girlknowsfootball
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This may have already been posted in another thread, but I have heard a lot of people talk about Pelini as having a much better win-loss record than Mike Riley. I've done some digging and i'm not so sure about that...
Look at their coaching Careers since 2003...
2003
Riley - 8-5, Head Coach, won las vegas bowl vs new mexico
Pelini - 10-3, DC, interim HC, won alamo bowl vs michigan state
2004
Riley - 7-5, Head Coach, won insight bowl
Pelini - 12-1, CoDC Oklahoma, played for national championship against USC and lost
2005
Riley - 5-6, Head Coach, no bowl game
Pelini - 11-2, DC LSU, played in peach bowl and beat Miami
2006
Riley - 10-4, Head Coach, played in sun bowl and beat Missouri
Pelini - 11-2, DC LSU, played in sugar bowl and beat Notre Dame
2007
Riley - 9-4, Head Coach, beat Maryland in the Emerald Bowl
Pelini - 12-2, DC LSU, won national championship against Ohio State
2008
Riley - 9-4, Head Coach, beat Pittsburgh in the Sun Bowl
Pelini - 9-4, Head Coach NU, beat Clemson in the Gator Bowl
2009
Riley - 8-5, Head Coach, lost to BYU in Las Vegas Bowl
Pelini - 10-4, Head Coach NU, beat Arizona in Holiday Bowl
2010
Riley - 5-7, Head Coach, no bowl game
Pelini - 10-4, Head Coach NU, lost to Washington in holiday bowl
2011
Riley - 3-9, Head Coach, no bowl game
Pelini - 9-4, Head Coach, lost to South Carolina in Capitol One Bowl
2012
Riley - 9-4, Head Coach, lost to Texas in Alamo bowl
Pelini - 10-4, Head Coach, lost to Georgia in Capitol One Bowl
2013
Riley - 7-6, Head Coach, beat Boise State in Hawaii bowl
Pelini - 9-4, Head Coach, beat Georgia in Gator Bowl
2014
Riley - 5-7, Head Coach, no bowl game
Pelini - 9-4, lost to USC in Holiday Bowl
Here it clearly looks like Pelini is the better coach.
But let's also look at the recruiting rankings...
2002 - Nebraska 40th, Oregon State 52nd, Oklahoma 7th, LSU 15th
2003 - Nebraska 42nd, Oregon State 51st, Oklahoma 4th, LSU 1st
2004 - Oklahoma 11th, Oregon State 31st, LSU 2nd, Nebraska 58th
2005 - Nebraska 5th, Oregon State 47th, LSU 22nd
2006 - Nebraska 20th, Oregon State 41st, LSU 7th
2007 - Nebraska 13th, Oregon State 47th, LSU 4th
2008 - Nebraska 30th, Oregon State 52nd
2009 - Nebraska 28th, Oregon State 54th
2010 - Nebraska 22nd, Oregon State 44th
2011 - Nebraska 15th, Oregon State 56th
2012 - Nebraska 25th, Oregon State 39th
2013 - Nebraska 17th, Oregon State 39th
2014 - Nebraska 32nd, Oregon State 54th
2015 - Nebraska 31st, Oregon State 71st
It is clear that Pelini had much better talent to work with. It is also clear that Callahan was a much better recruiter than Pelini and that Pelini walked into a team stockpiled with talent. This makes sense why the defense was so good Pelini's first two years and then got worse as time went on. He wasn't able to recruit the caliber players Callahan recruited. Pelini did really well at Oklahoma when he had top 10 recruiting classes and ran the defense only. He did really well at LSU when he had top 15 recruiting classes and ran the defense only. He also did really well at Nebraska with defense when he inherited two top 15 classes and ran the defense. If you remember he let Watson run the offense and the offense did horrible.
This past class, even before Pelini got fired, was shaping up to be the worst recruiting class in Nebraska in 10 years. We also lost most of the high caliber players from the 2011 class, many of whom didn't feel like they were being given fair chances to play. I think Pelini, a perfectionist and an introvert by nature, couldn't handle the duties that went along with being a HC off the field, and I think he got really frustrated with the players that weren't top notch skilled. Over the past few years you could tell Pelini wasn't enjoying his job anymore... he seemed to make less efforts in recruiting, had a worse attitude, and seemed worn out by the job.
Look at Riley's recruiting classes over the past 12 years... His best class was rated 31st. He never coached a top 25 class... yet he still had 4 nine win seasons. He put about the same number of players in the NFL as Pelini did, and these guys had fewer stars coming out of high school. Yeah he had 8 season of 5 losses or more, but he won as many games as Pelini 2006-2009 and he had recruiting classes ranked in the 40's and 50's with no walk on program like Nebraska's. Pelini's classes those years were mostly top 20.
