So you want to get rid of Riley

[Guy Chamberlin]

Is everyone really convinced David Shaw is that great of a coach? His first three seasons were pretty good, but it was with all Harbaugh recruits. His last year wasn't very good at all considering he inherited a team that finished 12-1 and fourth in the country from Jim Harbaugh. The season is early, and we have no way of knowing how he finishes out. However, I'd like to see a couple of more seasons under his belt at Stanford before I anoint him a good/great coach.

But yet, people are on the Harbaugh bandwagon with him winning with Brady Hoke's players? Is that at all, in the least, fair?

And before you start on the "oh, it's Harbaugh and Hoke sucked," bandwagon....

Yes, Hoke sucked.

But Hoke sucked so bad that he had the 7th ranked defense in the country at the end of the year last year. Didn't help that he had one of the worst, god-awful offenses to ever step foot on the field.

So before people start throwing all the glory Jim-Bo's way....let's give him the same amount of time at Michigan as Shaw has had at Stanford.

Harbaugh inherited a pretty poor Stanford program. In fact, Stanford won just one game the year before Harbaugh's first season. Stanford was 16-40 the five years prior to Harbaugh. He built the team. Plus, he left Shaw with Andrew Luck and other good talent. Then we look at what he did at San Francisco and what he inherited. San Fran was a whopping 6-10 the year before Harbaugh. They were 13-3 his first year and made it to the Super Bowl his second year.

It's quite obvious Harbaugh has made himself enough of a reputation to say he's a pretty good coach. Can you honestly say the same for Shaw? Shaw is a solid coach, but there's just not enough data to put him into the elite club yet.

But that's the point. Harbaugh is a genuine turnaround artist, coaching up someone else's players everywhere he goes. It's why every NFL team wanted him five years ago, and why every NCAA team wanted him last year, but only Michigan offered the money and cover story for a guy who just got stung with a firing from the 49ers. Now Harbaugh has turned Michigan around almost instantly.

You know what Harbaugh is? He's extremely rare.

That's why we have to consider other coaches. Shaw appears to be a pretty good coach. He probably wouldn't take the Nebraska job, either.

But yes, we can have a Harbaugh at the University of Nebraska. But you have to get the Harbaugh who is doing great things at San Diego State, not the Harbaugh who just got fired from the San Francisco 49ers.

That would be the Harbaugh who wasn't a "sure-thing" coming from SDS to Stanford, but a calculated risk.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Luck sure helped Stanford's cause, but they also made a commitment to big, smart offensive linemen.

 

[BigRedBuster]

So...with Harbaugh's players, he went two years with 2 losses, then he went with 3 losses then 5 losses. He still hasn't won a conference championship.

And.......he is this sure fire great coach that we should go throw millions of dollars at because he so much better than Riley.......why?

I still haven't seen anyone mention a realistic option that was that can't miss coach that some people think is out there.

Uh, bud, you need to do just a tad bit of research, because if are you looking at the same David Shaw I am, he's won TWO conference championships with Stanford....

Ahhhh...I misread the Wiki page. Still, that's with Harbaugh's players. Last year he loses 5 games. He already lost to Northwestern this year.

He is FAR from that sure fire coach that some fans believe we should have gone after.

Man, stop it with the "Harbaugh's players" thing, LOLOLOL! You are killing me with that!

Unless....you're saying that Brady Hoke is a recruiting genius?

Are you....saying that?

I fail to see how I'm saying anything about Brady Hoke.

However, if you some how want to tie my comments to him, his recruiting classes at Michigan were:

2011 26th (hired in January so short time to put class together)

2012 6th

2013 4th

2014 20th (rumors of him being fired)

So, the two years he had an entire season to recruit, I would say he did pretty dang well.

Now......I still fail to see how that has anything to do with your wonder boy.

And...for the record, I am not one that says Harbaugh is the greatest thing that Michigan ever did. Just because he had some success at Stanford doesn't mean he is going to have the same type of success at Michigan long term.

When I talk about "Harbaugh's players", that is more than just recruiting. Those players were coached, molded, and mentored by that coaching staff before Shaw became HC. It's no different than when Solich took over, part of his early success is because those players were put together and coached under TO. The program is different with different leadership.

 

[Jeremy]

Guess it doesn't matter whether I want to get rid of Riley. For better or worse, Riley is in Lincoln and won't be going anywhere for a good while. The question is whether we'll be basement-dwellers in the Big Flippin Ten while he's here. omg, I'm gonna throw up.

