McKewon: It's time for Bo to shake things up

lo country

lo country

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Here is a good article from McKewon ref some changes that can be made midseason. They do not include coaching changes, but easier things like naming permanent Captains, playing talent over knowledge and getting the young guys playing time as they are the future.

http://www.omaha.com...IGRED/710079853

I have to agree with it. Obviously you can't make coaching changes, but you sure as hell can get the playmakers on the field and see if they do any worse. I also think you can really dumb down the schemes and find a set of plays the O can run in their sleep.

 
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bournehusker said:
And who might these playmakers be? Cupboards are pretty bare on defense.
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We have more depth at some positions than you think. Might be time to pull some red shirts off some defensive players maybe? Santos, Brown and Afalava see some/more playing time?

 
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bournehusker said:
And who might these playmakers be? Cupboards are pretty bare on defense.
Click to expand...
I should have said the freshman and RS freshman on the sidelines. Moss, Valentine, Peat (surely in shape by now) Santos, Rose etc.....Time to realize what we thought we had is not reality. What is the worst that can happen? We give up almost 700 yrds or 60+ points? That has already happened. we got nothing to lose. Like the article said about going into the offensive shell in 2009. It got us :01 from winning a conference for the first time since 1999 IIRC.

Incidentally, to run the table, we need to win our next 6. We haven't won 6 in a row since 2001 IIRC.

 
McKewon is my favorite writer by far. Another well-spoken, coherent article. Read it! Every single point is well made. And he even gives me a personal shout-out:

In 2009, after NU lost to Texas Tech and Iowa State in successive weeks, Pelini put the offense on lockdown to protect it from itself. That move, maligned it was by the three Shawn Watson defenders lurking on the Interwebs, kept the Huskers' season from crashing hard into the rocks.
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:lol:
 
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I'm starting to flip like a politician on this whole blackshirt thing. I may be starting to see the light. College football is a lot about psychology. I used to just let Bo do it his way by earning it on the field, but I'm starting to see it the other way. I think the starters earn them by winning the starting job. If the starters have their blackshirts, maybe it gives them the extra swag they need. Instead, I'm wondering if they're playing wondering if no matter what they do, it wont be good enough. And let's face it, the blackshirt tradition can be a big recruiting tool, but if a recruit sees that he might not get to get one until week 11 of his senior year, then all mystique may be taken out of it.

As far as personel, we saw some shakeups for Arkansas St., but then Zaire was injured. and I'm betting that the veterans may have upped their game during practice, and let's face it, they upped against Wisconsin as well. Well now it's time to set the young talent loose. If they cant handle the scheme, then it needs simplified so they can. I agree that all positions need re-opened to substance not knowledge, becasue the knowledge aint getting us anywhere.

 
accountability said:
I'm starting to flip like a politician on this whole blackshirt thing. I may be starting to see the light. College football is a lot about psychology. I used to just let Bo do it his way by earning it on the field, but I'm starting to see it the other way. I think the starters earn them by winning the starting job. If the starters have their blackshirts, maybe it gives them the extra swag they need. Instead, I'm wondering if they're playing wondering if no matter what they do, it wont be good enough. And let's face it, the blackshirt tradition can be a big recruiting tool, but if a recruit sees that he might not get to get one until week 11 of his senior year, then all mystique may be taken out of it.

As far as personel, we saw some shakeups for Arkansas St., but then Zaire was injured. and I'm betting that the veterans may have upped their game during practice, and let's face it, they upped against Wisconsin as well. Well now it's time to set the young talent loose. If they cant handle the scheme, then it needs simplified so they can. I agree that all positions need re-opened to substance not knowledge, becasue the knowledge aint getting us anywhere.
Click to expand...
I agree with your assessment of the Blackshirts. When Bo first messed with the tradition, I thought it was good. Earn the Shirts. Then it was like 11 Blackshirts to like 15 and then like 23 guys get them. Tradition over.

I like the idea of going back to getting them prior to the first game. get some swagger. Let them step up and become respected and feared leaders of the team. I am unsure who was more frightened of Jason Peter, our guys or the other teams!

The changes he mentioned are ones that IMO, can be implemented with minimum effort. Especially during the bye week.

Read on another board that the next week or two will determine if BO is more concerned with winning or being "right"...........

 
I mean, you know, you earn them by being a starter. If youre not a starter, you compete harder to get one. If you are a starter adn struggle, youre gonna lose your starting job, so youre going to lose it anyway.

