Can the Huskers really regain a top status in college football?

[Nebhawk]

Only reason Baylor and TCU are relevant right now is because Mack Brown stayed at Texas too long. Wait and see what happens down there in the next couple of years. Once Texas gets going once again, those schools will die off.

KSU once Snyder leaves again will go back to cellar dwellers with KU and be content to play round ball.

Why can't Nebraska do it if those schools can? Great question. If you discover the answer, some Nebraska boosters would pay you for the facts. Money might fix some of it, but how much is the 4.5 million dollar question.

 

[Blackshirt_Revival]

I've said it before, I'll say it again, and I will keep saying it until I am red in the face:

Nebraska needs to stop worrying about 'out-recruiting' other schools who really don't need to work as hard at it as we would.

It is a fool's game (for us). It is a game Nebraska will never win and shouldn't worry about winning.

We need to dump this silly generic copycat impersonation shtick, and as fast as possible.

I am not saying we shouldn't recruit at all, we need to recruit, but not in the same way most everyone else does.

We should be recruiting to supplement and augment the talent available to us, what we HAVE.

Nebraska has ignored what IT HAS for far, far too long.

We should be deriving our identity as a team from what we have available to us, and add the pieces we need to be whole from there.

The University should be doing everything in its power with all that money they make from us fans to try to foster, re-ignite, and encourage the competition of our local football teams and improve the quality of our local talent. Clinics, camps, setting expectations, offering conditioning guidelines and scheme plans, you name it. Whatever it takes.

Look at all of the 7-on-7 leagues and intensive off-season programs and resources/activities Texas has for football. Being a football player is like a full-time deal. Do you see anything at all even remotely on this level occuring in Nebraska or the surrounding area?

As another example, I'm a huge advocate for trying to implement rugby at a greater degree at the high school level in the state of Nebraska. Don't you think that would toughen the hell out of some kids and get them accustomed to playing the kind of physical football we all love and expect to see (and miss dearly)?

Find a way to improve your local talent and encourage competitiveness! Investing some of that big money the program makes back into the local area in this manner would pay dividends.

Practically every high school in the state played a brand of football similar to what NU did during its glory years (not all with the same success, obviously, but with similar styles of play, unless the team had a QB who could really sling it). This functioned as a veritable 'farm system' for the Huskers during its best years.

Start with what you have, start with your foundation, then look at what you need to supplement that to get what we all want (wins, championships).

This was our identity and what made us unique. This is what made Nebraska NEBRASKA.

You want to know why so many of these kids on the team today probably seem so erratic and anxious and on-edge? Besides the high expectations?

Because they have no place of refuge. They have no sanctuary besides each other. They are strangers in a strange land far from home where the expectations are super high and when they don't meet those expectations, it makes them feel commodified and dehumanized. They have nowhere else to turn. Although they are getting a lot from the university, a free education, a chance to wear the 'N' on the helmet (things most of us would have killed for), let's face it, it's not the same thing to most of them as it was to us, and this can lead to them understandably feeling used on some levels.

Having a team made up of largely local guys offers a built-in sanctuary as well as a litmus for what the expectations at Nebraska are. They know what the expectations are. They are used to the expectations here and how are fanbase is. They would be friends and family with them, and fans themselves for crying out loud! They could function as buffer between the fanbase and the out of area kids and make those kids from far away feel more at home. They can help them understand and appreciate what the red 'N' is all about and help them to become as passionate about it as they are. This is builds more camaraderie, unity, vision, and purpose, and most of all, an identity!

This is of all things is what has been sorely lacking with Nebraska for the past 10 years plus.

Until we get staff and administration in place that understands and appreciates this (in addition to the big money people), and can cultivate it and appropriately translate it all onto the field, I don't see Nebraska ever being truly great again for any sustained amount of time. I think that is the way it needs to be done here, they 'key to success' at Nebraska, if you will. It all starts with what you have.

 

[Blackshirt_Revival]

^feel free to delete above post (#32), mods (and this one, for that matter). I accidentally hit 'quote' instead of 'edit'.

 

[Nebhawk]

Culture change is needed. Reality check is needed. Expectations should remain high, but obtainable.

Osborne might be the only one who can right the ship right now. His input should have been acknowledged on the last switch, but he might be the one most responsible for what has happen since he retired. Alabama for years after "Bear" was gone searched for relevance. They finally had it for a few years with Gene Stallings, once he left it was not until Saban came on board. Oklahoma after Switzer struggled for years until winning it all in 2000 and playing for it several times in the 2000's.

Replacing a legend doesn't happen. ONce those who love the Huskers understand that maybe a 9 win average per year isn't terrible it might change.

 

[Pasadena Husker]

i voted no, but i don't think it "passed us by 20 years ago". it was more recent, maybe 10 years ago. we had an opportunity then, but now seems rather impossible..

 

[Scratchtown]

I've said it before, I'll say it again, and I will keep saying it until I am red in the face:

Nebraska needs to stop worrying about 'out-recruiting' other schools who really don't need to work as hard at it as we would.

It is a fool's game (for us). It is a game Nebraska will never win and shouldn't worry about winning.

We need to dump this silly generic copycat impersonation shtick, and as fast as possible.

I am not saying we shouldn't recruit at all, we need to recruit, but not in the same way most everyone else does.

We should be recruiting to supplement and augment the talent available to us, what we HAVE.

Nebraska has ignored what IT HAS for far, far too long.

We should be deriving our identity as a team from what we have available to us, and add the pieces we need to be whole from there.

The University should be doing everything in its power with all that money they make from us fans to try to foster, re-ignite, and encourage the competition of our local football teams and improve the quality of our local talent. Clinics, camps, setting expectations, offering conditioning guidelines and scheme plans, you name it. Whatever it takes.

Look at all of the 7-on-7 leagues and intensive off-season programs and resources/activities Texas has for football. Being a football player is like a full-time deal. Do you see anything at all even remotely on this level occuring in Nebraska or the surrounding area?

