Why Mike Riley should be fired now

Husker Q said:
Reasons why Mike Riley should be let go.

Identity Fit: Nebraska people and Nebraska football pride themselves in the identity of being honest, tough, hardworking people with a hard nosed football team. Mike Rileys teams have continuously been considered soft, finesse, and undisciplined. It just doesnt fit.

An A.D. who knows Nebraska would not hire Riley on fit alone.

Play Style: Nebraska football is synonymous with smash-mouth, running game, tough Blackshirt defense. Even when announcers see a good power run they say thats Nebraska football. Mike Riley runs a pass-first, dinky-dunk, west coast/pro style offense which is finesse, soft, and quite the opposite of what many Nebraskans love. Mark Banker has never been known to have tough or good defenses. He may not even be in football if his buddy wasnt a head coach. Countless Husker fans find MRs offensive style to be uninspiring and not entertaining (hence the big cheers for a fullback trap). Tom Osborne started with a passing offense and realized that it is difficult with the unpredictable midwest weather (like this years Illinois game) so he changed to a running game which can be more consistent regardless of weather. NE tried it once and it didnt work with Callahan, why would trying it again produce different results.

An A.D. who knew Nebraska would not have hired Riley on his play stye alone.

Coaching Acumen: Mike Riley has had decades to prove his coaching ability. In the NCAA, he has never even won his division! Rileys BEST season in the NCAA is 4 losses. Another coach (Dennis Erikson) took Rileys players and coached them to the best season OSU has ever had. Riley has the worst record in San Diego Charger franchise HISTORY. Every team in the NFL has the same salary cap so lack of resources is not an excuse. It seems that excuses for poor performance are the only thing you hear from the Riley camp. Only a very poor coach could take a 9 win Nebraska team with 17 returning starters and lose to BYU, Northwestern, Illinios, and Purdue. His job was under fire at Oregon State.

In case you dont believe me, here is what outside sources ranked the coaching staff before this season (posted before):

Phil Steele - 11/14 in the BIG

Sporting News - 7 in the BIG, 46 nationally

Athlon - 40th

Fox Sports - not in top 25

CBSports - 48/66 in just the "power 5"

An A.D. who has watched college football over the last 20 years would not have hired Riley on this alone.

Future-Longevity-Stability: Mike Riley is 62 years old. Tom Osborne RETIRED at a younger age. Even if MR was a good coach (which many would argue he isnt), he does not provide a long-term solution. How many years do you really think he would coach? There are no decent assistants on the staff that anyone wants as a head coach. Regardless of performance, we are likely looking at hiring a new coach in a few years anyway. When he does leave, we will have a non-mobile QB which is not what fits Nebraskas identity and style. He offers no future for Nebraska.

An A.D. who wants a promising future for Nebraska would not hire a 62 yr old coach.

Lack of fan backing/excitement: I dont know of anyone besides mark banker who said Yes! Nebraska hired Mike Riley as head coach! Most people didnt even know who he was. Fans who watch all of college football seemed to be like WTH, why would Nebraska hire him?. Probably most fans were in a wait-and-hope approach to the season. Some had little-no hope that he could do what he was hired to do (win >9 games and championships). This season has not helped fan excitement for NU football. Most I know have gotten to the point where didnt even care if they watched the game live. Their Saturdays used to revolve around the game.

Recruting: Riley nor his assistants are known as great recruiters. He is familiar with California but doesnt know important Nebraska recruiting areas such as the midwest and Texas.

An A.D. who knows college football recruiting would not have hired Riley for this reason alone.

Husker nation divided: Husker nation had become divided with Pelini. It seems that hiring a replacement who would unite Nebraskans would be important. So what would reunite Husker nation.

- A coach who Nebraskans know, with Nebraska ties. Scott Frost would fit this bill. There would be uncertainties in never being a head coach but he feels like family and everyone would be 100% behind him.

- A coach who is a proven winner. Good coaches win, period. Getting a coach who has won wherever he goes would have Huskers backing and excitement. (Harbaugh, Gary Patterson...)

- A coach who provides hope for the future. Young, up and coming coaches who are a good fit would unite Nebraska. Frost, Tom Herman, Pat Narduzzi, Troy Calhoun would at least feel like a good fit, have good reputations, and provide hope for a future.

