Not going to be popular opinion

HANC

HANC

All-Conference
I know that this isn't going to be popular, but here is goes.......... Being a HS coach, working with 17-18 year old kids daily, they are still very "self-centered". Many kids believe that they are capable of playing college football (when they aren't close). Saying this, I am sure that most of these "big time" recruits think they are going to the NFL (even though stats say the % is low).

Knowing how HS kids think and act...... If a recruiting service lists me as a 4-5 * guy and says I have a chane to play big time D1 and possibly the NFL, then I am going to want to go to a place that will "show-case" my talents.

After watching NU's offense all year, explain to me WHY in the hell, a WR would want to come here. Just look at our WR numbers and try to convince a kid that things "will change" if he is here. Hell, Cooper-Kinnie-Bell were ALL big time "gets" and things haven't changed with them.

As far as the QB, you surely like to know the "identity" of the offense that you are going to play in for the next 4-5 years. I have no idea what what kind of offense we run. Not a power game, not a spread, not WCO....it is like we try to run a bit of all, and that doesn't work. Gabbert is rated no higher than Green, who left school early, and look at the "progress" or opportunities that he has gotten. :sarcasm :sarcasm

I am as disgusted as anyone about losing recruits. In fact, I obviously started a thread on the importance of losing these guys yeseterday. We have to keep these guys. But, if you put yourself in their shoes, you can see their perspective.

 
HANC said:
I know that this isn't going to be popular, but here is goes.......... Being a HS coach, working with 17-18 year old kids daily, they are still very "self-centered". Many kids believe that they are capable of playing college football (when they aren't close). Saying this, I am sure that most of these "big time" recruits think they are going to the NFL (even though stats say the % is low).

Knowing how HS kids think and act...... If a recruiting service lists me as a 4-5 * guy and says I have a chane to play big time D1 and possibly the NFL, then I am going to want to go to a place that will "show-case" my talents.

After watching NU's offense all year, explain to me WHY in the hell, a WR would want to come here. Just look at our WR numbers and try to convince a kid that things "will change" if he is here. Hell, Cooper-Kinnie-Bell were ALL big time "gets" and things haven't changed with them.

As far as the QB, you surely like to know the "identity" of the offense that you are going to play in for the next 4-5 years. I have no idea what what kind of offense we run. Not a power game, not a spread, not WCO....it is like we try to run a bit of all, and that doesn't work. Gabbert is rated no higher than Green, who left school early, and look at the "progress" or opportunities that he has gotten. :sarcasm :sarcasm

I am as disgusted as anyone about losing recruits. In fact, I obviously started a thread on the importance of losing these guys yeseterday. We have to keep these guys. But, if you put yourself in their shoes, you can see their perspective.
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didn't you just make this post yesterday? if kids don't understand that we did what we had to do this year given the injury and personnel circumstances and that we ran NFL type offenses with success prior to that, there's not much we can do. i understand why recruits are swayed by negative recruiting, i don't understand why our own fans attempt to tear down a program on its way back from the abyss.

 
No, if you actually read the posts...........yesterday, I posted about the IMPORTANCE of keeping recruits. Too many people act like we don't need guys after they decommit.

TODAY'S post is my OPINION on WHY kids are decommiting. Did you actually read it, or just use the "cliff notes"?

I want to know how you can blame this year's offense on "so-called" injuries. The O-line was basically in tact the entire season...... our top 2 QB's never missed a game due to injury. None of our TE missed ANY time because of injury (well, I guess 1 of the 4 missed a little time), I don't believe any of our top WR missed substantial time due to injuries (yes, Brooks was hurt a little, but he didn't contribute a lot anyway)...

Yes, Helu got banged up....BUT not at the SAME TIME as Burkhead.....one game, ISU, we were short on RB and Robinson did okay.

Can you, logic, explain the type of offense we actually run. I am a football coach, which doesn't mean anything, but the fact that I have spent the last 20 years of my life studying the game, and for the life of me, I cant get a grasp on the offensive "scheme".

Please, shed some light for me. But first, at least read the original post.

I NEVER try to start conflicts with any board members and ALWAYS respect everyone's opinion, but the fact that yesterday's post really has nothing to do with todays, along with you trying to dismiss it, kind of bugs me a little.

 
i like your style. its logical. it makes sense.

their young age coupled with the general slant of the "what have you done for me lately" attitude of our society makes the current state of the offense extremely important in a future recruit making a decision. and i cant say i blame them.

you dont want to believe it? look at how we throw a guy like zac lee under the bus after talking him up, or at least being satisfied, after his statistically impressive beginning of the season. we're no doing nothing different than these recruits, taking what theyve seen happen, not what could have been or what could be.

 
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HANC said:
No, if you actually read the posts...........yesterday, I posted about the IMPORTANCE of keeping recruits. Too many people act like we don't need guys after they decommit.

TODAY'S post is my OPINION on WHY kids are decommiting. Did you actually read it, or just use the "cliff notes"?