Question -

For all the angst and people wanting a new coach, there sure are a lot of people absolutely offended at that attitude; what gives? Why is it so upsetting that some of your fellow fans want a different guy on our sideline?

 

[NUinID]

Can someone list me the sure-fire coaches out there?

And by that I mean sure-fire winners.

Because they certainly aren't sure-fire to leave their current job and come to Nebraska for any sum of money.

We'd be lucky to get David Shaw, but Palo Alto to Lincoln isn't a career trajectory any more. While we we sleeping, Stanford has earned a highly respected football program. Without over-paying for coaches.

Nearly impossible to find a coaching resume with W/L records that Husker fans won't fret over.

I can, IMO there are 2 sure fire coaches Sabin and Meyer, and neither of them is coming to Nebraska.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Can someone list me the sure-fire coaches out there?

And by that I mean sure-fire winners.

Because they certainly aren't sure-fire to leave their current job and come to Nebraska for any sum of money.

We'd be lucky to get David Shaw, but Palo Alto to Lincoln isn't a career trajectory any more. While we we sleeping, Stanford has earned a highly respected football program. Without over-paying for coaches.

Nearly impossible to find a coaching resume with W/L records that Husker fans won't fret over.

I can, IMO there are 2 sure fire coaches Sabin and Meyer, and neither of them is coming to Nebraska.

Again, my point.

Fans seem frustrated that UNL doesn't simply hire a coach guaranteed to return Nebraska to glory, presumably money being no object.

As if it's that simple.

 

[MichiganDad3]

Can someone list me the sure-fire coaches out there?

And by that I mean sure-fire winners.

Because they certainly aren't sure-fire to leave their current job and come to Nebraska for any sum of money.

We'd be lucky to get David Shaw, but Palo Alto to Lincoln isn't a career trajectory any more. While we we sleeping, Stanford has earned a highly respected football program. Without over-paying for coaches.

Nearly impossible to find a coaching resume with W/L records that Husker fans won't fret over.

I can, IMO there are 2 sure fire coaches Sabin and Meyer, and neither of them is coming to Nebraska.

Again, my point.

Fans seem frustrated that UNL doesn't simply hire a coach guaranteed to return Nebraska to glory, presumably money being no object.

As if it's that simple.

The problem is we didn't even try. We hired a coach with a losing record, who never won anything in many years of coaching college football. When we hired Riley, every Nebraska fan had to google him. At least make an effort to get a proven winner. And if you do hire a mediocre coach, force him to hire top notch assistants. Very sad effort by our AD.

 

[BigRedBuster]

Can someone list me the sure-fire coaches out there?

And by that I mean sure-fire winners.

Because they certainly aren't sure-fire to leave their current job and come to Nebraska for any sum of money.

We'd be lucky to get David Shaw, but Palo Alto to Lincoln isn't a career trajectory any more. While we we sleeping, Stanford has earned a highly respected football program. Without over-paying for coaches.

Nearly impossible to find a coaching resume with W/L records that Husker fans won't fret over.

I can, IMO there are 2 sure fire coaches Sabin and Meyer, and neither of them is coming to Nebraska.

Again, my point.

Fans seem frustrated that UNL doesn't simply hire a coach guaranteed to return Nebraska to glory, presumably money being no object.

As if it's that simple.

That is exactly the point. Some fans have sat around and whined for almost 12 months now because we didn't go out and hire Sabin or Meyer when neither one of them are coming to Lincoln anyway.

So, then you go to the next level. Not one other coach in the country is a "sure fire" great hire. But, yet....they sit around and act like their world is coming to an end because the AD didn't go get a "sure fire" successful coach.

For the life of me, I can NOT figure out why these people choose to be so negative. Following Husker football is supposed to be entertainment. You CHOOSE to be negative if you want to be, or, you can sit back and enjoy watching the process play out. Now, either the coaching staff is going to do great things or they aren't. If they don't, then we go hire another one and try all over again. No amount of whining constantly and bitching is going to change that process. You CHOOSE to be negative if you want to be. The ones who are negative, must find that fun and for the life of me, I can't figure out why that's fun.

 

[BigRedBuster]

Can someone list me the sure-fire coaches out there?

And by that I mean sure-fire winners.

Because they certainly aren't sure-fire to leave their current job and come to Nebraska for any sum of money.

We'd be lucky to get David Shaw, but Palo Alto to Lincoln isn't a career trajectory any more. While we we sleeping, Stanford has earned a highly respected football program. Without over-paying for coaches.

