Nebraska hires Mike Riley from Oregon State

People are acting like Nebraska had a philander or criminal in Pelini. He was insufferable at times but he wasn't leading the program into disarray. They definitely didn't needed a Shula hire to "fix Pelini's damage."


They just needed more wins.

B1GTide said:

I think that many of you have totally missed the point of this change. They were not happy with CBP because he was a loud mouthed idiot and he was making a mockery of the proud reputation of their university. This is a very conservative program and they would rather walk away from a 9 win/year coach than continue to deal with his tantrums.

They are replacing CBP with the anti-CBP in Mike Riley. He is calm, well spoken and is likely to represent their program very well. The only question remaining is - will he be able to win enough to survive? He will have at least a few years - until their memories of the CBP behavior fades from their minds. After that, he will have to win. Can he? I have no idea. But he is what they are looking for, and I can't rip them for the move.

To some of us, wins are not the most important thing. We don't want to give up on the idea that you can win with class, but I would rather lose with class than win with a guy like CBP representing my school.

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I appreciate you man and enjoy your insights. But when I read this, my first thought was.......has B1G ever heard of Woody Hayes?


(Sorry man but you put it on a tee for me....)

B1GTide said:

Isn't Riley a former Alabama guy? Shouldn't you be supporting him the way you have supported McElwain?

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Loyalty to Bama guys is what got us stuck in what I call the dark times. Dabo Swinney is a BAMA guy too and I wouldn't want him touching any program I cheered for with a 10' pole.

rgw said:

People are acting like Nebraska had a philander or criminal in Pelini. He was insufferable at times but he wasn't leading the program into disarray. They definitely didn't needed a Shula hire to "fix Pelini's damage."


They just needed more wins.

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I agree, Pellini was not winning enough to overcome their increasing frustration. I honestly don't think Riley will have to win as much as Pellini to initially satisfy them. If he surprises then that is gravy. If not, like I supposed earlier, he will 'retire' and they can make their 'splash' hire. I honestly think they were looking for a good caretaker coach they wouldn't have to fire, who they thought had the potential to put something together and would not cause the headaches Pellini did. I do thing the Callahan comparison is pretty accurate.

mittman said:

I agree with BIGTide. I think they are trying to settle things down. Nebraska is a pretty proud program and they have seen what a good class coach is. I think they are searching for another Osborne. I think Riley will be a welcome change for their PTB. As has been noted, he is also up in years and even if he succeeds he will not be there that long. I doubt he will be there more than 4 years while they look for what they think is their longer term guy.

That does not mean I wasn't surprised too, he has not lit the world on fire. However, how many coaches are available out there that have?

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I think most of us who question this are asking, "Why not last year?" I mean, last year, audiotapes were released where he cussed out Nebraska' fan base. Then, he goes on a tirade after the Iowa game. I mean, last year, he was a lunatic. This year, he hasn't really done anything newsworthy in that regard. So, why is Nebraska all of a sudden concerned about settling things down?

People point to Bo averaging nine wins a season at Nebraska, but that removes from the equation the fact that the Huskers lost practically every single game of any significance during his tenure. Several in embarrassing blowout fashion (the 2012 conference title game comes to mind, where a 7-5 Wisconsin team hung 70 on them). If you couple this with his explosive temper tantrums and the general perception that he was an insufferable scoundrel, it's not hard to see a school like Nebraska making a change. I agree that last year probably made more sense, though (they finished the regular season 8-4 and needed a generally miserable showing from Georgia to avoid a Gator Bowl loss).

I also agree that from a personality standpoint, they basically hired the antithesis of Bo in Mike Riley. The guy has a calm, cerebral approach to the game and is universally lauded for his character and humility. I'm not sure how well he will pan out in Lincoln - that largely depends on the makeup of his staff and (perhaps more importantly) his ability to recruit nationally. But he will definitely resonate much better with the fan base - I think Bo and a large percentage of the NU fan base had developed a mutual disdain for one another.

The notion of Riley being a placeholder or "bridge" coach makes a lot of sense. And he just might pan out long-term. It's not an easy task to coach at Oregon State for 10+ seasons and still have a plus-500 mark.

Frank Solich says hi.

B1GTide said:

You must not hear all of the things that we hear up here. He might not have been as bad this year, but he was certainly not "good". He continued to alienate boosters with his antics, which you simply cannot do out there. And have you watched a Nebraska game this season? His players get into fights. He screams at officials in every game. He is out of control, and so is his team.

CBP has learned that he can't melt down during a presser. That is the only thing that changed from last season to this season.

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GreatDanish said:

I think most of us who question this are asking, "Why not last year?" I mean, last year, audiotapes were released where he cussed out Nebraska' fan base. Then, he goes on a tirade after the Iowa game. I mean, last year, he was a lunatic. This year, he hasn't really done anything newsworthy in that regard. So, why is Nebraska all of a sudden concerned about settling things down?

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See BIGTide's post above. While there hasn't been another big embarrassing media problem, he continued to be himself. I agree it probably would have been more advantageous media wise for them last year. I just think they reached a tipping point. I think Riley is going to be a breath of fresh air for them whether or not his win totals are great. That is unless he just bombs.

selmaborntidefan said:

I appreciate you man and enjoy your insights. But when I read this, my first thought was.......has B1G ever heard of Woody Hayes?


(Sorry man but you put it on a tee for me....)

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Who? :conf2: :wink:

GreatDanish said:

I think most of us who question this are asking, "Why not last year?" I mean, last year, audiotapes were released where he cussed out Nebraska' fan base. Then, he goes on a tirade after the Iowa game. I mean, last year, he was a lunatic. This year, he hasn't really done anything newsworthy in that regard. So, why is Nebraska all of a sudden concerned about settling things down?

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A good question. I was shocked that he wasn't fired last year. I began to think that he had some sort of leverage that he was using to keep his job. I am just glad to see him go.

selmaborntidefan said:

I appreciate you man and enjoy your insights. But when I read this, my first thought was.......has B1G ever heard of Woody Hayes?


(Sorry man but you put it on a tee for me....)

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B1GTide said:

Who? :conf2: :wink:

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Funny stuff! Both of you!:biggrin:

oregonbltzkrieg said:

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Please tell me that's a photoshop.

CullmanTide said:

Please tell me that's a photoshop.

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You've never heard of the FeauxPelini Twitter account? Link

RTR91 said:

You've never heard of the FeauxPelini Twitter account? Link

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No, honestly I haven't. I don't get out much. Thanks for the link! Funny stuff.

So is Riley a better coach than Chisik? It doesn't seem that far fetched to think Nebraska could contend for their division with in a year.

I really don't see this as a good match. I think the Huskers have an inflated sense of their place in the world and this hire won't work out well.

Well, it will work out okay for Coach Riley, for a few years at least.

Tidewater said:

I really don't see this as a good match. I think the Huskers have an inflated sense of their place in the world and this hire won't work out well.

Well, it will work out okay for Coach Riley, for a few years at least.

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I remember a few back-and-forth years in bowl games, back in the 60's; I think Nebraska has had issues of late, but through the years they have had more than a couple of teams contending for/winning NC's. most of them were TO's, I guess, but still...just because they have been pretty/mostly fairly mediocre (wow, we call nine wins mediocre nowadays!) lately doesn't mean they always were.
Will they ever get back to where they were? Remains to be seen; I remember some OSU teams that were way over-matched upsetting USC (and maybe some others). Maybe that's all they want, the chance to knock off MSU or OSU more than once every 10 years. I have no idea, I just think MR was an over-reaction to bad Bo bleep.