husker_fan_from_sweden
Starter
Should we be exercising patience or has Mike Riley had enough time to show what he could do?
Does MR need to reshuffle the coaching staff or keep it the same?
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ColoradoHusk
Heisman Trophy Winner
The constant that has been in NU the past few years is Mike Riley. I know his assistants haven't been great, but Riley is the problem that needs to be shown the door.
Undone
All-American
Firing staff mid-season would technically give him more of a leg to stand on in terms of showing how serious he is at making the team as good as it can be. But honestly, with the firing of Eichorst and the expected trajectory of our remaining wins/losses I think that the writing is on the wall and that it doesn't matter.
Better playcalling would have/should have turned around the 14-0 deficit against Norther Illinois into a win. That game was so similar to losing to Illinois in 2015 where there was "WTH moment" after "WTH moment" on offense. We have an OC that said after Wisconsin that he thought it was 3rd & 4 in the red zone when it was actually 3rd & 2, thus causing him to call for the swing pass.
I just don't know how much it really matters given our expected trajectory.
Better playcalling would have/should have turned around the 14-0 deficit against Norther Illinois into a win. That game was so similar to losing to Illinois in 2015 where there was "WTH moment" after "WTH moment" on offense. We have an OC that said after Wisconsin that he thought it was 3rd & 4 in the red zone when it was actually 3rd & 2, thus causing him to call for the swing pass.
I just don't know how much it really matters given our expected trajectory.
Nebfanatic
All-American
Agree midseason staff changes would be a hail mary and would only work for MR if the team somehow made a massive improvement that carried through the end of the year. I like Mike but he is likely done here
HuskerNBigD
Starter
He had his chance to hire whoever the hell he wanted and yet hitched his wagon to the same group that produced .500 level results for 20+ years. If he was as great of a football mind as people say, he shouldn't be having to fire his hand-selected coaches every year to save face. His time has come.
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Husker in WI
All-Conference
I think Riley really doomed himself by bringing basically the entire OSU staff with him. He's a pretty good recruiter and I like the idea of letting the assistants do their job without micro managing, but you need good assistants to do that. I'm not convinced we'd still be talking about his replacements if he chose a new staff coming here - Banker and the special teams coach (already forgot his name) cost him a lot of time, and Langsdorf may end up costing him the job. I don't believe he could have done it, but to be successful here he needed to build the staff from scratch.
TGHusker
Heisman Trophy Winner
It is beyond repair at this point. Riley made his bed by bringing a staff here that was .500 at best and it has proven out. He will leave here with a loosing record after this year. He got rid of Banker but I see Cav and Langs as being too close to him - his identity is that offense. It would be like telling Tom to fire his OC - which was himself and switch to the Wishbone. I don't see MR firing Langs for sure. However, it seemed like watching him on TV during the game that he is just 'riding this out'. That he knows he is out. There was no expression, no excitement, no anger even on the sidelines. He was just Uncle Joe watching the football game in the recliner with a bag of chips.
ColoradoHusk
Heisman Trophy Winner
I know Dirk is a 4-letter word around here, but in his Mad Chatter blog this morning, he says that Riley has turned Nebraska into Oregon State. He did that with the coaches he brought with him in year 1, and he has done that with the approach of the team. Instead of taking HIS COACHING UP A LEVEL with the Nebraska resources, he has taken Nebraska down to Oregon State's level.
HuskerNBigD
Starter
It's sad and pathetic, and we should've all known better in 2015 when simple clock management issues were leading to losses. That seems to be football IQ 101.
Husker in WI
All-Conference
Anyone know who Wisky's O-line coach is? Does he want to be an offensive coordinator?
TGHusker
Heisman Trophy Winner
Good point. That is exactly on target. The mantra was that MR with NU's resources would prove to be the next coming of Knute Rockne - ok of Bob Devaney. But that was the sell job of our now deposed AD. He had to convince a doubting fan base that his hire of MR made sense. So he fed us that 1. Mr was a great recruiter 2. He and Langs were QB whisperers. 3. His staff just needed the NU resources and tradition and they would quickly turn us into contenders. Great coaches and great leader - coach and lead their teams to success regardless of the conference or current situation. Success breeds success. If MR was all that great, he could have build success one floor on top of another even at Oregon State. He had many years to do so.
Kiyoat Husker
All-Conference
The only change I think that MIGHT be possible or positive would be for HCMR to try his hand at calling plays. What could it hurt at this point?
TGHusker
Heisman Trophy Winner
Hell, recruit the full staff including the HC. They looked like old NU out there. We could sell them on the fact that they wouldn't have to change colors.