As another example, I'm a huge advocate for trying to implement rugby at a greater degree at the high school level in the state of Nebraska. Don't you think that would toughen the hell out of some kids and get them accustomed to playing the kind of physical football we all love and expect to see (and miss dearly)?

Find a way to improve your local talent and encourage competitiveness! Investing some of that big money the program makes back into the local area in this manner would pay dividends.

Practically every high school in the state played a brand of football similar to what NU did during its glory years (not all with the same success, obviously, but with similar styles of play, unless the team had a QB who could really sling it). This functioned as a veritable 'farm system' for the Huskers during its best years.

Start with what you have, start with your foundation, then look at what you need to supplement that to get what we all want (wins, championships).

This was our identity and what made us unique. This is what made Nebraska NEBRASKA.

You want to know why so many of these kids on the team today probably seem so erratic and anxious and on-edge? Besides the high expectations?

Because they have no place of refuge. They have no sanctuary besides each other. They are strangers in a strange land far from home where the expectations are super high and when they don't meet those expectations, it makes them feel commodified and dehumanized. They have nowhere else to turn. Although they are getting a lot from the university, a free education, a chance to wear the 'N' on the helmet (things most of us would have killed for), let's face it, it's not the same thing to most of them as it was to us, and this can lead to them understandably feeling used on some levels.

Having a team made up of largely local guys offers a built-in sanctuary as well as a litmus for what the expectations at Nebraska are. They know what the expectations are. They are used to the expectations here and how are fanbase is. They would be friends and family with them, and fans themselves for crying out loud! They could function as buffer between the fanbase and the out of area kids and make those kids from far away feel more at home. They can help them understand and appreciate what the red 'N' is all about and help them to become as passionate about it as they are. This is builds more camaraderie, unity, vision, and purpose, and most of all, an identity!

This is of all things is what has been sorely lacking with Nebraska for the past 10 years plus.

Until we get staff and administration in place that understands and appreciates this (in addition to the big money people), and can cultivate it and appropriately translate it all onto the field, I don't see Nebraska ever being truly great again for any sustained amount of time. I think that is the way it needs to be done here, they 'key to success' at Nebraska, if you will. It all starts with what you have.

You don't need Rugby, You need the state of nebraska and the high schools to quit putting so much emphasis on the game of basketball.

I hear about it everywhere. Kids go out for football, team struggles, and then the kid doesn't go out for football anymore because they want to focus on basketball. Seriously? What happened to just competing?

Playing summer league basketball and shooting free throw, etc...is way easier than the requirement of lifting in the weight room at early hours in the summer time.

There is no single reason, it's a slew of things. So here is a list that I am starting with.

1. Not as much emphasis on kids getting jobs in high school, especially physical labor stuff.

2. Technology, kids stay up later more so than they used to...playing video games, etc... (tied to getting up early and making weight room)

3. Excuse driven generation

4. Instant Gratification mentality. Why work for it when I should be able to have it now.

5. Concussion awareness

6. Parenting

I don't know if anyone pays attention to HS football here in Nebraska but it drives me nuts to see so many teams forfeiting, and the numbers dwindling. The above list is some factors but not all, why else are the number dwindling? Is this because of the declining numbers in small communities and there are less opportunities for boys to play in Class A systems.

 

[NowSimplyAHusk]

I've said it before, I'll say it again, and I will keep saying it until I am red in the face:

Nebraska needs to stop worrying about 'out-recruiting' other schools who really don't need to work as hard at it as we would.

It is a fool's game (for us). It is a game Nebraska will never win and shouldn't worry about winning.

We need to dump this silly generic copycat impersonation shtick, and as fast as possible.

I am not saying we shouldn't recruit at all, we need to recruit, but not in the same way most everyone else does.

We should be recruiting to supplement and augment the talent available to us, what we HAVE.

Nebraska has ignored what IT HAS for far, far too long.

We should be deriving our identity as a team from what we have available to us, and add the pieces we need to be whole from there.

The University should be doing everything in its power with all that money they make from us fans to try to foster, re-ignite, and encourage the competition of our local football teams and improve the quality of our local talent. Clinics, camps, setting expectations, offering conditioning guidelines and scheme plans, you name it. Whatever it takes.

Look at all of the 7-on-7 leagues and intensive off-season programs and resources/activities Texas has for football. Being a football player is like a full-time deal. Do you see anything at all even remotely on this level occuring in Nebraska or the surrounding area?

As another example, I'm a huge advocate for trying to implement rugby at a greater degree at the high school level in the state of Nebraska. Don't you think that would toughen the hell out of some kids and get them accustomed to playing the kind of physical football we all love and expect to see (and miss dearly)?

Find a way to improve your local talent and encourage competitiveness! Investing some of that big money the program makes back into the local area in this manner would pay dividends.

Practically every high school in the state played a brand of football similar to what NU did during its glory years (not all with the same success, obviously, but with similar styles of play, unless the team had a QB who could really sling it). This functioned as a veritable 'farm system' for the Huskers during its best years.

Start with what you HAVE, start with your foundation, then look at what you NEED to supplement that to get what we all WANT (wins, championships).

This was our identity and what made us unique. This is what made Nebraska NEBRASKA.

You want to know why so many of these kids on the team today probably seem so erratic and anxious and on-edge? Besides the high expectations?

Because they have no place of refuge. They have no sanctuary besides each other. They are strangers in a strange land far from home where the expectations are super high and when they don't meet those expectations, it makes them feel commodified and dehumanized. They have nowhere else to turn. Although they are getting a lot from the university, a free education, a chance to wear the 'N' on the helmet (things most of us would have killed for), let's face it, it's not the same thing to most of them as it was to us, and this can lead to them understandably feeling used on some levels.

