What Bo Inherited -- expectations

My thinking is we will know by the time spring practice is over.

How many of the starters from last year retain their jobs. How many of the linemen look fit compared to overweight and out of shape.

Depends on the number that buy in. Attitude can be changed by a good coach, but if it is a trait that has been there for years, it is hard to over come. I just wonder if some of the kids recruited had the talent but not the work ethic. I really think we will see a lot of young kids with attitude playing this year. That is good on one side but inexperience could do some harm to.

When I say buy in, I am not talking about Coach Pelini. I am talking about changing their core beliefs. I was a big fan of Coach Callahan. I thought I saw his vision. But I am afraid he only saw talent and not heart. And now after listening to some comments about teh walk on program, he may have been making major error with it. Is there enough heart and determination in our senior group. Will they lead or just do what they have to keep their scholarship. I am a believer that winners are born, not made. You have to have the desire to give it your best at all times. If that is not there, it can not be instilled. These kids all know what it takes. But it appeared to me that many did not have that talent.

I can see a mass exodus after the spring game. It may have an affect on this years team, but I think we need to get rid of the players that do not live for Nebraska. I think Coach Pelini will do that. If it happens we need to give him the time to get it right.

 
Even coach Osborne has told us not to expect an immediate turnaround. It would be wise to listen to him.

Personally, I would think you'll see the start of something good under Pelini. It seems he's got the team motivated already if scuttlebut I hear is true. It could be that the team simply laid down last year because they couldn't take Cally and crew anymore. We'll have to wait and see.

Thtat idea aside , they've actually been doing physical training and I expect Bo to have them actually hitting in practice the way the should so if workouts go well, they will be a competitive defense. The ranking will be much higher than last season, although exctly where depends on how all the other teams play as well.

But I doubt there are more than 2 or maybe 3 guys that will make it to the NFL. More have the potential, but the missed out of development time fooling around on the sidelines while the starters got all the reps. They really could have benefitted from having multpile stations during practices. Now they may not get the chance to showcase themselves enough.

Next season, 7-5 sounds like a reasonable expectation. If we do better, I'll be very happy but I'm looking for 7-5. 2009 will be the first year we will see Pelini's plan really start to get into gear.

 
I see a lot of similarities between Bo's situation and the situation that Gene Chizek faced coming in at ISU last year. Now, you might thing "There goes Cy...spouting off about those pathetic Cyclones again...where's the ignore button..." but take a look.

Both Pelini and Chizek come from National Championship teams...Bo from LSU and Gene from Texas. Both come from teams with winning traditions...Bo from Oklahoma and LSU, Gene from Auburn and Texas...Both of them come with strong defensive credentials (2004-2006 Gene's defenses ranked 5th, 10th and 22nd in the NCAA...Bo's defenses ranked 3rd all three years). Both became HC's for the first time with their repective teams....and both got stuck with decent offenses and crap defense (NU - 112th in 2007...ISU 102nd in 2006). The real difference is that Bo is getting a better talent base to work with than Chizek did.

Since both are so similar, it's interesting to note that without a big influx of talent from either recruits or JC players, Chizek took ISU from 102nd to 65th in total defense from 2006 to 2007. That's a jump of almost 40 spots for a defense that, lets face it, didn't show a lot of personel or talent changes in the off-season. Since Bo is already starting with more talent, I think it is reasonable to think that the defense will reasonable jump up at least the 40 places Chizek was able to take the Cyclones to...add 10 more places for talent and you're looking at a defense that can be expected to finish in the 50's. Most of this rise can be attributed to attitude and drive instilled by a coach who demands the best from his players which is what Chizek and Pelini both do. Once this attitude is established, Nebraska doesn't lose the close one to Texas or the score-a-thon to Colorado. I think Nebraska and ISU both pick up at least two games next year based on attitude alone.

We'll still take Nebraska out of course...but you'll admire us for it.

 
Cy the Cyclone said:
I see a lot of similarities between Bo's situation and the situation that Gene Chizek faced coming in at ISU last year. Now, you might thing "There goes Cy...spouting off about those pathetic Cyclones again...where's the ignore button..." but take a look.

Both Pelini and Chizek come from National Championship teams...Bo from LSU and Gene from Texas. Both come from teams with winning traditions...Bo from Oklahoma and LSU, Gene from Auburn and Texas...Both of them come with strong defensive credentials (2004-2006 Gene's defenses ranked 5th, 10th and 22nd in the NCAA...Bo's defenses ranked 3rd all three years). Both became HC's for the first time with their repective teams....and both got stuck with decent offenses and crap defense (NU - 112th in 2007...ISU 102nd in 2006). The real difference is that Bo is getting a better talent base to work with than Chizek did.

