Eight wins? More? What’s the bar for Nebraska Cornhuskers coach Mike Riley in Year 2?

[RunMickeyRun02]

This article was great. It is worth reading just for the paragraph quoting 'camp. That's a kid that has his head on straight, been through a lot, and still has the right frame of mind.

I've seen the 8.5 line a lot and I don't think I could take either side of that bet, that's the perfect line.

My minimum would be a winning record, improvement. That's usually my minimum for the football team, have a winning record go to a bowl, then my expectations, (goals almost if I had any part in the outcome) are tiered after that. The winning record being the very bottom tier.

Same tiers for the basketball team, just have a winning record, win more games than you lose, it's really not asking that much but they let me down more than they don't.

 

[SuperBigFan69]

For me the bar for success is 9 this year I mean you fired a 9 win coach so new guy gets only one pass right? Then after that 10 wins at least every other year and a conference championship at least every 5

No. Pelini plateaued, and that was only part of why he was fired. Riley needs to continue to improve. 8 wins would be an improvement. Year 3 if Riley wins less than 9, then he should be on the hot seat or fired.

If Riley was really smart he would have went 0-12 last year...this season he could have hit that magic number of 1-11...But wait...in year three he could DOUBLE his win total, something most coaches never do...2-10

Soon enough Bama fans will be saying "How come Riley can double his win total but Saban is struggling to finish 11-1 after an 11-1 season"

 

[SuperBigFan69]

We are about in the area of Wisconsin, and Iowa. A little better than Northwestern, but heavy experience on that team, that just fights. If a team identifies with its coach, the kids at Northwestern do.

For this group to come together (us) I think we need to win the division, one small step, then we need to be competitive with who ever we play in the CCG. Win would be nice, but beating the likes of Ohio State once in a given year is a huge step for this team. Depth is just not there yet.

And a lot of the Bobots are right about the past years coaching, questionable, very questionable at times, but I am buying they were learning what they had, who was on board and how to deal with it. Not everyone is going to be happy, but improvement in the use of the players would be a huge step. Win the ones we should, scrape out one or two, we shouldn't and this will be a happy place. Another head scratching year like last year, will spell the end of this staff. I don't see that happening. I think Coach Riley is truly excited about seeing this team take the field. I know I am, hope everyone of us, gives them the opportunity to improve, even if it is tiny steps.

Not a Bobot (I do love that name though) but "win the ones they should" well, that should be 10 of them since they will probably be favored in all but two games this year.

 

[marko polo]

8 wins would be solid with this team and schedule. Still running a makeshift offense that the offensive staff isn't comfortable with. A lot of inexperience on the lines and the older guys on the lines aren't very talented either. Most of the tough games are on the road.

Next year the team should be looking pretty strong. More talent/depth and hopefully a QB that can run their offense efficiently.

I guarantee that when next yr. rolls around there will be alot here still sayin " next yr." you just wait.

I said that every year for 20 years until Osborne finally started his incredible run. So yeah, nothing wrong with saying "next year".

There is if it never comes.

 

[marko polo]

8 wins would be solid with this team and schedule. Still running a makeshift offense that the offensive staff isn't comfortable with. A lot of inexperience on the lines and the older guys on the lines aren't very talented either. Most of the tough games are on the road.

Next year the team should be looking pretty strong. More talent/depth and hopefully a QB that can run their offense efficiently.

I guarantee that when next yr. rolls around there will be alot here still sayin " next yr." you just wait.

Such is the life of every sports fan, marko. Chicago Bears fans have been saying it for 30 years.

I really think the ceiling is about 9 wins, the floor is around 6. I look across the roster and I don't see a ton of places where I can point and say they got noticeably better in those areas. The major areas I hope they have improved would be culture, identity and trust in the coaches. A better understanding of what's being asked of them should translate to the field. The talent is there to compete for a West division title.

Sure it is , but it can lead to acceptance much like we have now. O and btw do you want us to be like the bears! Or do you say" I am mad and I am not taking it anymore"

 

[Redux]

I think 9-3 should be the goal this year. The system is in place, the schedule is a bit daunting but isn't impossible, and We have a fair shot at a division title if injuries and turnovers go our way for once.

Next season is my personal measuring stick. In year 3 the team is basically the staffs, any holdovers from the previous regime are now more adapted to the new staffs. In year 3 you ser the guys they recruited start breaking through. In year 3 things should be meshing well enough to make a run, and if you look at our schedule we can make some serious noise.

 

[The Dude]

Even if Oregon and Wisconsin turn out to be better than expected, anything less than 9 would be annoying.

 

[Redux]

Even if Oregon and Wisconsin turn out to be better than expected, anything less than 9 would be annoying.

For the simple fact that those games that should have been wins last year NEED to be wins this year.

 

[Mierin]

For me the bar for success is 9 this year I mean you fired a 9 win coach so new guy gets only one pass right? Then after that 10 wins at least every other year and a conference championship at least every 5

No. Pelini plateaued, and that was only part of why he was fired. Riley needs to continue to improve. 8 wins would be an improvement. Year 3 if Riley wins less than 9, then he should be on the hot seat or fired.

If Riley was really smart he would have went 0-12 last year...this season he could have hit that magic number of 1-11...But wait...in year three he could DOUBLE his win total, something most coaches never do...2-10
Soon enough Bama fans will be saying "How come Riley can double his win total but Saban is struggling to finish 11-1 after an 11-1 season"

You ignored the last sentence and the part where I said 8.

 

[junior4949]

I'm a lot less concerned about the wins than I am about how we play the game. The turnover ratio needs to be much improved. We have been pretty bad in this area for a while now. The penalties need cleaned up as well. While this metric of the game isn't quite as important as it used to be, it would be nice to see our time of possession improve as well. It's fairly remarkable Bo was able to win nine games a year when you consider that we weren't up to par in those three areas.

 

[Fru]

I'm shooting for the moon.

11 wins.

 

[BoNeyard]

At the very least 9 wins.

Losses to Oregon, Ohio State, and Iowa.