Having a team made up of largely local guys offers a built-in sanctuary as well as a litmus for what the expectations at Nebraska are. They know what the expectations are. They are used to the expectations here and how are fanbase is. They would be friends and family with them, and fans themselves for crying out loud! They could function as buffer between the fanbase and the out of area kids and make those kids from far away feel more at home. They can help them understand and appreciate what the red 'N' is all about and help them to become as passionate about it as they are. This is builds more camaraderie, unity, vision, and purpose, and most of all, an identity!

This is of all things is what has been sorely lacking with Nebraska for the past 10 years plus.

Until we get staff and administration in place that understands and appreciates this (in addition to the big money people), and can cultivate it and appropriately translate it all onto the field, I don't see Nebraska ever being truly great again for any sustained amount of time. I think that is the way it needs to be done here, they 'key to success' at Nebraska, if you will. It all starts with what you have.

This plan is fundamentally flawed, simply put you are comparing a state with over 26 million residents to one with less than 2 million... Nebraska as a state will never produce enough talented football players to fill even half of a team (at least not one that our fans would be satisfied with). In fact if we were going to go one way or the other, we would be best off not recruiting in NE at all vs. you're plan of trying to recruit most of our guys from here... No amount of high school practices will change this, we rank 37th in the country in population, if we try to do most of our recruiting from NE, our football program will be comparable to Kansas, who by the way has over 1 million more residents than we do...

 

[Blackshirt_Revival]

I've said it before, I'll say it again, and I will keep saying it until I am red in the face:

Nebraska needs to stop worrying about 'out-recruiting' other schools who really don't need to work as hard at it as we would.

It is a fool's game (for us). It is a game Nebraska will never win and shouldn't worry about winning.

We need to dump this silly generic copycat impersonation shtick, and as fast as possible.

I am not saying we shouldn't recruit at all, we need to recruit, but not in the same way most everyone else does.

We should be recruiting to supplement and augment the talent available to us, what we HAVE.

Nebraska has ignored what IT HAS for far, far too long.

We should be deriving our identity as a team from what we have available to us, and add the pieces we need to be whole from there.

The University should be doing everything in its power with all that money they make from us fans to try to foster, re-ignite, and encourage the competition of our local football teams and improve the quality of our local talent. Clinics, camps, setting expectations, offering conditioning guidelines and scheme plans, you name it. Whatever it takes.

Look at all of the 7-on-7 leagues and intensive off-season programs and resources/activities Texas has for football. Being a football player is like a full-time deal. Do you see anything at all even remotely on this level occuring in Nebraska or the surrounding area?

As another example, I'm a huge advocate for trying to implement rugby at a greater degree at the high school level in the state of Nebraska. Don't you think that would toughen the hell out of some kids and get them accustomed to playing the kind of physical football we all love and expect to see (and miss dearly)?

Find a way to improve your local talent and encourage competitiveness! Investing some of that big money the program makes back into the local area in this manner would pay dividends.

Practically every high school in the state played a brand of football similar to what NU did during its glory years (not all with the same success, obviously, but with similar styles of play, unless the team had a QB who could really sling it). This functioned as a veritable 'farm system' for the Huskers during its best years.

Start with what you HAVE, start with your foundation, then look at what you NEED to supplement that to get what we all WANT (wins, championships).

This was our identity and what made us unique. This is what made Nebraska NEBRASKA.

You want to know why so many of these kids on the team today probably seem so erratic and anxious and on-edge? Besides the high expectations?

Because they have no place of refuge. They have no sanctuary besides each other. They are strangers in a strange land far from home where the expectations are super high and when they don't meet those expectations, it makes them feel commodified and dehumanized. They have nowhere else to turn. Although they are getting a lot from the university, a free education, a chance to wear the 'N' on the helmet (things most of us would have killed for), let's face it, it's not the same thing to most of them as it was to us, and this can lead to them understandably feeling used on some levels.

Having a team made up of largely local guys offers a built-in sanctuary as well as a litmus for what the expectations at Nebraska are. They know what the expectations are. They are used to the expectations here and how are fanbase is. They would be friends and family with them, and fans themselves for crying out loud! They could function as buffer between the fanbase and the out of area kids and make those kids from far away feel more at home. They can help them understand and appreciate what the red 'N' is all about and help them to become as passionate about it as they are. This is builds more camaraderie, unity, vision, and purpose, and most of all, an identity!

This is of all things is what has been sorely lacking with Nebraska for the past 10 years plus.

Until we get staff and administration in place that understands and appreciates this (in addition to the big money people), and can cultivate it and appropriately translate it all onto the field, I don't see Nebraska ever being truly great again for any sustained amount of time. I think that is the way it needs to be done here, they 'key to success' at Nebraska, if you will. It all starts with what you have.

This plan is fundamentally flawed, simply put you are comparing a state with over 26 million residents to one with less than 2 million... Nebraska as a state will never produce enough talented football players to fill even half of a team (at least not one that our fans would be satisfied with). In fact if we were going to go one way or the other, we would be best off not recruiting in NE at all vs. you're plan of trying to recruit most of our guys from here... No amount of high school practices will change this, we rank 37th in the country in population, if we try to do most of our recruiting from NE, our football program will be comparable to Kansas, who by the way has over 1 million more residents than we do...

The 1997 National Championship Cornhuskers football team begs to differ.

And I never said we would produce as many talented kids as Texas.

What I am saying is we should be doing everything possible and looking at everything possible to maximize our local talent, and used what teams do in Texas as an example of ways we can be creative and proactive about doing that.

Nor did I ever say we should be recruiting solely Nebraska kids or fielding a team of just Nebraska kids.

When I say local, I don't mean just Nebraska, I mean Missouri, Colorado, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming, The Dakotas, etc.

The state with 26 million also happens to have 12 FBS programs, or about 1 per 2 million or so.

Half of those teams could probably beat Nebraska right now.

It is not impossible nor impractical to field a team with rosters composed with a majority of local talent. Nebraska did this for years. Good and great teams (that aren't in talent hotbeds) continue to do this today.

