So why did we hire Mike Riley?

I think he was the only coach who would listen to any offers. The firing of Bo made alot of coaches stand back and not want this chance. Riley was looking for a way out of Corvallis before he was let go! Did or was there other offers on the table.....one would hope that since this all went down in San Fran, Harbaugh was at least approached.....

Since Solich was fired, the image of NU football has never been the same. In some ways, it was stupid that Solich was fired, during a season when you hired a defensive CO, and that defense was solid enough to only lose to Top 10 teams.

Riley was the only choice apparently. I guess the days of having your ducks in a row, and having the next coach lined up before you fire your current 9 win coach. Pederson started this process of firing and having no hires available. Its only gotten worse

 
Well everyone and their dog thought this hire was way out in right field. And no one really knew how the hell this all went down. Everyone had hope and optimism, got excited with some recruiting tactics and then BAM! We instantly find out that a .500 winning coach is going to win half his games. I hate the "needs time" talk. bullsh#t. Look at allllll the big name coaches that win instantly. Michigan was a bigger mess last year than we were and I'd switch places with them in a heartbeat. Urban Meyer, mckelwain or however you spell it, Dabo sweeny, Brian Kelly, jim mora. Why are all these coaches turning their teams into winners right away!?!? Pull out the damn checkbook and bring in a winner. You spend all this money on amenities and facilities but why not a coach!?!?!? Riley is making less than Bo was. We can afford a 5 mil coach. Now go get one

 
Nine wins is all i hear about pelini. but did he have any signature wins? yes he won the expected games but to win the signature wins takes coaching. in those losses he was out coached. with pelini we were not going to see anymore improvement. you were not going to see any big 10 championships and definitely not a national title. and yes the embarassment of his sideline antics. Do we so soon forget his remarks after he was no longer here? Solich was let go for reasons other then coaching performance which was the reason for his short tenure. Callahan was let go for coaching performance after 5 years?. Pelini was let go for a little of both after 5 years. Mike Riley is owed 3 - 5 years before we should make a decision as to performance. Until then lets support him. there are good things happening if we can see past this temporary win/loss ratio.

 
Since people love asking about sig wins, name a sig win for Riley.........there isnt one, because he has never won anything in his life. He last beat Oregon in 2007, only 2 of the losses in the last 7 years have not been embarrassingly bad blow outs (isnt that why we fired the last coach). This wasnt suppose to be a rebuild from ground up hire, it was suppose to be a hire that erased a couple losses off of the record. We got a team that looks bad, really bad. The defense stats from last week look better because the weather was crap, we can only hope that every sat has bad weather.

He is the "nice guy" because there isnt nothing else positive to say about him, other coaches probably like him because he is an easy win.

This hire is something that will take drastic change at the university to come back from. After Solich was fired I believe it was Urban Meyer that said paraphrase "Why would I go to a school that would fire someone with a winning record".

Hey maybe out of left field, since this hire was from right, Nebraska hires Tressel as the new president and then he can rebuild the Athletic department, and while he is at it, figure out how to get back in the AAU.

 
BoneyardHusker said:
ColoradoHusk said:
Simply put, Riley was hired because he was the exact opposite of Bo. He was experienced, older, well-spoken, and a NICE guy. He also wouldn't require a large paycheck, which had to help.
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This.

And all the things he did at Oregon State with "lesser" talent and resources. The big excitement was to see what he could do with more resources at Nebraska and with top level talent.

He's so far 2-3. He is truly the exact opposite of Pelini. Pelini with no experience managed to get at least 9 wins every year.

Now that Riley is failing miserably, the answer is he needs the 3-4 years to get his recruits and his system in place.

Well, with Riley's age and his experience I would have had to imagine this hire was intended for Nebraska to start winning immediately.
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Pelini started 2008 with a 3-3 record, he didn't start with 9 wins in the first 5 games.

Saz said:
Since people love asking about sig wins, name a sig win for Riley.........there isnt one, because he has never won anything in his life. He last beat Oregon in 2007, only 2 of the losses in the last 7 years have not been embarrassingly bad blow outs (isnt that why we fired the last coach). This wasnt suppose to be a rebuild from ground up hire, it was suppose to be a hire that erased a couple losses off of the record. We got a team that looks bad, really bad. The defense stats from last week look better because the weather was crap, we can only hope that every sat has bad weather.

