Like Frank Solich who played and coached at Nebraska and was fired with a 59-16 record.
Nebraska Fires AD Shawn Eichost
- Thread starter GrayTide
- Start date
If you heard 1/10 of the back chatter that was involved with Pelini then you'd be shocked that he waited as long as he did to blow up. The biggest two problems with the Nebraska job is 1) bad instate recruiting and 2) the access that the average fan has to the head coach. The latter got Pelini big time from folks constantly coming into his office asking him about Black shirts, who the qb was, and autographs just because they knew the son of a member of the BOT.
Nebraska's rise to prominence is one of the most insane accidents in the history of any sport.
Gray MIGHT be right, but I'm thinking of something else. Think of the great pantheon of Nebraska players and where they came from:
Mike Rozier (Camden, NJ)
Irving Fryar (NJ)
Turner Gill - Fort Worth, TX (these were the three biggest stars of their 1983 team, NONE from in the state)
Tommie Frazier - Bradenton, FL
Dave Rimington - Omaha
Dean Steinkuhler - Burr, NE
Jarvis Redwine - Los Angeles
I M Hipp - South Carolina
Johnny Rodgers - Omaha
Doug DuBose - Connecticut
Roger Craig - Davenport, IA
Broderick Thomas - Houston, TX
Lawrence Phillips - Little Rock, AR
Grant Wistom - Joplin, MO
Brook Berringer - Goodland, KS
Ahman Green - Omaha
Neil Smith - New Orleans
Scott Frost - Lincoln, NE
=================
Notice anything? Almost all their STARS are from out of state. Why?
Well, Nebraska had this in-state thing going on. Every city in the state (and I think this is what Earle was talking about) could give one scholarship to the University of Nebraska.....and they invariably gave it to a football player. So think about it: Tom Osborne goes out to Jersey and picks up Fryar and Rozier, he gets Turner Gill from Texas and then gets Rimington on an Omaha scholarship and Steinkuhler on a Burr scholarship.
While that's OVERLY simplistic, that's how they did it. And before we bash them, if we were in their shoes we'd have done the same thing.
Gray is also correct, though.......there was another rule that permitted them on the basis of the size of their state UNLIMITED walkons (only WVA among the power schools has less population)...
and in another bizarre thing, they used to put the walk-ons in Section 8 housing, which has also been closed.
Nebraska will never be a big deal again. Problem is that too many of their fans who lived through the glory days just cannot accept that fact. I'm NOT saying they cannot win a national title or certainly a Big Ten title.....but then again, Miss State COULD win an SEC title, too, but they're not hankering for the mid-90s again, either. Miss State would appreciate a divisional title more than Nebraska would appreciate a berth in the playoff.
What is also interesting is I find a correlation in the fall of the NE program and the rise of the Whisky program. They simply made a mistake moving away from power running football and going to a spread concept because now they now are competing literally with every other program in their geographic region for the same type player.
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That is not funny bahahahahahaha yeah it is, Ms. Terry loves her some Bama, her next move will be to the Georgia lake house, you can bank that.
I always felt different is good. Not only do you not go after the same type players, but most teams have adapted to new style. The ole run and pound wears em down. More teams have troubles with the option GA TECH ran, as they were the last to run it. So you did not see it much. Imagine our team and talent running option............ OH LORD we would kill for a yr or 2 then everyone would adapt as always.
The problem is more that Mizzou went to the SEC, and Nebraska abandoned Oklahoma and Texas. Those 3 states made up the bulk of Nebraska's recruiting base.
My problem with Nebraska hiring Mike Riley was that lowered the bar. Mike Riley should be considered by Iowa State, Kansas, Minnesota and Iowa. In the same vein Tennessee continued lowering the bar with Blotch Jones. Jones should have been on the radar of Kentucky, Missouri, Vandy and Miss St.
If you are going to pretend to be "a player" you should hire like "a player", not hire from the bottom feeder pool.
If you are going to pretend to be "a player" you should hire like "a player", not hire from the bottom feeder pool.
