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I think people tend to forget a couple of things about the firing of Frank Solich from Nebraska. He took over a program that went 60-3 over five years. Then: 9-4 12-1 10-2 11-2 ... Eric Crouch and the rest of Tom Osborne's recruits are pretty much all gone at this point... 7-7 9-3 He probably should have been shown the door after the 7-7 season. Over the last two games of the 2001 season and the entire 2002 season, Nebraska was 7-9 with losses: 36-62 to Colorado 14-37 to Miami, in a game Miami could have named its score 7-40 to Penn State 14-36 to Iowa State 21-24 to Oklahoma State 24-27 to Texas 13-49 to Kansas State 13-28 to Colorado 23-27 to Ole Miss Then in Solich's final season in Lincoln, the three losses were: 24-41 to Missouri 7-31 to Texas 9-38 to Kansas State Between the tail end of the 2001 season and the 2002 season (16 games total) Nebraska lost six games by at least two touchdowns. That should have been the end of the Solich era at Nebraska. But the otherwise competent athletic director at the time was planning a move to College Station, Texas and didn't pull the trigger. The other thing I think a lot of people that don't follow Nebraska football closely forget is that a couple years after getting the axe at Nebraska: quote:In 2005, police in Athens, Ohio found Solich passed out behind the wheel of his car, facing the wrong direction on a one-way street. Solich was convicted of drunken driving, resulting in a $250 fine and driver's license suspension.[7] He attempted to fight this based on testing that revealed the "date rape" drug GHB in his system. His attempt to withdraw his plea failed. The only reason Frost didn't get fired last year is because the losses were close. I think most Nebraska fans are willing to accept losses as long as the games are competitive and the program isn't embarrassing. Pelini couldn't do either of those things. The losses tended to be embarassing: 2009 7-9 Iowa State, 0-8 turnover margin, four turnovers inside the ISU five yard line 2011 17-48 to Russell Wilson Wisconsin in the first-ever Big Ten conference game 2011 17-45 to Michigan 2011 13-30 to South Carolina in the Citrus Bowl 2012 30-36 UCLA the defensive-guru-Pelini-led defense gave up 653 total yards 2012 38-63 to Ohio State D-FENCE! 2012 31-70 Big Ten Championship Game against third-in-the-East-Division Wisconsin 2012 31-45 to Georgia in another Citrus Bowl 2013 21-41 to UCLA, who scored 31 unanswered points to finish the game 2013 23-34 to Minnesota... first loss to the Gophers since 1960 (16 straight) 2013 28-41 to Michigan State (five turnovers, a Pelini staple it seemed like) 2013 17-38 to Iowa 2014 24-59 Wisconsin game where Melvin Gordon went apeshit for over 400 yards rushing). That 2013 season also featured the first tape leak where Pelini expressed a strong desire to leave Nebraska and a dislike of the fan base. Pelini also gave an extremely rude halftime interview during the Iowa game and dared the AD to fire him after the game. Pelini also had a habit of answering any critical question with something to the tune of "you saw it, what do you think?". You can be a dick like that when you're winning big games. Nebraska wasn't at this point. Pelini's time in Lincoln should have been over after the 2013 regular season. The AD had ammunition in Pelini's abrasive attitude, the declining on-field product, and the leaked recording. I think the public and the media would have accepted it much more readily than they did after the 2014 season. That season included a feel-good win over Miami, a close loss to a then-top-ten Michigan State, and a win over Iowa to close out the regular season. The firing immediately after that game was a head-scratcher, and the decision to replace Pelini with inexplicable #1 target Mike Riley after was really strange. Under a series of coaches that could be called flawed individuals or total dipshits, Nebraska has consistently brought in higher-ranked recruiting classes than the other teams in its division. If the AD can find the right coach I think it is reasonable to expect to consistently contend for the Big Ten west (as it has been since 2011, the calculus here changes after California expansion). The new factor is NIL, and I think Nebraska is at a minimum competitive with other teams in the division on this front, even with recent dogshit product on the field. Another Frost tidbit: in over four years in Lincoln, he lost every single game where he faced a coach in his first year at the school. Frost lost to first-year head coach Mel Tucker TWICE, once at Colorado and again at Michigan State. I think Nebraska will try to get: Urban Meyer Dave Aranda at Baylor The Kentucky Stoops brother, who might be looking to run a program that isn't in basketball's shadow Chris Klieman at Kansas State Matt Campbell at Iowa State (though the shine is off the apple a bit in this case) I think Nebraska will try to avoid: any hot coordinator that hasn't been a P5 head coach any hot G5 coach (sorry Jamey Chadwell) Lance Leipold (the last guy Nebraska hired after one lighting in a bottle season didn't work out so well) please god don't hire Craig Bohl I think Nebraska should strongly consider Bill O'Brien. He has experience taking over a Big Ten program in extreme distress and righting the ship. He can sell that "develop you for the NFL" concept. It really is too bad that Joe Moglia (head coach and architect of Coastal Carolina's football program before Jamey Chadwell) isn't healthy enough to take the Nebraska job. He re-launched his coaching there under Bo Pelini after stepping down as CEO of Ameritrade. The term CEO coach is thrown around a lot, but this dude actually was a CEO. PBCrunch fucked around with this message at 23:02 on Sep 15, 2022 |
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Sep 15, 2022 22:59
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wandler20 posted:I've got a treat for you late night watchers. NDSU travels to Arizona for a 10pm (Central time) game. I know Arizona probably plays a bunch of late games but it's pretty smart of them to schedule it that late because NDSU almost always kicks off at noon.
