Our History, our tradition.

N

Nebhawk

Starter
This has been on my mind for a few years.  We talk about our tradition.  We talk about our history.  It was a special time, and it was a special place in time.  Its all in the past.  First off, we can never get that tradition and that history back.  We switched conferences.  We switched landscapes.  We have no B1G hardware in football.  I think when some fans say we can't rely on our history or tradition to redeem this program it is correct.  So, when I keep seeing this being said" With our money and our resources we should be able to hire anyone out there" I stop and realize that all that doesn't really matter anymore.  All that history and tradition doesn't matter to anyone outside of  this program and its fanbase anymore.  This next hire has to start a new tradition and start a new history.  B1G history.  We can't rely on our past and our past achievements to get B1G notoriety.  We have to win the West, and then win the conference.  When we do that on a consistent basis, the conference will allow us to be that power once again.  We will get either Michigan or Ohio St on the schedule each season.  We will get that rivalry game with another traditional power( Penn St, Michigan or Ohio ST).  This new landscape is not ours to claim.  We have to earn it.  We have to earn that respect in this landscape.  We haven't earned that or deserved that yet.

So yes, our tradition means something to us, but its a non factor in the walls outside this state.  This is something that we have to build.  This is something that we have to produce.  Essentially we left the Big 12 with only 2 Big 12 titles to our name.  We won a NC as a Big 12 member.  WE bolted as soon as we could because we weren't winning.  We weren't a big boy anymore.  We took our ball and left.  Now that ball is deflated.  WE are looking for someone to air that damn thing back up.  History and Tradition.

 
Uh, I don’t believe we left the Big 12 because we weren’t winning enough. We left because we didn’t have much say anymore in a conference being run by Texas and because it seemed our culture aligned more closely with the B1G schools and of course the $$$$’s. It wasn’t the Big 8 any longer. To say we left, bolted, took our ball because of winning issues is a false narrative. However, I will agree that we have to earn our way to respect in the B1G. Sh#t that happened 20+ years ago doesn’t matter much today. But our name and our history does still carry a bit of clout. Because of it we are much better off than our record of the last 20 years would get us. We can still attract a bigger name coach because of it and we’ve got enough money to pay practically anybody we would want. We’re not Kansas or Iowa or Minnesota....yet.

 
Sure.  I think those are very solid points.  Don't kid yourself, every conference has there bell cow.  Texas and OU are the Big 12's, and Michigan and Ohio St are the B1G.  Thats why you see Penn St with Michigan and Ohio St back to back this season.  Don't kid yourself, that game either at the Horseshoe or the Big House is the most important game in the minds of the B1G.  That game is suppose to decide the B1G conference title, not the conference title game.  Penn St is throwing a monkey wrench in that right now, and I hope they go undefeated the rest of the way.  Like I have said and always thought, B1G didn't want us in the 90's or early 2000's.  They took Penn St, but what has Penn St won since joining?  They took us when we had no leverage.  They will decide if we ever get that leverage in most ways.  Penn St hired the right guy so far, and is now starting to take some control of there own destiny.  Now is the time that Nebraska needs to find that guy to start that process.  I think that process will take about 6 years to restore some sense of order.  I think that we can get back in this conference, but it starts in 2018.  If we keep this yoyo staff one more year, that window starts to get smaller.  That money in the B1G, is going everywhere and all is using it to produce better football teams.

 
El Diaco said:
We left because we didn’t have much say anymore in a conference being run by Texas and because it seemed our culture aligned more closely with the B1G schools and of course the $$$$’s.
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We left because we didn't want to become Connecticut.

 
Nebhawk said:
This has been on my mind for a few years.  We talk about our tradition.  We talk about our history.  It was a special time, and it was a special place in time.  Its all in the past.  First off, we can never get that tradition and that history back.  We switched conferences.  We switched landscapes.  We have no B1G hardware in football.  I think when some fans say we can't rely on our history or tradition to redeem this program it is correct.  So, when I keep seeing this being said" With our money and our resources we should be able to hire anyone out there" I stop and realize that all that doesn't really matter anymore.  All that history and tradition doesn't matter to anyone outside of  this program and its fanbase anymore.  This next hire has to start a new tradition and start a new history.  B1G history.  We can't rely on our past and our past achievements to get B1G notoriety.  We have to win the West, and then win the conference.  When we do that on a consistent basis, the conference will allow us to be that power once again.  We will get either Michigan or Ohio St on the schedule each season.  We will get that rivalry game with another traditional power( Penn St, Michigan or Ohio ST).  This new landscape is not ours to claim.  We have to earn it.  We have to earn that respect in this landscape.  We haven't earned that or deserved that yet.

