Sipple: Amid fervent fan base, Pelini seeks even keel

[Enhance]

seems like many here agree, Bo may be spending valuable time worrying about things directly beyond his control......i think he is so locked into his scheme, he is determined to run it regardless of player skill level.........square hole, round peg, i would like to see him flex a little and morph his scheme to fit his players....it's done on offense all the time........i think Bo may be missing the boat here.

Specifically, what are you referring to? It's easy to say we're coaching guys into a system that doesn't work, but what do you find our current players lack that makes the scheme unsuccessful?

I see people say this all the time, but rarely why they think it.

it would seem pretty simple........read the posts, the guys are not athletic enough but understand the scheme........the guys are athletic, but don't understand the scheme......so who the hell do you play? or do you adjust the scheme so your most athletic guys can understand and execute the scheme......

Pelini alters the scheme weekly, making adjustments to put his players in the best position. The evidence is visible in the games, if you go back and watch them. What exactly do you propose? Huge defensive overhaul mid-to-late season because the athletic guy doesn't know the scheme and the non-athletic guy does?

Or, adjust the scheme this Spring to fit what he has? He's going to do that already - every coach does it. If the players aren't getting it, it's on the coach, but it's also on the players they're recruiting to perform.

 

[True2tRA]

Bo's scheme can work. It's been proven. Ndamukong Suh can make a lot of defenses look good though. Prince, Hagg, and Gomes were pretty good players too. Crick probably could have made things look a bit better this year. There's no doubt in my mind that Bo's scheme is largely predicated on getting pressure with a four man rush. When that doesn't happen, it usually does not work. You can only ask CB's to provide coverage for so long. We play the "bend but don't break" game, and I question it sometimes. I won't lie, I am a big fan of aggressive, blitzing defenses, and yeah it's fun to watch, but things could work again for us doing it the way Bo does it. These coaches just have to do a better job of finding the players to plug the holes. We've lost some damn good guys in the last few years and we lost some more this past year in Crick, David and Dennard. This defense's success could really come down to some young guys not only stepping up, but stepping up HUGE.

 

[Blaze1up]

I love how Bo thinks he is the only person to play football, the only person who has been in a competitive team sport. No one else understands the basics of football, but him. He thinks everyone is dumb and he is a genius, and is frustrated people can’t see it...... (Some people call that arrogance).

I think Bo is a decent coach, but I would love for him to just say "we are working on getting better", instead of making excuses like; the fans are too up and down, the media is picking on me, blah blah blah. If you spent half the time you do complaining about how your job is so hard here and how the media, fans, past players and some of the boosters "just don’t understand", and applied that to fixing some of your coaching issues.... we could win a few championships!

Lastly, to say his meltdowns doesnt impact the players and coaches around him.... thats delusional.

Bo will be a legend

 

[Enhance]

Bo's scheme can work. It's been proven. Ndamukong Suh can make a lot of defenses look good though. Prince, Hagg, and Gomes were pretty good players too. Crick probably could have made things look a bit better this year. There's no doubt in my mind that Bo's scheme is largely predicated on getting pressure with a four man rush. When that doesn't happen, it usually does not work. You can only ask CB's to provide coverage for so long. We play the "bend but don't break" game, and I question it sometimes. I won't lie, I am a big fan of aggressive, blitzing defenses, and yeah it's fun to watch, but things could work again for us doing it the way Bo does it. These coaches just have to do a better job of finding the players to plug the holes. We've lost some damn good guys in the last few years and we lost some more this past year in Crick, David and Dennard. This defense's success could really come down to some young guys not only stepping up, but stepping up HUGE.

This sums up my thoughts, as well. We had really good defense for two years, and we all of a sudden have an average year and people start rummaging through the recruitment lists and getting overly critical of a guy who has proven time and time again that he knows what he's doing.

