CB Brendan Radley-Hiles [Oklahoma - Signed LOI]

[Mavric]

How does that add up in your mind?  I'm not disagreeing actually, but it doesn't add up.

If Bookie cooled on us when he started doing the Florida tweeting (a couple months ago) that was well before A) We put a poor product on the field w/l wise... and B) the likely exit of Riley

Because "cooled" is not the same thing as "decided to go elsewhere".

 

[Huskers93-97]

Guess we better fold up shop, we have never had to salvage a recruiting class after firing a coach before...

Well said. Everyone needs to remember all the teams that are good now had to fire the previous coach to get the guy they have now. 

 

[bugeater17]

This just further solidifies why Riley needs to be and will be gone after the season. Nail in coffin. 

 

[Redux]

This just further solidifies why Riley needs to be and will be gone after the season. Nail in coffin. 

This is hardly the nail in the coffin

 

[Dagerow]

He is a really special player and this certainly hurts, but I respect and understand his decision.  He did it with class.  All I ask is that he gives the new coach a chance.  But irrespective, he was great at pier recruiting (in addition to being one of the best recruits in years).  That will also hurt.

 

[khaake]

Again, the primary pull NU has had for recruits is the Nebraska family sell. There are others, to be sure, but the thing that made us stand out is the idea of family, and Riley was able to sell that in spades. Firing him completely takes away that advantage. We are left with what is and has been a mediocre program for nearly as long as these kids have been alive, located in an area which isn't going to be a selling point. Great facilities, sure. A great fan base. Sure. But it's a fan base who is obviously very willing to fire a coach after three years. These recruits will have no idea who they will be playing for, or even if that coach will still be around by their senior season.

 

[Huskers93-97]

Something to ponder. Is our location really that big of a deal? I find that hard to believe given that Nebraska is a top 5 all time winning program. If talent was so hard to come by, how did we get all those wins. 

Would it be fair to say schools like Florida, USC, Texas etc all under perform since they should all be a top 5 program every year  with all the talent around them. 

I think it all points to the head coach is what matters the most. Recruits follow great coaches. 

Just my opinion that we have everything you need to succeed here. 

 

[Throw Dem Bones]

Something to ponder. Is our location really that big of a deal? I find that hard to believe given that Nebraska is a top 5 all time winning program. If talent was so hard to come by, how did we get all those wins. 

Would it be fair to say schools like Florida, USC, Texas etc all under perform since they should all be a top 5 program every year  with all the talent around them. 

I think it all points to the head coach is what matters the most. Recruits follow great coaches. 

Just my opinion that we have everything you need to succeed here. 

We got a lot of wins with partial qualifiers since back there wasn't a lot of restrictions to them. So these top players like an elijah blades could've been N as a partial qualifier or non-qualifier instead of going to JUCO.

So to answer your question... Yes it is hard to bring top talent to Nebraska from all over the US especially when we haven't won a conf title in 15+ years and aren't very competitive with top teams now. Places like FL USC and Texas have under-performed primarily because of the combo of coaching and being able to manage the personalities of such talent. Florida has won big in the last 5-10 years but has issues with players thinking they can do whatever they want, USC has become relevant after getting sanctions removed but deal with the same egos and Texas isn't far off from being where they want to be. 

 

[Huskers93-97]

We got a lot of wins with partial qualifiers since back there wasn't a lot of restrictions to them. So these top players like an elijah blades could've been N as a partial qualifier or non-qualifier instead of going to JUCO.

So to answer your question... Yes it is hard to bring top talent to Nebraska from all over the US especially when we haven't won a conf title in 15+ years and aren't very competitive with top teams now. Places like FL USC and Texas have under-performed primarily because of the combo of coaching and being able to manage the personalities of such talent. Florida has won big in the last 5-10 years but has issues with players thinking they can do whatever they want, USC has become relevant after getting sanctions removed but deal with the same egos and Texas isn't far off from being where they want to be. 

You have some good points. I just have seen this similar narrative about Notre Dame and the big ten in general. The big ten is dead, the population and talent has gone south Bla bla bla. Notre dame is back and so is the big 10. So will Nebraska with the right coach.

but back to bookie before the thread nazi's get upset 

 

[Ratt Mhule]

Something to ponder. Is our location really that big of a deal? I find that hard to believe given that Nebraska is a top 5 all time winning program. If talent was so hard to come by, how did we get all those wins. 

Would it be fair to say schools like Florida, USC, Texas etc all under perform since they should all be a top 5 program every year  with all the talent around them. 

I think it all points to the head coach is what matters the most. Recruits follow great coaches. 

Just my opinion that we have everything you need to succeed here. 

Players want to play for winning programs and winning coaches. If we were winning and in the national spotlight, the players would follow. If Nick Saban was our coach, we would have top 10 recruiting classes year in and year out. And then what would the talking heads have to say if they cant push the "its hard to recruit to Nebraska narrative". Right now its easy because we have had losing coaches and seasons so it must be the fact we cant get players to come here. No possible way its crap coaching...

 

[PaulCrewe]

Players commit more to coaches than any other asset a program has.  Tradition???  Not much of that in the recruits life from DONU.  Facilities???   Every other school is catching/ has caught up with DONU.  He’ll Northwestern is about to have an amazing sports complex.  Academic help/guidance????  Seriously, it’s an after the fact benefit and not a priority to majority of kids these days, they just want to get to the league and life will kick them in the a$$ when that ends.

So what is the preface of all this?????  Let’s play Super What If(and this IS NOT going to occur) BUT let’s say a miracle happens NU wins out and MR is retained.   Would Bookie stay true to MR????  I say nope based on the last five months.

 

[Thanks_Tom RR]

Players commit more to coaches than any other asset a program has.  Tradition???  Not much of that in the recruits life from DONU.  Facilities???   Every other school is catching/ has caught up with DONU.  He’ll Northwestern is about to have an amazing sports complex.  Academic help/guidance????  Seriously, it’s an after the fact benefit and not a priority to majority of kids these days, they just want to get to the league and life will kick them in the a$$ when that ends.

So what is the preface of all this?????  Let’s play Super What If(and this IS NOT going to occur) BUT let’s say a miracle happens NU wins out and MR is retained.   Would Bookie stay true to MR????  I say nope based on the last five months.

I feel that this is true mostly for out-of-state recruits, but not so for in-state recruits. This, coupled to the low levels of in-state recruiting, is why Nebraska's coaching carrousel hurts recruiting classes during a coaching change.

 

[HuskermanMike]

You want Donte to stay? Have you seen our corners play? 

Eh, they haven't played great, but the system is meant to not give up big plays. Keep the guy in front of you and don't let him beat you deep, that is how they are supposed to play. I agree they haven't been playing great, but Frost gets one more assistant to add to his arsenal, so why not Donte? He could be the recruiting coordinator and cornerbacks coach. He also has ties to Florida and California, you need a recruiter like him to take your team to the next level. I also think the DC Frost brings will have them play a more aggressive and attacking style for the CB's, which instills confidence in them.

Back to Bookie, I think Riley is the reason he came here, now that he knowa Mike is gone he left. Maybe if we retain Donte we could have a shot at him down the road, but I will not get my hopes up because he wants to play for a proven winner. Not sure he starts day one at Clemson, but he will get coached correctly where he can take that next step. OU he might get playing time his Freshman year but I do not know their depth chart well enough to say whether he will play or not. 

 

[GBRFAN]

Riley needs to go. I am not messing around, if he is back next year I am out.

Wonder if they do 1 day contracts in college similar to the pros

 

[Huskers93-97]

Eh, they haven't played great, but the system is meant to not give up big plays. Keep the guy in front of you and don't let him beat you deep, that is how they are supposed to play. I agree they haven't been playing great, but Frost gets one more assistant to add to his arsenal, so why not Donte? He could be the recruiting coordinator and cornerbacks coach. He also has ties to Florida and California, you need a recruiter like him to take your team to the next level. I also think the DC Frost brings will have them play a more aggressive and attacking style for the CB's, which instills confidence in them.

Back to Bookie, I think Riley is the reason he came here, now that he knowa Mike is gone he left. Maybe if we retain Donte we could have a shot at him down the road, but I will not get my hopes up because he wants to play for a proven winner. Not sure he starts day one at Clemson, but he will get coached correctly where he can take that next step. OU he might get playing time his Freshman year but I do not know their depth chart well enough to say whether he will play or not. 

We don't know the full reason why he decommitted but I don't think it is because he knows or thinks Riley is getting fired. He said in his statement he was solid through April 2017. His first signs of maybe he was having doubts was all the twitter drama and Florida hat stuff back in July. That was before the season even started and every fan was thinking Riley was turning the corner and building great recruiting class. So seems like he was having doubts before the season so the doubts didn't start due to wins or losses. It maybe helped push him to the decommittment but he already had doubts . 

Wish we knew what started his doubts over the summer