People want to look at Mike Riley and say he is going to be a worse coach than Pelini... but it's comparing apples to oranges. He's never had a top 20 recruiting class. This year he has the past 4 classes of 25th, 17th, 32nd, and 31st to work with. At Oregon State he would have had 39th, 39th, 54th, and 71st. This year his staff is on track to pull the 35th best class, while oregon state is 73rd.
Now... many of you will say, who cares about recruiting rankings, they don't mean anything. But Look at who is winning national championships and where their athletes are ranked.
Ohio State -
2015 - 9th
2014 - 3rd
2013 - 2nd
2012 - 4th
2011 - 11th
Florida State -
2014 - 4th
2013 - 10th
2012 - 6th
2011 - 2nd
2010 - 10th
Alabama -
2014 - 1st
2013 - 1st
2012 - 1st
2011 - 1st
2010 - 5th
2009 - 1st
Auburn -
2010 - 4th
2009 - 19th
2008 - 20th
2009 - 7th
2008 - 10th
Look at what Pelini Had with Oklahoma and LSU and his first couple of years at Nebraska
Oklahoma -
2004 - 11th
2003 - 4th
2002 - 7th
LSU -
2007 - 4th
2006 - 7th
2005 - 22nd
2004 - 2nd
2003 - 1st
2002 - 15th
Nebraska -
2008 - 30th
2007 - 13th (class with amukamara, haag, crick, asante, helu, paul, etc all in the NFL)
2006 - 20th
2005 - 5th (class with suh, dillard, bowman, etc all in the NFL)
If you compare the talent at the places Pelini has been with the talent at the places Riley has been there is no question they have not coached the same caliber of teams. Riley sure did seem to win a lot of bowl games. He sure did seem to get the most out of his players. He sure did seem to have the fans and the media's love. There is no doubt Pelini can coach top caliber players playing in college with NFL skill sets, but he couldn't coach the players that didn't have top end skill sets... he got frustrated with them and benched them... or he got frustrated with them and yelled at them. Pelini flourishes when he gets to focus on defense only, and his defense is a top 10-15 class talent with a solid 2 deep of that level of talent. I think Riley is a better fit for NU since we will consistently be in the high 20's with our classses... we have to have the guy that can coach up the middle level talent and mature the still growing players to reach their maximum potential.
What the numbers tell me is that Pelini was always on great teams.. and when he wasn't he didn't win as much, the pressure got to him and his perfectionistic mentality became abrasive more and more as he didn't have as much talent to work with and more was expected of him.
Look at their coaching Careers since 2003...
2003
Riley - 8-5, Head Coach, won las vegas bowl vs new mexico
Pelini - 10-3, DC, interim HC, won alamo bowl vs michigan state
2004
Riley - 7-5, Head Coach, won insight bowl
Pelini - 12-1, CoDC Oklahoma, played for national championship against USC and lost
2005
Riley - 5-6, Head Coach, no bowl game
Pelini - 11-2, DC LSU, played in peach bowl and beat Miami
2006
Riley - 10-4, Head Coach, played in sun bowl and beat Missouri
Pelini - 11-2, DC LSU, played in sugar bowl and beat Notre Dame
2007
Riley - 9-4, Head Coach, beat Maryland in the Emerald Bowl
Pelini - 12-2, DC LSU, won national championship against Ohio State
2008
Riley - 9-4, Head Coach, beat Pittsburgh in the Sun Bowl
Pelini - 9-4, Head Coach NU, beat Clemson in the Gator Bowl
2009
Riley - 8-5, Head Coach, lost to BYU in Las Vegas Bowl
Pelini - 10-4, Head Coach NU, beat Arizona in Holiday Bowl
2010
Riley - 5-7, Head Coach, no bowl game
Pelini - 10-4, Head Coach NU, lost to Washington in holiday bowl
2011
Riley - 3-9, Head Coach, no bowl game
Pelini - 9-4, Head Coach, lost to South Carolina in Capitol One Bowl
2012
Riley - 9-4, Head Coach, lost to Texas in Alamo bowl
Pelini - 10-4, Head Coach, lost to Georgia in Capitol One Bowl
2013
Riley - 7-6, Head Coach, beat Boise State in Hawaii bowl
Pelini - 9-4, Head Coach, beat Georgia in Gator Bowl
2014
Riley - 5-7, Head Coach, no bowl game
Pelini - 9-4, lost to USC in Holiday Bowl
Here it clearly looks like Pelini is the better coach.
But let's also look at the recruiting rankings...
