We didn't need the Internet in the 1970s. Tom Osborne was on the hot seat from nearly the beginning. Back when people just grumbled loudly in analog real-life situations, Osborne was so aware of fan disatisfaction that he interviewed for the head coaching job in Boulder, in 1978 iirc. The scoring explosion teams of the early '80s bought him another 10 years. But again, no Internet was required. Osborne was keenly aware of his reputation for not winning the big game, and sometimes losing embarrassingly to teams perceived as more elite than Nebraska.
And you know what? He learned from that. The Huskers had been built for strength in Boyd Eppley's weight room, and looking at the elite teams beating the Huskers Osborne realized he had to recruit for defensive speed.
Absolutely a team and coach need to earn the fans' trust. They need to earn the fans' everything. College football is an entertainment product, and those fan dollars and TV contracts pay for the inflated coaching salaries. A coach doesn't need to answer to every yahoo's complaint or suggestion, but he damn well better be putting an entertaining product on the field. If Husker fans are spoiled, it's because a lot of effort went into making us the pride of college football. I think most of us are reasonable in the way we've reduced expecations, but it's hardly chippy to want to do better than a 4 loss season and at least one televised humiliation.
I mean, after awhile you learn to avoid M. Night Shamalayan movies, right?
