Coach Riley Press Conference Transcript

[Joe_5700]

Other than the typos and the lack of correcting - spoken words don't always read like carefully drafted, proofread and corrected prose - seems like a reasonably good discussion by Riley. Not sure the exact questions as they are not given. But interesting. Reads like something provided by a coach with 40 years of experience. Nothing surprising there. Only real news is the recruiting item and of course only time will tell on this. I have to believe Riley will do reasonably well in recruiting based on his personality and demeanor. I have not met him in person nor of course had any long conversations so I don't know him in that sense. Based on all that I have seen from his pressers and the many articles and so on, he comes off to me to be a very good and sincere and honest and decent man. Someone that almost rational parent and kid would feel comfortable being around. I can't imagine any recruit or his parents or coaches saying after a recruiting visit "I don't like the man and would not want to play for him!" He should have some success based on that - at least he won't repel the recruits being some kiind of jerk or a$$ personally.

He will recruit as well as anyone in the circumstances, in my opinion. Now, can he go out and recruit the nation's top class? I don't think so. However, based on the way Obrien and a number of the current commit such as the Spielman kid in Minneapolis where I currently live are doing, he is doing well. We have two of the best from California and the best from Minnesota. I suspect a few others are doing well. Now, we need about 8 more of this caliber to have a 'great' class. I doubt we can do that with the negativity associated with the program. Hopefully, all the talk of firing Riley doesn't scare away these guys because he was doing pretty well all things considered.

Let's see what he can do. Fire him without the big time 'splash' hire (there are NONE available guys) and you will do much more harm than good.

Yeah, I pretty much agree with everything said here. Had Riley been hired six or seven years ago, he would have been a splash hire. When Rich Rod was hired by Michigan, he was thought to have been a splash hire. We've seen plenty of splash hires not work out. I do agree that there really aren't any available guys out there that would be a splash hire for here.

I also hope we don't scare away recruits, but I can't say I'd blame a recruit for keeping their distance from Nebraska. Most recruits will spend four to five years of their lives at the college they commit to. When one looks at our current situation, it would be a bit tough to make that sort of commitment.

This is a tough question. Pretend you are a recruit for a moment. If Riley is retained, do you want to commit to NU? If Riley is fired, would you commit to NU? I think either choice has its own set of consequences...

 

[Waterloohusker26]

Yeah, I have pretty much resigned myself to this. He'll be here one more year, so the most we can do is hope for the best. This OBrien kid better light the world on fire, though.

Who is the last prostyle QB to light the world on fire at any point, let alone as a freshman? Connor is pointed to as a prototype for Riley and Langs, but he's an average QB at the college level.

That's what I don't get about those pinning hopes and dreams on POB, who could just as easily be another Harrison Beck or Hackenburg

Jameis Winston?

yeah, that's a solid example. wonder if he'd fit what Riley was looking for, though.

also wonder if it's realistic to expect that from just about anyone else? That FSU team had a perfect storm going for them. I seem to recall them being utterly dominant on defense and ringing up some huge scores on lesser teams (e.g., 80 points on Idaho).

Everything starts with strong QB play. Look at FSU this year and what they are struggling with. If we want to contend with the big boys we have to have a SOLID QB

 

[Landlord]

Pro-style quarterbacks who lit the world on fire recently?

Andrew Luck

Russell Wilson

Jameis Winston

Robert Griffin III

Sam Bradford

Blake Bortles

Aaron Murray

Kellen Moore

Brett Hundley

Brad Kaaya

Christian Hackenberg's freshman season

Cody Kessler

Connor Cook (an average quarterback CC is not. Two time all conference second team, 30-3 record as a starter, very, very far from any definition of the term average)

Kyle Allen

Jared Goff

 

[Joe_5700]

Yeah, I have pretty much resigned myself to this. He'll be here one more year, so the most we can do is hope for the best. This OBrien kid better light the world on fire, though.

Who is the last prostyle QB to light the world on fire at any point, let alone as a freshman? Connor is pointed to as a prototype for Riley and Langs, but he's an average QB at the college level.

That's what I don't get about those pinning hopes and dreams on POB, who could just as easily be another Harrison Beck or Hackenburg

Jameis Winston?

yeah, that's a solid example. wonder if he'd fit what Riley was looking for, though.

also wonder if it's realistic to expect that from just about anyone else? That FSU team had a perfect storm going for them. I seem to recall them being utterly dominant on defense and ringing up some huge scores on lesser teams (e.g., 80 points on Idaho).

Everything starts with strong QB play. Look at FSU this year and what they are struggling with. If we want to contend with the big boys we have to have a SOLID QB

First you need a good offensive line. A terrible line makes even the greatest QB look really bad. Remember what happened to Peyton Manning against Nebraska? His line got whipped.

 

[SouthLincoln Husker]

Yeah, I have pretty much resigned myself to this. He'll be here one more year, so the most we can do is hope for the best. This OBrien kid better light the world on fire, though.

Who is the last prostyle QB to light the world on fire at any point, let alone as a freshman? Connor is pointed to as a prototype for Riley and Langs, but he's an average QB at the college level.