Since both are so similar, it's interesting to note that without a big influx of talent from either recruits or JC players, Chizek took ISU from 102nd to 65th in total defense from 2006 to 2007. That's a jump of almost 40 spots for a defense that, lets face it, didn't show a lot of personel or talent changes in the off-season. Since Bo is already starting with more talent, I think it is reasonable to think that the defense will reasonable jump up at least the 40 places Chizek was able to take the Cyclones to...add 10 more places for talent and you're looking at a defense that can be expected to finish in the 50's. Most of this rise can be attributed to attitude and drive instilled by a coach who demands the best from his players which is what Chizek and Pelini both do. Once this attitude is established, Nebraska doesn't lose the close one to Texas or the score-a-thon to Colorado. I think Nebraska and ISU both pick up at least two games next year based on attitude alone.

We'll still take Nebraska out of course...but you'll admire us for it.
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Outstanding post! Very well reasoned and I think about spot on. Thanks for the contribution.

 
robsker said:
When we last saw Bo coaching the NU defense, Bo had some serious talent that he inherited. The 2003 Husker defense featured no fewer than 10 future NFL players in prominent roles: Ryon Bingham, Le Kevin Smith, Trevor Johnson, Adam Carriker, Barrett Ruud, Demorrio Williams, Fabian Washington, Josh Bullocks, Daniel Bullocks and Jerrell Pippens. And, of course, that defense did very well.

This time around, Bo has inherited a defense where, perhaps Suh, maybe Dillard, perhaps Asante --- and well, I can not think of anyone else that might have NFL futures that he inherited. Even if we are very liberal with our assessment and say Suh, Asante, Dillard, Turner and maybe someone else is NFL caliber that means instead of inheriting 10 future NFL defenders he will inherit 5 at best. So....

Do not expect miracles. Do not expect this defense to even approach the defense we had the last time Pelini coached here.

Be reasonable with the expectations. if we move from the #115 defense nationally to say the #40 that would be awesome.
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see I am right there with what you are trying to say but I have a hard time finding my self in complete agreement. I feel that our team has underacheived, under solich, we had bo, bo worked with all those guys, I think if bo would of been there for the past 4 years we would of even seen top 5 in rankings think about the entire 2006 team. that isnt a bad team and we lost heart breakers. also e wouldnt of played like that in the BIG XII championship under Bo. (shoulda woulda coulda attitude I know) i will be happy with anything in the top 30 defenses

 
robsker said:
When we last saw Bo coaching the NU defense, Bo had some serious talent that he inherited. The 2003 Husker defense featured no fewer than 10 future NFL players in prominent roles: Ryon Bingham, Le Kevin Smith, Trevor Johnson, Adam Carriker, Barrett Ruud, Demorrio Williams, Fabian Washington, Josh Bullocks, Daniel Bullocks and Jerrell Pippens. And, of course, that defense did very well.

This time around, Bo has inherited a defense where, perhaps Suh, maybe Dillard, perhaps Asante --- and well, I can not think of anyone else that might have NFL futures that he inherited. Even if we are very liberal with our assessment and say Suh, Asante, Dillard, Turner and maybe someone else is NFL caliber that means instead of inheriting 10 future NFL defenders he will inherit 5 at best. So....

Do not expect miracles. Do not expect this defense to even approach the defense we had the last time Pelini coached here.

Be reasonable with the expectations. if we move from the #115 defense nationally to say the #40 that would be awesome.
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first off, half of that is from sipples article.

second, how many of those 10 players did you think were going to be NFL players before Pelini got here. keep in mind that i agree that being ranked 40 would be a major accomplishment, however i could easily see it as high as 20. i think we have talent and Pelini has probably learned even more since the last time he was here.

 
skersfan said:
If he, and he did have all that talent, he sure didn't do much with it. We got spanked by anyone with a pulse. Most numbers were put up against less than stellar opponents.

Not an attack on Pelini.
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You need to stop, dude. For real, it's getting really old. From what we have seen in the past 6 years, Pelini almost worked miracles in 03. That defense was garbage in 02, and garbage in 04, and it had alot of the same personel all 3 years. Not one of us with any common sense wouldn't take 2003 over any other year out of the past 6.

I'm by no means saying that we will have a top 20 defense and finish in the top 15 this year, but I would bet that we will see HUGE and VAST improvements. If the old vets who liked to play grab-a$$ don't buy in, unlike Calllllllahan and Coz, Bo won't let them play.

 
In watching the defense play during the 2002 season, who honestly saw NFL potential in any of those guys? I'll give you Fabian, Bullocks and Ruud maybe, but we just came off a stellar 7-7 season with a loss in the Independence Bowl. There obviously was talent on the roster with the guys who played in the NFL, but who says the guys on this years team don't have the same potential. Bo came in and made Demorrio Williams an NFL stud, who was splitting time in 2002.

Besides, I'm thinking we have tons of talent on the roster right now that the previous staff either simply didn't tap or didn't utilize correctly. That won't be the case with this staff.

