Bye Bye Big XII said:
Polo, question.
Should Syracuse fire Jim Boeheim?
Hmm, well I suppose they can if they want to.
But you're referencing putting up with a coach's antics I assume. Well Boeheim obviously has a national title on his resume (although it took a long while), he did manage to win a conference title the first year he was eligible to ('Cuse was an independent for his first three years, won the Big East in his 4th and the first year in the conference) So he's got the championship resume that Bo does not have, and I'm sure that makes it a lot more palatable for the Orangemen fans. I think a more valid comparison for Bo is say, Frank Martin, who appears to have to move around every few years. (Did Martin win the XII? I don't think he did but I could be wrong.)
Also, Boeheim pretty much is Syracuse basketball. Bo is nowhere near that for Nebraska.
I am referencing 'putting up with a coach's antics' so, 10 points for catching on to that. But the direction I'm trying to steer this isn't a comparison of coaches rather a look at a relationship that is, in my imo, merely coincidental.
You think we lose games because Bo throws a tantrum? I've seen a fair number of games that we've won where Bo throws the same type of tantrum. What's the difference between those two? (I have an answer in mind, by the way) If it negatively affects us when we lose, it certainly can't positively lead us to win.
Let's live in a pretend world where Bo Pelini is as stoic as Tom Osborne on the sidelines, yet we compile the same record, win the same games by the same amount and lose the same games by the same amount. What would you assess to be the problem in this hypothetical world?
What is happening right now should not be acceptable for Nebraska football. They are not competing for championships. I know technically they played for one in 2012 but they got trucked, had 70 hung on them and generally looked like a scared mammal caught in the high beams of the 18 wheeler that was about to plaster them across the interstate. You can point to that as an accomplishment, hell, we know that Bo certainly thinks that isn't anything to apologize for, but there's only two Nebraska coaches that have had a team they're in charge of have 70 put on them, Bo, and Bill Callahan.
The similarities between the two men don't stop there, either. Both protect their seemingly in-over-their-head assistants to a fault, both seem to be unable to shake frequent errors on a fundamental level of the game, both have been labeled with the "genius"'tag in their levels of expertise in the game, and of course, a lack of championships. Like, any. At all.
And Bo isn't alone in incurring ire over his sideline behavior either. Lest we forget the infamous throat slash incident against Oklahoma in 2005. Nebraska's image was brought up, maturity was brought up, and like now, the ardent supporters "could care less" (improper sayings ftw!") and "like a coach who supports his kids when they're getting screwed over".
Well Nebraska hasn't been constantly getting screwed for nearly a decade and a half, they've just been victims of poor coaching. So if you're asking me if we had a stoic guy and our same record if I'd be happy? No, because outside of one game against OU, we had that in Bill Callahan. Point to the bowl misses by him all you want, but there is precious little difference between BC and Bo as coaches. Both are career assistants who appear unable to handle the scope of a head coaching gig. I guess that one year under Frank was quite the talisman, because it appears his legacy of a "Nebraska guy" is the only thing keeping the wolves off of him like they were on Bill even before 07.
I'm sure I'll get the 9 wins thrown in my face, but I'm choosing to believe that Bo is more likely to regress away from that than grow past it, considering he had his easiest schedule yet last year and needed a Hail Mary, a missed chip shot field goal, and a last second drive against three average to poor teams in the conference to even make it past six.
