Manufactured Controversy?

[Enhance]

People have disagreed with me in the past, but I'm not a fan of Jason Peter. I don't care about his steroid problems or his heroic climb back from depths of his own depravity - he spends most of his time complaining about Pelini, saying things need to get back to how they were, etc. I don't think I've ever heard Jason Peter talk Nebraska football without comparing back to his playing days. And we get it, Jason, you played on a fantastic set of teams, but the constant hindsight analysis is mundane and over-the-top. Kugler left Unsportsmanlike Conduct a couple of weeks ago, and already we've seen it's facebook page ask completely useless and asinine questions like "Is Bo the right coach for Nebraska?" Now isn't the time to be having that conversation.

And as some of us have already pointed out, what exactly do anti-Pelini people want? Do they really want us to fire a coach who has won 37 games in four years? Do they realize how many teams would love to have that kind of record right now, or even have Pelini as a member of their staff? Anger issues aside Pelini is a very good coach and he's proven it at every football level. If we go firing coaches who've won nine game a season, who's going to want to coach here? Probably nobody of Pelini's caliber or experience. In retrospect, he may not have been ready to be a head coach at a large university like Nebraska, but I don't think he's really in the hot seat. Maybe we're gathering the wood to light the fire, but that's about it right now, and that's where I think it should say, for now.

 

[I am I]

i may be completely off base here, but i think what galls so many fans right now is the total inconsistency of line play, WR play and general team desire. we KNOW some guys threw in the towel last season, in some games, even dogging it in practice......they as much said so. leaving it all on the field, every game should not be an unattainable goal.........past Husker teams had it, we fans knew when they had it and it showed in their play.many would agree, that is what is missing right now.......the question is, when can Pelini turn this around, if ever? 9 wins is great for any season, but losses to inferior teams and blowout losses to good teams, on a regular basis, says very little about who we are or claim to be......just my thoughts

That's the part of the "culture" that everyone keeps saying took decades to build. Remember Corey Mckewon (sp?) LB?? (just one example of dozens from about 05-08)

Pretty good as a soph-jr....played like he was hungover late jr-sr season? He took gigantic strides backwards because the coaches allowed an attitude to permeate the team, the locker room, and the minds of the players.

ZERO accountability, no leadership, soft practices, elimination of walk ons, and no "Nebraska" way of doing things around the practice field and training room.

Pelini deserves another 4 yrs w no one on his back, unless his teams drop 4-6 per yr....he's had 5 yrs to get rid of the rats, learn on the job, rebuild psyche, get tough players, change conferences, hire and fire his staff, move his family, and on and on...these seniors , methinks, are the ones setting the tone for the NEXT 5 yrs.

By all accounts, Bo has had to do less babysitting, given the reigns to the players in offseason, been tough on grades, removed players who aren't team first (A. Green, 5* recruit), and done it under one of the largest microscopes in the land.

I give Bo 3 MORE yrs after this one. Then his players, culture, etc will really be in place and we'll see a man in his mid 40's with 7-9 yrs of real growth and then judge how he's done.

 

[I am I]

I should say that I'm frustrated w dropped balls, penalties, meltdowns, and the like.

Our players are pretty good, and the coaches are pretty good. Maybe in about 2-3 more yrs as Bo AND the team mature, those mistakes will be eliminated by an entire culture that needs years to hold players accountable to do things (like knock down a hail Mary pass) that the coaches are incapable of doing themselves !

 

[kchusker_chris]

i may be completely off base here, but i think what galls so many fans right now is the total inconsistency of line play, WR play and general team desire. we KNOW some guys threw in the towel last season, in some games, even dogging it in practice......they as much said so. leaving it all on the field, every game should not be an unattainable goal.........past Husker teams had it, we fans knew when they had it and it showed in their play.many would agree, that is what is missing right now.......the question is, when can Pelini turn this around, if ever? 9 wins is great for any season, but losses to inferior teams and blowout losses to good teams, on a regular basis, says very little about who we are or claim to be......just my thoughts

That's the part of the "culture" that everyone keeps saying took decades to build. Remember Corey Mckewon (sp?) LB?? (just one example of dozens from about 05-08)

Pretty good as a soph-jr....played like he was hungover late jr-sr season? He took gigantic strides backwards because the coaches allowed an attitude to permeate the team, the locker room, and the minds of the players.

ZERO accountability, no leadership, soft practices, elimination of walk ons, and no "Nebraska" way of doing things around the practice field and training room.

Pelini deserves another 4 yrs w no one on his back, unless his teams drop 4-6 per yr....he's had 5 yrs to get rid of the rats, learn on the job, rebuild psyche, get tough players, change conferences, hire and fire his staff, move his family, and on and on...these seniors , methinks, are the ones setting the tone for the NEXT 5 yrs.

By all accounts, Bo has had to do less babysitting, given the reigns to the players in offseason, been tough on grades, removed players who aren't team first (A. Green, 5* recruit), and done it under one of the largest microscopes in the land.

