Does Nebraska need to be "different" to be on top again?

Nebraska had a pretty good thing going and then they went away from it. People associated Nebraska with a tough offensive line, a gritty defense along with some skilled play makers on both sides of the ball as well as some home grown kids thrown in that mix too. To me you stick with what got you there and I don't even mean staying as a predominantly run team necessarily although personally I think that's what best suits Nebraska. To me I think Nebraska really took a step back when they got rid of the walk on program and ultimately stopped taking/looking at as many in state kids as they did before. People say the quality of high school players in Nebraska took a step back since Osborne, Solich or even Callahan were coaching but personally I think that's a bunch of bs.

You can't measure someone's heart and to me that's what home grown Nebraska players have always had a lot of. It was a mentality I think a lot of kids had/have and in turn is what truly made 'the Pipeline' so successful imo. I also think losing Boyd Eppley as Nebraska's head strength and conditioning coach negatively affected Nebraska more than a lot of people might think.

 
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MyBloodIsRed16 said:
Why do so many people care about where we get our talent from. I for one don't care what state a player is from as long as they can play.. it would be totally different if Nebraska's state lines were busting at the seams with top talent. Apparently that's not the case. I can understand it in a situation like Indiana Basketball. More talent then you can shaken stick at and if IU loses the top recruit in the state to another school they are upset, especially if they leave the state. Those are normally 5* kids. Look at Notre Dame, IU, Purdue's football rosters and tell me how many kids they have from Indiana.. those teams arent very good whether or not they are getting in state talent or not.
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I think you are missing the point. If NU could consistantly get 5 or so solid 3* recruits from in state that is what you build your roster around. It is easy pickins if the talent is there. The problem is the talent isn't there. I do think there is more talent than what is offered but we are talking maybe 1-2 guys a year and that is not every year.

 
The only way Nebraska will ever be a top 5 team is if we have a top 5 defense. Defense is what builds championships. I could care less scoring 40+ a game. If we allow over 20 PPG, that simply isn't good enough. If we are going to win another Natty it's starting with a mean defense like 2009.

 
suh_fan93 said:
Nebraska had a pretty good thing going and then they went away from it. People associated Nebraska with a tough offensive line, a gritty defense along with some skilled play makers on both sides of the ball as well as some home grown kids thrown in that mix too. To me you stick with what got you there and I don't even mean staying as a predominantly run team necessarily although personally I think that's what best suits Nebraska. To me I think Nebraska really took a step back when they got rid of the walk on program and ultimately stopped taking/looking at as many in state kids as they did before. People say the quality of high school players in Nebraska took a step back since Osborne, Solich or even Callahan were coaching but personally I think that's a bunch of bs.

You can't measure someone's heart and to me that's what home grown Nebraska players have always had a lot of. It was a mentality I think a lot of kids had/have and in turn is what truly made 'the Pipeline' so successful imo. I also think losing Boyd Eppley as Nebraska's head strength and conditioning coach negatively affected Nebraska more than a lot of people might think.
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Yep. I think the good thing we had going was our reputation for producing linemen. Offense and defense. But notably offense. OL guys are generally the least celebrated recruits, but every HS coach and parent knew that Nebraska was Harvard for offensive linemen.

And what skill position doesn't want to have a stud OL to make them look good?

 
I don't live in Nebraska, but how does a state like Nebraska, who eats sleeps breathes football, especially Nebraska football, not produce some great in state talent? I would imagine kids growing up in Nebraska with Cornhusker football being their life, they would dream of someday wearing that N on their helmet and playing for Nebraska.

So why aren't kids growing up playing and thinking about football every day and bettering themselves everyday? The youth football programs in the state of Nebraska should be a football making factory preparing Nebraska kids to grow up to be talented Cornhuskers.

 
BoneyardHusker said:
I don't live in Nebraska, but how does a state like Nebraska, who eats sleeps breathes football, especially Nebraska football, not produce some great in state talent? I would imagine kids growing up in Nebraska with Cornhusker football being their life, they would dream of someday wearing that N on their helmet and playing for Nebraska.