I see Husker nation as divided (or as hopeless) as ever. Actually maybe many more on the little-hope, bad coaches side.

An A.D. who knows Nebraska and football would not have hired a coach with a poor resume, no Nebraska ties, knows or cares nothing about Nebraska, and offers no future.

When you make a mistake, the best thing to do is rectify it as soon as possible. Dont leave the mistake to linger. Keeping this A.D. and coaching staff will just make it more difficult and longer for Nebraska to recover. Bring in a good coach, who is appropriate for Nebraska, and he will have a lot to work with (such as a Sr. QB who runs the option very well) to turn it back around next year.

A good coach would be happy to take over this team who has only won 5 games but have the talent to win many more. And they dont have to follow a 9 win coach. Its a perfect time to correct the mistake that is Eichorst/Riley!
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I disagree

 
Husker Q said:
1. Would you agree that the identity of Nebraska is tough, hard-nosed football and a good portion of the fans enjoy that style?
2. Are you really comparing Mike Riley to Nick Saban, seriously?

3. I don't understand why you would have hope based on his decades of coaching history, but lucky you.

4. I guess we'll see what the recruiting rankings are.

5. I lost hope the minute Rile was hired. Exactly the same as the minute Callahan was hired.
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1. No, I would not. That hasn't been our identity in years. The fans may enjoy that style, but it's not about what the fans enjoy. It's about what wins games (and yes, I'm sure you're going to mention that our offense this year didn't win a lot of games, but blaming a bad season entirely on our offensive scheme is foolish considering how many points our defense gave up and how many turnovers Armstrong alone has been responsible for).

2. If that's what you read into me bringing up Nick Saban, you missed the point. You mentioned age and prior coaching jobs as negatives against Mike Riley, so I brought up the best exception to your argument in both cases. There are plenty of other exceptions.

3. We have some really good players coming in. I don't see much point in giving up all hope just because we had a bad year. I'm a Husker fan... having hope in the team is, well... kinda what I do.

4. I guess so.

5. At this point you can either hope you're wrong about him and he'll find a way to right the ship, or you can hope you were right and you can keep telling everybody "I told you so" just because you chose not to buy in when he was hired. That's your choice.

 
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theknife said:
Hunter94 said:
Les Miles........sign him up.
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Les Miles wouldn't come here.
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He would if we opened up the checkbook!
default_insertsarcasm.gif


 
RADAR said:
Another crap thread about something that will not happen and should not happen. The team improved from start to finish. The coaching is good. The recruiting is better than it has been in years.

Riley will be here for a long time.
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The coaching is good? Um, okay.

 
Husker Q said:
[SIZE=14.6667px]Reasons why Mike Riley should be let go.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Identity Fit: [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px] Nebraska people and Nebraska football pride themselves in the identity of being honest, tough, hardworking people with a hard nosed football team. Mike Riley’s teams have continuously been considered soft, finesse, and undisciplined. It just doesn’t fit. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]An A.D. who knows Nebraska would not hire Riley on fit alone.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Play Style:[/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px] Nebraska football is synonymous with smash-mouth, running game, tough Blackshirt defense. Even when announcers see a good power run they say “that’s Nebraska football”. Mike Riley runs a pass-first, dinky-dunk, west coast/pro style offense which is finesse, soft, and quite the opposite of what many Nebraskans love. Mark Banker has never been known to have tough or good defenses. He may not even be in football if his buddy wasn’t a head coach. Countless Husker fans find MR’s offensive style to be uninspiring and not entertaining (hence the big cheers for a fullback trap). Tom Osborne started with a passing offense and realized that it is difficult with the unpredictable midwest weather (like this years Illinois game) so he changed to a running game which can be more consistent regardless of weather. NE tried it once and it didn’t work with Callahan, why would trying it again produce different results. [/SIZE]

An A.D. who knew Nebraska would not have hired Riley on his play stye alone.