I want to know how you can blame this year's offense on "so-called" injuries. The O-line was basically in tact the entire season...... our top 2 QB's never missed a game due to injury. None of our TE missed ANY time because of injury (well, I guess 1 of the 4 missed a little time), I don't believe any of our top WR missed substantial time due to injuries (yes, Brooks was hurt a little, but he didn't contribute a lot anyway)...

Yes, Helu got banged up....BUT not at the SAME TIME as Burkhead.....one game, ISU, we were short on RB and Robinson did okay.

Can you, logic, explain the type of offense we actually run. I am a football coach, which doesn't mean anything, but the fact that I have spent the last 20 years of my life studying the game, and for the life of me, I cant get a grasp on the offensive "scheme".

Please, shed some light for me. But first, at least read the original post.

I NEVER try to start conflicts with any board members and ALWAYS respect everyone's opinion, but the fact that yesterday's post really has nothing to do with todays, along with you trying to dismiss it, kind of bugs me a little.
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i apologize, that was overly snarky on my part. i just get the impression that a lot of people around here are just echoing and furthering the negative recruiting that's already out there and i have to wonder if some of them (not necessarily you) are purposefully rooting against the new regime.

anyway, injuries:

spano - probably would have seen him instead of green once lee struggled

helu - played almost the entire year with a bad shoulder. the kid was probably too much of a gamer for trying to play through it. sometimes he could go, mostly he couldn't. do you think the coaches suddenly thought burkhead was better than helu during the texas game? or do you think he was struggling holding on to the ball due to the injury (see the fumble at CU)?

burkhead - this one really hurt, particularly once helu was already injured.

brooks - yes, he hadn't done much in the past, but he seemed like one of our few consistent options

burkes - this was a killer, we got destroyed at RT all season

hickman - did you ever watch him try to walk? the kid can barely move

williams - apparently needs surgery

i'm pretty sure that smith has also been banged up at LT (though i'm not convinced he's that great anyways) and obviously the loss of castille was a blow as well.

do i blame everything on injuries? no, of course not. i think we just weren't very good at receiver. paul and kinnie obviously showed signs that something's there, but not consistently enough to bail out this offense. i think we all saw the problems at QB, which makes me wonder how much spano could have helped. at one point all we had on offense was a banged up helu (and didn't even have that for a couple games prior). pretty hard to make an offense go in that situation.

do i think the coaches need to do a better job of coaching up what they have? yes, but i don't lay this season entirely at their feet. the injury problems were real and resulted in a banged up line with no depth to speak of to relieve them, which then exacerbated the problems at every other position.

as to the offensive scheme, i think you can see as well as i can what we ran last year and early this year. WCO principles adapted to a "spread" formation with a dose of zone read. watson has stated that this is what he wants to return to.

it's pretty obvious that the bunker mentality offense we ran the second half of the season was out of necessity, not out of a change or confusion in coaching schemes. and you know what? it worked. we won games.

i expect better next season. better injury situation, better depth, better coaching, better development and an offensive plan that stays closer to what they want to run than what they had to run.

 
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Dylan: Want to make clear there is no way I would ever root against any regime for NU. I was all the way on the Cally bandwago till 07'. As mentioned before turnover is never good. However, I just don't think Wats shows the creativity needed in a top notch OC. I absolutley think a lot of that can be attributed to a terrible o line that resulted in zero run game and a qb that needs a ton of improvement but even after all of that he could have ran some misdirection a half back pass, jet sweep, something to get the ball in our playmakers hands. Which we do have we just do get them the ball in advantageous situations.

 
huskers1 said:
Dylan: Want to make clear there is no way I would ever root against any regime for NU. I was all the way on the Cally bandwago till 07'. As mentioned before turnover is never good. However, I just don't think Wats shows the creativity needed in a top notch OC. I absolutley think a lot of that can be attributed to a terrible o line that resulted in zero run game and a qb that needs a ton of improvement but even after all of that he could have ran some misdirection a half back pass, jet sweep, something to get the ball in our playmakers hands. Which we do have we just do get them the ball in advantageous situations.
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you may be right. i'm not in love with his play calling even from last season. i don't even like the WCO overall, though i'm OK with it if we emphasize the power running aspect and use a QB that can run. i just think the guy deserves another chance to see what he can do. plus, he's not going anywhere this year anyway.

 
Dylan:

I can see and agree with most of what you posted there. I think that you are spot on with most of your evaluations of the offensive guys. I'm not sure that I want to put that much empahasis on the OL... Burkes was a killer....but the rest of the guys aren't any different than any other program in the country, including most HS....it's football and they are all going to get beat up.

I agree, IMO, Spano would have seen time and Green would have RS.

I am not calling for Watson's head. That isn't the point. The point of this topic is that "based on what we have seen this offense do the entire season (except vs inferior conf.) " would really make me reconsider if I was a 4-5* WR or a QB for that matter.

If you look at Kinnie-Holt-Cooper...on and on.....their numbers are horrible and it isn't necessarily their fault. Yes, sometimes I think they (as a whole) run lazy routes, but the scheme or QB play isn't allowing them to get utilized.