I give Bo 3 MORE yrs after this one. Then his players, culture, etc will really be in place and we'll see a man in his mid 40's with 7-9 yrs of real growth and then judge how he's done.

are you sure you aren't talking about Niles Paul - or any number of other seniors on the 2010' team? Brandon Kinnie might have been in this boat as well. This is not a club exclusive to callahan - it's something that has certainly carried over to this team as well. It likely exists on every team, it's the world we live in today. And Pelini doesn't have the stockpile of talent that Alabama has to tell these kids to take a hike.

 

[huskered17]

Comparing Bo to Tom, is just not reasonable. There will never be another Tom O, at Neb. On the other hand there might be another Bob D type in Bo.

Jason P has a talk show to stir up and draw in listeners, to boost his ratings, that's his job. I like our former players views and I really like seeing them on the coaching staff. but I think this is the year that Bo might have to make a tough decision. If the o-line doesn't improve, in their blocking assignments and cut down on those bone head penalties, it might be time to for a change. I think he will have a legitimate reason to go Tom and make a change, without friendship getting in the way. If it was my job on the line, I would not only want to go down with my recruits, but with my hand picked coaches.

I think he is the right coach for this program, and will get those big wins. If this staff can keep improving and he can "keep" them together for a few years, he will get it done. jmo

GBR!!!

 

[Husker_x]

A lot of people mention ratings when they talk about Jason. I honestly don't think ratings ever even enter his brain--he just doesn't strike me as that kind of guy. I think he genuinely loves the program and wants to see it succeed. I also think where he has the blinders on a little bit is the part where just saying "We're Nebraska" actually solves anything. It doesn't.

If you want consistency then you have to do things that breed consistency. Swapping coaches left and right and shifting conferences is the opposite of consistency. My hope is that every coach on the staff, assuming they aren't completely incompetent, stays on for another five years to create that atmosphere. I want to see as much consistency in the offensive system as the defensive system. When Pelini talked about the older guys on defense having tests and quizzes every week, that strikes me as something that's only possible when your older guys know the defense like the back of their hand. A little tougher on offense when Beck spent the better part of last year installing his system (and now he has to recruit for it) and even his upperclassmen players were still learning it during bowl practices.

For Peter it seems like he just disregards all that, or a dozen other enormous advantages he had while playing the game. I think what Pelini and this program need most is a little patience. I hope that he doesn't mistake media-generated controversies for actual controversies.

 

[Chimpsmack]

I think Peters is intentionally ignoring the fact that there have been huge changes in college football between the 90s and now. A lot of the changes have hurt Nebraska badly, and while I'd like to see NU competing for a national championship year in and year out, things are only getting harder. I doubt NU football will ever again be what it was. So I'll take 9-10 wins a year, on average, with the understanding that some years will be a game or two more or less successful. Peters, on the other hand, needs something to talk about on his radio shows, so I think he's likely to be more aggressive in public.

 

['SkersRule]

I've started paying more attention to football again now that the season is just about upon us. I like 1620's shows--I even like the addition of Jason Peter. But I can't help but notice that between the two new shows, and a few local scribes at the LJS or OWH, there has been a conversation, like a some kind of coordinated effort, where they've taken it upon themselves to ask the question, "Is Bo the guy for Nebraska?" I could understand this question when the hiring process was going on in 07. A place like Nebraska is not, you would think, a place a coordinator would come to cut his teeth, and we've seen the results as Pelini has taken some time to acclimate to the endless headaches head coaches alone have to deal with. I'm not especially optimistic about this season, and if I'm reading the temperature of the board or Huskerland in general correctly, most people are, if optimistic at all, still cautious.

What I don't quite understand, though, is where guys like Peter get off on comparing the job Pelini has today to the Disney World of football he lived in in the mid-90s. He played under one of the greatest, most experienced football minds in history with one of the most committed staffs beneath him. His system had been in place for multiple decades and they'd been in the same conference the entire time. In the 90s you had a collusion of experience, talent, and conditioning that gave us our run. Pelini, on the other hand, took over a program which had utterly collapsed. Not crumbled. Not slumped. Not leaned slightly to the left. Collapsed. He was given the job of rebuilding a program and taking it to a national championship, not just the second part. Were it not for a few hidden gems like Suh and Prince our climb back up would have been that much steeper, but I think we're poised to very soon start competing at that next level.

Nine win seasons may not be as sexy as they used to be, but ask a lot of the powerhouse teams around who didn't hit that mark in recent years. You want consistency? Well that's a start. I see no advantage in manufacturing a coaching controversy a week before fall camp gets underway. What is it for? What does it help? Would they like to see Nebraska become a coaching carousel, where even after you put in a few years with moderate success and seem poised, with our near-future schedules, to have a shot at a run, you still have no job security? I got bad news. You think Nebraska football is not what it once was now. Just wait. Wait until you have to hire new talent in that atmosphere. See how far it gets you.