That's what I don't get about those pinning hopes and dreams on POB, who could just as easily be another Harrison Beck or Hackenburg

Jameis Winston?

yeah, that's a solid example. wonder if he'd fit what Riley was looking for, though.

also wonder if it's realistic to expect that from just about anyone else? That FSU team had a perfect storm going for them. I seem to recall them being utterly dominant on defense and ringing up some huge scores on lesser teams (e.g., 80 points on Idaho).

Everything starts with strong QB play. Look at FSU this year and what they are struggling with. If we want to contend with the big boys we have to have a SOLID QB

First you need a good offensive line. A terrible line makes even the greatest QB look really bad. Remember what happened to Peyton Manning against Nebraska? His line got whipped.

I agree, but both offense & defense starts with line play. Offensively, we are horrible and defensively, we need some athletic DEs.

 

[cm husker]

Pro-style quarterbacks who lit the world on fire recently?

Andrew Luck

Russell Wilson

Jameis Winston

Robert Griffin III

Sam Bradford

Blake Bortles

Aaron Murray

Kellen Moore

Brett Hundley

Brad Kaaya

Christian Hackenberg's freshman season

Cody Kessler

Connor Cook (an average quarterback CC is not. Two time all conference second team, 30-3 record as a starter, very, very far from any definition of the term average)

Kyle Allen

Jared Goff

In their freshman year? Not true. And guys like RGIII was hardly a prostyle QB in college (or the pros, for that matter).

That's a meager list, especially when you look at things like championships won.

 

[cm husker]

Yeah, I have pretty much resigned myself to this. He'll be here one more year, so the most we can do is hope for the best. This OBrien kid better light the world on fire, though.

Who is the last prostyle QB to light the world on fire at any point, let alone as a freshman? Connor is pointed to as a prototype for Riley and Langs, but he's an average QB at the college level.

That's what I don't get about those pinning hopes and dreams on POB, who could just as easily be another Harrison Beck or Hackenburg

Jameis Winston?

yeah, that's a solid example. wonder if he'd fit what Riley was looking for, though.

also wonder if it's realistic to expect that from just about anyone else? That FSU team had a perfect storm going for them. I seem to recall them being utterly dominant on defense and ringing up some huge scores on lesser teams (e.g., 80 points on Idaho).

Everything starts with strong QB play. Look at FSU this year and what they are struggling with. If we want to contend with the big boys we have to have a SOLID QB

We have that in Armstrong. He's just being squandered by the playcalling.

 

[Waterloohusker26]

Yeah, I have pretty much resigned myself to this. He'll be here one more year, so the most we can do is hope for the best. This OBrien kid better light the world on fire, though.

Who is the last prostyle QB to light the world on fire at any point, let alone as a freshman? Connor is pointed to as a prototype for Riley and Langs, but he's an average QB at the college level.

That's what I don't get about those pinning hopes and dreams on POB, who could just as easily be another Harrison Beck or Hackenburg

Jameis Winston?

yeah, that's a solid example. wonder if he'd fit what Riley was looking for, though.

also wonder if it's realistic to expect that from just about anyone else? That FSU team had a perfect storm going for them. I seem to recall them being utterly dominant on defense and ringing up some huge scores on lesser teams (e.g., 80 points on Idaho).

Everything starts with strong QB play. Look at FSU this year and what they are struggling with. If we want to contend with the big boys we have to have a SOLID QB

First you need a good offensive line. A terrible line makes even the greatest QB look really bad. Remember what happened to Peyton Manning against Nebraska? His line got whipped.

Can't really have one without the other

 

[Waterloohusker26]

Yeah, I have pretty much resigned myself to this. He'll be here one more year, so the most we can do is hope for the best. This OBrien kid better light the world on fire, though.

Who is the last prostyle QB to light the world on fire at any point, let alone as a freshman? Connor is pointed to as a prototype for Riley and Langs, but he's an average QB at the college level.

That's what I don't get about those pinning hopes and dreams on POB, who could just as easily be another Harrison Beck or Hackenburg

Jameis Winston?

yeah, that's a solid example. wonder if he'd fit what Riley was looking for, though.

also wonder if it's realistic to expect that from just about anyone else? That FSU team had a perfect storm going for them. I seem to recall them being utterly dominant on defense and ringing up some huge scores on lesser teams (e.g., 80 points on Idaho).

Everything starts with strong QB play. Look at FSU this year and what they are struggling with. If we want to contend with the big boys we have to have a SOLID QB

We have that in Armstrong. He's just being squandered by the playcalling.

I would certainly say Tommy at times can be ok but he is far from solid

 

[cm husker]

Yeah, I have pretty much resigned myself to this. He'll be here one more year, so the most we can do is hope for the best. This OBrien kid better light the world on fire, though.

Who is the last prostyle QB to light the world on fire at any point, let alone as a freshman? Connor is pointed to as a prototype for Riley and Langs, but he's an average QB at the college level.

