Rising / Risen Programs....what was the magic?

grandpasknee

grandpasknee

All-Conference
While pondering where Husker football is now compared to where it used to be, and how to get back on top, I got to thinking about the likes of Baylor, Oklahoma State, the U of Miami and such. All of those programs were laughing stocks at one time. We beat Okie Lite something like 29 years in a row? Baylor was a joke. Even further back, Miami seemingly came out of nowhere to become a powerhouse at one point.

I would really like folk's opinions, and specifics, on how these teams made the transition to top 25 contenders. Was it a coach? More money for the program? Recruiting thugs? (Sorry...I couldn't resist with Miami in the list). Karma? Toss in other teams I left out if they make a good story.

 
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its all about the money..... for many of the schools i believe... however there are the schools who have the right coach/right staff/right motivation and take there team to the top.... those who are lacking in something and don't have the decency dish out the cash... or so i believe

 
I tell you where to start. Recruiting a difference maker at QB.

As soon as we find that guy at QB who has the "IT" factor, that may be all the little difference between 9-10 wins with 4 loss and 12-13 wins with 1-2 losses. I'm not trying to take a swipe at Armstrong, but even as a sophomore I don't know if he has it. He shows the leadership we all want, has a great deep ball, decent runner, but there's more to it. It showed last night. Maybe part of that is to blame on Beck. Probably a lot, actually. I'm not sure how much he and even Ganz are developing him as a QB, but they're not taking it to the next level. Maybe they don't know how. If that's the case, the coaches need to find a QB who can get to that level on his own or Bo needs to find a coach who can.

Also, o-line play was awful. Terrible. That said, Michigan State put men in the box and dared Nebraska to pass. They knew the key to victory was stop the run. Still, O-line was awful. Run, pass, couldn't do it efficiently.

 
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I'm going to say this one more time. At the HS where I teach, there's a kid named Lowell Narcisse who is currently a sophomore. He is currently ranked as the #3 dual-threat QB for the 2017 class. About 10 years ago his first cousin, Chad Jasmin, played for us and was the #1 RB in the nation and Nebraska recruited him hard, but he ended up choosing Clemson and eventually played for the Seahawks. Anyway, I've known this kid since 7th grade and since I taught him, he knows all about Nebraska football. My classroom is filled with Nebraska football memorabilia and ever since I've known him I've been drilling Nebraska football into his head. During his 8th grade year his career took off and I knew the kid was going to be something special. I immediately contacted their coaching staff (Aaryn Kearney, to be specific) and told them about him. They asked me to send video, highlights, etc. and I did. Then, last year, he became our varsity starter as a freshman. The prior year we didn't win a single game. With him at the helm -- as a freshman -- we went to the state quarterfinals where we lost by 1 TD to the eventual state champions. Once again, all during his freshman campaign I emailed the staff, sent his stats, highlights, etc. and told them they needed to get on him immediately because he is difference-maker. Once again I was told that they'd "keep and eye out for him" and made no efforts to contact him, none whatsoever. Then, over the summer he attended the LSU and Mississippi State camps, and apparently performed extremely well. Illinois immediately made him a full-ride offer without ever even seeing him play. Les Miles and Frank Wilson from LSU came to our school to check him out. Once again I contacted the staff and asked what was up. I was suddenly told that they were "extremely interested" and would make contact. Unfortunately, by that time every other team in the SEC and elsewhere was extremely interested, too. Finally a couple weeks back he came to me and said, "Hey coach, I finally received something from Nebraska." He sounded really disappointed, especially after everything I'd been telling him about the program. So of course this season, as expected, he's been lighting things up, averaging over 400 all-purpose yards per game. He's scored at least 4 TDs in all six games this season. I basically gave the coaches a goldmine of a present, and they dropped the ball. This is why we can never catch up to the big boys, and never get ahead, because we don't do the little things that other teams are willing to do to give them an edge. I doubt they ever even looked at the film I sent, or any of the other stuff. I'm sure they just brushed it off and waited for the recruiting services to mention his name. It's a damn shame.

