What team can?

I think we had a unique situation at the time. As far as talent goes then everyone was pretty equal, but we had a far superior weight program. We built what we needed, kids stayed around to finish off and played as 5th year seniors. We played in a less competitive enviorment than now. Recruiting has changed alot since then. We do not get the real play makers others do for some reason.

Kids are not the same anymore. Kids want the money. They want to play quick and leave early for the big bucks, but while they are around, they want the best creature comforts. Beaches, nitelife, mountains, skiing or possibly networking for major jobs in industry, movies. Kids are smarter and more of a I generation. Team is not something they are concerned about.

Anything we accomplish is actually a bigger step than most, just as it was in the past. We have the right people on board to get as close as we are going to get. But it will take time and if the stars align just right we will see our stock return, but I seriously doubt we will ever see a run like the mid 90's at Nebraska.

Every major program has new facilities or are in the process of having them. We spent 50 million, Texas just authorized something like 173 million. Oklahoma State is another story. Facilities are a factor, but not like they were 10 to 20 years ago.

My number one requirement, is to play the game right, recruit right, look for quality individuals to represent the University, continue/upgrade the academic standards and graduation rates. Win the games we should and be competitive in every single one. Never quit and be above board on every situation. Never be an embarasement at any level at any time.

I truly think we have the right staff to do those things. I do not need NC's to be a Husker fan. I do not demand nor expect them, I am just very happy when and if it happens. I look at things as they are, not how I want or expect them to be. We are about where I thought we would be when this change was made. I am more than happy with the progress. If in another two years we are not soundly in the top ten, I will have my concerns, but for now life is great.

 
I think it's totally possible. Maybe it won't be exactly like the 94-95 teams, but I believe that Nebraska will be a dominant force in college football again very soon. Remember, Osborne won these titles in his last few years of coaching and how many times did we play in the game and not succeed before? It will happen, just be patient.

Case in point, look at UCLA, they have a beautiful campus with great weather, but still can't win a NC. I think weather is an overrated factor in recruiting, etc. A lot of these players who played at a warm weather school in college end up at cold weather pro teams. Texas turned out to be a flop in 2006. I predict USC won't be a powerhouse forever. Just look at Miami and Florida St., two traditional powerhouses whose programs are in the tank right now.

As we have more success on the field, our recruiting quality will grow. The rating services in my opinion are not always accurate. Carriker was listed as a 1 star on scout.com and is someone who will go easily in the 1st round. Grixby was listed as a 4 star?????

 
skersfan said:
I think we had a unique situation at the time. As far as talent goes then everyone was pretty equal, but we had a far superior weight program. We built what we needed, kids stayed around to finish off and played as 5th year seniors. We played in a less competitive enviorment than now. Recruiting has changed alot since then. We do not get the real play makers others do for some reason.

Kids are not the same anymore. Kids want the money. They want to play quick and leave early for the big bucks, but while they are around, they want the best creature comforts. Beaches, nitelife, mountains, skiing or possibly networking for major jobs in industry, movies. Kids are smarter and more of a I generation. Team is not something they are concerned about.

Anything we accomplish is actually a bigger step than most, just as it was in the past. We have the right people on board to get as close as we are going to get. But it will take time and if the stars align just right we will see our stock return, but I seriously doubt we will ever see a run like the mid 90's at Nebraska.

Every major program has new facilities or are in the process of having them. We spent 50 million, Texas just authorized something like 173 million. Oklahoma State is another story. Facilities are a factor, but not like they were 10 to 20 years ago.

My number one requirement, is to play the game right, recruit right, look for quality individuals to represent the University, continue/upgrade the academic standards and graduation rates. Win the games we should and be competitive in every single one. Never quit and be above board on every situation. Never be an embarasement at any level at any time.

I truly think we have the right staff to do those things. I do not need NC's to be a Husker fan. I do not demand nor expect them, I am just very happy when and if it happens. I look at things as they are, not how I want or expect them to be. We are about where I thought we would be when this change was made. I am more than happy with the progress. If in another two years we are not soundly in the top ten, I will have my concerns, but for now life is great.
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How do you define talent? How many of those athletes ever made it to the pros? No QB from back during that time made it unless you qualify Frost as a safety. No receivers from that time made it. Ahman Greene is the only RB that made it. A few of the FB's made it, but they all walked on here at NU. Several of the OL made it, but we've had a pretty good run of OL make it from the Solich era as well. On the defensive side, we had some DE's make it. We had 1 or 2 LB's make it but got switched to DB in the pros. We've had a slew of DB's make it. Again though, we've had quite a few players in the Solich era make it to the pro's as DB's (Fabian Washington, Bullock brothers, etc.).

What we all forget is how well all of the pieces of the puzzle fit together back then. We had good players, not great. They all played hard and played well together. For the most part, injury was nonexistent barring Frazier's blood clot problem. We didn't have players jetting for the NFL their junior year, so we always had experience at almost every position. We had a good staff of coaches. We didn't lose a couple of assistants each year. This is the one thing that will be very difficult to match in years to come is a cohesive coaching core. IMO, Snyder never won a NC at KState because he never could keep his coaching core together. Stoops is having problems with that at OU. Carroll at USC just lost his OC. If you can't keep your staff together, it compounds problems.

If you look at the allstars from back in the mid-90's, you will see most of them were local. Ahman was a native as was Frost. Berringer was pretty close to being native. A lot of the big time playmakers from that time either came from Nebraska or pretty close. Frazier was an exception, but then again not a lot of schools ran the option even back then. I think it might be a while before we see a group of natives put together again like the Mackovicka brothers, Schlesinger, Conneally, Frost, Greene, Zatecka's (sp).

 
LAHusker said:
As we have more success on the field, our recruiting quality will grow. The rating services in my opinion are not always accurate. Carriker was listed as a 1 star on scout.com and is someone who will go easily in the 1st round. Grixby was listed as a 4 star?????
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Good point. In the 2002 class at Ohio State, Mike D'Andrea was a 5 star player and AJ Hawk (playing for the Packers now) was a 3 star player. Santonio Holmes (Steelers I think) was a 3 star and Roy Hall was a 4 star. At QB, Justin Zwick was the #3 in the country and Troy Smith was the #12 Dual-threat. Maurice Clarrett was 5 star in the same class.

So getting 5 stars doesn't mean you'll play in the NFL one day or even start in college, and getting relatively few stars won't prevent you from being a star in college or the pros.

 
junior4949 said:
I think it might be a while before we see a group of natives put together again like the Mackovicka brothers, Schlesinger, Conneally, Frost, Greene, Zatecka's (sp).
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I hope with Paul and OLs coming up next year, we are starting another cycle of talent like that, but it will be a few years before we can make that determination.

 
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