Nearly impossible to find a coaching resume with W/L records that Husker fans won't fret over.

I can, IMO there are 2 sure fire coaches Sabin and Meyer, and neither of them is coming to Nebraska.

Again, my point.

Fans seem frustrated that UNL doesn't simply hire a coach guaranteed to return Nebraska to glory, presumably money being no object.

As if it's that simple.

The problem is we didn't even try. We hired a coach with a losing record, who never won anything in many years of coaching college football. When we hired Riley, every Nebraska fan had to google him. At least make an effort to get a proven winner. And if you do hire a mediocre coach, force him to hire top notch assistants. Very sad effort by our AD.

Something you have absolutely no knowledge of.

 

[gdubs4nu]

Anyone that says Mike Riley was not a winner or had a losing record, blah blah blah, doesn't know what in the eff they're talking about. Why don't you go ask Gary Andersen how easy it is to win at Oregon State.

 

[gdubs4nu]

or any of the coaches that never had a winning record for 28 straight years before he got there

 

[NUance]

Guess it doesn't matter whether I want to get rid of Riley. For better or worse, Riley is in Lincoln and won't be going anywhere for a good while. The question is whether we'll be basement-dwellers in the Big Flippin Ten while he's here. omg, I'm gonna throw up.

Question -

For all the angst and people wanting a new coach, there sure are a lot of people absolutely offended at that attitude; what gives? Why is it so upsetting that some of your fellow fans want a different guy on our sideline?

For me, there are several reasons: First, is that all the fans throwing temper tantrums and calling for Riley's head six games into year one hurts the program. Namely, it hurts recruiting, making it harder for these guys to succeed. Second, we just fired a coach ten months ago. What coach in their right mind would come to a school that fired two guys within a year? People throw out all these names of top notch coaches thinking we'd have a chance at landing them. No way in hell we'd be able to lure a top notch coach here right now. Third, it's just not going to happen. Eichorst isn't going to fire Riley this season. Or next. They're going to ride this thing out until things turn around. And the more hissy fits our greatest-fans-in-the-world throw, the harder it's going to be for Riley's staff turn it around.

You asked why it annoys some fans that other fans trash the program. Those are my reasons.

 

[zoogs]

Well said.

 

[NUinID]

Can someone list me the sure-fire coaches out there?

And by that I mean sure-fire winners.

Because they certainly aren't sure-fire to leave their current job and come to Nebraska for any sum of money.

We'd be lucky to get David Shaw, but Palo Alto to Lincoln isn't a career trajectory any more. While we we sleeping, Stanford has earned a highly respected football program. Without over-paying for coaches.

Nearly impossible to find a coaching resume with W/L records that Husker fans won't fret over.

I can, IMO there are 2 sure fire coaches Sabin and Meyer, and neither of them is coming to Nebraska.

Again, my point.

Fans seem frustrated that UNL doesn't simply hire a coach guaranteed to return Nebraska to glory, presumably money being no object.

As if it's that simple.

The problem is we didn't even try. We hired a coach with a losing record, who never won anything in many years of coaching college football. When we hired Riley, every Nebraska fan had to google him. At least make an effort to get a proven winner. And if you do hire a mediocre coach, force him to hire top notch assistants. Very sad effort by our AD.

I guess I don't understand why it is so hard for some of you to believe that SE had Mike Riley in mind when he fired Pelini. I didn't have to google him I was very aware of who he was. If he would have been hired in 2007 when he was actually a real hot commodity everyone would have known him. MR was an out of the box hire for sure and was not my first choice, but I didn't think he was a bad choice.

When I say Sabin and Meyer are sure fire coaches I don't mean they will come into Nebraska and win 11 games their first year. I mean those are really the only two that I think could probably guarantee top 10 recruiting classes just on their name alone. No one else is going to be able to do that.

 

[MichiganDad3]

Anyone that says Mike Riley was not a winner or had a losing record, blah blah blah, doesn't know what in the eff they're talking about. Why don't you go ask Gary Andersen how easy it is to win at Oregon State.

I asked Dennis Erickson. In four years he was 31-17, won the PAC once, won a BCS bowl, and ranked 5th in the coaches poll (4th in the AP). Despite coaching 14 years at OSU, Riley never approached a conference title, a meaningful bowl, and was only ranked four times, with the peak being 18th. That is one sorry excuse for a coaching resume if you are applying for a job at a traditional powerhouse program.