He isn't void of criticism, or of things to improve. I just find that I haven't seen enough negative things to be too critical. We've had few off the field issues, winning seasons, high graduation rates, players sent to the NFL, pretty good recruiting classes, etc.

 

[It'sNotAFakeID]

WAHusker, on 04 March 2012 - 11:15 AM, said:

I love how Bo thinks he is the only person to play football, the only person who has been in a competitive team sport. No one else understands the basics of football, but him. He thinks everyone is dumb and he is a genius, and is frustrated people can’t see it...... (Some people call that arrogance).

I think Bo is a decent coach, but I would love for him to just say "we are working on getting better", instead of making excuses like; the fans are too up and down, the media is picking on me, blah blah blah. If you spent half the time you do complaining about how your job is so hard here and how the media, fans, past players and some of the boosters "just don’t understand", and applied that to fixing some of your coaching issues.... we could win a few championships!

Lastly, to say his meltdowns doesnt impact the players and coaches around him.... thats delusional.

You read too much into words and put words in his mouth. I doubt he thinks only he knows how football works. And he has a point when he says that fans are too emotionally record driven. To think that fans, media, past players don't effect the program is delusional. The football team does not live in an impervious bubble.

this isnt the first time Bo has said the fans, past players and media "dont understand". No one is saying they are smarter than Bo (and people talk about putting words into peoples mouths....) - not directed at you, Bye Bye

But past players, players for other college teams and some coaches on here, do understand the basics. They understand what teams are about. They understand the phychological side of the athletes. Nowhere did he talk about scheme in this article, nowhere.

and for those that say its confidence.... sorry but a confident person doesnt follow up a statement like that, with excuses as to why his job is harder or more "under a microscope" than any other elite team. OSU, Texas, FLorida, USC, Michigan (i can go on for a while) all ahve the same pressure and same microscope as Bo has. A confident person says what they can do, and then go out and do it.....

As for fans... again every other major D1 school seems to deal witht eh emotional fans. Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, PSU, etc. all have the same type of fans we do here. All those colleges are in a state or town that live and breath football, much like people in Omaha/Lincoln. But, I cant recall any other coach saying this. Why does Bo have to (this isnt the first time, either)?

I am not a Bo hater, I dont want him fired. I like Bo, just wish he would grow up a little faster. I wish he wasnt so hard headed, wish had some more humility and some grace with the media, fans and boosters. I think in time he will get there, again just wish it was sooner than later.

And Bo isn't saying he's smarter than the fans.

Everyone is different psychologically, some players can handle themselves, some players can not. As such, the overall team dynamic is going to be drastically different for Rex Burkhead than it was for Mike Rozier. I don't think any former player past 2 years can come and talk about the team because it is different.

For those other big programs, sure they have a pretty big microscope put onto them by their respective fan bases, but all one has to do is take a look around to see why it is different here at Nebraska. When Nebraska loses, the talk constantly goes around until they win again. There is nothing to impede it. No NFL team, no NBA team, no MLB team, nothing at all. All we have to talk about is Husker football and Husker football some more. That is why it is different, that is why it is more intense and crazier here. And there is no other big university, either.

Ohio State-Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cincinnati University, Toledo, Ohio University, etc

Florida-Miami Heat, Miami Marlins, Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Rays, Orlando Magic, Florida State University, etc

Penn State-Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia 76ers, etc

Nebraska-University of Nebraska-Lincoln football.

You see the difference?

The only school one could possibly compare us to in this way is Alabama, that state doesn't have any professional sports, and you see how crazy their fans are and can get.

 

[RedDenver]

I think this thread is pretty convincing evidence that Bo is correct - the fans are overly emotional and too critical.

And I simply do not understand how anyone can think that Bo's scheme doesn't work. And does the scheme really matter that much? Dominant defenses have played tons of different schemes. "It's not about the X's and the O's, it's about the Jimmy's and the Joe's."

 

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

Bo needs to worry about the x's and o's and make sure his kids keep off the police blotter. Let the fans be fans.

