Riley Supporters Are Wrong

[NoLongerN]

I support the head coach of my team. Especially in the first year. If that makes me a Riley Supporter, fine. Then I guess I was a Bo Supporter, a Bill Supporter, and a Frank Supporter too.

It doesn't mean that you think they are the best coach. Or that they are doing everything right. Or that they are the long term solution.

It just means you support them and want them to succeed.

Anyone who can't do that is as much of a jacka$$ as someone who boos your favorite team at the stadium, too.

Yes and Yes!!

 

[KazLong]

Good to see these wonderful expenditures of effort.

Fine ill work on the look alike thread.

 

[Kernal]

I think most Nebraskans support the idea of fairness. And that means you give a new coach a few years to get his bearings and get things rolling. That's not being a "Riley Supporter," that's being a sane and rational person.

 

[GOAT]

You said "Let's say Riley gets it turned around and we are playing very well in the next 4-5 years and then retires. That sets the program up very well for the next coach to come in. That is something we have not had the luxury of the last three coaching changes. "

So in other words, you hope Sub500 has us winning 11+ in the next 4-5 years.

Hope and change!

What else is there? Look at the mess that is now Texas. Disclaimer: I believe Charlie Strong is a good/great coach. They are a team absolutely stacked with talent. However, they just aren't doing very well. Texas went after Saban and threw buckets of money at his feet. He turned them down. I wouldn't be shocked they pull the plug after this year. Texas is a more desirable job than Nebraska. Yet, they are a mess.

There just isn't a bulletproof hire out there. We've already seen a lot of lamebrain suggestions out there. Thank goodness the fans don't hire coaches. We hired a coach with a history of doing more with less. Whether we want to admit it or not, we're never going to be a recruiting juggernaut. Bo Pelini is a good/great coach when he has talent. He wasn't able to get that talent here. We don't have a Suh on this team. All of us, Eichorst included, are hoping this change bears fruit.

The difference between Charlie Strong and Mike Riley is that Strong is much younger. Riley has a much shorter shelf life. If it takes years for his "transition" to take place, by that time it'll be time for him to retire, and then another HC will be brought in. Do you really think that coach will have the same philosophies and schemes that Riley employs? I don't. That means ANOTHER transition will have to take place. That's what all the people who say "we have time for a transition" fail to realize. All we can hope is that Riley can get us back on the right track and that whomever comes after him can keep is there. However, I don't think many were expecting such a shaky start, evidenced by the fact that the AVERAGE prediction on Huskermax for our season regular season record was 11-1.

 

[BigRedBuster]

The AVERAGE prediction on the season was not 11-1.

Edit....I just noticed you said "on Huskermax".

On here it was far from 11-1.

 

[GOAT]

I predicted 8-4 and was ridiculed for being a Negative Nancy. Their recruiting "specialist"/mod banned me because I said our current recruiting class isn't up to par -- he said I was the only one who felt that way and that I was being too pessimistic.

 

[It'sNotAFakeID]

You said "Let's say Riley gets it turned around and we are playing very well in the next 4-5 years and then retires. That sets the program up very well for the next coach to come in. That is something we have not had the luxury of the last three coaching changes. "

So in other words, you hope Sub500 has us winning 11+ in the next 4-5 years.

Hope and change!

What else is there? Look at the mess that is now Texas. Disclaimer: I believe Charlie Strong is a good/great coach. They are a team absolutely stacked with talent. However, they just aren't doing very well. Texas went after Saban and threw buckets of money at his feet. He turned them down. I wouldn't be shocked they pull the plug after this year. Texas is a more desirable job than Nebraska. Yet, they are a mess.

There just isn't a bulletproof hire out there. We've already seen a lot of lamebrain suggestions out there. Thank goodness the fans don't hire coaches. We hired a coach with a history of doing more with less. Whether we want to admit it or not, we're never going to be a recruiting juggernaut. Bo Pelini is a good/great coach when he has talent. He wasn't able to get that talent here. We don't have a Suh on this team. All of us, Eichorst included, are hoping this change bears fruit.

The difference between Charlie Strong and Mike Riley is that Strong is much younger. Riley has a much shorter shelf life. If it takes years for his "transition" to take place, by that time it'll be time for him to retire, and then another HC will be brought in. Do you really think that coach will have the same philosophies and schemes that Riley employs? I don't. That means ANOTHER transition will have to take place. That's what all the people who say "we have time for a transition" fail to realize. All we can hope is that Riley can get us back on the right track and that whomever comes after him can keep is there. However, I don't think many were expecting such a shaky start, evidenced by the fact that the AVERAGE prediction on Huskermax for our season regular season record was 11-1.