 

[huskerfan92]

If friggin Baylor can reach top status in college football, Nebraska can. All it takes is the right coach, we haven't found one yet but keep trying and we eventually will

 

[NowSimplyAHusk]

I've said it before, I'll say it again, and I will keep saying it until I am red in the face:

Nebraska needs to stop worrying about 'out-recruiting' other schools who really don't need to work as hard at it as we would.

It is a fool's game (for us). It is a game Nebraska will never win and shouldn't worry about winning.

We need to dump this silly generic copycat impersonation shtick, and as fast as possible.

I am not saying we shouldn't recruit at all, we need to recruit, but not in the same way most everyone else does.

We should be recruiting to supplement and augment the talent available to us, what we HAVE.

Nebraska has ignored what IT HAS for far, far too long.

We should be deriving our identity as a team from what we have available to us, and add the pieces we need to be whole from there.

The University should be doing everything in its power with all that money they make from us fans to try to foster, re-ignite, and encourage the competition of our local football teams and improve the quality of our local talent. Clinics, camps, setting expectations, offering conditioning guidelines and scheme plans, you name it. Whatever it takes.

Look at all of the 7-on-7 leagues and intensive off-season programs and resources/activities Texas has for football. Being a football player is like a full-time deal. Do you see anything at all even remotely on this level occuring in Nebraska or the surrounding area?

As another example, I'm a huge advocate for trying to implement rugby at a greater degree at the high school level in the state of Nebraska. Don't you think that would toughen the hell out of some kids and get them accustomed to playing the kind of physical football we all love and expect to see (and miss dearly)?

Find a way to improve your local talent and encourage competitiveness! Investing some of that big money the program makes back into the local area in this manner would pay dividends.

Practically every high school in the state played a brand of football similar to what NU did during its glory years (not all with the same success, obviously, but with similar styles of play, unless the team had a QB who could really sling it). This functioned as a veritable 'farm system' for the Huskers during its best years.

Start with what you HAVE, start with your foundation, then look at what you NEED to supplement that to get what we all WANT (wins, championships).

This was our identity and what made us unique. This is what made Nebraska NEBRASKA.

You want to know why so many of these kids on the team today probably seem so erratic and anxious and on-edge? Besides the high expectations?

Because they have no place of refuge. They have no sanctuary besides each other. They are strangers in a strange land far from home where the expectations are super high and when they don't meet those expectations, it makes them feel commodified and dehumanized. They have nowhere else to turn. Although they are getting a lot from the university, a free education, a chance to wear the 'N' on the helmet (things most of us would have killed for), let's face it, it's not the same thing to most of them as it was to us, and this can lead to them understandably feeling used on some levels.

Having a team made up of largely local guys offers a built-in sanctuary as well as a litmus for what the expectations at Nebraska are. They know what the expectations are. They are used to the expectations here and how are fanbase is. They would be friends and family with them, and fans themselves for crying out loud! They could function as buffer between the fanbase and the out of area kids and make those kids from far away feel more at home. They can help them understand and appreciate what the red 'N' is all about and help them to become as passionate about it as they are. This is builds more camaraderie, unity, vision, and purpose, and most of all, an identity!

This is of all things is what has been sorely lacking with Nebraska for the past 10 years plus.

Until we get staff and administration in place that understands and appreciates this (in addition to the big money people), and can cultivate it and appropriately translate it all onto the field, I don't see Nebraska ever being truly great again for any sustained amount of time. I think that is the way it needs to be done here, they 'key to success' at Nebraska, if you will. It all starts with what you have.

This plan is fundamentally flawed, simply put you are comparing a state with over 26 million residents to one with less than 2 million... Nebraska as a state will never produce enough talented football players to fill even half of a team (at least not one that our fans would be satisfied with). In fact if we were going to go one way or the other, we would be best off not recruiting in NE at all vs. you're plan of trying to recruit most of our guys from here... No amount of high school practices will change this, we rank 37th in the country in population, if we try to do most of our recruiting from NE, our football program will be comparable to Kansas, who by the way has over 1 million more residents than we do...

The 1997 National Championship Cornhuskers football team begs to differ.

It's 2015, get with the times...

And I never said we would produce as many talented kids as Texas.

Good, because we won't

What I am saying is we should be doing everything possible and looking at everything possible to maximize our local talent, and used what teams do in Texas as an example of ways we can be creative and proactive about doing that.

Waste of money for a state with only 2 "decently" sized cities, and I use the term "decent" very liberally...

Nor did I ever say we should be recruiting solely Nebraska kids or fielding a team of just Nebraska kids.

Actually you did insinuate that right here, "We should be recruiting to supplement and augment the talent available to us, what we HAVE. Nebraska has ignored what IT HAS for far, far too long. We should be deriving our identity as a team from what we have available to us, and add the pieces we need to be whole from there." That seems to indicate that we would supplement what "we HAVE" with talent from outside NE, unfortunately what "we HAVE" is virtually nothing from a football talent perspective. The rest of your argument confirmed this sentiment by suggesting that UN would somehow have a much better recruiting pool if they would contribute money in order to run football programs year round in the state of NE...

When I say local, I don't mean just Nebraska, I mean Missouri, Colorado, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming, The Dakotas, etc.

Unless you plan to get 100% of the quality recruits from every state that you listed there, this plan will never produce a Nebraska team that our fans would be satisfied with.

The state with 26 million also happens to have 12 FBS programs, or about 1 per 2 million or so.

Only 5 of these teams, MAYBE, are getting the quality of recruits that NE fans expect us to have...

Half of those teams could probably beat Nebraska right now.

Be honest, on their best day and probably not even our worst, every team on that list would have a 50/50 shot at beating NE, along with probably every FBS team in the nation, we suck, like seriously...

It is not impossible nor impractical to field a team with rosters composed with a majority of local talent. Nebraska did this for years. Good and great teams (that aren't in talent hotbeds) continue to do this today.