 
I'm tired of seeing our defense confused. Tired of seeing guys throwing signals a second before the ball is snapped...remember when Beck moved martinez to the wideout spot and rex up under center twice (won't count the false start third time)? what did that do? It took the aggression of the defense because for a minute they stopped and said whoa this is new. Our defense has got to be set and ready to fire off at the snap. Gotta find a way to simplify things. I'm sorry but we see some pretty poor teams shut down mobile qbs all the time.

 
lo country said:
Here is a good article from McKewon ref some changes that can be made midseason. They do not include coaching changes, but easier things like naming permanent Captains, playing talent over knowledge and getting the young guys playing time as they are the future.

http://www.omaha.com...IGRED/710079853

I have to agree with it. Obviously you can't make coaching changes, but you sure as hell can get the playmakers on the field and see if they do any worse. I also think you can really dumb down the schemes and find a set of plays the O can run in their sleep.
Click to expand...
This was very well written with great points. I hope Bo reads it and takes some of the suggestions to heart.

 
lo country said:
bournehusker said:
And who might these playmakers be? Cupboards are pretty bare on defense.
Click to expand...
I should have said the freshman and RS freshman on the sidelines. Moss, Valentine, Peat (surely in shape by now) Santos, Rose etc.....Time to realize what we thought we had is not reality. What is the worst that can happen? We give up almost 700 yrds or 60+ points? That has already happened. we got nothing to lose. Like the article said about going into the offensive shell in 2009. It got us :01 from winning a conference for the first time since 1999 IIRC.

Incidentally, to run the table, we need to win our next 6. We haven't won 6 in a row since 2001 IIRC.
Click to expand...
Exactly! Get the talent on the field and simplify and get aggressive again! Attack! They cannot be worse than the product out there now. At the very least it gets them big experience for next year. What are we saving them for? If we keep losing we're goinb to lose any big recruits anyway. If we play them and win a few, or at least look competent, or look like we want to rip peoples heads off we may just attract a few defensive studs who see we play youth and like to attack. Sick of this defense turning the other cheek, grow a f'ing pair and make the other team fear us.

 
lo country said:
accountability said:
I'm starting to flip like a politician on this whole blackshirt thing. I may be starting to see the light. College football is a lot about psychology. I used to just let Bo do it his way by earning it on the field, but I'm starting to see it the other way. I think the starters earn them by winning the starting job. If the starters have their blackshirts, maybe it gives them the extra swag they need. Instead, I'm wondering if they're playing wondering if no matter what they do, it wont be good enough. And let's face it, the blackshirt tradition can be a big recruiting tool, but if a recruit sees that he might not get to get one until week 11 of his senior year, then all mystique may be taken out of it.

As far as personel, we saw some shakeups for Arkansas St., but then Zaire was injured. and I'm betting that the veterans may have upped their game during practice, and let's face it, they upped against Wisconsin as well. Well now it's time to set the young talent loose. If they cant handle the scheme, then it needs simplified so they can. I agree that all positions need re-opened to substance not knowledge, becasue the knowledge aint getting us anywhere.
Click to expand...
I agree with your assessment of the Blackshirts. When Bo first messed with the tradition, I thought it was good. Earn the Shirts. Then it was like 11 Blackshirts to like 15 and then like 23 guys get them. Tradition over.

I like the idea of going back to getting them prior to the first game. get some swagger. Let them step up and become respected and feared leaders of the team. I am unsure who was more frightened of Jason Peter, our guys or the other teams!

The changes he mentioned are ones that IMO, can be implemented with minimum effort. Especially during the bye week.

Read on another board that the next week or two will determine if BO is more concerned with winning or being "right"...........
Click to expand...
The game is a little different than it used to be also. Very few defenses play/start only 11 guys anymore. I'm perfectly fine with handing out 15 or however many guys contribute heavily on defense. It would be stupid if Whaley and Evans contributed equally on defense but only one got a blackshirt.

But this whole thing is way over-analyzed. I almost guarantee that the blackshirts are one of the last things on the players' minds. If they're not, then they need to focus and check where their head's at, because they have bigger things to worry about.

The blackshirt tradition at this point is all about pleasing the fans that are old enough to hold them sacred. I care about them as well, but I think it would be a joke for our current defense to have them at this point. It's one of the worst defenses we have seen in Nebraska history (still not as bad as the Callahan years, but still bad) and to hand them out to these guys right now would be a bad move IMO.

 
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