Tom Osborne and his "mistake"

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melscott62

New member
I have read to many people say that he made a mistake with bringing in solich. If you look at his winning % compared to TO first 6 years, its only slightly worse. .774 vs .753. I'm not saying that solich was as good as TO, or that he would have ended up as good as him, but TO is also one of the top coaches of all time. I dont see how you can say that a .753% is a failure. at the VERY WORST is a a lateral move. so lets stop this nonsense that TO has already screwed up.

Also lets remember he simply gave SP a reference when he got the AD position. he didnt hand pick him or anything.

 
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Bob Devaney

Overall Record (101-20-2 82%) First 4 Years (38-6-0 86%)

Against Top 25 Teams (13-12-2 48%) First 4 Years (2-3-0 40%)

Games Lost By 20 or More Points* (3/123 2%) First 4 Years (1/44 2%)

Defensive Shut Outs* (23/123 19%) First 4 Years (8/44 18%)

Tom Osborne

Overall Record (255-49-3 83%) First 4 Years (37-10-2 76%)

Against Top 25 Teams (62-39-1 61%) First 4 Years (10-7-0 59%)

Games Lost By 20 or More Points* (9/307 3%) First 4 Years (2/49 4%)

Defensive Shut Outs* (37/307 12%) First 4 Years (7/49 15%)

Frank Solich

Overall Record (58-19-0 75%) First 4 Years (42-9-0 82%)

Against Top 25 Teams (11-13-0 44%) First 4 Years (10-7-0 59%)

Games Lost By 20 or More Points* (7/77 9%) First 4 Years (2/51 4%)

Defensive Shut Outs* (6/77 8%) First 4 Years (4/51 8%)

Bill Callahan**

Overall Record (27-21-0 56%)

Against Top 25 Teams (2-10-0 17%)

Games Lost By 20 or More Points* (8/48 17%)

Defensive Shut Outs* (1/48 2%)

*Out of total games played

**Before the Colorado game

 
melscott62 said:
I have read to many people say that he made a mistake with bringing in solich. If you look at his winning % compared to TO first 6 years, its only slightly worse. .774 vs .753. I'm not saying that solich was as good as TO, or that he would have ended up as good as him, but TO is also one of the top coaches of all time. I dont see how you can say that a .753% is a failure. at the VERY WORST is a a lateral move. so lets stop this nonsense that TO has already screwed up.

Also lets remember he simply gave SP a reference when he got the AD position. he didnt hand pick him or anything.
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You will never get people to admit that Solich was'nt a bad hire. I sat with someone at Thanksgiving that wanted to give Callahan one more year, but thought it was right that Solich got fired after 9-3 season. How can you argue against bad logic.

Solich had Nebraska finish number 2 in 1999 and playing for the NC in 2002, which is more then a lot of big name coaches have done at some other places.

Can you imagine the outcry if Solich got rid of the whole staff after he got the HC job like some people are saying that T.O. handcuffed Solich? That would have been as bad PR as Pederson could have started.

In the long run Solich might have had a losing record, and then should been fired, or he might have turned it around, and Nebraska would never had gone through these last few years. No one know how it would have played out in the long run.

 
melscott62 said:
I have read to many people say that he made a mistake with bringing in solich. If you look at his winning % compared to TO first 6 years, its only slightly worse. .774 vs .753. I'm not saying that solich was as good as TO, or that he would have ended up as good as him, but TO is also one of the top coaches of all time. I dont see how you can say that a .753% is a failure. at the VERY WORST is a a lateral move. so lets stop this nonsense that TO has already screwed up.

Also lets remember he simply gave SP a reference when he got the AD position. he didnt hand pick him or anything.
Click to expand...
I think Tom Osborne's mistake was using his legendary status to appoint a successor rather than let the AD do his job and find the best candidate. It very well may have been Solich, but TO used his power to get Solich the job and we will never know what could have been.