 

[True2tRA]

WAHusker, on 04 March 2012 - 11:15 AM, said:

I love how Bo thinks he is the only person to play football, the only person who has been in a competitive team sport. No one else understands the basics of football, but him. He thinks everyone is dumb and he is a genius, and is frustrated people can’t see it...... (Some people call that arrogance).

I think Bo is a decent coach, but I would love for him to just say "we are working on getting better", instead of making excuses like; the fans are too up and down, the media is picking on me, blah blah blah. If you spent half the time you do complaining about how your job is so hard here and how the media, fans, past players and some of the boosters "just don’t understand", and applied that to fixing some of your coaching issues.... we could win a few championships!

Lastly, to say his meltdowns doesnt impact the players and coaches around him.... thats delusional.

You read too much into words and put words in his mouth. I doubt he thinks only he knows how football works. And he has a point when he says that fans are too emotionally record driven. To think that fans, media, past players don't effect the program is delusional. The football team does not live in an impervious bubble.

this isnt the first time Bo has said the fans, past players and media "dont understand". No one is saying they are smarter than Bo (and people talk about putting words into peoples mouths....) - not directed at you, Bye Bye

But past players, players for other college teams and some coaches on here, do understand the basics. They understand what teams are about. They understand the phychological side of the athletes. Nowhere did he talk about scheme in this article, nowhere.

and for those that say its confidence.... sorry but a confident person doesnt follow up a statement like that, with excuses as to why his job is harder or more "under a microscope" than any other elite team. OSU, Texas, FLorida, USC, Michigan (i can go on for a while) all ahve the same pressure and same microscope as Bo has. A confident person says what they can do, and then go out and do it.....

As for fans... again every other major D1 school seems to deal witht eh emotional fans. Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, PSU, etc. all have the same type of fans we do here. All those colleges are in a state or town that live and breath football, much like people in Omaha/Lincoln. But, I cant recall any other coach saying this. Why does Bo have to (this isnt the first time, either)?

I am not a Bo hater, I dont want him fired. I like Bo, just wish he would grow up a little faster. I wish he wasnt so hard headed, wish had some more humility and some grace with the media, fans and boosters. I think in time he will get there, again just wish it was sooner than later.

And Bo isn't saying he's smarter than the fans.

Everyone is different psychologically, some players can handle themselves, some players can not. As such, the overall team dynamic is going to be drastically different for Rex Burkhead than it was for Mike Rozier. I don't think any former player past 2 years can come and talk about the team because it is different.

For those other big programs, sure they have a pretty big microscope put onto them by their respective fan bases, but all one has to do is take a look around to see why it is different here at Nebraska. When Nebraska loses, the talk constantly goes around until they win again. There is nothing to impede it. No NFL team, no NBA team, no MLB team, nothing at all. All we have to talk about is Husker football and Husker football some more. That is why it is different, that is why it is more intense and crazier here. And there is no other big university, either.

Ohio State-Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cincinnati University, Toledo, Ohio University, etc

Florida-Miami Heat, Miami Marlins, Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Rays, Orlando Magic, Florida State University, etc

Penn State-Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia 76ers, etc

Nebraska-University of Nebraska-Lincoln football.

You see the difference?

The only school one could possibly compare us to in this way is Alabama, that state doesn't have any professional sports, and you see how crazy their fans are and can get.

+1. Husker football is all we got around here. I sure as hell ain't driving out to Denver to catch a Broncos game nearly as easily as I can trot 30 minutes over to the stadium and see my Huskers.

 

[It'sNotAFakeID]

And I guess if the message I, and some others are trying to convey, is that there is nothing to deflect our eye from Husker football, and when that happens, people get crazy. There's nothing wrong with a little craziness and emotionality--that's what makes sports great, forming an emotional attachment. But when it gets carried away like it does more often than not on this message board, there needs to be something to deflect it and there isn't in the state of Nebraska.