[SIZE=14.6667px]Coaching Acumen: [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px] Mike Riley has had decades to prove his coaching ability. In the NCAA, he has never even won his division! Riley’s BEST season in the NCAA is 4 losses. Another coach (Dennis Erikson) took Riley’s players and coached them to the best season OSU has ever had. Riley has the worst record in San Diego Charger franchise HISTORY. Every team in the NFL has the same salary cap so “lack of resources” is not an excuse. It seems that excuses for poor performance are the only thing you hear from the Riley camp. Only a very poor coach could take a 9 win Nebraska team with 17 returning starters and lose to BYU, Northwestern, Illinios, and Purdue. His job was under fire at Oregon State. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]In case you don’t believe me, here is what outside sources ranked the coaching staff before this season (posted before):[/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]Phil Steele - 11/14 in the BIG[/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]Sporting News - 7 in the BIG, 46 nationally[/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]Athlon - 40th[/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]Fox Sports - not in top 25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]CBSports - 48/66 in just the "power 5"[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]An A.D. who has watched college football over the last 20 years would not have hired Riley on this alone.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Future-Longevity-Stability: [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px] Mike Riley is 62 years old. Tom Osborne RETIRED at a younger age. Even if MR was a good coach (which many would argue he isn’t), he does not provide a long-term solution. How many years do you really think he would coach? There are no decent assistants on the staff that anyone wants as a head coach. Regardless of performance, we are likely looking at hiring a new coach in a few years anyway. When he does leave, we will have a non-mobile QB which is not what fits Nebraska’s identity and style. He offers no future for Nebraska. [/SIZE]

An A.D. who wants a promising future for Nebraska would not hire a 62 yr old coach.

[SIZE=14.6667px]Lack of fan backing/excitement:[/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px] I don’t know of anyone besides mark banker who said “Yes! Nebraska hired Mike Riley as head coach!” Most people didn’t even know who he was. Fans who watch all of college football seemed to be like “WTH, why would Nebraska hire him?”. Probably most fans were in a wait-and-hope approach to the season. Some had little-no hope that he could do what he was hired to do (win >9 games and championships). This season has not helped fan excitement for NU football. Most I know have gotten to the point where didn’t even care if they watched the game live. Their Saturdays used to revolve around the game. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Recruting: [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px] Riley nor his assistants are known as great recruiters. He is familiar with California but doesn’t know important Nebraska recruiting areas such as the midwest and Texas. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]An A.D. who knows college football recruiting would not have hired Riley for this reason alone.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Husker nation divided: [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px] Husker nation had become divided with Pelini. It seems that hiring a replacement who would unite Nebraskans would be important. So what would reunite Husker nation. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]- A coach who Nebraskans know, with Nebraska ties. Scott Frost would fit this bill. There would be uncertainties in never being a head coach but he feels like family and everyone would be 100% behind him.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]- A coach who is a proven winner. Good coaches win, period. Getting a coach who has won wherever he goes would have Huskers backing and excitement. (Harbaugh, Gary Patterson...)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]- A coach who provides hope for the future. Young, up and coming coaches who are a good fit would unite Nebraska. Frost, Tom Herman, Pat Narduzzi, Troy Calhoun would at least feel like a good fit, have good reputations, and provide hope for a future. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]I see Husker nation as divided (or as hopeless) as ever. Actually maybe many more on the little-hope, bad coaches side. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]An A.D. who knows Nebraska and football would not have hired a coach with a poor resume, no Nebraska ties, knows or cares nothing about Nebraska, and offers no future. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]When you make a mistake, the best thing to do is rectify it as soon as possible. Don’t leave the mistake to linger. Keeping this A.D. and coaching staff will just make it more difficult and longer for Nebraska to recover. Bring in a good coach, who is appropriate for Nebraska, and he will have a lot to work with (such as a Sr. QB who runs the option very well) to turn it back around next year. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]A good coach would be happy to take over this team who has only won 5 games but have the talent to win many more. And they don’t have to follow a 9 win coach. It’s a perfect time to correct the mistake that is Eichorst/Riley![/SIZE]
Click to expand...
You Should email this to the administration. Very well written.

 
I have zero doubt that if we finish with a winning record next year (7-5 or better) that it'll be overhyped by Eichorst as "noted improvement" and he'll be given another year. This is going to be a long, painful ride. Only way he's shown the door is if we finish with a losing record again next year.