1) The exact same philosophies? Probably not. But if Riley does establish something good in his time here and lays the groundwork for the next coaching staff, it'd be foolish of us to look for coaches who have conflicting philosophies. The next coach should be somebody who have roughly similar philosophies and who will be able to transition. The scheme's adopted by Bo and Mike are wildly different and it is no surprise that we're seeing this rocky transition.

The Mike Riley hire was so surprising to me because I thought we were going to go with a coach who ran his offenses and defenses similar to Bo, but who was a cooler head and a better teacher of the fundamentals. I sometimes we feel that Eichorst hired Riley because he was the anti-Bo personality wise without considering the fact that other coaches like Riley exist who have similar philosophies to Bo. It's yet to be seen if we what Riley is installing will work here, and we are really close to saying yes that it makes no sense that the definitive answer is no.

2) Optimism always reigns supreme in the offseason and the hype machine was strong. It was hopeful to think that we fired a 9-10 win coach so our new coach should probably do better, and there isn't much room for improvement on 9, 10 win seasons.

 

[zoogs]

On here there was a lot of "OK, a 7 win season would be disappointing, but not a total stunner, depending on how the losses happened."

There was a lot of blowback over that.

Which I think is fair, it was a good offseason discussion, but you either double down on the new coaches screwing everything up or maybe the year 1 transition was going to be a shakier hurdle than some anticipated. I was happy to drink plenty of offseason kool-aid, but I think we were setting ourselves up for disappointment with some of it.

If the coaches did the best possible job they would probably be 4-2 or 5-1 right now, even with the team they inherited. However, bumps in the road as both team and coach get acclimated to a season of many news, ... it's neither dire nor unacceptable, and it doesn't necessarily make a strong statement about what to expect in Year 2, either.

 

[zoogs]

And GOAT, you don't even have a warning point or suspension on your rrecord -- so I'm not sure what you mean by that.

 

[Mavric]

And GOAT, you don't even have a warning point or suspension on your rrecord -- so I'm not sure what you mean by that.

I think that is at some "other" site.

 

[GOAT]

Well, I don't know anyone, from hundreds of message board posters to other fans I've spoken to face-to-face, who predicted a 2-4 start, transition year or not. Over the past several years on NSD I was berated for questioning the quality of our recruiting classes; I was repeatedly told that they were good and that I didn't know what I was talking about. Now that we're off to a poor start, suddenly the cupboard is bare and our players aren't any good. Can't have it both ways.

 

[GOAT]

And GOAT, you don't even have a warning point or suspension on your rrecord -- so I'm not sure what you mean by that.

I think that is at some "other" site.

Correct. And I'm sure you can guess the mod I'm referring to. ;-)

 

[StPaulHusker]

The difference between Charlie Strong and Mike Riley is that Strong is much younger.

They are separated by 7 years.

 

[zoogs]

And GOAT, you don't even have a warning point or suspension on your rrecord -- so I'm not sure what you mean by that.

I think that is at some "other" site.

Ohhhh, okay. Well, then ... maybe leave the angst over that back at that other site?

(Not saying it was or wasn't unfair, but you know...I'm happy to have outside drama stay outside.)

I was repeatedly told that they were good and that I didn't know what I was talking about. Now that we're off to a poor start, suddenly the cupboard is bare and our players aren't any good. Can't have it both ways.

I don't think we're having it both ways, really. I think people who feel the team Riley inherited was very talented are holding him properly accountable to these early results. The people who have felt Bo's roster (whether through recruiting, turnover, management, or a combination) left us with a vulnerable situation are okay to shrug off any number of initial challenges.

We won't do it forever, of course. As time goes on, this team and its makeup become fully owned by Riley.

 

[GOAT]

On here there was a lot of "OK, a 7 win season would be disappointing, but not a total stunner, depending on how the losses happened."

There was a lot of blowback over that.

Which I think is fair, it was a good offseason discussion, but you either double down on the new coaches screwing everything up or maybe the year 1 transition was going to be a shakier hurdle than some anticipated. I was happy to drink plenty of offseason kool-aid, but I think we were setting ourselves up for disappointment with some of it.

If the coaches did the best possible job they would probably be 4-2 or 5-1 right now, even with the team they inherited. However, bumps in the road as both team and coach get acclimated to a season of many news, ... it's neither dire nor unacceptable, and it doesn't necessarily make a strong statement about what to expect in Year 2, either.

Fair enough. I admit, I am eager to see what POB can do once he gets here, but I'm very concerned at this point about our other recruits, or lack thereof. Data shows that in order to win championships we must routinely finish in the Top 15 recruiting-wise, and Riley's current class is nowhere near that.