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Sep 15, 2022 23:01
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Declan MacManus posted:i think since the shine's allegedly off the apple that matt campbell would be the best pickup for nebraska; failing that, i think steve clinkscale from michigan or maybe even a left field choice like justin wilcox or jason candle could work there A way-too-large part of the Husker fanbase would love it if Monken was the new coach. I personally don't think that is a good move. Nebraska at its peak did things a little against the grain, but running triple option in the Big Ten in 2023 is a little too nuts. Stuff that made Nebraska somewhat unique among elite programs in the past: * Emphasis on offensive line play in promotional materials in the 80s and 90s (I seem to recall the media guide one year having "The Pipeline" offensive line players on the cover, invention/popularization of the "pancake" stat for knockdowns by offensive linemen) * Recruiting and starting athletic QBs that could barely throw * Recruiting receivers based primarily on speed and blocking ability * Extremely tight integration of area high school play style with Osborne's system * Being way ahead of the pack on strength and conditioning (and/or steroids) * Accepting partial qualifiers * Extremely robust academic support systems to get and keep those PQ players eligible while keeping the NCAA away * Emphasis the walk-on program Pretty much all of this stuff has been adopted by other programs or has just become too antiquated for today's version of college football. Example: option isn't really viable anymore at least in part because the physical toll on the starting QB is just too great in an era of hurry-up offenses (more plays per game, even if only the other team is playing fast) and ever-more-freakish defensive players. S&C is a big part of every major college football program in America (except Nebraska itself during the Mike Riley era). Receivers never really wanted to play in a no-block, no-rock (and maybe still no rock) regime, but they really won't put up with that poo poo today. Spacemonkey57 posted:Somehow none of those Nebraska losses include the 2016 Ohio State game that ended up 62-3. I was excited to see Ohio State play a good team at home because I’d only ever seen them play MAC teams or Indiana. Spending around $300 on that between ticket, Uber home afterwards, and beer was enough to put me off live sporting events for a long time. Grittybeard posted:Yeah, but firing him to hire the guy that the Raiders openly rebelled against and in the only time I can remember the press and fans were totally on the team's side while it was happening was certainly a choice though. regulargonzalez posted:Tom Osborne has been instrumental in the choice and/or hiring of 3 of our last 5 coaches. He has talents but coaching hires is not among them. Thermos H Christ posted:TAMU is located in Texas, plays games in all the SEC states, cares about football as much as anyone, and has more money to throw around than any other school currently in the SEC. That’s a lot of advantages over Nebraska. 
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Sep 16, 2022 18:08
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Over/under on Nebraska vs Oklahoma is 66. Sounds kinda low to me. Nebraska's defense does not exist at the moment. Oklahoma could score 67 all on its own. Nebraska's offense has been shockingly good for one with a brand-new OC, WR coach, RB coach, and OL coach and negligible contributions by existing players. The OL hasn't looked great but the two new running backs have performed beyond expectations and the QB has shown flashes of brilliance. The team lost its only competent offensive lineman as a second-round NFL pick and a returning starting guard to "banned substances." The two returning tackles are a guy that PFF graded last season as a zero and another guy that played in five games (two starts) of Division I football before tearing his ACL, MCL, and meniscus. NU Passing: Casey Thompson is the only guy to attempt a pass. New player (portal) NU Rushing: Anthony Grant. New player (juco) Ajay Allen. New player (true freshman) Logan Smothers. Existing player. Two gimmick play QB runs for 17 yards total Casey Thompson Trey Palmer. New player. A wide receiver from LSU (portal) Jacquez Yant. Existing player (walk-on). Three attempts for five yards Gabe Ervin. Last year's game one starter. One attempt for half a yard NU Receiving: Trey Palmer (18-231) Marcus Washington. New player (portal) (10-181) Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda. New player (portal) (4-120) Allante Brown. Existing player (8-87) Travis Vokolek. Existing player (via portal) (5-63... in the first half of the first game, then injured. His absence coincided with the collapse of NU's offense against Northwestern) Brody Belt. Existing player (walk-on) (4-53) Oliver Martin. Existing player (via portal) (2-36) Nate Boerkircher. Existing player (walk-on) only playing because of Vokolek injury (2-32) Omar Manning. Existing player (3-24) Anthony Grant (2-16) Wyatt Liewer. Existing player (walk-on) (1-13) Ajay Allen (1-9) Chancellor Brewington. Existing player (via portal) (What a loving name on that guy) (2-1) God drat, that is a damning indictment of the development of the high school players brought in over the last few recruiting cycles. Total yards from non-true-freshman scholarship guys that came to Nebraska out of high school: 17+0.5+87+24 = 128 yards. I am being generous by attributing the 87 yards and 24 yards receiving 100% to the receiver. Knock that down to 50% (the other half going to the QB of course) and the total yards contributions by non-frosh scholarship guys drops to 73 yards. Jesus Christ. Defenders in the two-deep that weren't on campus last fall: Ochaun Mathis (DE, TCU) (starter) Tommi Hill (CB, Arizona State) (starter) Ernest Hausman (LB, true frosh starting because of injury) Devin Drew (DT, Texas Tech) Stephon Wynn (DT, Alabama) Omar Brown (S, Northern Iowa) The current DC (Erik Chinander) runs a bend-don't-break scheme that absolutely depends on players knowing their assignments and the assignments of those around them. He only has a job right now because last season's defense was bailed out by a four-year starting CB that left as a second round draft pick and several other 23+ year old COVID super seniors that knew the defense inside and out from spending five years on campus learning it. Now the rotation is packed with much younger players and guys that have been learning the defense for all of spring and fall camp. Devin Drew has been on campus since August 9. A dip in performance on defense was expected by anyone paying attention, but the actual drop has been breathtaking. PBCrunch fucked around with this message at 20:34 on Sep 16, 2022 |
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Sep 16, 2022 20:29
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