Again, please join me in 2015, this is no longer a viable option for Nebraska Football...

 

[Blackshirt_Revival]

I've said it before, I'll say it again, and I will keep saying it until I am red in the face:

Nebraska needs to stop worrying about 'out-recruiting' other schools who really don't need to work as hard at it as we would.

It is a fool's game (for us). It is a game Nebraska will never win and shouldn't worry about winning.

We need to dump this silly generic copycat impersonation shtick, and as fast as possible.

I am not saying we shouldn't recruit at all, we need to recruit, but not in the same way most everyone else does.

We should be recruiting to supplement and augment the talent available to us, what we HAVE.

Nebraska has ignored what IT HAS for far, far too long.

We should be deriving our identity as a team from what we have available to us, and add the pieces we need to be whole from there.

The University should be doing everything in its power with all that money they make from us fans to try to foster, re-ignite, and encourage the competition of our local football teams and improve the quality of our local talent. Clinics, camps, setting expectations, offering conditioning guidelines and scheme plans, you name it. Whatever it takes.

Look at all of the 7-on-7 leagues and intensive off-season programs and resources/activities Texas has for football. Being a football player is like a full-time deal. Do you see anything at all even remotely on this level occuring in Nebraska or the surrounding area?

As another example, I'm a huge advocate for trying to implement rugby at a greater degree at the high school level in the state of Nebraska. Don't you think that would toughen the hell out of some kids and get them accustomed to playing the kind of physical football we all love and expect to see (and miss dearly)?

Find a way to improve your local talent and encourage competitiveness! Investing some of that big money the program makes back into the local area in this manner would pay dividends.

Practically every high school in the state played a brand of football similar to what NU did during its glory years (not all with the same success, obviously, but with similar styles of play, unless the team had a QB who could really sling it). This functioned as a veritable 'farm system' for the Huskers during its best years.

Start with what you HAVE, start with your foundation, then look at what you NEED to supplement that to get what we all WANT (wins, championships).

This was our identity and what made us unique. This is what made Nebraska NEBRASKA.

You want to know why so many of these kids on the team today probably seem so erratic and anxious and on-edge? Besides the high expectations?

Because they have no place of refuge. They have no sanctuary besides each other. They are strangers in a strange land far from home where the expectations are super high and when they don't meet those expectations, it makes them feel commodified and dehumanized. They have nowhere else to turn. Although they are getting a lot from the university, a free education, a chance to wear the 'N' on the helmet (things most of us would have killed for), let's face it, it's not the same thing to most of them as it was to us, and this can lead to them understandably feeling used on some levels.

Having a team made up of largely local guys offers a built-in sanctuary as well as a litmus for what the expectations at Nebraska are. They know what the expectations are. They are used to the expectations here and how are fanbase is. They would be friends and family with them, and fans themselves for crying out loud! They could function as buffer between the fanbase and the out of area kids and make those kids from far away feel more at home. They can help them understand and appreciate what the red 'N' is all about and help them to become as passionate about it as they are. This is builds more camaraderie, unity, vision, and purpose, and most of all, an identity!

This is of all things is what has been sorely lacking with Nebraska for the past 10 years plus.

Until we get staff and administration in place that understands and appreciates this (in addition to the big money people), and can cultivate it and appropriately translate it all onto the field, I don't see Nebraska ever being truly great again for any sustained amount of time. I think that is the way it needs to be done here, they 'key to success' at Nebraska, if you will. It all starts with what you have.

This plan is fundamentally flawed, simply put you are comparing a state with over 26 million residents to one with less than 2 million... Nebraska as a state will never produce enough talented football players to fill even half of a team (at least not one that our fans would be satisfied with). In fact if we were going to go one way or the other, we would be best off not recruiting in NE at all vs. you're plan of trying to recruit most of our guys from here... No amount of high school practices will change this, we rank 37th in the country in population, if we try to do most of our recruiting from NE, our football program will be comparable to Kansas, who by the way has over 1 million more residents than we do...

The 1997 National Championship Cornhuskers football team begs to differ.

It's 2015, get with the times...

Oh, believe me, I am with the times. Have you been paying attention to Husker football in 2015?

And I never said we would produce as many talented kids as Texas.

Good, because we won't

Obviously.

What I am saying is we should be doing everything possible and looking at everything possible to maximize our local talent, and used what teams do in Texas as an example of ways we can be creative and proactive about doing that.

Waste of money for a state with only 2 "decently" sized cities, and I use the term "decent" very liberally...

We used to do things like this. It wouldn't really cost a lot or any extra money, it would be more a matter of allocation.

Nor did I ever say we should be recruiting solely Nebraska kids or fielding a team of just Nebraska kids.

Actually you did insinuate that right here, "We should be recruiting to supplement and augment the talent available to us, what we HAVE. Nebraska has ignored what IT HAS for far, far too long.

You start with what you have. You start in your backyard, obviously. But Nebraska didn't limit nor shouldn't limit its backyard to only the state of Nebraska. Nice Straw Man, though.

We should be deriving our identity as a team from what we have available to us, and add the pieces we need to be whole from there." That seems to indicate that we would supplement what "we HAVE" with talent from outside NE, unfortunately what "we HAVE" is virtually nothing from a football talent perspective. The rest of your argument confirmed this sentiment by suggesting that UN would somehow have a much better recruiting pool if they would contribute money in order to run football programs year round in the state of NE...

When I say local, I don't mean just Nebraska, I mean Missouri, Colorado, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming, The Dakotas, etc.

Unless you plan to get 100% of the quality recruits from every state that you listed there, this plan will never produce a Nebraska team that our fans would be satisfied with.

The state with 26 million also happens to have 12 FBS programs, or about 1 per 2 million or so.

Only 5 of these teams, MAYBE, are getting the quality of recruits that NE fans expect us to have...

Which is why you supplement/augment/compliment what you have with out of state/national talent. Like I'm pretty sure I said.

Half of those teams could probably beat Nebraska right now.

