Why it will take at least 10 years to become relevant again

10_point_buck said:
Callahan gets a lot of grief, mainly due to his loyalty to Cosgrove, but in all honesty, he was the best coach we have had at NU since Osborne and that includes Scotty Frosty. 
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84HuskerLaw said:
You made my point.  Basically all those criticisms are NU changes NOT national ones.  
Mostly the elites of the game today are the ones from the past 5 decades OU, MI, PSU, AB, FL, GA, etc. A few like TX, USC, FSU and Miami are struggling right now but they’re still recruiting well and present good teams into the future. 
football talent - geographically speaking - is still pretty much concentrated outside Neb as it always has been.  The things that have changed are mostly internal to Nebraska.   Those are being changed once again - hopefully into a national statute program.  
Nebraska needs to be careful to focus on being the exception and not the rule.  If we try to play the same way and copy the Bamas and Ohio States and Clemsons it might work.  If we try to copy the Nebraska (1962-2002) and focus of us, it will work.   We’ve always done well by mostly being the toughest, most determined, hardest working team.  Neb football at its best has been blue collar - nothing fancy - smash mouth.  The blackshirts.  The trenches.   Hard hits.  Power not finesse.  The power I. The Osbone not the fun n gun.

Yes the game itself has evolved with rules, schemes in favor, fads, uniforms, pads, etc but those are all common to every team.  There were times when the run based “option” schemes were more common and less pass oriented. 
But Husker football can certainly be a top selling - winning formula.  In that sense nothing much BESIDES NU has changed. 
we quit being Nebraska frankly while other programs continued. 
Getting in great physical shape lots of hard work over time.  Staying in that shape is still hard work but it becomes routine and habit and more enjoyable.  
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and back in the day If you wanted to be on TV(most did), there were only probably 25 programs in the country that were on consistently. ND, UCLA, USC, MI, OSU, Penn state etc..we all remember them. I remember seeing a stat or study that back in the 60s 70s, 80s the average blue chipper went like 756 miles to play football...now it's like 129 miles...many are in the south. If you live in FL, GA, AZ, TX, CA where a high %  come from, there are A LOT of options that kids are happy with. Would Tommy Frazier come here today fom Bradenton High School? not so sure....

 
Frazier would surely come here to run Tom’s offense.   He would not be recruited by Frost for this offense.   Perhaps next year we will see something new with a different OC and WR coach.  
But many kids will go where they fit.  Not sure I’ve ever heard the miles stat you refer to but that’s interesting.  Most blue chip (I assume that’d be the 5 star guys mainly) probably stay closer to home but I’m gonna guess some of that, if true, may be the ratings are more heavily weighted to the SE and Texas regions for both players and schools class ratings.  
Nebraska has always recruited nationally - not new.  A fraction of top players want to get away from home and from urban issues etc.  Some want to play for the right coaches and so on.  NU will get their share.   TV coverage should help as 30 years ago Neb probably only had 4 or 5 games televised.  Now nearly all get picked up.  Yes, kids get on TV with many more schools as well but parents can still watch from anywhere.  
One area that does hurt NU vs many other schools is the cost of school has escalated so much vs thirty yrs ago.  This makes the walkon program much tougher to keep guys away from the lesser levels etc.  Frost is getting in state walkons that seem to be better.  Time will tell.  

 
We are never going to run Osborn's offense again.  Please stop.  

Kids no longer grow up wanting to play at THE School.  They want the NFL.  They want no part of our past offense.

Why spend 4 to 5 years of your career working on developing talent that the NFL does not use.  Road graders normally can not pass block.  You will never make it in the NFL if you can't block.

Now the defense is a different story it seems.  Base talent needs are the same in the NFL and in college.  If we could become the BlackShirts again, that might be enough to get us back into consideration.  Every college offense is gravitating to be the same thing.  What is being taught in Pop Warner, in High School and now college.  Get the best athlete that can throw the ball and build your offense around him.

Nebraska will never return to the top of college football.  We will get to being a good program, that pops into the top ten, maybe make the a NC appearance every 10 years or so.  That is what we need to expect.  I see us as a top 15 program going forward, not a regular in the playoff.  

I have listened to this same argument for a very long time on this site.  Every single prediction of returning to what Nebraska was in the 90's has fallen short, not even close

We are not somehow going to out work Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma, Ohio State and add in Minnesota and Iowa.  All of college football knows what it takes now to be good, and the money and facilities are there for them to do it.  

