Comparing Nebraska's most colorful coaches of late

NUpolo8

Banned
Hi everyone, NUpolo8 here!

(Ducks vegetables and rotten fruit)

Ok, we got that out of the way, good. Now, obviously of late, there has been two chief topics on this board, Nebrasketball and Bo Pelini. Both for very different reasons, obviously. To say Nebrasketball is going through a Renaissance is a little inaccurate, they've obviously never been much, but a coach in the 90's did have them at respectable point year in, year out (more on him in a bit), but damn, Miles seems to get it, the team plays it's a$$ off, and this is absolutely a year where the rest of the season is pure gravy. And it's fun.

Bo......well Bo is Bo. Obviously some see great things on the horizon, some see bad things, and some see the same things and want to argue whether that's good or bad. It's a very strange thing.

So I know what you're thinking, "if only there was a way to compare Nebrasketball to Bo in a real way". Lucky for you, there is!

First, read this and c'mon back......I'll wait. http://sports.omaha....e/#.Ux8zxIG9KSM

First off, that article just shows how freaking good Sam Mckeon can be. That's some good scribing, that is. And it brings up everyone's favorite character of the late 90's Danny Nee.

Nee was without question an absolute a$$. Just look at the part where he's screaming out a 20 year old kid and forbidding the Daily freaking Nebraskan to his conferences. He actually banned the student paper at the school that pays him. Tremendous hustle. But, he got Nebrasketball to the tournament four times I believe. Hell, I'm pretty sure he invented Nebrasketball. So, he got the program to a very consistent, good but not great point and could never crack through. Sounds familiar.

Going into his last year he was pumping up that recruiting class. Oh man wait until you see these recruits, boy. They're gonna be something. Look out glass ceiling, we're coming with hammers! Again, this also sounds familiar.

Oops, a key lynchpin got hurt. Ok this is getting weird.

The basketball team is struggling and Mt. Nee goes ballistic. Tells boosters on a hot mike "all you sons of bitches who want me gone, I ain't leaving". Team loses more. Nee actually says "if I get fired, I'm getting paid and you can take that to church". I remember all of this, it's still as surreal as I remember.

When it finally ends for him, Nee goes out firing the last bullets in his chamber, saying "I pity the next son of a b!^@h in here".

So many things can be taken away from all of that. Perhaps the most obvious is you cannot tell me that you can read that article about Nee and not immediately think of Bo's behavior in recent months. And, some of the excuses seem eerily similar. People tout recruits, and threaten dark days if Bo leaves. There were people who said the same, if Nee got jettisoned you could kiss the tourney goodbye. And that was true, NU proceeded to make two bad hires in a row before Miles. So, there's some great evidence to show what can happen when people are fired that's way more telling than Bill Callahan, in my opinion.

But of course football will always trump basketball here, and I gotta think more attention would be paid to the hire, it might even make the search for Tim Miles look trifling, and that was a precedent setting search for NU.

Ultimately, I found this article incredibly interesting given our discussions here recently. Thoughts?

 
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As I read that article, which I haven't seen before today, it was odd how many parallels there are between Nee's final days and Bo last year. It was eerie.

 
So, if we fire Bo, we're going to have to wait 15 years before we make a bowl game?!

Is this what you want?!

 
Those intervening dark days when we have the wrong coaches - the really wrong coaches - are only part of the reason I think firing Pelini would be a mistake at this juncture.

I felt they were going to fire him after the Iowa game, and I was really surprised they didn't. He probably should have at that point, but they didn't, and here we are.

 
It was joke. But carry on with your mission
right after i posted that, i realized you were joking and expected this. you even used '!?'. i can be pretty dense.

but the only mission i have is building our friendship, gsg.

 
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So, if we fire Bo, we're going to have to wait 15 years before we make a bowl game?!
Is this what you want?!
Sad thing is, this would be closer to reality than winning a NC.
The funny part is you don't know either way. But I'm not surprised you think this.

Look at the time and money spent to "get it right" when Miles was hired. They learned from their mistakes. Seems reasonable to think the same would be done with football should it happen.

 
Those intervening dark days when we have the wrong coaches - the really wrong coaches - are only part of the reason I think firing Pelini would be a mistake at this juncture.
I felt they were going to fire him after the Iowa game, and I was really surprised they didn't. He probably should have at that point, but they didn't, and here we are.
You were far from the only surprised soul after the Iowa game.

Makes you wonder.

 
So, if we fire Bo, we're going to have to wait 15 years before we make a bowl game?!
Is this what you want?!
Sad thing is, this would be closer to reality than winning a NC.
The funny part is you don't know either way. But I'm not surprised you think this.

Look at the time and money spent to "get it right" when Miles was hired. They learned from their mistakes. Seems reasonable to think the same would be done with football should it happen.
After Nee, basketball= lucky to be .500 most years, never sniffing a conference championship, an playing in front of half full arenas.

Football under Bo, +.700 winning percentage, playing for conference championships every other year, playing in bowls every year, and playing in a packed house every Saturday.

Apples and oranges.

 
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So, if we fire Bo, we're going to have to wait 15 years before we make a bowl game?!
Is this what you want?!
Sad thing is, this would be closer to reality than winning a NC.
The funny part is you don't know either way. But I'm not surprised you think this.

Look at the time and money spent to "get it right" when Miles was hired. They learned from their mistakes. Seems reasonable to think the same would be done with football should it happen.
After Nee, basketball= lucky to be .500 most years, playing inn front of half full arenas.

Football under Bo, +.700 winning percentage, playing for conference championships every other year, playing in bowls every year, and playing in a packed house every Saturday.

Apples and oranges.
Yes I know. My point was this....Look at the effort exerted to "get it right" for basketball, far and away one of Nebraska's "lesser" sports because they didn't want a repeat occurrence. You don't think they wouldn't at least do that much if the flagship program was looking for a coach?

And I'm sorry, but if you can read that article and not see similarities between Nee and Bo, it's simply because you don't want to.

 
I almost didnt read the article, but I did. Id forgotten how much turmoil surrounded the bball squad back in the day. Its quite clear where this is going. The comparisons are very similar, some of them yes even eery. But there is one major difference other than the sport itself.

Bo did not get fired. He could get fired halfway through the 2014 season for decking Brent Mussburger for all we know. But he is coach heading into this season.

Its become very clear sd' and Polo arr fed up with the excuses and the optimistic viewpoints. Bo has had 6 seasons to right this ship yet cant hop the speedbump. Whats it going to take they ask? A new coach is what they desire. One that gets recruiting. One that can correct turnovers. One that doesnt blow up on the sidelines. One that fields a strong defense we can rely on. Bo is not the man to do this in their minds. Yet.....

Bo did not get fired. Was he retained by 1st year AD Eichorst simply because he was afraid to be the guy to fire him? Maybe. Was it because of the buyout money? Doubtful but maybe. Was it because he believes Bo is on the cusp of something special? I like to think so but Im a sunshine pumper.

Whatever the reason for the retainment it matters not because for 11 Saturdays and a Friday this fall Bo has likely one more shot to turn in a better than average....no, a special season that oozes improvement. A season that cant be denied its promise for the future.

If Nebraska can turn in 11 or 12 regular season wins it should be enough to quiet some of the doubters. If not it may not matter whats on tap for 2015, I get the sense this year is do or die for Bo Pelini.

I guess thats why people choose to be Bo-Leavers. If the team isnt winning, you win. You can throw out reasons for Bo to be fired and explain to everyone how far weve fallen or the complacency were stuck in. If Bo turns it around and Nebraska starts winning more, you win. A winning team makes a happy fan regardless of how you feel about the coach.

 
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