I little "creativity" at least may have saved some of the recruits. When your (Watson's) idea of a trick play is Suh at fb, .....cmon !!!

I don't care how bad your OL is, run a few quick slants, bubbles, outside bubbles with your so-called playmakers. I just don't understand why we saw so much zone read with the personnel that we have or don't have.

Yes, Watson is capable of putting an offense together to be successful...ala last season, but he needs playmakers to do it. And the POINT of this topic is that based on the lack of production will chase away the "play makers" he needs.

Kind of a vicious cycle, huh. I honestly cant believe we got a top notch TE to commit afer watching this season.

And just to assure you, I am not a person who is trying to revolt against this staff. I am an alum and travel around the country in support of the PROGRAM, even when BC was here. So, I am just offering my opinion on why some of these guys are getting second thoughts.

 
HANC said:
Dylan:

I can see and agree with most of what you posted there. I think that you are spot on with most of your evaluations of the offensive guys. I'm not sure that I want to put that much empahasis on the OL... Burkes was a killer....but the rest of the guys aren't any different than any other program in the country, including most HS....it's football and they are all going to get beat up.

I agree, IMO, Spano would have seen time and Green would have RS.

I am not calling for Watson's head. That isn't the point. The point of this topic is that "based on what we have seen this offense do the entire season (except vs inferior conf.) " would really make me reconsider if I was a 4-5* WR or a QB for that matter.

If you look at Kinnie-Holt-Cooper...on and on.....their numbers are horrible and it isn't necessarily their fault. Yes, sometimes I think they (as a whole) run lazy routes, but the scheme or QB play isn't allowing them to get utilized.

I little "creativity" at least may have saved some of the recruits. When your (Watson's) idea of a trick play is Suh at fb, .....cmon !!!

I don't care how bad your OL is, run a few quick slants, bubbles, outside bubbles with your so-called playmakers. I just don't understand why we saw so much zone read with the personnel that we have or don't have.

Yes, Watson is capable of putting an offense together to be successful...ala last season, but he needs playmakers to do it. And the POINT of this topic is that based on the lack of production will chase away the "play makers" he needs.

Kind of a vicious cycle, huh. I honestly cant believe we got a top notch TE to commit afer watching this season.

And just to assure you, I am not a person who is trying to revolt against this staff. I am an alum and travel around the country in support of the PROGRAM, even when BC was here. So, I am just offering my opinion on why some of these guys are getting second thoughts.
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good post. i agree that watson's play calling is questionable when he is running his full offense, i just wouldn't pin the run, run, play action stuff we saw to end the season on his preferred style. i do find it odd that we continued to run option with lee (seems like a turnover or loss of yards waiting to happen), but i guess it did help get us in field goal range against texas.

 
dylan said:
oh, and i forgot qvale, who may have started at RG and certainly would have provided depth.
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You also forgot that Marcel Jones has been hurt a good portion of the year and has been in and out of the lineup a lot. Smith was hurt at LT, may still be, and has been in and out of the line up a lot. Williams you already mentioned. The O-Line has been tough to keep together all year long. AC and Meyer have not been great trying to fill in either. The Freshmen redshirting this year will really help the overall talent and depth next year. Overall Dylan I am with you. I am not willing to give this Offensive Staff a pass by any means, but I would like to see what next year brings. I think there is a lot of talent on that side of the ball, if it isn't developed to be pretty productive next season then there are serious issues Bo needs to rectify with Staff Changes.

 
I would want to be a difference maker on a team that only needs an offense to be right at the top, but I am not a gabbert.

 
I don't think that anyone (for the most part) is "against" Dylan on this matter. He brings up very valid and interesting points.

My initial Topic was that I "understand" why some of the recruits at QB-WR would second guess themselves based on this years' performance...REGARDLESS of the reasons.

my only "tiff" (what a puss of a word :) ) was the fact that this wasn't the same post as I started yesterday and that was cleared up.

I just have a hard time blaming Watson's play calling entirely on injuries. I understand that we could have been a better team without some of the season ending stuff to Qaulve and Burkes, but my goodness, look at OU and they still somehow hammered OSU at the end ( I know that their record, so please don't throw it out there)..

Plus, the fact that he is adding plays (option, toss sweep, option pass from the Osborne era, WHICH I LOVED THIS TYPE OF OFFENSE), in the middle of the season is so......... "junior highish".... like drawing up things in the dirt each week. I love those plays, but went away from ANYTHING he had tried to establish.

Wouldn't if have been nice to see a reverse to Paul-Cooper-Gillyen, 1/2 back pass, or jet sweep, toss sweep in Big 12 game? I think the top recruits are "scared" and "bored" with this offense. And they are going to base their decision on THIS YEAR, not last year. Back to the "what have you done lately" philosophy that our society has adopted.

 
Makes sense OP. I mean how many wideouts went Pro from our teams in the 90s? Now how many tailbacks? It's all about the style you play so pick one that compliments the D and Bo's mentality (cough...physical...) and start filling in the wideouts with Nebraska kids that can block and catch a deep ball off of playaction....

 
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