 
Redreign22 said:
Husker Q said:
[SIZE=14.6667px]Reasons why Mike Riley should be let go.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Identity Fit: [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px] Nebraska people and Nebraska football pride themselves in the identity of being honest, tough, hardworking people with a hard nosed football team. Mike Riley’s teams have continuously been considered soft, finesse, and undisciplined. It just doesn’t fit. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]An A.D. who knows Nebraska would not hire Riley on fit alone.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Play Style:[/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px] Nebraska football is synonymous with smash-mouth, running game, tough Blackshirt defense. Even when announcers see a good power run they say “that’s Nebraska football”. Mike Riley runs a pass-first, dinky-dunk, west coast/pro style offense which is finesse, soft, and quite the opposite of what many Nebraskans love. Mark Banker has never been known to have tough or good defenses. He may not even be in football if his buddy wasn’t a head coach. Countless Husker fans find MR’s offensive style to be uninspiring and not entertaining (hence the big cheers for a fullback trap). Tom Osborne started with a passing offense and realized that it is difficult with the unpredictable midwest weather (like this years Illinois game) so he changed to a running game which can be more consistent regardless of weather. NE tried it once and it didn’t work with Callahan, why would trying it again produce different results. [/SIZE]

An A.D. who knew Nebraska would not have hired Riley on his play stye alone.

[SIZE=14.6667px]Coaching Acumen: [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px] Mike Riley has had decades to prove his coaching ability. In the NCAA, he has never even won his division! Riley’s BEST season in the NCAA is 4 losses. Another coach (Dennis Erikson) took Riley’s players and coached them to the best season OSU has ever had. Riley has the worst record in San Diego Charger franchise HISTORY. Every team in the NFL has the same salary cap so “lack of resources” is not an excuse. It seems that excuses for poor performance are the only thing you hear from the Riley camp. Only a very poor coach could take a 9 win Nebraska team with 17 returning starters and lose to BYU, Northwestern, Illinios, and Purdue. His job was under fire at Oregon State. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]In case you don’t believe me, here is what outside sources ranked the coaching staff before this season (posted before):[/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]Phil Steele - 11/14 in the BIG[/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]Sporting News - 7 in the BIG, 46 nationally[/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]Athlon - 40th[/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]Fox Sports - not in top 25[/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.3333px]CBSports - 48/66 in just the "power 5"[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]An A.D. who has watched college football over the last 20 years would not have hired Riley on this alone.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Future-Longevity-Stability: [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px] Mike Riley is 62 years old. Tom Osborne RETIRED at a younger age. Even if MR was a good coach (which many would argue he isn’t), he does not provide a long-term solution. How many years do you really think he would coach? There are no decent assistants on the staff that anyone wants as a head coach. Regardless of performance, we are likely looking at hiring a new coach in a few years anyway. When he does leave, we will have a non-mobile QB which is not what fits Nebraska’s identity and style. He offers no future for Nebraska. [/SIZE]

An A.D. who wants a promising future for Nebraska would not hire a 62 yr old coach.