My guess is they won't get anything better than Pelini until the Osborne generation either dies out or is too old to make 45 minute trips to Lincoln because any coach worth anything would end the VIP access to the program. I lived in Nebraska for 6 years (Pelini era) and I can tell you for a fact that the scene from Friday Night Lights where fans can flood the coach's office is basically what happens in Nebraska. So first and foremost that practice has to end otherwise they are going to be in the same crap over and over. That's why when the majority on this board was predicting Bert taking the job when it came open I said he would be an idiot if he took it. I would say Vandy is a far better job right now than Nebraska in terms of job security and stress for an up and coming coach or an established coach just trying something new. Riley was a fool for taking that particular job if he really believed that there was some kinda advantage in boosting his legacy.
Riley had a pretty amazing start to his coaching career, and was one of the most respected young coaches in the game. He won championships in the CFL and eventually got a shot as a head coach in the NFL. But I agree that the hiring at Nebraska at this point in his career just didn't make sense. His last 4-5 years at Oregon State did not go well. What did he do at Oregon State that made the powers that be at Nebraska think that he was the answer? He is now in his mid-60s, so it's not like he is someone that they are grooming for better things. Maybe they just wanted a "nice guy" to counter the Pelini years?
In the B1G, Riley belongs at Purdue, not at Nebraska.
Yes and no. They wanted Herman, Kelly, and Bielma. Herman was waiting on a Texas job, and Kelly is waiting on a big splash job. So that left Bielma. Bielma is big on paying his staff and used the Nebraska job to do it, but probably had no real interest to do it for obvious reasons.
What Nebraska has become is the Tennessee of the Midwest in that they will never be dominant again without a top notched recruiter. But their fanbase controls the program because they market themselves like they are the Green Bay Packers in which every fan believes they own some influence over the direction of the team. Like the saying goes " when the inmates controls the asylum...".
But the Riley hire is more of a keeping to the status quo hire in that they want the fan interaction with the team, and they had no Plan B when everyone said no. But he is a nice guy that won't push back like Pelini did so they were hoping that he would be 8-10 win kinda guy until they found a more sociable Pelini. But BYU and NIU beating Nebraska in Lincoln in his first three years has really made the crazies get the pitch forks and torches fast.
Solich is an excellent coach and perfect example of the old saying that you don't want to be the guy who replaces the man, you want to be the guy who replaces the guy who replaced the man.
But Purdue is satisfied being the Vandy of the B1G. Great school, great atmosphere, but winning is not really a priority. Nebraska wants to win. In that respect, they are not Purdue.
Of course. But I would make the point that they probably won't ever be much more than that in the B1G. Where is their recruiting base? Traditionally it has been Texas and California. I'm talking about for difference maker recruits. They left that behind when they left the Big 12. Now they are routinely playing in the upper midwest. I just don't see how they are ever going to get their recruiting back in shape. The great recruiters aren't going to take the job because of how difficult it is to get recruits to come there. At least with a place like Tennessee, they aren't far removed from Georgia/Florida/the Carolinas and they routinely play in those states. There is some hope there. I think Nebraska shot its foot off to spite its face by leaving the Big 12 for the B1G, even if it brought them a lot more money and stability. As a big time football program, I am afraid they are done.
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Yep - I understand why they left the Big 12 (Texas), but it really has killed their recruiting.
Much like our home state, football is incredibly important to the people of Nebraska. However, I’ll always believe that Osborne had juiced players back in the day and was a major factor in their success. That and scholly changes others have mentioned will probably keep them from enjoying the kind of sustained success they had during the Devaney/Osborne glory years.
And it's serves them right. Mizzou wanted that spot first, but had a 1 year buyout. So cocky cornshuckers decided on the move.
I think it's funny that Nebraska fans were calling for an undefeated season in 2011, but got smacked in their big 10 opener against Bert. I think it's funny that they consider Wisconsin a rival while Wisconsin doesn't view them as one.
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