So why aren't kids growing up playing and thinking about football every day and bettering themselves everyday? The youth football programs in the state of Nebraska should be a football making factory preparing Nebraska kids to grow up to be talented Cornhuskers.
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I personally think a lot of it has to do with population decline in the smaller towns. Hardly any 11 man football being played in the state compared to the 80's and 90's. Which has led to a decline in the coaching these kids get now days.

 
BRV920 said:
BoneyardHusker said:
I don't live in Nebraska, but how does a state like Nebraska, who eats sleeps breathes football, especially Nebraska football, not produce some great in state talent? I would imagine kids growing up in Nebraska with Cornhusker football being their life, they would dream of someday wearing that N on their helmet and playing for Nebraska.

So why aren't kids growing up playing and thinking about football every day and bettering themselves everyday? The youth football programs in the state of Nebraska should be a football making factory preparing Nebraska kids to grow up to be talented Cornhuskers.
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I personally think a lot of it has to do with population decline in the smaller towns. Hardly any 11 man football being played in the state compared to the 80's and 90's. Which has led to a decline in the coaching these kids get now days.
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Along with the move to bigger cities, the proliferation of year-round sports training and specialization for the kids which not everyone in Nebraska has access to puts them at a disadvantage.

I don't agree with sports specialization, but that makes some kids more trained and skilled at a younger age, in hopes for that almighty sports scholarship.

 
BoneyardHusker said:
I don't live in Nebraska, but how does a state like Nebraska, who eats sleeps breathes football, especially Nebraska football, not produce some great in state talent? I would imagine kids growing up in Nebraska with Cornhusker football being their life, they would dream of someday wearing that N on their helmet and playing for Nebraska.

So why aren't kids growing up playing and thinking about football every day and bettering themselves everyday? The youth football programs in the state of Nebraska should be a football making factory preparing Nebraska kids to grow up to be talented Cornhuskers.
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I think it's just a numbers game. We produce some great in state talent -- and have a near monopoly on them -- but we have 1.8 million people in the state and will always have to supplement with aggressive recruiting.

Nebraska don't quite obsess over Pee Wee and High School football the way they do in Texas but....uhm....I'm not sure that factory thing is a healthy model.

 
Nebraska might be a small state in population, but I find it hard to believe that Nebraska can't get 10 state kids who are beasts on the line, especially when you have the farm boys. And maybe 3 skilled players. That's 13 kids who can make an impact on the team.

​Now, it is my understanding that with the advancement of technology on farm equipment and on farms, the good ol fashion farm boys isn't really around anymore.

 
BoneyardHusker said:
Nebraska might be a small state in population, but I find it hard to believe that Nebraska can't get 10 state kids who are beasts on the line, especially when you have the farm boys. And maybe 3 skilled players. That's 13 kids who can make an impact on the team.

​Now, it is my understanding that with the advancement of technology on farm equipment and on farms, the good ol fashion farm boys isn't really around anymore.
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The biggest problem is economics. Take Adam Treu for example. He was a great OL who was also a walk-on. Today's version of Treu doesn't walk-on at Nebraska. They take the full ride scholly and probably end up at Kearney, Chadron, etc. I can't say as I blame them considering what college costs these days. It was mentioned by someone else, but another huge issue is just how many 11 man teams we have lost in the last two decades. In my area, almost every school played 11 man football back in the 90's. Today, there's just a couple. Everyone else is playing 8 man and some even playing 6 man. It's not that players playing 8 man or 6 man can't make good/great players for NU, but rather it really comes down to evaluation. It's a lot harder to evaluate just how good a player is in those games because a lot of them turn out like a track meet.

 
My high school teacher friends tell me it's also harder these days to get smart, aggressive motivated teenagers to spend their after-school hours having a coach scream at them doing wind sprints. They'd rather get a part time job and buy a car.

 
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