2002 - Nebraska 40th, Oregon State 52nd, Oklahoma 7th, LSU 15th
2003 - Nebraska 42nd, Oregon State 51st, Oklahoma 4th, LSU 1st
2004 - Oklahoma 11th, Oregon State 31st, LSU 2nd, Nebraska 58th
2005 - Nebraska 5th, Oregon State 47th, LSU 22nd
2006 - Nebraska 20th, Oregon State 41st, LSU 7th
2007 - Nebraska 13th, Oregon State 47th, LSU 4th
2008 - Nebraska 30th, Oregon State 52nd
2009 - Nebraska 28th, Oregon State 54th
2010 - Nebraska 22nd, Oregon State 44th
2011 - Nebraska 15th, Oregon State 56th
2012 - Nebraska 25th, Oregon State 39th
2013 - Nebraska 17th, Oregon State 39th
2014 - Nebraska 32nd, Oregon State 54th
2015 - Nebraska 31st, Oregon State 71st
It is clear that Pelini had much better talent to work with. It is also clear that Callahan was a much better recruiter than Pelini and that Pelini walked into a team stockpiled with talent. This makes sense why the defense was so good Pelini's first two years and then got worse as time went on. He wasn't able to recruit the caliber players Callahan recruited. Pelini did really well at Oklahoma when he had top 10 recruiting classes and ran the defense only. He did really well at LSU when he had top 15 recruiting classes and ran the defense only. He also did really well at Nebraska with defense when he inherited two top 15 classes and ran the defense. If you remember he let Watson run the offense and the offense did horrible.
This past class, even before Pelini got fired, was shaping up to be the worst recruiting class in Nebraska in 10 years. We also lost most of the high caliber players from the 2011 class, many of whom didn't feel like they were being given fair chances to play. I think Pelini, a perfectionist and an introvert by nature, couldn't handle the duties that went along with being a HC off the field, and I think he got really frustrated with the players that weren't top notch skilled. Over the past few years you could tell Pelini wasn't enjoying his job anymore... he seemed to make less efforts in recruiting, had a worse attitude, and seemed worn out by the job.
Look at Riley's recruiting classes over the past 12 years... His best class was rated 31st. He never coached a top 25 class... yet he still had 4 nine win seasons. He put about the same number of players in the NFL as Pelini did, and these guys had fewer stars coming out of high school. Yeah he had 8 season of 5 losses or more, but he won as many games as Pelini 2006-2009 and he had recruiting classes ranked in the 40's and 50's with no walk on program like Nebraska's. Pelini's classes those years were mostly top 20.
People want to look at Mike Riley and say he is going to be a worse coach than Pelini... but it's comparing apples to oranges. He's never had a top 20 recruiting class. This year he has the past 4 classes of 25th, 17th, 32nd, and 31st to work with. At Oregon State he would have had 39th, 39th, 54th, and 71st. This year his staff is on track to pull the 35th best class, while oregon state is 73rd.
Now... many of you will say, who cares about recruiting rankings, they don't mean anything. But Look at who is winning national championships and where their athletes are ranked.
Ohio State -
2015 - 9th
2014 - 3rd
2013 - 2nd
2012 - 4th
2011 - 11th
Florida State -
2014 - 4th
2013 - 10th
2012 - 6th
2011 - 2nd
2010 - 10th
Alabama -
2014 - 1st
2013 - 1st
2012 - 1st
2011 - 1st
2010 - 5th
2009 - 1st
Auburn -
2010 - 4th
2009 - 19th
2008 - 20th
2009 - 7th
2008 - 10th
Look at what Pelini Had with Oklahoma and LSU and his first couple of years at Nebraska
Oklahoma -
2004 - 11th
2003 - 4th
2002 - 7th
LSU -
2007 - 4th
2006 - 7th
2005 - 22nd
2004 - 2nd
2003 - 1st
2002 - 15th
Nebraska -
2008 - 30th
2007 - 13th (class with amukamara, haag, crick, asante, helu, paul, etc all in the NFL)
2006 - 20th
2005 - 5th (class with suh, dillard, bowman, etc all in the NFL)
If you compare the talent at the places Pelini has been with the talent at the places Riley has been there is no question they have not coached the same caliber of teams. Riley sure did seem to win a lot of bowl games. He sure did seem to get the most out of his players. He sure did seem to have the fans and the media's love. There is no doubt Pelini can coach top caliber players playing in college with NFL skill sets, but he couldn't coach the players that didn't have top end skill sets... he got frustrated with them and benched them... or he got frustrated with them and yelled at them. Pelini flourishes when he gets to focus on defense only, and his defense is a top 10-15 class talent with a solid 2 deep of that level of talent. I think Riley is a better fit for NU since we will consistently be in the high 20's with our classses... we have to have the guy that can coach up the middle level talent and mature the still growing players to reach their maximum potential.
What the numbers tell me is that Pelini was always on great teams.. and when he wasn't he didn't win as much, the pressure got to him and his perfectionistic mentality became abrasive more and more as he didn't have as much talent to work with and more was expected of him.
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