That's what I don't get about those pinning hopes and dreams on POB, who could just as easily be another Harrison Beck or Hackenburg

Jameis Winston?

yeah, that's a solid example. wonder if he'd fit what Riley was looking for, though.

also wonder if it's realistic to expect that from just about anyone else? That FSU team had a perfect storm going for them. I seem to recall them being utterly dominant on defense and ringing up some huge scores on lesser teams (e.g., 80 points on Idaho).

Everything starts with strong QB play. Look at FSU this year and what they are struggling with. If we want to contend with the big boys we have to have a SOLID QB

We have that in Armstrong. He's just being squandered by the playcalling.

I would certainly say Tommy at times can be ok but he is far from solid

He was tracking as well or better than Cook most of his career when doing a class year to class year match up.

He has a cannon of an arm and is 10x the athlete. He's also as good or better as a competitor.

People want to moan about his short passing game, but he's asked to do so much dumb stuff. Secondly, it's not always just about the QB. I remember him being quite adept in the screen game last year. It's more than likely that his RB receivers are not getting to the right places on the field in terms of route running, and in a timing/precision system, that can cause an accurate pass to look bad. Sort of like when a QB doesn't move correctly in the pocket and takes a sack as a result.

 

[Hujan]

Pro-style quarterbacks who lit the world on fire recently?

Andrew Luck

Russell Wilson

Jameis Winston

Robert Griffin III

Sam Bradford

Blake Bortles

Aaron Murray

Kellen Moore

Brett Hundley

Brad Kaaya

Christian Hackenberg's freshman season

Cody Kessler

Connor Cook (an average quarterback CC is not. Two time all conference second team, 30-3 record as a starter, very, very far from any definition of the term average)

Kyle Allen

Jared Goff

Boldfaced were not "Pro-style" QBs in college. Not be a long shot.

 

[suh_fan93]

Yeah, I have pretty much resigned myself to this. He'll be here one more year, so the most we can do is hope for the best. This OBrien kid better light the world on fire, though.

Even if Riley got any QB who happened to turn into a gamer I would still want him and his staff to be replaced. That would just be a band aid on a bullet wound.

 

[Landlord]

Boldfaced were not "Pro-style" QBs in college. Not be a long shot.

In their freshman year? Not true. And guys like RGIII was hardly a prostyle QB in college (or the pros, for that matter).

That's a meager list, especially when you look at things like championships won.

RGIII is a stretch, even though his college career was, imo, more prototypical dropback and pocket passing than it was options and dual-threat QB play.

Russell Wilson, however, was and is most definitely a pro-style QB, who happens to have some mobility. Same with Brett Hundley. Played as a pro-style quarterback who happened to be a great athlete. They were dual-threat recruits, but they ran in pro-style schemes in their college careers.

Wilson under Dana Bible and and Matt Canada, Hundley under Noel Mazzone, who blends a number of different philosophies but still maintains a fairly normal one-back, multiple system.

 

[Dansker]

Other than the typos and the lack of correcting - spoken words don't always read like carefully drafted, proofread and corrected prose - seems like a reasonably good discussion by Riley. Not sure the exact questions as they are not given. But interesting. Reads like something provided by a coach with 40 years of experience. Nothing surprising there. Only real news is the recruiting item and of course only time will tell on this. I have to believe Riley will do reasonably well in recruiting based on his personality and demeanor. I have not met him in person nor of course had any long conversations so I don't know him in that sense. Based on all that I have seen from his pressers and the many articles and so on, he comes off to me to be a very good and sincere and honest and decent man. Someone that almost rational parent and kid would feel comfortable being around. I can't imagine any recruit or his parents or coaches saying after a recruiting visit "I don't like the man and would not want to play for him!" He should have some success based on that - at least he won't repel the recruits being some kiind of jerk or a$$ personally.

He will recruit as well as anyone in the circumstances, in my opinion. Now, can he go out and recruit the nation's top class? I don't think so. However, based on the way Obrien and a number of the current commit such as the Spielman kid in Minneapolis where I currently live are doing, he is doing well. We have two of the best from California and the best from Minnesota. I suspect a few others are doing well. Now, we need about 8 more of this caliber to have a 'great' class. I doubt we can do that with the negativity associated with the program. Hopefully, all the talk of firing Riley doesn't scare away these guys because he was doing pretty well all things considered.

Let's see what he can do. Fire him without the big time 'splash' hire (there are NONE available guys) and you will do much more harm than good.

Losing a few recruits from a 40th ranked recruiting class isn't going to do nearly as much damage as Riley will do with another season. But, we're probably stuck with him anyway.

One more year couldn't hurt, right? Don't worry, this'll be us when this regime ends.

 

[Husker67]

I think my favourite quote in this whole thing was the one where Riley says "There are better days ahead, I am more confident of that now than ever."

Well, ok, by definition losing to Purdue, a team with on year this year, none in the conference, is pretty much as low as it can go. So, naturally, there have to be nothing but better days ahead. This may not be the absolute rock bottom for this once-proud program (barring off-field incidents, and such) but as far as a pure win-loss standpoint, Riley is totally correct on this one, there can be nothing but better days ahead, it can't get any worse, can it?