 
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probably a lot of answers..recruiting. strength and conditioning, coaching, . we are no longer tops in S and C, we never were in recruiting but we had a good coach who went through a lot of bumps beofre breaking through...

also a lot of players used to have to go to 20 or so schools to be seen on tv, we were one of the schools on tv a lot,back in the day there may be a 1/2 dozen games on tv a weekends, now they pretty much all are

things have dramatically changed in the last 15 years. i saw a study once that said the average recruit 20 years ago went 750 some miles from home to play, now the average is less than 200...and many of those recruits come from TX, CA, AZ, FL deep south..so they stay there.

so thats probably a few things...it is maybe harder to recruit north, you probably need a coach that the kids will break all the new rules listed above for....not a lot of that north now..Ohio state maybe..and oregon has done it with 100's of million from Phil knight..but they still dont have a natl champ. boise had a great coach who is gone....

you look beyond that and it seems a lot of the schools are where football is an all year sport with spring ball, etc. SEC, South, California, TX

just a few of my observatrions being around the huskers since te 70's. , im sure there is more

 
NebraskaHarry said:
As soon as we find that guy at QB who has the "IT" factor, that may be all the little difference between 9-10 wins with 4 loss and 12-13 wins with 1-2 losses. I'm not trying to take a swipe at Armstrong, but even as a sophomore I don't know if he has it. He shows the leadership we all want, has a great deep ball, decent runner, but there's more to it. It showed last night.
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As of today, we only have one loss this season. Armstrong may have the "it" factor your refer to, but instead of taking the time to find open receivers last evening he was too busy watching for who was going to clobber him after running around Sterup, through M Pelini or whatever it is that captain J Cotton does.

 
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The Nebraskan Assassin said:
I'm going to say this one more time. At the HS where I teach, there's a kid named Lowell Narcisse who is currently a sophomore. He is currently ranked as the #3 dual-threat QB for the 2017 class. About 10 years ago his first cousin, Chad Jasmin, played for us and was the #1 RB in the nation and Nebraska recruited him hard, but he ended up choosing Clemson and eventually played for the Seahawks. Anyway, I've known this kid since 7th grade and since I taught him, he knows all about Nebraska football. My classroom is filled with Nebraska football memorabilia and ever since I've known him I've been drilling Nebraska football into his head. During his 8th grade year his career took off and I knew the kid was going to be something special. I immediately contacted their coaching staff (Aaryn Kearney, to be specific) and told them about him. They asked me to send video, highlights, etc. and I did. Then, last year, he became our varsity starter as a freshman. The prior year we didn't win a single game. With him at the helm -- as a freshman -- we went to the state quarterfinals where we lost by 1 TD to the eventual state champions. Once again, all during his freshman campaign I emailed the staff, sent his stats, highlights, etc. and told them they needed to get on him immediately because he is difference-maker. Once again I was told that they'd "keep and eye out for him" and made no efforts to contact him, none whatsoever. Then, over the summer he attended the LSU and Mississippi State camps, and apparently performed extremely well. Illinois immediately made him a full-ride offer without ever even seeing him play. Les Miles and Frank Wilson from LSU came to our school to check him out. Once again I contacted the staff and asked what was up. I was suddenly told that they were "extremely interested" and would make contact. Unfortunately, by that time every other team in the SEC and elsewhere was extremely interested, too. Finally a couple weeks back he came to me and said, "Hey coach, I finally received something from Nebraska." He sounded really disappointed, especially after everything I'd been telling him about the program. So of course this season, as expected, he's been lighting things up, averaging over 400 all-purpose yards per game. He's scored at least 4 TDs in all six games this season. I basically gave the coaches a goldmine of a present, and they dropped the ball. This is why we can never catch up to the big boys, and never get ahead, because we don't do the little things that other teams are willing to do to give them an edge. I doubt they ever even looked at the film I sent, or any of the other stuff. I'm sure they just brushed it off and waited for the recruiting services to mention his name. It's a damn shame.
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I understand what you are saying but Teach is right. They get thousands of tips about kids all the time and 99% of them don't pan out. Your kid sounds legitimately good I hope they can still get in on him

 
NebraskaHarry said:
I tell you where to start. Recruiting a difference maker at QB.
Click to expand...

1000% agree. Look at Texas. 5-star players at every position except QB since Colt McCoy left. Nothing. USC. No QB in about 6 years. No good season in 6 years. NU in years before Frazier: regularly getting our butts kicked. A&M before Manziel: 20 years of sheer mediocrity. FSU with Crab-boy: totally stunk for 10 years before he arrived. Florida since Tebow left: totally suck. There are 22 starters on every team, but one position is so utterly more important than others that you can't win big without a phenomenal player in that position.