So maybe the question of the thread is this: What question should we be asking? Is Pelini the guy? Or why the hell are we asking if Pelini is the guy?

Discuss!

Because this is Nebraska and we can create threads of 15+ pages about uniform changes and trainers getting fired!

To your question specifically, yes Pelini is the guy we need. It never ceases to amaze me at how a certain segment of our fans view "9 wins" as though it is some immense failure.

And to NUpolo8's point: Certain Nebraska fans are the epitome of entitlement babies.

 

[Enhance]

Comparing Bo to Tom, is just not reasonable.

That's exactly the problem with Jason Peter, too. Whether intentionally or not, he's always using "how things were" as a benchmark for judging Bo Pelini. Sequentially, he completely ignores the multitude of advantages he and his teammates enjoyed, advantages neither prevalent or relevant to today's team. We all care about Nebraska football, and I know Peter does, too. But the sooner he realizes how arrogant and demeaning he is, the better the broadcaster he'll be.

Until then, I'll completely ignore the logorrhea spewing from his mouth. There are plenty of better opinionated and talented broadcasters out there, and there's no doubt in my mind he's at the forefront of the anti-Pelini front, given his recent increased involvement with 1620 and other Nebraska related broadcasting companies.

 

[strigori]

If we are not aiming at a return to the 'glory days' what should we be striving to be? Iowa?

 

[skersfan]

Do not like Bo as a head coach, he is not ready, and may never be. But I do not want him fired. I want him to learn his job, get better at it and prove he can be a good to great head coach. That takes time. But I do not feel he will get it if this year is not successful. There are several of the big boosters that are not happy with the job he is doing.

It is time for him to learn from his sideline meltdowns, my guess is that he has done the last of those. Another one will be the end I am afraid. I agree he affects the team, but I wonder if those same melt downs do not happen in practice and kids are playing afraid to take the chances, I also wonder if that is the reason we so few Freshman playing.

I think he is a good guy, and some things he has done far better than anone before him, including TO. I just am not sure he is a head coach, but I hope he gets the opportunit to prove he is. Nebraska can not afford for him to fail.

 

[Goal-line]

Jason Peter almost always says stupid things

I totally disagree! What he (JP) consistantly says is; "We simply played harder." "We wanted it more." We trained harder in the off season." We had leaders on those teams that took it upon themselves to discipline and set the tone for playing with passion." All of which are true. If we had more players like JP, we would have 13 wins each year.

 

[tschu]

No, Jason Peter says a ton of dumb stuff.

And the reason he's terrible for radio is that all of the things you pointed out - that is his schtick. His whole schtick and only schtick. We get it Jason - you played harder than any player who has ever played any game and blah blah blah.

Nobody is arguing that JP wasn't a great player - he was a phenomenal player. But I don't care to listen to his slurred rants for hours on end.

 

[tschu]

And yeah, the station is really missing Kugler and Schick & Nick. 1620 had a special thing going where they didnt take themselves very seriously while still being able to have impactful discussions about sports. Now they seem to be trying very hard to stir the pot and dive off the deep end into a bunch of different issues. It's almost exhausting to listen to.

 

[Mierin]

Jason Peter almost always says stupid things

I totally disagree! What he (JP) consistantly says is; "We simply played harder." "We wanted it more." We trained harder in the off season." We had leaders on those teams that took it upon themselves to discipline and set the tone for playing with passion." All of which are true. If we had more players like JP, we would have 13 wins each year.

Those things are dumb, imo. You don't win national championships by "playing harder" and "wanting it more." That is just one of many ingredients. He and his teammates had way more going in their favor than the players we have now (i.e. a veteran staff that had been winning for years).

Playing hard might separate a top 1 or 2 team from top 3-5 teams, but to say that's why his teams won championships and subsequent Nebraska teams did not is laughable. It takes a load of different variables to be the one team in the country that's the best, and even luck is a factor.

Dumbing it down to the "wanting it more" slogan is just something you say to motivate a 10 year old, or perhaps an 18 year old Jason Peter

Jason Peter almost always says stupid things

I totally disagree! What he (JP) consistantly says is; "We simply played harder." "We wanted it more." We trained harder in the off season." We had leaders on those teams that took it upon themselves to discipline and set the tone for playing with passion." All of which are true. If we had more players like JP, we would have 13 wins each year.

Those things are dumb, imo. You don't win national championships by "playing harder" and "wanting it more." That is just one of many ingredients. He and his teammates had way more going in their favor than the players we have now (i.e. a veteran staff that had been winning for years).

Playing hard might separate a top 1 or 2 team from 3-5 teams, but to say that's why his teams won championships and subsequent Nebraska teams did not is laughable. It takes a load of different variables to be the one team in the country that's the best, and even luck is a factor.

Dumbing it down to the "wanting it more" slogan is just something you say to motivate a 10 year old, or perhaps an 18 year old Jason Peter