Real world, be happy the administration of the University wants to be good again, and are spending the money they have to, to be competitive.  All seem to be on the same page.  I think we have a coach that wants that, but not totally sold he will be able to do it yet.  Time will tell, and if we do make it back in ten years it will be a great day.  I have waited twice that long to get to this point

 
I think it safe to say we aren’t paying about 8 million a year for a coaching staff to climb back to mediocrity as the middle of the pack big ten west team.  Your pessimism is unrealistic.  I am sorry but Frost would not even stay if people had your attitude.  We could have kept Riley for that.  Good grief.  

 
skersfan said:
We are never going to run Osborn's offense again.  Please stop.  

Kids no longer grow up wanting to play at THE School.  They want the NFL.  They want no part of our past offense.

Why spend 4 to 5 years of your career working on developing talent that the NFL does not use.  Road graders normally can not pass block.  You will never make it in the NFL if you can't block.

Now the defense is a different story it seems.  Base talent needs are the same in the NFL and in college.  If we could become the BlackShirts again, that might be enough to get us back into consideration.  Every college offense is gravitating to be the same thing.  What is being taught in Pop Warner, in High School and now college.  Get the best athlete that can throw the ball and build your offense around him.

Nebraska will never return to the top of college football.  We will get to being a good program, that pops into the top ten, maybe make the a NC appearance every 10 years or so.  That is what we need to expect.  I see us as a top 15 program going forward, not a regular in the playoff.  

I have listened to this same argument for a very long time on this site.  Every single prediction of returning to what Nebraska was in the 90's has fallen short, not even close

We are not somehow going to out work Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma, Ohio State and add in Minnesota and Iowa.  All of college football knows what it takes now to be good, and the money and facilities are there for them to do it.  

Real world, be happy the administration of the University wants to be good again, and are spending the money they have to, to be competitive.  All seem to be on the same page.  I think we have a coach that wants that, but not totally sold he will be able to do it yet.  Time will tell, and if we do make it back in ten years it will be a great day.  I have waited twice that long to get to this point
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84HuskerLaw said:
I think it safe to say we aren’t paying about 8 million a year for a coaching staff to climb back to mediocrity as the middle of the pack big ten west team.  Your pessimism is unrealistic.  I am sorry but Frost would not even stay if people had your attitude.  We could have kept Riley for that.  Good grief.  
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Look guys, when I of all people have to mediate you two, its a shot to the ego for sure.  But both of you are not as differentiating as you act.  

It is unfair to expect us to return to the dominance of the mid 90's, who ever expects their program to be one of the greatest in all of time?? It is never expected that way, sometimes it just happens.   And i dont think either of you expect that.  Look at Clemson.  They are what we were in the 90's.  Same to Alabama prior to Clemson.  Neither program could expect that prior to it happening.  Greatness on that high of a level is always a mix of doing the right things PLUS a lil luck! That is why it is so hard to do.

I believe Frost and Co are doing the right things, but unless we get extremely lucky and things fall into place in a way only the stars could align, that doesn't mean dominance of the likes of the mid 90's.  Noone in their right mind could expect that.  Being a consistent top 15, sometimes top 5 team is what CAN happen.  Maybe a Championship or 2 in the next 20 years if things fall into place.  

It is hard to see it now, coming off of 3 seasons with no bowl, but we are not necessarily many years away from being a top 10 team.  As far as Championships are concerned that will take some luck.  Always does.  We get the right QB, and as long as our defense is headed in the right direction we can be one of the top 5-10 teams.  Noone at NU is content being a consistent 8-4 / 9-3 team.  But it takes a few years to get above that when you were where we were.

 
BigPeterJ said:
Look guys, when I of all people have to mediate you two, its a shot to the ego for sure.  But both of you are not as differentiating as you act.  

It is unfair to expect us to return to the dominance of the mid 90's, who ever expects their program to be one of the greatest in all of time?? It is never expected that way, sometimes it just happens.   And i dont think either of you expect that.  Look at Clemson.  They are what we were in the 90's.  Same to Alabama prior to Clemson.  Neither program could expect that prior to it happening.  Greatness on that high of a level is always a mix of doing the right things PLUS a lil luck! That is why it is so hard to do.

I believe Frost and Co are doing the right things, but unless we get extremely lucky and things fall into place in a way only the stars could align, that doesn't mean dominance of the likes of the mid 90's.  Noone in their right mind could expect that.  Being a consistent top 15, sometimes top 5 team is what CAN happen.  Maybe a Championship or 2 in the next 20 years if things fall into place.  