 
NUinID said:
The Nebraskan Assassin said:
I'm going to say this one more time. At the HS where I teach, there's a kid named Lowell Narcisse who is currently a sophomore. He is currently ranked as the #3 dual-threat QB for the 2017 class. About 10 years ago his first cousin, Chad Jasmin, played for us and was the #1 RB in the nation and Nebraska recruited him hard, but he ended up choosing Clemson and eventually played for the Seahawks. Anyway, I've known this kid since 7th grade and since I taught him, he knows all about Nebraska football. My classroom is filled with Nebraska football memorabilia and ever since I've known him I've been drilling Nebraska football into his head. During his 8th grade year his career took off and I knew the kid was going to be something special. I immediately contacted their coaching staff (Aaryn Kearney, to be specific) and told them about him. They asked me to send video, highlights, etc. and I did. Then, last year, he became our varsity starter as a freshman. The prior year we didn't win a single game. With him at the helm -- as a freshman -- we went to the state quarterfinals where we lost by 1 TD to the eventual state champions. Once again, all during his freshman campaign I emailed the staff, sent his stats, highlights, etc. and told them they needed to get on him immediately because he is difference-maker. Once again I was told that they'd "keep and eye out for him" and made no efforts to contact him, none whatsoever. Then, over the summer he attended the LSU and Mississippi State camps, and apparently performed extremely well. Illinois immediately made him a full-ride offer without ever even seeing him play. Les Miles and Frank Wilson from LSU came to our school to check him out. Once again I contacted the staff and asked what was up. I was suddenly told that they were "extremely interested" and would make contact. Unfortunately, by that time every other team in the SEC and elsewhere was extremely interested, too. Finally a couple weeks back he came to me and said, "Hey coach, I finally received something from Nebraska." He sounded really disappointed, especially after everything I'd been telling him about the program. So of course this season, as expected, he's been lighting things up, averaging over 400 all-purpose yards per game. He's scored at least 4 TDs in all six games this season. I basically gave the coaches a goldmine of a present, and they dropped the ball. This is why we can never catch up to the big boys, and never get ahead, because we don't do the little things that other teams are willing to do to give them an edge. I doubt they ever even looked at the film I sent, or any of the other stuff. I'm sure they just brushed it off and waited for the recruiting services to mention his name. It's a damn shame.
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I understand what you are saying but Teach is right. They get thousands of tips about kids all the time and 99% of them don't pan out. Your kid sounds legitimately good I hope they can still get in on him
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Sadly, probably too late now. Here are his stats, as a sophomore, through 6 games.

110/180 1620 yds. 16 TD/3INT

79 carries/663 yards/7 TD

And say what you want, but other teams apparently took the time to check into it... All they would have had to do is watch the tape and they'd have seen.

 
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unlfan said:
Personally, I think it has to do with one thing: location. I think the "they cheat in recruiting, but we don't!" is totally overblown. They all cheat, get over it.

The talent is in Southern California, Texas, and the South. There is a small pocket of "B Minus" talent in the Ohio/Michigan area.

Look at the AP Top 25. These are the only ranked schools that are in or right next door to one of those talent pools:

Notre Dame- Kind of a different animal, but it is really impressive what Brian Kelly is building there. In today's game, it is hard to get players to South Bend. I watched them this weekend, and everybody on the field seemed to be a freshamn or sophmore.

Michigan St.- a program we should really try to model our program after. They have been a solid program for a decade, and are starting to crawl into that "elite" category. They have the advantage of being in the Ohio/Michigan talent area, but they have to compete with the Michigans, Notre Dames, and Ohio st.s og the world for those recruits. We need to take notes.

Oregon- completly different animal. Somewhat close to so cal, and has the whole unform/nike thing. Not sure Nebraska could take much from oregon.

Ohio St., legendary program with a stranglehold on all ohio/michigan talent. Throw in Urban's ties to the south, and you have a juggernaught program.

Kansas St- a true outlier. They have no business being any good, but Bill Snyder always has a decent team.

Nebraska- we are a true outlier as well. No talent within 500 miles. Its actually kind of amazing we win 9-10 games every year.

Missouri- getting close to the South, and they can sell the recruits that they are in the SEC and will play their hometown teams. Might take a couple years to let the dust settle and really figure out where Missouri stands.

Whats the point? The point is we are one of a small group of schools that sit outside the major talent areas, yet still field a decent/pretty good team. It is not an easy thing to do. Sadly, I think this may be the ceiling in today's landscape.
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As for the "geography" theory, that's just another excuse. You get a coach who top prospects want to play for, and they don't care where it's located, they'll go there. I guarantee there is nothing special about Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

 
There is plenty of talent to build a solid foundation for NU within 500 miles of Lincoln. We just have to be the top dog in the Midwest again

 
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Coaching. If you have a good/great coach in college football you will usually meet or exceed expectations at your program. You can win anywhere with a great coach. Some places are just easier than others.

 
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