scheme. So there's that.

The fact that David played as well as he did, yet Bo always said that he didn't play within the scheme, was always a red flag for me. If the one guy "not playing within the scheme" is the best player on your defense, how good is the scheme really?

 

[BIGREDIOWAN]

I'm not buying it, Carnes couldn't beat Martinez out plain and simple. Martinez gave us all he had, I'll agree he had quite a few bad moments, but don't think for a second that kid didn't sacrifice his body for the team because he did. Damn shame he couldn't have been as healthy his entire career as he was as a freshman.

 

[The Dude]

After it took Compton and Fisher injuries to get Lavonte David on the field, I take any claim that Bo made all the correct personnel decisions with a mountain of salt.

That being said, had Carne's been better than Martinez, it stands to reason he would have made a name for himself somewhere, what with all his "it" factor.

This is possible but it takes a lot of assumptions to get there. David was brand new on campus and trying to catch two guys who'd been here for two years. And Compton is apparently quite a bit better than many give him credit for considering he started five games and was one of the Redskins leading tacklers last year. Obviously the injuries got him on the field a little faster but we don't know if that was one game faster, five games faster or what would have happened if he had to win the job.

Should have been a day 1 starter, regardless. There was no "trying to catch" anyone. He was head and shoulders the best LB on the roster the day he walked on campus. The fact he was behind them at all tells me everything I need to know. Zero assumption.

Lavonte David is the best linebacker Nebraska has had in years and he obviously proved himself on the field. But, go back a couple of years - what gives you the definitive proof that he should've been a day one starter? Would you have made that claim the first time he walked on campus a few years ago? Would most people? I doubt it. You're acting out of hindsight and retrospect. David came in with a lot of people thinking he could be something special but he also had a lot of questions. It's easy to sit here now and say without hesitation he should've been the guy, but, things weren't so cut and dry at the time.
Nobody said Bo made all the correct personnel decisions, but he definitely was a 'play-within-the-scheme' kind of guy, and that probably played a role in some players not seeing the field that much.

I agree with you about Carnes, though. True talent finds it's way onto the field in my opinion, no matter what.

Sure, it's hindsight. What I'm saying is Bo -the guy who gets paid millions to evaluate talent- couldn't use the hindsight of practices to determine the once-in-a-generation talent was the more talented player.
No matter how you want to spin it, that was an issue. It also opens up further speculation on the subject, for better or worse.

 

[knapplc]

After it took Compton and Fisher injuries to get Lavonte David on the field, I take any claim that Bo made all the correct personnel decisions with a mountain of salt.

That being said, had Carne's been better than Martinez, it stands to reason he would have made a name for himself somewhere, what with all his "it" factor.

This is possible but it takes a lot of assumptions to get there. David was brand new on campus and trying to catch two guys who'd been here for two years. And Compton is apparently quite a bit better than many give him credit for considering he started five games and was one of the Redskins leading tacklers last year. Obviously the injuries got him on the field a little faster but we don't know if that was one game faster, five games faster or what would have happened if he had to win the job.

Should have been a day 1 starter, regardless. There was no "trying to catch" anyone. He was head and shoulders the best LB on the roster the day he walked on campus. The fact he was behind them at all tells me everything I need to know. Zero assumption.

But he didn't play within Bo's scheme! That's super-important!

He broke a bunch of records in Bo's scheme. So there's that.

Didn't the two greatest defensive players in the Pelini Era arguably break scheme more than anyone? Suh didn't sit around in his two-gap responsibility and let the play come to him, he routinely beat his man (or a double- or triple-team) and attacked the ball. The one glaring time I can remember Suh not breaking scheme was when we had Tyrod Taylor bottled up but didn't aggressively attack him and he made that long pass play when the WR got behind everybody. Had Suh attacked like he did against Colt McCoy in the Big XII Championship Game, we would have won that game. Oddly, Bo may have "learned his lesson" from that play and allowed Suh free rein to attack at will - and he was one second too good at it against McCoy. So it goes.

David, it seems, was a free agent much of the time. He played within scheme when it suited him, but made so many tackles, so differently than any other linebacker in the Pelini Era, that it's difficult to imagine no other player playing in the same scheme but not coming remotely close to David's numbers. David seemed a law unto himself, and more often than not, he made the critical plays when he needed to. But he seemed to do it outside the system.

 

[Mavric]

After it took Compton and Fisher injuries to get Lavonte David on the field, I take any claim that Bo made all the correct personnel decisions with a mountain of salt.

