Respect for Devaney

[BigPeterJ]

I think you hit it on the head.  Anyone born in the last 20-25 years knows nothing about Nebraska being anything more than what they have seen.  I know my own kids are not overly excited or thrilled to go to games, watch them on TV, or even care about them.  They are in HS now and don't have that passion as they have never had anything to be passionate about.  We are on the cusp of never being able to reach the apex again.

Yes, that was the main point im making.  If we dont get it done under Frost (hopefully in the next 5 years) we are officially no longer a "blue blood".  Instead we join Minnesota and company as the long lost greats.  We all know Frost is our last chance.  

 

[Jeremy]

It probably will take 5 or more years to get to the level where we're competing for the B1G West and conference title, but I'm willing to wait. There'll be some tough games, but I almost guarantee we'll win a few we shouldn't in the process. We just have to be patient and stay level-headed after games like the last one. 

We've gotten some great athletes who are also great kids, and a lot more are on the way. We'll get there. Better days ahead.

 

[Huskers93-97]

It probably will take 5 or more years to get to the level where we're competing for the B1G West and conference title, but I'm willing to wait. There'll be some tough games, but I almost guarantee we'll win a few we shouldn't in the process. We just have to be patient and stay level-headed after games like the last one. 

We've gotten some great athletes who are also great kids, and a lot more are on the way. We'll get there. Better days ahead.

The 5 years could maybe to true as for as BIG10 title. But I dont see it taking that long for the west.

 

[URSS]

I never had any reason to go back and look into what Devaney inherited before he took over. But with the last 20 years of Husker coaching changes and everyone debating what each coach inherited as a reason for why they did or did not succeed. I thought it was interesting to see what Devaney inherited and it gave me an even greater respect for the job he did. Pretty amazing actually. The 5 years prior to Devaney arriving Nebraska won a total of 15 games. With the best season being 4 wins- so we were consistently a horrible program. With Devaney the turnaround was immediate with a 9-2 record in year 1 and 10-1 record in year 2. In the middle of his tenure he had 2 back to back seasons of 6-4 then he took off again with 9-10 every year with 2 Natty's. 

His wins and losses at Wyoming prior to coming here were decent but nothing amazing. Does anyone know why we targeted him as the coach? Did he have Nebraska ties.

As I recall, AD Tippy Dye made two other offers that were turned down.  I think Coach Duffy Daugherty, Mich State, recommended Devaney to Dye and encouraged Devaney to accept.  Devaney was an Asst Coach At Mich State.  Daugherty told him that he could win a championship at Nebraska but not at Wyoming.

Bill Jennings has terrible records as the Huskers head coach but posted a few terrific wins against Oklahoma.  Jennings was a good recruiter.  He recruited Gale Sayers initially and Sayers followed him to Kansas when Jennings was fired.  Jennings used to always blame poor talent for his losses on the Channel 10 Sunday morning Huskers football show.  But, he did have some really great players on the team when Devaney took over.  Devaney got 9 wins with essentially the same talent.  You can check the Huskers in the pros lists to see ones who did great.

Nebraska was a football powerhouse up through the 1940s.  Nebraska best Notre Dame during their heyday.