He is the "nice guy" because there isnt nothing else positive to say about him, other coaches probably like him because he is an easy win.

This hire is something that will take drastic change at the university to come back from. After Solich was fired I believe it was Urban Meyer that said paraphrase "Why would I go to a school that would fire someone with a winning record".

Hey maybe out of left field, since this hire was from right, Nebraska hires Tressel as the new president and then he can rebuild the Athletic department, and while he is at it, figure out how to get back in the AAU.
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Riley at OSU beat #7 Arizona State last year.

 
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Kernal said:
Pelini started 2008 with a 3-3 record, he didn't start with 9 wins in the first 5 games.
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I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt here and assume that you know that is mathematically impossible.

Riley at OSU beat #7 Arizona State last year.
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Cool story, brah. He put a few guys into the NFL, too.

How many championships did that get him?

 
Blackshirts007 said:
Well everyone and their dog thought this hire was way out in right field. And no one really knew how the hell this all went down. Everyone had hope and optimism, got excited with some recruiting tactics and then BAM! We instantly find out that a .500 winning coach is going to win half his games. I hate the "needs time" talk. bullsh#t. Look at allllll the big name coaches that win instantly. Michigan was a bigger mess last year than we were and I'd switch places with them in a heartbeat. Urban Meyer, mckelwain or however you spell it, Dabo sweeny, Brian Kelly, jim mora. Why are all these coaches turning their teams into winners right away!?!? Pull out the damn checkbook and bring in a winner. You spend all this money on amenities and facilities but why not a coach!?!?!? Riley is making less than Bo was. We can afford a 5 mil coach. Now go get one
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Same here. There is no more time to do this. We have been mediocre for 12 years now, there is no more time. We are at a critical juncture for this program. Riley was a "fix it now" hire, not a wait and see. A coach that is his age does not have the time to build a program from the ground up. The program can't afford to wait another 4 or 5 years to at least return to respectability. The school admin, boosters and donors need to realize this. They are playing with fire and skirting the line with fan apathy. Once the fans are lost, and it's happening now, the rest of it goes down the tubes. If this continues past this year, look out. It takes a toll on everything, from financing to recruiting. I really hope Riley get's control of this. I truly would like to see him succeed.

 
who were all the so-called 'big names' that were out there? been wondering out that statement for quite sometime now!

 
lo country said:
Serious question, I know that there are numerous threads on what he is/did do wrong, but I want to know what makes/made him the tight choice.

I'll admit I wasn't a fan of the hire, I had to google his name and then read some about him and was even less inthused. His record, scheme etc.... With that in mind, I figured support him and the team until I'm proven otherwise.

Flash back to the hiring and firing. With all of the "big time" guys available what made Riley stand out? Was it his demeanor (the Anti-Bo)?

Was it his experience?

Was it the cost of hiring him?

His style of offense?

Ability to do more with less?

West coast recruits?

I'm asking as I really didn't see anything then they made me say "great hire". For full disclosure, I bought into the idea of more experience equaled another win or two. I believed the "more with less" and the scheming to the talent and abilities of the guys...

So what made him the guy? I really have no idea.
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I was going to send you a personal message, but decided to just do it on the thread. Just wanted to say thanks for starting another meaningless thread. I love what you bring to the board! Thanks again! If you're not busy later, please start another!

 
chainsaw said:
who were all the so-called 'big names' that were out there? been wondering out that statement for quite sometime now!
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I would ask the anybody but Bo faction. They had a long list of guys that they guaranteed would come here if we opened the checkbook.

But if you ask me, Harbaugh and McElwain seem to be good choices.

 
Maybe because, unlike the last three Head Coaches at Nebraska, Riley was someone who actually ran a college football program before. Plus he had experience. He probably was on a short list of recommendations by many. This program and fan base was out of control by the end of November. And it's possible that there are a lot of coaches that are just too scared to come to Lincoln, try their best, and fail. Riley was not one to back down from this enormous challenge.

He's not a bad hire IMO. I don't have a lot of emotion saying that. I am being level headed here. It's been 5 games. 3 Losses by 8 points. That stings. But IMO that doesn't warrant emotional fits and outburst and Fire Riley threads. Even the consistent jabs throughout so many threads are getting old.

This is our team. He's our coach. Wisconsin is up next. Go Big Red

 
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