Be honest, on their best day and probably not even our worst, every team on that list would have a 50/50 shot at beating NE, along with probably every FBS team in the nation, we suck, like seriously...

It is not impossible nor impractical to field a team with rosters composed with a majority of local talent. Nebraska did this for years. Good and great teams (that aren't in talent hotbeds) continue to do this today.

Again, please join me in 2015, this is no longer a viable option for Nebraska Football...

Once again, I'm right here with you in 2015 seeing Nebraska doing things that obviously are not successful and have not worked, rather than following a blueprint (although admittedly one that would need to be somewhat altered compared to the 90s) that it had success with for decades.

My replies in blue

I guess my final take from all of this is that if I ever end up having kids, and they decide they want to pursue athletics, I'm going to have to relocate to Texas, California, or UTAH instead of Nebraska so they don't grow up destined to be un-athletic pansies.

 

[grandpasknee]

If teams like Utah can play at a high level and win, then so can a team with the tradition like Nebraska. We have way more to offer then they do, and they are not a recruiting hotbed either.

I"m not talking about having a few good years. Utah has never been a consistent top ten team. Boston College had their day too..but they've disappeared. I"m talking about being the "Nebraska" of old...perennial powerhouse, always top ten...

Utah has consistently been a better team than Nebraska for the last 15 years.
They have also had 2 undefeated seasons during that span.

I'm surprised Whittingham is still there. Maybe he is looking to lead a big time program like Urban Meyer when he jumped to Florida.

Well, it's not gunna be at Nebraska.

It pains me to say it but I think we're at best a lateral move compared to Utah.

This it the point of the poll...we are not now an elite team....is it reasonable to think we can be ever again? The lifelong fan in me hopes in the biggest way that we can. The adult "been around the block a time or two" says there is a chance we can't.

 

[Hunter94]

I've said it before, I'll say it again, and I will keep saying it until I am red in the face:

Nebraska needs to stop worrying about 'out-recruiting' other schools who really don't need to work as hard at it as we would.

It is a fool's game (for us). It is a game Nebraska will never win and shouldn't worry about winning.

We need to dump this silly generic copycat impersonation shtick, and as fast as possible.

I am not saying we shouldn't recruit at all, we need to recruit, but not in the same way most everyone else does.

We should be recruiting to supplement and augment the talent available to us, what we HAVE.

Nebraska has ignored what IT HAS for far, far too long.

We should be deriving our identity as a team from what we have available to us, and add the pieces we need to be whole from there.

The University should be doing everything in its power with all that money they make from us fans to try to foster, re-ignite, and encourage the competition of our local football teams and improve the quality of our local talent. Clinics, camps, setting expectations, offering conditioning guidelines and scheme plans, you name it. Whatever it takes.

Look at all of the 7-on-7 leagues and intensive off-season programs and resources/activities Texas has for football. Being a football player is like a full-time deal. Do you see anything at all even remotely on this level occuring in Nebraska or the surrounding area?

As another example, I'm a huge advocate for trying to implement rugby at a greater degree at the high school level in the state of Nebraska. Don't you think that would toughen the hell out of some kids and get them accustomed to playing the kind of physical football we all love and expect to see (and miss dearly)?

Find a way to improve your local talent and encourage competitiveness! Investing some of that big money the program makes back into the local area in this manner would pay dividends.

Practically every high school in the state played a brand of football similar to what NU did during its glory years (not all with the same success, obviously, but with similar styles of play, unless the team had a QB who could really sling it). This functioned as a veritable 'farm system' for the Huskers during its best years.

Start with what you HAVE, start with your foundation, then look at what you NEED to supplement that to get what we all WANT (wins, championships).

This was our identity and what made us unique. This is what made Nebraska NEBRASKA.

You want to know why so many of these kids on the team today probably seem so erratic and anxious and on-edge? Besides the high expectations?

Because they have no place of refuge. They have no sanctuary besides each other. They are strangers in a strange land far from home where the expectations are super high and when they don't meet those expectations, it makes them feel commodified and dehumanized. They have nowhere else to turn. Although they are getting a lot from the university, a free education, a chance to wear the 'N' on the helmet (things most of us would have killed for), let's face it, it's not the same thing to most of them as it was to us, and this can lead to them understandably feeling used on some levels.

Having a team made up of largely local guys offers a built-in sanctuary as well as a litmus for what the expectations at Nebraska are. They know what the expectations are. They are used to the expectations here and how are fanbase is. They would be friends and family with them, and fans themselves for crying out loud! They could function as buffer between the fanbase and the out of area kids and make those kids from far away feel more at home. They can help them understand and appreciate what the red 'N' is all about and help them to become as passionate about it as they are. This is builds more camaraderie, unity, vision, and purpose, and most of all, an identity!

This is of all things is what has been sorely lacking with Nebraska for the past 10 years plus.

Until we get staff and administration in place that understands and appreciates this (in addition to the big money people), and can cultivate it and appropriately translate it all onto the field, I don't see Nebraska ever being truly great again for any sustained amount of time. I think that is the way it needs to be done here, they 'key to success' at Nebraska, if you will. It all starts with what you have.

This plan is fundamentally flawed, simply put you are comparing a state with over 26 million residents to one with less than 2 million... Nebraska as a state will never produce enough talented football players to fill even half of a team (at least not one that our fans would be satisfied with). In fact if we were going to go one way or the other, we would be best off not recruiting in NE at all vs. you're plan of trying to recruit most of our guys from here... No amount of high school practices will change this, we rank 37th in the country in population, if we try to do most of our recruiting from NE, our football program will be comparable to Kansas, who by the way has over 1 million more residents than we do...

it starts with the f'ing AD...........we have had a bunch of idiots for AD's...........we currently have one now....pull the damn weed out by the roots or it never dies.

 

[84HuskerLaw]

I've said it before, I'll say it again, and I will keep saying it until I am red in the face:

Nebraska needs to stop worrying about 'out-recruiting' other schools who really don't need to work as hard at it as we would.

