LJS: Banker talks of key regrets in wake of ouster as Husker defensive coordinator

Knowing Riley, he was probably doing everything in his power to save Banker's job and before it finally got down to the 'rubber meets the road' moment. I'd love to know what took place behind the scenes on this. Riley bargaining with SE and the boosters to give Banker more time to recruit and show he's worth more to Nebraska than being the drunk uncle at press conferences who says stupid stuff. How did Banker reward Riley for sticking his neck out for him? By contributing jack f%&k*&* sh%^ on the recruiting side and coming off across as a butthurt pu^^y in an interview where the HC is out recruiting and can't defend himself immediately. Stay classy Banker. Stay. Classy.

 
I understand why Riley would do this. Banker was out recruiting and instead of allowing Banker to come back to Lincoln, Riley fired him over the phone to speed up the process of hiring a DC so said DC could get out and recruit asap something that Banker has failed at

 
Im assuming Riley was told Diaco wants N he then had to can banker ASAP to get Diaco in Lincoln before someone else showed up to snag Diaco.

Like others have said Riley did the best possible thing with the way the situation played out. The alternative of taking Banker off the recruiting trail and sending him back to Lincoln then meeting with Riley etc slows everything down for all parties

 
huKSer said:
Husker_luver said:
So what do you do? Call him and say come back to Nebraska now but I can't tell u why.
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Maybe he should have Face Timed him
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And then he could have followed up with a text message with a bunch of frown face emojis.
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I suppose Riley's other option was to go ahead and hire the new coach and wait for Banker to get back to town. Then Banker would've heard on the radio ,"Breaking: Nebraska hires a new Defensive Coordinator" and thought " wow, I didn't know I was getting an assistant??"

 
Almost nobody likes to be fired or to get fired, except for D Trump who does seem to enjoy firing people who don't perform. Getting hired and fired are a basic part of life for most people. I belive that about 85% of all workers are fired at some point in their lifetimes and many more than once. It is not a pleasant experience and it doesn't matter whether it is over the phone, by mail, by pony express or by smoke signals, or up close and in person over drinks at your favorite bar, the impact is gut wrenching, often on both parties. Sometimes life sucks and this is one of those times.

I am sure that Riley didn't plan to fire Banker until he was quite sure he had his replacement in the wings ready to go. Riley and others involved in the decision may not be the world's greatest rocket scientists but they are not stupid either. A good forward thinking leader has contingency plans and is always keeping his options open. You need to have backup plans and so on at all times. You minimize risk by having options for 'what if' scenarios. People die and accidents happen and your staff get hired away as often as you hire others away as well. This is always a fact of life in coaching and many other areas of business. Always has been the case and always will be. Money talks and people walk as they say.

 
ColoradoHusk said:
Landlord of Memorial Stadium said:
Does Banker talking about it to the press instead of talking to Riley about it (or maybe in addition to), fall into the same, "let's talk like grown a$$ men" mentality?
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Banker was called by the media earlier in the week. He just got back to them today. I don't see any issue.

Also, Riley is out recruiting, and Banker is trying to find a new job. They probably haven't had a lot of time to "clear the air".
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Well, most of the time when coaches get fired, you never hear them say anything, they just kind of quietly disappear. There's at least a tiny element of this that seems a little petulant - you don't criticize someone to/through the media for not having a man-to-man conversation, imo. That seems pot meet kettle esque to me.

 
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Ideally would it be nice to fire him in person? Sure. Was it logistically possible given their locations and timing? Probably not.

I'd frankly feel worse for Banker if he hadn't started whining to the press about his hurt feelings. I would hope that a 60 year old supposed leader of young men would at least have the maturity to keep his butthurt over HOW he was fired for being inept to himself.

 
tfree32 said:
Ideally would it be nice to fire him in person? Sure. Was it logistically possible given their locations and timing? Probably not.

I'd frankly feel worse for Banker if he hadn't started whining to the press about his hurt feelings. I would hope that a 60 year old supposed leader of young men would at least have the maturity to keep his butthurt over HOW he was fired for being inept to himself.
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Interesting way to look at it.

 
1. I think the butt-hurtedness of Banker might be a bit exaggerated. He was asked a question, he answered it the way he always does. I doubt their friendship ended. It was framed in terms of "regret". Yeah, he used harsh language, but coaches (esp. Defensive Coordinators in my experience) tend to do that, doesn't mean they'll feel like that forever.

2. As fast as things get out a call probably had to have been made otherwise he would have heard it from someone else first and imho that would have been worse.

I will miss his honesty and personality. I wish him the best. If Cosgrove can get a job at a D1A school I'm sure Banker will be fine.

 
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