That being said, had Carne's been better than Martinez, it stands to reason he would have made a name for himself somewhere, what with all his "it" factor.

This is possible but it takes a lot of assumptions to get there. David was brand new on campus and trying to catch two guys who'd been here for two years. And Compton is apparently quite a bit better than many give him credit for considering he started five games and was one of the Redskins leading tacklers last year. Obviously the injuries got him on the field a little faster but we don't know if that was one game faster, five games faster or what would have happened if he had to win the job.

Should have been a day 1 starter, regardless. There was no "trying to catch" anyone. He was head and shoulders the best LB on the roster the day he walked on campus. The fact he was behind them at all tells me everything I need to know. Zero assumption.

Lavonte David is the best linebacker Nebraska has had in years and he obviously proved himself on the field. But, go back a couple of years - what gives you the definitive proof that he should've been a day one starter? Would you have made that claim the first time he walked on campus a few years ago? Would most people? I doubt it. You're acting out of hindsight and retrospect. David came in with a lot of people thinking he could be something special but he also had a lot of questions. It's easy to sit here now and say without hesitation he should've been the guy, but, things weren't so cut and dry at the time.
Nobody said Bo made all the correct personnel decisions, but he definitely was a 'play-within-the-scheme' kind of guy, and that probably played a role in some players not seeing the field that much.

I agree with you about Carnes, though. True talent finds it's way onto the field in my opinion, no matter what.

Sure, it's hindsight. What I'm saying is Bo -the guy who gets paid millions to evaluate talent- couldn't use the hindsight of practices to determine the once-in-a-generation talent was the more talented player.
No matter how you want to spin it, that was an issue. It also opens up further speculation on the subject, for better or worse.

He was a once in a generation talent when he got here. He developed into a once in a generation player.

When he first got out there, he was guessing a lot. He'd shoot through a gap trying to make a play. He was right quite a bit. He was also wrong quite a bit. I don't think it's necessarily a coaching oversight to need to work on a few things before they get on the field. And just because he wasn't the starter doesn't mean he wasn't going to play a lot. We simply don't know how much he would have played had the injuries not occurred.

 

[Mavric]

After it took Compton and Fisher injuries to get Lavonte David on the field, I take any claim that Bo made all the correct personnel decisions with a mountain of salt.

That being said, had Carne's been better than Martinez, it stands to reason he would have made a name for himself somewhere, what with all his "it" factor.

This is possible but it takes a lot of assumptions to get there. David was brand new on campus and trying to catch two guys who'd been here for two years. And Compton is apparently quite a bit better than many give him credit for considering he started five games and was one of the Redskins leading tacklers last year. Obviously the injuries got him on the field a little faster but we don't know if that was one game faster, five games faster or what would have happened if he had to win the job.

Should have been a day 1 starter, regardless. There was no "trying to catch" anyone. He was head and shoulders the best LB on the roster the day he walked on campus. The fact he was behind them at all tells me everything I need to know. Zero assumption.

But he didn't play within Bo's scheme! That's super-important!

He broke a bunch of records in Bo's scheme. So there's that.

Didn't the two greatest defensive players in the Pelini Era arguably break scheme more than anyone? Suh didn't sit around in his two-gap responsibility and let the play come to him, he routinely beat his man (or a double- or triple-team) and attacked the ball. The one glaring time I can remember Suh not breaking scheme was when we had Tyrod Taylor bottled up but didn't aggressively attack him and he made that long pass play when the WR got behind everybody. Had Suh attacked like he did against Colt McCoy in the Big XII Championship Game, we would have won that game. Oddly, Bo may have "learned his lesson" from that play and allowed Suh free rein to attack at will - and he was one second too good at it against McCoy. So it goes.

David, it seems, was a free agent much of the time. He played within scheme when it suited him, but made so many tackles, so differently than any other linebacker in the Pelini Era, that it's difficult to imagine no other player playing in the same scheme but not coming remotely close to David's numbers. David seemed a law unto himself, and more often than not, he made the critical plays when he needed to. But he seemed to do it outside the system.

I don't know that I'd say Suh broke the scheme. But I don't know what the calls were on all the plays to know what he should have been doing. It seemed to me like he would usually stand his guy up and read the play which you'd expect if we were running a lot of two-gap then. It's just that once he saw the ball, he could fling the blocker(s) to the side and get to it.

For all the complaining about how passive our DLine has played over the last few years, it would seem pretty obvious that they were doing their part of the scheme which was to eat up blockers so that the LBs could make the plays. David might not have always been doing exactly what he was supposed to be he definitely benefited from a scheme that was designed for him to make plays.