The DC dilemma
- Thread starter JTrain
- Start date
Coach speak is often seen as brilliant until the losses pile up. Then it's always BS. Hiring coaches from within the system is great until you start sucking. Then it's hiring your buddies and being an idiot.
I know that we are all upset about UCLA. And for good reason. But we need to try to work our way through this week. It is going to be tough. We are going to put together some wins now leading up to NW. And hopefully the defense will make strides of improvement before that so that we can be competitive through the meat of our conference schedule.
It doesn't seem likely from our perspective today, but, in order to maintain sanity, we have to try to do this as fans. If, by the end of the season, UCLA proves to be the dire sign of failure that it appears to be in mid-Sept, well, I know that a change will be made.
And that will be a whole new process to endure and a whole set of issues that we don't want to think about. More than anything it will mean another long and restless offseason.
I am not getting any younger guys. I can't afford to burn season after season. Got to enjoy what we can while we can and try to minimize the negative side. Try to battle through this in a positive way. If you succeed, regardless of what happens. You'll be thankful you did. Borrowing troubles from tomorrow just leads to misery today.
I know that we are all upset about UCLA. And for good reason. But we need to try to work our way through this week. It is going to be tough. We are going to put together some wins now leading up to NW. And hopefully the defense will make strides of improvement before that so that we can be competitive through the meat of our conference schedule.
It doesn't seem likely from our perspective today, but, in order to maintain sanity, we have to try to do this as fans. If, by the end of the season, UCLA proves to be the dire sign of failure that it appears to be in mid-Sept, well, I know that a change will be made.
And that will be a whole new process to endure and a whole set of issues that we don't want to think about. More than anything it will mean another long and restless offseason.
I am not getting any younger guys. I can't afford to burn season after season. Got to enjoy what we can while we can and try to minimize the negative side. Try to battle through this in a positive way. If you succeed, regardless of what happens. You'll be thankful you did. Borrowing troubles from tomorrow just leads to misery today.
LumberJackSker
All-American
I didn't word it correctly my bad, I meant to emphasis experience which Smart has way more of than Pap in my opinion, if i'm not mistaken he was a DC at D2 school before he joined Saban at LSU which has to be about 10 years ago as an assistant then at his alma mater before following Saban to the dolphins and he has been with saban at bama since day 1, that isn't exactly the same resume as pap who seemed to become a DC in a very short period of time, its ok to promote from within if a guy has paid his do's, i would just like to see a experienced DC that could help Bo out heck it could hurt having two experienced set of eyes watching over a defense that has been struggling.
Plus they pay Smart nearly 1.3 million a year. He must be pretty good.
I do think we need to slow down on this firing tangent. We need to see if things get better, as the season goes by. I do not see anyone leaving before the end of the season pretty much for any reason. But if they continue to show the way they are, then at the end of the year, corrections need to be made.
I still do not feel this program and fan base can stand another nasty coaching change. I would like to see us return to being a threat to the major programs again. And like above, I do not have that many seasons to see it.
I do think we need to slow down on this firing tangent. We need to see if things get better, as the season goes by. I do not see anyone leaving before the end of the season pretty much for any reason. But if they continue to show the way they are, then at the end of the year, corrections need to be made.
I still do not feel this program and fan base can stand another nasty coaching change. I would like to see us return to being a threat to the major programs again. And like above, I do not have that many seasons to see it.
Goal-line
Special Teams Player
Hiring your friends as your assistants is never productive. Pelini needs to clean house. New OC, DC, and position coaches. Take a look at some of his assistant coaches and their experience. For a big time program, it is lacking to say the least.
Check them out here: http://www.huskers.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&SPID=22&SPSID=2
The hardest thing for a head coach to do is to fire his friends. Papuchis used to be the youngest DC of a big name program. I do not know if that is still true, but he is not doing the job, obviously holding a title he knows very little about and is a waste of money for the program, $310,000. Speaking of money, Beck went from $365,000 a year to $700,000; that's a 93% pay raise. Anyone see that kind of improvement on the field this year?