It is hard to see it now, coming off of 3 seasons with no bowl, but we are not necessarily many years away from being a top 10 team.  As far as Championships are concerned that will take some luck.  Always does.  We get the right QB, and as long as our defense is headed in the right direction we can be one of the top 5-10 teams.  Noone at NU is content being a consistent 8-4 / 9-3 team.  But it takes a few years to get above that when you were where we were.
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Almost nobody including me has predicted we will be back to mid 90s level in a couple years.  But the constant we will never be because the world has changed and we simply have no chance of being even a 9 win prgram with national respect is just rediculous. 

 
Nothing pessimistic about it, top 10 to 15 would be an incredible jump for this program, and I truly think that is possible.  5-10 is highly unlikely on  a regular basis.  That is what would be required to return to the 90's I think.  Recruiting at the same rate.  It never happened before so the likely hood of happening now is even less.  Coach Osborne had highly ranked classes, but never back to back to back to back to back.  That is what is required now, or seems to have been for the last 20 years in general.

Running the old offense just isn't going to happen.  We don't have enough in state talent to develop the linemen to do it.

The reason Alabama returned is history and tradition and the population movement to the south.  They can go 200 miles and find talent to fill their roster, and they are living to get there because Bama gets them to the NFL.

College football is not about college, tradition, home state love and loyalty.  We are a feeder for the NFL and really nothing more.  The kids come here because they want to play in the NFL.  Few of our players have turned down the cream of the college ranks to play at Nebraska, unless there was a sure way to play right away.

I don't disagree that we can improve, but it won't be along the lines of working harder, or more than other programs that want to win.  It will be because we might happen to get that once in a generation QB and have the O and D lines to protect and destroy the competition.

I have never demanded NC's or even expected them.  Always wanted them, but never put that as the ultimate as to whether we have a good team or not.  We get another one or ten would be fantastic, expecting it is a path to total disappointment normally.

 
And lets get relevant all around.  I got done watching us get slogged by the Hoosiers in the punkin chuckin contest only to turn over to the wrastlin' to watch the beatdown by Iowa.  Fun times!

 
skersfan said:
Nothing pessimistic about it, top 10 to 15 would be an incredible jump for this program, and I truly think that is possible.  5-10 is highly unlikely on  a regular basis.  That is what would be required to return to the 90's I think.  Recruiting at the same rate.  It never happened before so the likely hood of happening now is even less.  Coach Osborne had highly ranked classes, but never back to back to back to back to back.  That is what is required now, or seems to have been for the last 20 years in general.

Running the old offense just isn't going to happen.  We don't have enough in state talent to develop the linemen to do it.

The reason Alabama returned is history and tradition and the population movement to the south.  They can go 200 miles and find talent to fill their roster, and they are living to get there because Bama gets them to the NFL.

College football is not about college, tradition, home state love and loyalty.  We are a feeder for the NFL and really nothing more.  The kids come here because they want to play in the NFL.  Few of our players have turned down the cream of the college ranks to play at Nebraska, unless there was a sure way to play right away.

I don't disagree that we can improve, but it won't be along the lines of working harder, or more than other programs that want to win.  It will be because we might happen to get that once in a generation QB and have the O and D lines to protect and destroy the competition.

I have never demanded NC's or even expected them.  Always wanted them, but never put that as the ultimate as to whether we have a good team or not.  We get another one or ten would be fantastic, expecting it is a path to total disappointment normally.
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The 2 real reasons bama got back to the top:

1: They identified the best name in coaching and got him by ponying up the cash, and

2. By being in the geographic middle of the nations best talent pool.  M-A-G :  Miss, Ala, Georgia.  A prevalence of a certain type of athlete has always been there.  Less than 500 miles from every blue chip athlete they could want.

There are other things too (cash, recreational substances, companionship) being provided in spades by "friends of the program"


 
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Can't say I disagree with anything you are saying.  We had a wonderful hay day and a fantastic string of winning football.  I think we can get back to the winning football, and I don't think it will take ten years.  

Watching San Fran with the tight ends and full back is fun to watch for sure.

But watching pro football just disgusts me.  The Green Bay QB fumbles the ball and can not get away from it fast enough.  Mahomes is cheered for his runs out of bounds and slapped on the butt for his slides.   That is what football has turned into.

None of the pro side is to my liking and I see college ball following right along.

I admit I don't pay as much attention to any of it as I used to.  

 
skersfan said:
But watching pro football just disgusts me.  The Green Bay QB fumbles the ball and can not get away from it fast enough.  Mahomes is cheered for his runs out of bounds and slapped on the butt for his slides.   That is what football has turned into.
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Pretty sure QBs are rushing more than ever now in the NFL.

 
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