So yes, our tradition means something to us, but its a non factor in the walls outside this state.  This is something that we have to build.  This is something that we have to produce.  Essentially we left the Big 12 with only 2 Big 12 titles to our name.  We won a NC as a Big 12 member.  WE bolted as soon as we could because we weren't winning.  We weren't a big boy anymore.  We took our ball and left.  Now that ball is deflated.  WE are looking for someone to air that damn thing back up.  History and Tradition.
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A lot of logical inconsistencies here, I think.

First of all, money and resources aren't the same thing as history and tradition. We still have elite money and elite resources - the gap is closer than it has been historically, but we're still one of the most profitable programs in the country, and we still have the biggest/best in stadium/weight room/nutrition/locker room/etc. stuff (not saying we're #1, but we're in the "tier 1" grouping and arguing that anyone other than Oregon has better facilities is quibbling over subjective metrics).

Second, our history and tradition do, in fact, matter outside of our fanbase. It helps give us the benefit of the doubt in rankings and legitimacy. It gives us more national attention, even when we're playing poorly. It gets us in the door with relationships with recruits who wouldn't look the same way at a similar program with the same performance but a forgettable name. At the end of the day, it doesn't replace winning or success, but it is still a complimentary factor that helps us in ways that schools like Okie State or UNC or Stanford don't have.

 
Nebhawk said:
So yes, our tradition means something to us, but its a non factor in the walls outside this state
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Highly disagree.  I travel extensively for work with much of that in the South, when people find out I'm from Nebraska more often than not I hear "what happened to you guys?".  From Florida fans that told me how Nebraska ruined their childhood with one game, too older Bama fans that tell me about seeing those Husker-Tide bowl games in the 60s and 70s.  Outsiders love to hate us and they sure as hell respect us and our history.

Nebhawk said:
WE bolted as soon as we could because we weren't winning
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No.  The perception was the power was permanently shifting to the Southern schools, mainly Texas, and things that NU had supported, like unequal profit sharing, was now deemed unacceptable since our slide into mediocrity meant we got a smaller share of the pie.  

The Big Ten offered long-term stability, more equality, more prestige and a much bigger payday.

Nebhawk said:
They took us when we had no leverage.
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Consider Missouri literally had the Governor of the state championing them to no avail.  We had Harvey, in a car, with a cell phone.  To me, that shows the weight NU carries.

Nebhawk said:
They will decide if we ever get that leverage in most ways.
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There's no conspiracy to keep Nebraska down.  There wasn't in the B12 and it most definitely isn't in the B!G.  Having more teams compete at the highest level is good for ratings and National perception.  Having one or two teams running the show will eventually weaken the conference, look at the SEC, with Bama pretty much a shoe-in for the SEC title and a playoff spot why go to any other SEC school?

 
I'll say it until it changes. We haven't won a conference title since 1999. The kids we are recruiting now were born in the year 2000.....let that sink in

 
Hingle McCringleberry said:
Highly disagree.  I travel extensively for work with much of that in the South, when people find out I'm from Nebraska more often than not I hear "what happened to you guys?".  From Florida fans that told me how Nebraska ruined their childhood with one game, too older Bama fans that tell me about seeing those Husker-Tide bowl games in the 60s and 70s.  Outsiders love to hate us and they sure as hell respect us and our history.

No.  The perception was the power was permanently shifting to the Southern schools, mainly Texas, and things that NU had supported, like unequal profit sharing, was now deemed unacceptable since our slide into mediocrity meant we got a smaller share of the pie.  

The Big Ten offered long-term stability, more equality, more prestige and a much bigger payday.

Consider Missouri literally had the Governor of the state championing them to no avail.  We had Harvey, in a car, with a cell phone.  To me, that shows the weight NU carries.

There's no conspiracy to keep Nebraska down.  There wasn't in the B12 and it most definitely isn't in the B!G.  Having more teams compete at the highest level is good for ratings and National perception.  Having one or two teams running the show will eventually weaken the conference, look at the SEC, with Bama pretty much a shoe-in for the SEC title and a playoff spot why go to any other SEC school?
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There was a concerted effort to pull Nebraska down in the Big 12.  Nebraska and Colorado and to some degree Kansas St were the only teams doing well on a national level.  The other 5 teams in the Big 12 north agreed with the south to eliminate the Prop 48 students that Nebraska had used for years.  They moved the football championship and the home office to Texas.  Later in 2006 or 7 the teams of the Big 12 south were putting feelers out about joining the Pac 12.  That would have left us high and dry as Colorado was already joining that league and Missouri was in discussion with the Big 10.  We would have been left to rebuild the league with Kansas , Kansas St, and Iowa State.  Tom O saw the Big 10 as a more stable league with considerably larger educational advantages.

 
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