REDSTEEL
All-Conference
Back then I don't remember McBride using the excuse of injuries and blaming young players for his defensive problem unlike a certain OC and his Watsonites fans. :hmmphWe weren't wrong about McBride - at least, not about McBride circa 1986-1990 (give or take). Our defense failed miserably several times in crucial situations in those years, and the blame rested squarely on the shoulders of Charlie. He was recruiting strong, slow, run-clogging D Linemen and LBs, and it cost us dearly. Had he not changed his philosophy we would have continued to fail in games against teams built on speed.Just because Nebraska fans were wrong about McBride doesn't mean that we are wrong about Watson.
McBride realized we could compete well against Big 8 foes who ran the football as well as national foes who threw (like Miami, Florida State, etc) if we kept up with our weight program but put speed on top of the list on recruiting. It took a few years to get the right kids and get them into starting roles, but once he did, we all know what happened.
Same thing could happen with Watson. It's not that Watson isn't a capable OC, it's that he's hide-bound to certain ways of doing things. If he thinks outside of his particular box he could succeed in spades here, but he has to make that change. If he doesn't, we may be right to call for his head if things continue the way they did the last couple of years, injuries or no.
Or did I miss we had to use the LB or DE with a broken arm because he didn't tell us the truth that he was hurt or was afraid his backup was to young.