 
DJR313 said:
melscott62 said:
I have read to many people say that he made a mistake with bringing in solich. If you look at his winning % compared to TO first 6 years, its only slightly worse. .774 vs .753. I'm not saying that solich was as good as TO, or that he would have ended up as good as him, but TO is also one of the top coaches of all time. I dont see how you can say that a .753% is a failure. at the VERY WORST is a a lateral move. so lets stop this nonsense that TO has already screwed up.

Also lets remember he simply gave SP a reference when he got the AD position. he didnt hand pick him or anything.
Click to expand...
I think Tom Osborne's mistake was using his legendary status to appoint a successor rather than let the AD do his job and find the best candidate. It very well may have been Solich, but TO used his power to get Solich the job and we will never know what could have been.
Click to expand...
True... but what would Nebraska fans had said if AD did go outside and bring in another coaching staff?

 
REDSTEEL said:
DJR313 said:
melscott62 said:
I have read to many people say that he made a mistake with bringing in solich. If you look at his winning % compared to TO first 6 years, its only slightly worse. .774 vs .753. I'm not saying that solich was as good as TO, or that he would have ended up as good as him, but TO is also one of the top coaches of all time. I dont see how you can say that a .753% is a failure. at the VERY WORST is a a lateral move. so lets stop this nonsense that TO has already screwed up.

Also lets remember he simply gave SP a reference when he got the AD position. he didnt hand pick him or anything.
Click to expand...
I think Tom Osborne's mistake was using his legendary status to appoint a successor rather than let the AD do his job and find the best candidate. It very well may have been Solich, but TO used his power to get Solich the job and we will never know what could have been.
Click to expand...
True... but what would Nebraska fans had said if AD did go outside and bring in another coaching staff?
Click to expand...
That's true, but I think his only mistake is that he basically crammed his guy down our throats. Solich may have been the only guy that would have fit, but we will never know because of how it went down. A change at that point might not have worked and ended up a disaster too. It's hard to say.

 
I think Tom Osborne's mistake was using his legendary status to appoint a successor rather than let the AD do his job and find the best candidate. It very well may have been Solich, but TO used his power to get Solich the job and we will never know what could have been.

I have always wondered if TO really did name his replacement, and heres why.

About 2 or 3 days after TO stepped down as head coach I remember hearing a brief comment on a radio talk show, probably KFAB's Sports Nightly, that insinuated Frank had been making rumblings about taking a HC job elsewhere if he didn't get that job soon at Nebraska. The very short discussion that followed made it sound like TO was basically forced out by the AD so they didn't lose their long groomed best bet to replace him to some other school. This was back when tradition, history, continuity, etc. were some of the more important building blocks of the program. (Before SP decided they were the very things holding it back)

ALSO, about two weeks later I heard TO himself comment on another radio show, daytime, probably also KFAB, that he really thought he had a few more years coaching ability left in him. This was one of the several times he was asked on air what he planned to do. His stock answer at the time was "spend more time with the family". And as everyone will remember he promptly entered the race for congress.

Does ANYONE else remember hearing this or anything like this. I have never heard this specific subject mentioned since.

Its my first post so I'll allow everyone a free shot. Go ahead, burn my village.

 
Regardless of who the coach turns out to be, I will trust Osborne's decision and support the new coach. I do believe that being away from the program for basically 10 years has given T.O. a new outlook, which is why I think someone with a little inside and outside knowledge (Pelini), is the way to go.

 
Fenian said:
Husker Deb said:
This is the past. Can't change it. Move forward.
Click to expand...
I can tell you put a lot of thoughtful consideration into that oxymoron of a reply. Thank you. I'll just forget I ever heard that.
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:bonez :hellloooo :hellloooo :bonez

H-Deb is right. What happened or didn't happen ten years ago is water long under the bridge.

Move on. Its a new day.

>>>T_O_B

:bonez :hellloooo :hellloooo :bonez

 
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