Kickoff on August 30 cannot get here quick enough.

 
robsker said:
When we last saw Bo coaching the NU defense, Bo had some serious talent that he inherited. The 2003 Husker defense featured no fewer than 10 future NFL players in prominent roles: Ryon Bingham, Le Kevin Smith, Trevor Johnson, Adam Carriker, Barrett Ruud, Demorrio Williams, Fabian Washington, Josh Bullocks, Daniel Bullocks and Jerrell Pippens. And, of course, that defense did very well.

This time around, Bo has inherited a defense where, perhaps Suh, maybe Dillard, perhaps Asante --- and well, I can not think of anyone else that might have NFL futures that he inherited. Even if we are very liberal with our assessment and say Suh, Asante, Dillard, Turner and maybe someone else is NFL caliber that means instead of inheriting 10 future NFL defenders he will inherit 5 at best. So....

Do not expect miracles. Do not expect this defense to even approach the defense we had the last time Pelini coached here.

Be reasonable with the expectations. if we move from the #115 defense nationally to say the #40 that would be awesome.
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This is a serious question. I didn't watch the Huksers in 03.

Before Bo came, how many of those 10 NFL players played like NFL players? I HIGHLY doubt all 10 of them did.

 
Try reading the whole post, not what you pick out to attack.

I stated the exact same thing.

Pelini will get rid of the dead dogs. But will the youth be good enough to make some on here happy. If not we will start to hear the same crap.

Any improvement over what was seen last year is fine with me. But you don't go from the conference championship game, playing Auburn tough to garbage because of the coach. There are other problems. If Bo finds those problems and removes them, will the youth be able to get us where we want to be. This is a tough job for any coach to come into. He can motivate them, but will the youth be ready. Do we have senior leadership on this team. That is the basic question. I did not see it last year.

 
I don't really know what MY expectations are yet, but I know first hand what Bo's are. I was shown a text message from Bo before the NC game that read: "I better f'ing be here next year". Bo is going to have the players on a short leash and its how they RESPOND to the changes that is going to determine the IMPROVEMENT.

 
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eliot1171 said:
I don't really know what MY expectations are yet, but I know first hand what Bo's are. I was shown a text message from Bo before the NC game that read: "I better f'ing be here next year". Bo is going to have the players on a short leash and its how they RESPOND to the changes that is going to determine the IMPROVEMENT.
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:clap :clap :clap :clap :clap​


I am packed and ready to go....so where is the NC next year? Hope it is someplace warm.

 
Bo comes into a better situation than Clownahan did for one reason and one reason only. How much worse can we actually get this next year over 2007? Clownahan came in after we had just finished in the top 20 in 2003. The expectations and the bar are much lower after 4 years of the Clownahan era than they were after the Solich era. I mean seriously, how much worse can our D really get? Btw, how can you not compare one coach's recruits who became All Americans to another coaches's recruits who became All Americans?

 
Cy the Cyclone said:
Since both are so similar, it's interesting to note that without a big influx of talent from either recruits or JC players, Chizek took ISU from 102nd to 65th in total defense from 2006 to 2007. That's a jump of almost 40 spots for a defense that, lets face it, didn't show a lot of personel or talent changes in the off-season. Since Bo is already starting with more talent, I think it is reasonable to think that the defense will reasonable jump up at least the 40 places Chizek was able to take the Cyclones to...add 10 more places for talent and you're looking at a defense that can be expected to finish in the 50's.
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Hmm.. NU was 112th in defense, say they--

jump up at least the 40 places Chizek was able to take the Cyclones to...add 10 more places for talent
Click to expand...
112-50 = 62

Math is hard.

But opinions vary.

GO BO!!

 
clone said:
Cy the Cyclone said:
Since both are so similar, it's interesting to note that without a big influx of talent from either recruits or JC players, Chizek took ISU from 102nd to 65th in total defense from 2006 to 2007. That's a jump of almost 40 spots for a defense that, lets face it, didn't show a lot of personel or talent changes in the off-season. Since Bo is already starting with more talent, I think it is reasonable to think that the defense will reasonable jump up at least the 40 places Chizek was able to take the Cyclones to...add 10 more places for talent and you're looking at a defense that can be expected to finish in the 50's.
Click to expand...
Hmm.. NU was 112th in defense, say they--

jump up at least the 40 places Chizek was able to take the Cyclones to...add 10 more places for talent
Click to expand...
112-50 = 62

Math is hard.

But opinions vary.

GO BO!!
Click to expand...

They better do better than that, or there will be a huge outcry from the fans...they won't accept anything but somewhere in the top 40 at the least without someone coming up with some answers or someones head rolling, and that may not be good enough...we want to be in the top 20 anyway...preferably in the top 10, or even the top 5.

This is all moot anyway...since we are going to win the NC. :clap

 
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