[SIZE=14.6667px]Lack of fan backing/excitement:[/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px] I don’t know of anyone besides mark banker who said “Yes! Nebraska hired Mike Riley as head coach!” Most people didn’t even know who he was. Fans who watch all of college football seemed to be like “WTH, why would Nebraska hire him?”. Probably most fans were in a wait-and-hope approach to the season. Some had little-no hope that he could do what he was hired to do (win >9 games and championships). This season has not helped fan excitement for NU football. Most I know have gotten to the point where didn’t even care if they watched the game live. Their Saturdays used to revolve around the game. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Recruting: [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px] Riley nor his assistants are known as great recruiters. He is familiar with California but doesn’t know important Nebraska recruiting areas such as the midwest and Texas. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]An A.D. who knows college football recruiting would not have hired Riley for this reason alone.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Husker nation divided: [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px] Husker nation had become divided with Pelini. It seems that hiring a replacement who would unite Nebraskans would be important. So what would reunite Husker nation. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]- A coach who Nebraskans know, with Nebraska ties. Scott Frost would fit this bill. There would be uncertainties in never being a head coach but he feels like family and everyone would be 100% behind him.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]- A coach who is a proven winner. Good coaches win, period. Getting a coach who has won wherever he goes would have Huskers backing and excitement. (Harbaugh, Gary Patterson...)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]- A coach who provides hope for the future. Young, up and coming coaches who are a good fit would unite Nebraska. Frost, Tom Herman, Pat Narduzzi, Troy Calhoun would at least feel like a good fit, have good reputations, and provide hope for a future. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]I see Husker nation as divided (or as hopeless) as ever. Actually maybe many more on the little-hope, bad coaches side. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]An A.D. who knows Nebraska and football would not have hired a coach with a poor resume, no Nebraska ties, knows or cares nothing about Nebraska, and offers no future. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]When you make a mistake, the best thing to do is rectify it as soon as possible. Don’t leave the mistake to linger. Keeping this A.D. and coaching staff will just make it more difficult and longer for Nebraska to recover. Bring in a good coach, who is appropriate for Nebraska, and he will have a lot to work with (such as a Sr. QB who runs the option very well) to turn it back around next year. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]A good coach would be happy to take over this team who has only won 5 games but have the talent to win many more. And they don’t have to follow a 9 win coach. It’s a perfect time to correct the mistake that is Eichorst/Riley![/SIZE]
Click to expand...
You Should email this to the administration. Very well written.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I did
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Winning cures everything. My preference too was to go with a run attack and soild defense first. I feel like all I can do now is cheer on this staff and see what they can do for next couple of years. It's obvious the offense is changing but there is no reason we can't put together a very intimidating and tough as nails defense. Banker's defense puts CB's on an island. OK, then go get the best cover corners out there...kids that are confident they can lock WR's down at the highest level. These kids will have no better opportunity to thrive. Also, get the speed pass rushers off the edge. The defense showed progress against the run but still has lots of holes.

We need to control games with the OL whether we run or pass. Recruit OL. Sure I wanted to see more big runs but bottomline was our OL got handled most this season.

The entire recruiting needs to pick up. A guy like POB could come in here and smash the passing records but we need to give him help. We have serious holes where recruits can come in and play early at a program as prestigious as Nebraska. It is a rare opportunity these days. It's not just offense. We need defense to make sure the Blackshirts are restored.

I hope to continue to see positions like TE and FB involved in the offense.

 
RADAR said:
MO Husker said:
RADAR said:
Another crap thread about something that will not happen and should not happen. The team improved from start to finish. The coaching is good. The recruiting is better than it has been in years.

Riley will be here for a long time.
Click to expand...
The team did not improve, and with the start they had it should have been easy to improve.
The coaching is not good.

We'll see with the recruiting, it's a claim we've heard every year since 2008.

We'll see about Riley. If we aren't in the running for a CCG Riley better not be back.
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Everything you said is wrong, but you can spell it out if you like.
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Are you Mike Riley... No really I'm being serious, you're Mike Riley aren't you?

 
I was listening to ESPN on XM radio while driving tonight. The sports talk segment was about Les Miles...the fire or keep debate...one announcer and two callers referenced Nebraska and the debacle we've had for firing two 9 / something coaches. Look at the bigger picture. Coaches are going to be very hesitant to come here if we fire Riley after one year. And this year there are a lot of high profile openings where they aren't firing a 1st year or nine win coach. Winning is a huge part of our image...but it seems our national image has also be tarnished with the coaching carousel. To suggest firing Riley now is narrow minded and uninformed at best.

 
grandpasknee said:
I was listening to ESPN on XM radio while driving tonight. The sports talk segment was about Les Miles...the fire or keep debate...one announcer and two callers referenced Nebraska and the debacle we've had for firing two 9 / something coaches. Look at the bigger picture. Coaches are going to be very hesitant to come here if we fire Riley after one year. And this year there are a lot of high profile openings where they aren't firing a 1st year or nine win coach. Winning is a huge part of our image...but it seems our national image has also be tarnished with the coaching carousel. To suggest firing Riley now is narrow minded and uninformed at best.
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Amen. It's only coming from those that live in a Husker Bubble. Nationally the job is not viewed as a top job. Firing Riley less than a year in would only make hiring the next guy that much more difficult. Not to mention the state of the roster, because the last thing we need is another class rushed together after the new Magic coach would come in.

 
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