What all of this boils down to is that Pelini is in over his head as a "head coach." A head coach is a manager of team affairs, from coaches to players. He is the decision maker with regards to his program. He needs to hire assistant coaches who can actually execute their position responsibilities to a high level. He needs to let them do their jobs and get rid of them if they are not productive. Obviously, Pelini is not making the necessary decisions.
Check them out here: http://www.huskers.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&SPID=22&SPSID=2
The hardest thing for a head coach to do is to fire his friends. Papuchis used to be the youngest DC of a big name program. I do not know if that is still true, but he is not doing the job, obviously holding a title he knows very little about and is a waste of money for the program, $310,000. Speaking of money, Beck went from $365,000 a year to $700,000; that's a 93% pay raise. Anyone see that kind of improvement on the field this year?
What all of this boils down to is that Pelini is in over his head as a "head coach." A head coach is a manager of team affairs, from coaches to players. He is the decision maker with regards to his program. He needs to hire assistant coaches who can actually execute their position responsibilities to a high level. He needs to let them do their jobs and get rid of them if they are not productive. Obviously, Pelini is not making the necessary decisions.
Last edited by a moderator:
zoogs
Assistant Coach
Bo has already cleaned house once. I'd say he's had his chance at that.
I'm still on the Bo wagon. We're going to see what he's made of this year and I think we're going to see a strong leader and a pretty good head coach, probably the best option available to us. Could he go down as the guy who always struck out with his assistant hires? Possibly.
I'm still on the Bo wagon. We're going to see what he's made of this year and I think we're going to see a strong leader and a pretty good head coach, probably the best option available to us. Could he go down as the guy who always struck out with his assistant hires? Possibly.
Count 'Bility
Banned
And the thing is, Bo may have already made changes in a lot of areas, but it'll probably take a year or two to start showing the full effects. Osborne made significant changes following the '90 season, and again after '91. We went 9-2-1 in '91 and 9-3 in '92. '93 we finally took that huge step. Bottome line is, we're only 3 games into the season, and yes, the sky seems to be falling, but I personally am not gonna stress myself over what coaches need to be fired and who needs to be hired, when there's no way in hell any of that is happening for another 3 months regardless what goes down the rest of the season. I just wanna see consistent and obvious progress. Saturday has got to be it. That has to be the nail in the coffin for what has become a repetitive bunch of bs.
Bo is responsible for hiring Pap when Pap was clearly under-qualified. Like stated above, Pelini has already shuffled assistant coaches and still there are massive coaching problems. At this point, play out the year and then replace the whole staff. Bo included.
The notion of not getting anyone to replace them is hogwash. 4M a year gets you a good head coach. pay the assistant coaches a more than competitive wage and they will come. To not see that a new direction is needed... to not see that this ship has sailed is crazy at this point. The team has given up... clear sign that a whole new staff is needed. Wait till seasons end... but start shopping around right now.
The notion of not getting anyone to replace them is hogwash. 4M a year gets you a good head coach. pay the assistant coaches a more than competitive wage and they will come. To not see that a new direction is needed... to not see that this ship has sailed is crazy at this point. The team has given up... clear sign that a whole new staff is needed. Wait till seasons end... but start shopping around right now.
this...there is no reason to wait, at least begin the hunt for a successor....Bo has moved this program forward as far as he can...we appreciate that, but we need to keep move on.
kchusker_chris
All-American
This isn't the 90's. A head coach will deal with 3-4 things that completely fall outside of X's and O's on any given day that takes 3-4 hours of his time. If Bo really is the defacto DC...how can he be fully vested in that position while still being the HC? I don't believe Bo is delegating behind the scenes enough to effectively manage the D. So he either needs to actually become the DC, or find someone who can be. He's short changing both roles by trying to be everything, and we're seeing the impact of that.
