Shatel: Bob Diaco's refusal for postgame interview unacceptable

El Diaco said:
Wait....wut? Why was he given an ice water bath? Seems a bit clueless on the perpetrators part if this is true. I understand "initiating" a new coach after his first game... unless it is a defensive coach after that obvious lack of performance. I think I find this way more disturbing than dodging a PC. This would hint that some players don't quite understand the expectations.
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I'm not sure who initiated the initiation.  

 
Enhance said:
Well, that's not really the point I was trying to make, but I see what you're getting at. My point was I think some fans have grown accustomed to the coordinators being available and offering a certain level of insight at certain points during the week. Post game pressers would be one of those instances.
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Ah, alright. I get it now. 

 
knapplc said:
Great, but if the players are willing to talk to the media, the Defensive Coordinator should be, too.  You can give some bland answers to their questions if you want to wait to watch the film before giving specific answers, but it's a bad look when your players are willing to do that and you aren't. 
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It doesn't seem as if he's ever been unwilling to speak to the media.

knapplc said:
Great, but if the players are willing to talk to the media, the Defensive Coordinator should be, too.  You can give some bland answers to their questions if you want to wait to watch the film before giving specific answers, but it's a bad look when your players are willing to do that and you aren't. 
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It doesn't seem as if he's ever been unwilling to speak to the media.

 
Moiraine said:
I don't feel I'm owed anything by the coaches. I don't watch or read the interviews except on very rare occasions. I do, however, think it makes him look immature and unprofessional to not do the post game interview.
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Except he thought it was understood between he & Riley that he wasn't required to do them. It was simple miscommunication between the head man, and the DC. That's what makes the media's "blood in the water" reaction so pathetic.

 
knapplc said:
The thing that bothered me the most was that Husker defenders went out and talked to the press, but the Defensive Coordinator didn't.

If you're going to send your players out there to answer questions about that game, you had damned sure better be willing to answer questions yourself.
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Pretty much agree with this.

I honestly don't think it's THAT big of a deal that he didn't talk.  I think it was pretty naieve at best for either he or Riley to not anticipate how it would be received - even before giving up 500-ish yards - and now we have to have a big show of making the excuses for why it didn't happen.

I think Diaco didn't want to talk.  I think Riley just said 'sure, whatever' because he didn't think through it all the way.  Which is pretty short-sighted.

 
B.B. Hemingway said:
Except he thought it was understood between he & Riley that he wasn't required to do them. It was simple miscommunication between the head man, and the DC.
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I find it unlikely that's what actually happened. Not that I find this whole thing extremely important.

 
Moiraine said:
I find it unlikely that's what actually happened. Not that I find this whole thing extremely important.
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You shouldn't. We've had a Notre Dame fan on here confirm what others have claimed that as DC, Diaco has regularly not talked to the media after games, regardless of performance.

 
The more important question is when will Diaco take some time to 'explain' his unique version of the 3-4 defense or atleast what they are presenting as Nebraska's defense versus Ark State and the other teams we play.   He would be wise to 'defend' his defense from the howls and screams of the media and much of the fan base etc.  If they played how he expected and planned and accomplished their game goals or target or whatever, then simply so state and justify.  

I listened to the game on the radio as I don't get it on TV in upstate NY.  My initial reacton was quite negative and very disgusted actually.   I watched it on Monay after Mavric posted it on the board.   After the video, I came away less troubled although not happy by any means.  I think we did more good things that it seemed in some important ways and I noticed enough of those very timely penalty aided drives for Ark State to keep the game tight.  Had they been called for even 3 more holding penalties, we'd have had more stops and they would have scored less.  I think we would have won by maybe 21 and we'd have all felt 'more like it'.   I thought the score would be about 42-21 which would have been fairly close.  I didn't expect we would bury them as they have won about 5 conference titles in 6 years and that means they have talent and their QB is DAM good.  He could start in Lincoln right now in my view.  He'd start at about 75% of the P5 schools I believe.  He is the key to their quick attack sandlot offense working so well.    

 
B.B. Hemingway said:
Riley doesn't come off as much of a liar.... But, yes. It's unimportant. Too bad the media ran with it like they did.
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He surely did to me.  He was talking out of both sides of his mouth at his PC Sunday.  

Kind of torques me a little either a. Coach Diaco didn't care enough to understand Nebraska's game day routine OR b. the coaching staff  didn't care enough to inform Coach Diaco of game day protocol OR c. any other explanation.  Either way, he is no longer at Notre Dame or UConn and I would like to consider his absence a quick education to Coach D of who's the boss here at Nebraska. Time to move on.  

 
Cdog923 said:
Would he be in a better position to break things down right after the game, or a couple days later? 
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I DC/OC really should be able to break it down right away...because that is what they have to do during the game...usually within about 20 seconds...then about 15 minutes at halftime.  The problem is, in all reality, a lot of play-calling is an educated guess but no one wants to hear that.  Because we all love knowing more than the coaches.  It is a catch 22.

Also, it doesn't matter what Bob did at his last stops as far as talking or not talking...it only matters what is expected of him here.  I have been at 4 different schools...each one had different expectations.  I didn't leave one, get to the other and tell my new boss "Yeah...I wore Nikes and sweatshirts everyday so I am going to do that here too"

 
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If we're claiming there's no symbiosis between fans and football teams, we have to somehow make the argument that the UNK Lopers are an equivalent team to the UNL Huskers, which isn't remotely true.  The fans make the team, we are shareholders, and we have reasonable expectations of accountability with our coaches.  There is zero reason why Diaco can't give the fans five minutes of his time after a game.  None.

 
Seems like two simple things.

1.  Since I have no inside sources, I"ll accept the notion that Coach Diaco did indeed have the OK to bypass post game interviews.

2.  If he did have that OK, then the sports writer got entirely too butt hurt by his self importance and blew it beyond any necessary proportion.

Now that the cards have unfolded as they have, I see no real need for further comment until after the next few games.  He'll either get instruction to make himself available to appease "the owners" of the team, or he'll continue to be unavailable.  Either way is good with me.

I would echo others though.  Whether immediately after the game, or a few days later, I would like to know his thoughts on the defense and their performance, etc.

 
Husker_Bohunk said:
I don't think it's a bad look at all. Why is he required to give us fans an explanation on our timetable? (Contrary to another post I saw on this board, we ARE NOT the boss.) I'd much rather he answer questions in his weekly presser than right after the game.

If he hadn't talked to the press after games previous to this, why was it expected he do this for us?
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The Nebraska fan base helps pay for Diaco's salary. Being a fan and season ticket holder is also a significant time/monetary investment. Given that coordinators have been available for interviews around here for a long time, and given that Riley still allows this practice to continue overall, Diaco should spend a few minutes discussing the game.

Now, I think it's OK for fans to be uninterested in post game interviews or believe that coordinators shouldn't have to do them. That's personal preference. But, I grow weary of this narrative that seems to suggest fans are at the mercy of whatever the coaches/athletic departments want to do. That may not be the intent but that's certainly how it comes off and, for the most part, it's a misguided notion. We're all financial stakeholders and it's generally considered a good idea to keep track of, and adjust when necessary, your investments.

 
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