It is a fool's game (for us). It is a game Nebraska will never win and shouldn't worry about winning.

We need to dump this silly generic copycat impersonation shtick, and as fast as possible.

I am not saying we shouldn't recruit at all, we need to recruit, but not in the same way most everyone else does.

We should be recruiting to supplement and augment the talent available to us, what we HAVE.

Nebraska has ignored what IT HAS for far, far too long.

We should be deriving our identity as a team from what we have available to us, and add the pieces we need to be whole from there.

The University should be doing everything in its power with all that money they make from us fans to try to foster, re-ignite, and encourage the competition of our local football teams and improve the quality of our local talent. Clinics, camps, setting expectations, offering conditioning guidelines and scheme plans, you name it. Whatever it takes.

Look at all of the 7-on-7 leagues and intensive off-season programs and resources/activities Texas has for football. Being a football player is like a full-time deal. Do you see anything at all even remotely on this level occuring in Nebraska or the surrounding area?

As another example, I'm a huge advocate for trying to implement rugby at a greater degree at the high school level in the state of Nebraska. Don't you think that would toughen the hell out of some kids and get them accustomed to playing the kind of physical football we all love and expect to see (and miss dearly)?

Find a way to improve your local talent and encourage competitiveness! Investing some of that big money the program makes back into the local area in this manner would pay dividends.

Practically every high school in the state played a brand of football similar to what NU did during its glory years (not all with the same success, obviously, but with similar styles of play, unless the team had a QB who could really sling it). This functioned as a veritable 'farm system' for the Huskers during its best years.

Start with what you HAVE, start with your foundation, then look at what you NEED to supplement that to get what we all WANT (wins, championships).

This was our identity and what made us unique. This is what made Nebraska NEBRASKA.

You want to know why so many of these kids on the team today probably seem so erratic and anxious and on-edge? Besides the high expectations?

Because they have no place of refuge. They have no sanctuary besides each other. They are strangers in a strange land far from home where the expectations are super high and when they don't meet those expectations, it makes them feel commodified and dehumanized. They have nowhere else to turn. Although they are getting a lot from the university, a free education, a chance to wear the 'N' on the helmet (things most of us would have killed for), let's face it, it's not the same thing to most of them as it was to us, and this can lead to them understandably feeling used on some levels.

Having a team made up of largely local guys offers a built-in sanctuary as well as a litmus for what the expectations at Nebraska are. They know what the expectations are. They are used to the expectations here and how are fanbase is. They would be friends and family with them, and fans themselves for crying out loud! They could function as buffer between the fanbase and the out of area kids and make those kids from far away feel more at home. They can help them understand and appreciate what the red 'N' is all about and help them to become as passionate about it as they are. This is builds more camaraderie, unity, vision, and purpose, and most of all, an identity!

This is of all things is what has been sorely lacking with Nebraska for the past 10 years plus.

Until we get staff and administration in place that understands and appreciates this (in addition to the big money people), and can cultivate it and appropriately translate it all onto the field, I don't see Nebraska ever being truly great again for any sustained amount of time. I think that is the way it needs to be done here, they 'key to success' at Nebraska, if you will. It all starts with what you have.

This is the essence of what the walk on program used to be. Sadly, when Frank was HC, he just didn't recruit as during the late 90s, recruits were literally calling us and we had 5 stars willing to walk on from all over the country almost. Frank kept bringing in walk ons but they were not 'recruited' (evaluated and selected properly). He was letting grad assistants and who knows do the selecting and watching of H.S. film, etc. He was too busy doing not much as the head man. The same goes for the scholarship kids as well. The result: so quickly our team talent level dropped like a rock. Walk ons were far from 'ready for prime time players' and when Callahan got here, he dumped the walk on program because by the time he got here it looked (rightly so) as basically a waste of his valuable coaching and practice time to spend it on kids who where nowhere near top D-1 caliber, no matter how much heart or drive or desire they had.

But the notion that we need the local kids to build from is correct. We need the true heart, desire, love and admiration they bring in (the want to do or die for the Big Red) which can hopefully for many great players recruited from beyond our immediate area translate into the determination and effort it takes to become the best. High school kids growing up in today's immediate, video game vicarious world spend more time playing football on their tech equipment than in the backyard. They are very athleticly capable but not necessarily physically tested and driven.

We need to recruit talent but the talent must have a 'Husker heart' and bleed Husker red. Beyond that, we do need an excellent X & Os coaching staff and a national household name Head Coach that can truly attract the eilite players to complete the roster and gives us the speed and athleticism 3 deep to be Top Ten competitive consistently.

 

[NowSimplyAHusk]

I've said it before, I'll say it again, and I will keep saying it until I am red in the face:

Nebraska needs to stop worrying about 'out-recruiting' other schools who really don't need to work as hard at it as we would.

It is a fool's game (for us). It is a game Nebraska will never win and shouldn't worry about winning.

We need to dump this silly generic copycat impersonation shtick, and as fast as possible.

I am not saying we shouldn't recruit at all, we need to recruit, but not in the same way most everyone else does.

We should be recruiting to supplement and augment the talent available to us, what we HAVE.

Nebraska has ignored what IT HAS for far, far too long.

We should be deriving our identity as a team from what we have available to us, and add the pieces we need to be whole from there.

The University should be doing everything in its power with all that money they make from us fans to try to foster, re-ignite, and encourage the competition of our local football teams and improve the quality of our local talent. Clinics, camps, setting expectations, offering conditioning guidelines and scheme plans, you name it. Whatever it takes.

Look at all of the 7-on-7 leagues and intensive off-season programs and resources/activities Texas has for football. Being a football player is like a full-time deal. Do you see anything at all even remotely on this level occuring in Nebraska or the surrounding area?

As another example, I'm a huge advocate for trying to implement rugby at a greater degree at the high school level in the state of Nebraska. Don't you think that would toughen the hell out of some kids and get them accustomed to playing the kind of physical football we all love and expect to see (and miss dearly)?

Find a way to improve your local talent and encourage competitiveness! Investing some of that big money the program makes back into the local area in this manner would pay dividends.

Practically every high school in the state played a brand of football similar to what NU did during its glory years (not all with the same success, obviously, but with similar styles of play, unless the team had a QB who could really sling it). This functioned as a veritable 'farm system' for the Huskers during its best years.

Start with what you HAVE, start with your foundation, then look at what you NEED to supplement that to get what we all WANT (wins, championships).

This was our identity and what made us unique. This is what made Nebraska NEBRASKA.

You want to know why so many of these kids on the team today probably seem so erratic and anxious and on-edge? Besides the high expectations?

Because they have no place of refuge. They have no sanctuary besides each other. They are strangers in a strange land far from home where the expectations are super high and when they don't meet those expectations, it makes them feel commodified and dehumanized. They have nowhere else to turn. Although they are getting a lot from the university, a free education, a chance to wear the 'N' on the helmet (things most of us would have killed for), let's face it, it's not the same thing to most of them as it was to us, and this can lead to them understandably feeling used on some levels.

Having a team made up of largely local guys offers a built-in sanctuary as well as a litmus for what the expectations at Nebraska are. They know what the expectations are. They are used to the expectations here and how are fanbase is. They would be friends and family with them, and fans themselves for crying out loud! They could function as buffer between the fanbase and the out of area kids and make those kids from far away feel more at home. They can help them understand and appreciate what the red 'N' is all about and help them to become as passionate about it as they are. This is builds more camaraderie, unity, vision, and purpose, and most of all, an identity!

This is of all things is what has been sorely lacking with Nebraska for the past 10 years plus.

Until we get staff and administration in place that understands and appreciates this (in addition to the big money people), and can cultivate it and appropriately translate it all onto the field, I don't see Nebraska ever being truly great again for any sustained amount of time. I think that is the way it needs to be done here, they 'key to success' at Nebraska, if you will. It all starts with what you have.

This plan is fundamentally flawed, simply put you are comparing a state with over 26 million residents to one with less than 2 million... Nebraska as a state will never produce enough talented football players to fill even half of a team (at least not one that our fans would be satisfied with). In fact if we were going to go one way or the other, we would be best off not recruiting in NE at all vs. you're plan of trying to recruit most of our guys from here... No amount of high school practices will change this, we rank 37th in the country in population, if we try to do most of our recruiting from NE, our football program will be comparable to Kansas, who by the way has over 1 million more residents than we do...

The 1997 National Championship Cornhuskers football team begs to differ.

It's 2015, get with the times...

Oh, believe me, I am with the times. Have you been paying attention to Husker football in 2015?

And I never said we would produce as many talented kids as Texas.

Good, because we won't

Obviously.

What I am saying is we should be doing everything possible and looking at everything possible to maximize our local talent, and used what teams do in Texas as an example of ways we can be creative and proactive about doing that.

Waste of money for a state with only 2 "decently" sized cities, and I use the term "decent" very liberally...

We used to do things like this. It wouldn't really cost a lot or any extra money, it would be more a matter of allocation.

Nor did I ever say we should be recruiting solely Nebraska kids or fielding a team of just Nebraska kids.

Actually you did insinuate that right here, "We should be recruiting to supplement and augment the talent available to us, what we HAVE. Nebraska has ignored what IT HAS for far, far too long.

You start with what you have. You start in your backyard, obviously. But Nebraska didn't limit nor shouldn't limit its backyard to only the state of Nebraska. Nice Straw Man, though.

We should be deriving our identity as a team from what we have available to us, and add the pieces we need to be whole from there." That seems to indicate that we would supplement what "we HAVE" with talent from outside NE, unfortunately what "we HAVE" is virtually nothing from a football talent perspective. The rest of your argument confirmed this sentiment by suggesting that UN would somehow have a much better recruiting pool if they would contribute money in order to run football programs year round in the state of NE...

When I say local, I don't mean just Nebraska, I mean Missouri, Colorado, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming, The Dakotas, etc.

Unless you plan to get 100% of the quality recruits from every state that you listed there, this plan will never produce a Nebraska team that our fans would be satisfied with.

The state with 26 million also happens to have 12 FBS programs, or about 1 per 2 million or so.

Only 5 of these teams, MAYBE, are getting the quality of recruits that NE fans expect us to have...

Which is why you supplement/augment/compliment what you have with out of state/national talent. Like I'm pretty sure I said.

Half of those teams could probably beat Nebraska right now.

Be honest, on their best day and probably not even our worst, every team on that list would have a 50/50 shot at beating NE, along with probably every FBS team in the nation, we suck, like seriously...

It is not impossible nor impractical to field a team with rosters composed with a majority of local talent. Nebraska did this for years. Good and great teams (that aren't in talent hotbeds) continue to do this today.

Again, please join me in 2015, this is no longer a viable option for Nebraska Football...

Once again, I'm right here with you in 2015 seeing Nebraska doing things that obviously are not successful and have not worked, rather than following a blueprint (although admittedly one that would need to be somewhat altered compared to the 90s) that it had success with for decades.

My replies in blue

I guess my final take from all of this is that if I ever end up having kids, and they decide they want to pursue athletics, I'm going to have to relocate to Texas, California, or UTAH instead of Nebraska so they don't grow up destined to be un-athletic pansies.

Look man, I can see your points, I was pretty irritated last night. I just think the college football landscape has changed too much to recruit significantly in the mid-west anymore. Something has to change with recruiting (as well as a multitude of other things), I'm sure I don't have the absolute answer, otherwise I'd go propose it and try to get a sweet coaching gig, haha. I just know somethings got to change, and I'd rather move forward than try to relive what we once were, I'm sure some disagree, maybe their right, I just hope whatever comes next ends up being the right move for this program...