Bottom line, this season will hopefully take care of the issues. If we had lost by 3, I might say that it's going to take a couple of years to see it all play out. After that beat down, I'm pretty confident we'll see a similar showing another couple of times this season. If we get unlucky and draw a top-25 SEC team...this coaching issue will take care of itself. No need to fire anyone today, that won't do the team or the players any good. Let it work itself out, one way of the other then make a decision at season's end. But I bet Shawn is evaluating candidates and developing a plan for a worst-case scenario right about now...he's be crazy not to be thinking about the possibility and likelihood that he might be forced to make a change.
Bottom line, this season will hopefully take care of the issues. If we had lost by 3, I might say that it's going to take a couple of years to see it all play out. After that beat down, I'm pretty confident we'll see a similar showing another couple of times this season. If we get unlucky and draw a top-25 SEC team...this coaching issue will take care of itself. No need to fire anyone today, that won't do the team or the players any good. Let it work itself out, one way of the other then make a decision at season's end. But I bet Shawn is evaluating candidates and developing a plan for a worst-case scenario right about now...he's be crazy not to be thinking about the possibility and likelihood that he might be forced to make a change.
kchusker_chris
All-American
There are about 120 reasons to wait. Those kids deserve better. Firing anyone at this point in the season is essentially throwing in the towel. Fire JP? What upgrade would be made? Mack Brown had an experienced DC on staff already...in a non-assistant role so he's still operating at full. Who does NU have that can step up?
Last edited by a moderator:
no one advocated firing him now. What has been forwarded is the notion of starting to shop for a replacement now so as to better ensure right fit. It happens in industry all the time. While the unit (or individual) that is to be replaced is still operative, though the decision has been made to make the change, the high-level administration is actively pursuing the replacements.
kchusker_chris
All-American
When have you seen an organization actively search for the replacement of a head coach in Week 4? By "active" you have to mean "public" - and I've never seen that happen. Not in week 4. Maybe week 10 when a team is 2-6. But not in week 10 when a team is 6-2 (which we likely will be). It won't happen here either. There will be some closed doors discussions, and a list will be made...but there will be nothing active about the search while the current coach is employed.
Last edited by a moderator:
I, of course, do NOT mean publicly. You put out feelers. You make connections. You frame things as a potential opportunity to coaches you might be interested in --- framing it in personal interaction with potential coaches this way: "were we to make a change at season's end, and were to be looking for a coach we would be interested in you... what are your thoughts? What would it take? Who do you see as having as a staff? How reasonable would it be to assemble that staff? What do see as your approach to improve our program?"
And this, of course, happens all the time. It is behind the scenes. By doing this, the probability of bringing in quality in atimely fashion is greatly enhanced.
And this, of course, happens all the time. It is behind the scenes. By doing this, the probability of bringing in quality in atimely fashion is greatly enhanced.
kchusker_chris
All-American
I think it's pretty difficult to put out feelers and not have it become public. I don't think any talk of the hiring should leave Shawn's office until at least after the Northwestern game.
Just so we're clear, I'm not on board w/ Bo anymore (was on the fence before, firmly off it now). Unless he wins out, and takes Ohio State to the wire in the championship game...I'll remain there for a long, long time. And frankly, as bad as this sounds...I'm kind of worried this team might go 9-3, get blown out in a bowl and we go through this same thing again next year, and the next year, and the next year. If it's gonna happen eventually, lets just get it over with. I'm convinced at this point that we've peaked...and we're actually starting to regress, but due to scheduling the regression will not fully appear in wins/losses for a few years. Adding Rutgers/Maryland to the mix, and shifting Michigan to the other side is only going to make us look better on paper. But bottom line, we're going to play 4-5 decent teams each year, so we're going to have 4 losses all but built in to go along with our 8 built in wins. Even Bo can get a win in 1 out of the 5 games against descent teams to get to 9...
Last edited by a moderator: