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CFB 2017 Week 4 |OT| "We were in a nickel. But with injuries, we didn’t have a dime."

Lonestar

I joined for Erin Brockovich discussion
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Monroeski

Unconfirmed Member
And Tommy Tubberville.

Defensive minded SEC coaches don't do to well in the Big 12

Tuberville kept the air raid, though, so he wouldn't count. Went with an Mumme/Leach/Franklin protege air raid OC and managed the 7th or higher passing offense every year with the 75th or worse rushing offense every year.
Not that that stopped him from hamstringing the playcalling with overly conservative plays in key situations, of course.
 
How was Nebraska ever good to begin with? They aren't in a recruiting hot bed, they aren't near a beach, and the entire state of Nebraska has a smaller population than Houston. What do they have to sell the program to recruits on other than corn fed women and tornadoes?
 
How was Nebraska ever good to begin with? They aren't in a recruiting hot bed, they aren't near a beach, and the entire state of Nebraska has a smaller population than Houston. What do they have to sell the program to recruits on other than corn fed women and tornadoes?

Rewind the clock 50 years, imagine the state of the game (read: lack of racial integration). Then just imagine the steady march of not only progress, but other areas starting to really exploit their natural advantages of being football factories.

The world is different. 100 years ago, Ivy League schools were winning championships.
 

Lonestar

I joined for Erin Brockovich discussion
Now I think about it, it feels like 5 of the 7 SEC West coaches are on the hot seat. That's insane.

https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/sec-football/how-many-sec-coaches-fired-since-nick-saban-arrived-alabama/

Something like 22 coaches in the SEC have left/been fired since Saban went to Alabama.

22+the current 13 head coaches = Average of 3 coaches at each school since he got there 10 years ago. That doesn't even sound like enough time for a coach to be there for the lifespan of their 1st recruiting class.

The list doesn't include Hugh Freeze, but also seems to include some interim coaches, like Vandy's back in 2009.
 
https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/sec-football/how-many-sec-coaches-fired-since-nick-saban-arrived-alabama/

Something like 22 coaches in the SEC have left/been fired since Saban went to Alabama.

22+the current 13 head coaches = Average of 3 coaches at each school since he got there 10 years ago. That doesn't even sound like enough time for a coach to be there for the lifespan of their 1st recruiting class.

The list doesn't include Hugh Freeze, but also seems to include some interim coaches, like Vandy's back in 2009.

He really has ruined the conference. Sad truth is, in trying to keep up with him, programs have just undermined their school's ability to build anything because it's pretty much "beat Saban or else". The talent is still in the conference, but the coaching isn't.
 

Lonestar

I joined for Erin Brockovich discussion
He really has ruined the conference. Sad truth is, in trying to keep up with him, programs have just undermined their school's ability to build anything because it's pretty much "beat Saban or else". The talent is still in the conference, but the coaching isn't.

I've seen comments from Miss State fans, that if it was anywhere else, Dan Mullen would probably have already been fired.

Maybe not anywhere, but I imagine that the Florida/Tennessee/Auburn crew wouldn't have let him last. The bottom half of the SEC would have let him stay for the most part.
 

Karl2177

Member
How was Nebraska ever good to begin with? They aren't in a recruiting hot bed, they aren't near a beach, and the entire state of Nebraska has a smaller population than Houston. What do they have to sell the program to recruits on other than corn fed women and tornadoes?
Wasn't it an NCAA exploit that they were using with transfers? Something similar to gray shirting of today, where it's technically allowed, but definitely in a gray zone.
 

Jhriad

Member
How was Nebraska ever good to begin with? They aren't in a recruiting hot bed, they aren't near a beach, and the entire state of Nebraska has a smaller population than Houston. What do they have to sell the program to recruits on other than corn fed women and tornadoes?


  • They were one of the first major sports programs to really embrace strength & conditioning and dedicate significant resources to the development of a premier Strength and Conditioning department. There's a reason why organizations like the NSCA refer specifically to Nebraska when discussing the early history of modern Strength and Conditioning.
  • Before ESPN there were only a handful of games televised every weekend and, as one of the big names of the era, Nebraska was one of the few teams able to reap benefits. If you had to recruit nationally you could sell players and their families on being on TV.
  • Population trends over the past six to seven decades aren't great for any team in the Midwest. While states in the Midwest have generally averaged around 0.5% (+/- 0.4%) annual population growth states in the West and Southeastern US have experienced significantly higher annual growth rates. Nebraska for instance, had an average annual growth rate of 0.56% from around 1960 to present. States like Florida at 2.63%, Texas at 1.93%, California at 1.71%, Georgia at 1.75%, and others have long outpaced the growth of the Midwest as the population shifted away from the Rust Belt and the more rural communities to the coasts and the large metropolitan centers. That means that proportionally fewer FBS caliber recruits are coming from those areas now as compared to decades ago.
  • Other areas of the country are far ahead of Nebraska and some of the surrounding states in the development of training camps and other programs or clubs that aren't directly associated with public schools in the area. This means that skill players participating in something like an AAU 7 on 7 club are further along in their development than their counterparts from areas without these leagues.

There's a good number of other factors there but those are some of the biggest I could think of in short order. All that said, the University still has the resources that should allow them to be very competitive and at least field a Top 15-20 team practically every year. There's administrative problems abound that have held Nebraska athletics, football in particular, back over the years.
 
  • They were one of the first major sports programs to really embrace strength & conditioning and dedicate significant resources to the development of a premier Strength and Conditioning department. There's a reason why organizations like the NSCA refer specifically to Nebraska when discussing the early history of modern Strength and Conditioning.
  • Before ESPN there were only a handful of games televised every weekend and, as one of the big names of the era, Nebraska was one of the few teams able to reap benefits. If you had to recruit nationally you could sell players and their families on being on TV.
  • Population trends over the past six to seven decades aren't great for any team in the Midwest. While states in the Midwest have generally averaged around 0.5% (+/- 0.4%) annual population growth states in the West and Southeastern US have experienced significantly higher annual growth rates. Nebraska for instance, had an average annual growth rate of 0.56% from around 1960 to present. States like Florida at 2.63%, Texas at 1.93%, California at 1.71%, Georgia at 1.75%, and others have long outpaced the growth of the Midwest as the population shifted away from the Rust Belt and the more rural communities to the coasts and the large metropolitan centers. That means that proportionally fewer FBS caliber recruits are coming from those areas now as compared to decades ago.
  • Other areas of the country are far ahead of Nebraska and some of the surrounding states in the development of training camps and other programs or clubs that aren't directly associated with public schools in the area. This means that skill players participating in something like an AAU 7 on 7 club are further along in their development than their counterparts from areas without these leagues.

There's a good number of other factors there but those are some of the biggest I could think of in short order. All that said, the University still has the resources that should allow them to be very competitive and at least field a Top 15-20 team practically every year. There's administrative problems abound that have held Nebraska athletics, football in particular, back over the years.

I bet the move to the Big 10 hasn't done your recruiting any favors either. Although y'all didn't take advantage of the Texas pipeline as much as the Oklahoma schools, you guys would consistently get several high 3 star and low 4 star recruits out of the state. Now that pipeline into Texas is essentially dead and instead you get Ohio and Michigan leftovers. Seems like a downgrade but maybe I'm wrong.
 

jstevenson

Sailor Stevenson
recruiting has been just fine in the B1G. Pelini got lazy with it over time and as Callahan's recruits went away the program suffered.

Riley's recruiting has been terrific, though it's about to go off the cliff.


Nebraska has everything it needs to compete, it knows it has to be innovative to overcome location, but it also has some intangible things too.


But we're lost in the wilderness and I'm not sure when we will come out again.
 

MajorMane

Member
Rather pleased about the firing of Eichorst here at Nebraska. He hasn't done good things for our athletics in my opinion, and not just football. Will be interesting to see who gets tapped for the position next.

May be too early to say goodbye to Riley (or Tim Miles) just yet. The next year will be an interesting one.
 

jstevenson

Sailor Stevenson
Rather pleased about the firing of Eichorst here at Nebraska. He hasn't done good things for our athletics in my opinion, and not just football. Will be interesting to see who gets tapped for the position next.

May be too early to say goodbye to Riley (or Tim Miles) just yet. The next year will be an interesting one.

Tim Miles was Osborne's hire
 

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Rather pleased about the firing of Eichorst here at Nebraska. He hasn't done good things for our athletics in my opinion, and not just football. Will be interesting to see who gets tapped for the position next.

May be too early to say goodbye to Riley (or Tim Miles) just yet. The next year will be an interesting one.

I still wonder if joining the big 10 has helped in terms of regional perception and excitement all the while acknowledging it's a boon in terms of better conference and B10N $$$.

I also don't how in the modern era Nebraska can compete recruiting wise with OSU, Michigan, and PSU.
 
I still wonder if joining the big 10 has helped in terms of regional perception and excitement all the while acknowledging it's a boon in terms of better conference and B10N $$$.

I also don't how in the modern era Nebraska can compete recruiting wise with OSU, Michigan, and PSU.

Short of a slam dunk hire? They can't.
 

ryseing

Member
Rather pleased about the firing of Eichorst here at Nebraska. He hasn't done good things for our athletics in my opinion, and not just football. Will be interesting to see who gets tapped for the position next.

May be too early to say goodbye to Riley (or Tim Miles) just yet. The next year will be an interesting one.

If Riley loses to Rutgers Saturday he doesn't make it to the darn tunnel. Miller has a bit more leeway as Nebraska has never been spectacular at basketball.
 

AlteredBeast

Fork 'em, Sparky!
Eichorst had to know this was coming, he hadn't talked to the media as much as he did in the last week as he had in the prior five years. I actually like Mike Riley a lot, I think he is a good coach, but not good enough for Nebraska. He would be excellent for a mid-major. This is Nebraska however and they need to pay someone seven or eight million dollars to compete. Got to be a huge name to draw in recruits
 

FyreWulff

Member
Nebraska can win, they just have to be willing to spend the money to do so. They're still stuck in the idea that they can play for NCs on Great Value contracts. They got lucky that Tom Osborne was a native son and cheap and took them to the promised land.

They're also gonna have to cough up more money because coaches are looking at multiple firings for going 9-3 and don't want to work in that high stress of an environment without significant pay to match it.

Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio State are all in the armpit of the United States and they do fine. Know what they also do? Spend money and interview more than one candidate.

As it is, looks like we're gonna end up with three HCs on payroll (Bo gets paid until February 2019, and he has no reason to leave his penguins early). Sigh.


Riley's only hope now is to win out and win a conference title. That's literally the only thing that can save his job now. If he loses next week they'll fire him before the other team even leaves on their bus.
 

AntoneM

Member
Week 4, where all the phony conferences play patsies while the real conferences get real, except the SEC who defers their patsy game to the week before their "rivalry" game.
 
5 top 10 teams have road games against surprisingly damn good teams this week, 4 of them unbeaten.

I think I'm coming around to Michigan dropping the ball tomorrow.

Yeah, you're right. I didn't watch the games, with my eyes, at the local Gator bar with 7 TVs all tuned into the game around me.

Fucking idiot.

Me disagreeing with you about a football team's offensive ineptitude is cause to call me a fucking idiot? Lol weirdo.
 

FyreWulff

Member
Dumb question that I still haven't had answered that I asked when Reilly was hired (I don't think he should be fired yet ftr).

Why wasn't Scott Frost called by Nebraska like.. why wasn't he at the top of the list?

Eichorst literally just went to Riley and hired him. Talked to nobody else.
 

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio State are all in the armpit of the United States and they do fine. Know what they also do? Spend money and interview more than one candidate.

Ohio's recruiting grounds are light years ahead of Nebraska. It's the best recruiting area not in the South be it East or West.

Wisconsin might be an outlier I'd agree to some extent, but I didn't bring them up. Michigan, OSU, and PSU all have much better recruiting bases. The only downside being they have to compete against each other.

Where is Nebraska gonna get all these great recruits from? People in Texas and Okie gonna go to schools in those states. Nebraska is like the 40th highest state population wise.

More people live in the supposed hell hole that is Cleveland metro area than the whole state of Nebraska.

I just fail to see their angle where they are consistently better than 9-3 other than the odd year where one of the best players in the country happens to have been born in Omaha or something.
 
Eichorst literally just went to Riley and hired him. Talked to nobody else.

That does seem stupid. But Frost wasn't a HC at that time and was an OC under Kelly - who was really running the show in Oregon. I doubt a program like Nebraska would seriously entertain him as coach given he's never been a HC at this level.

I still think it's too soon to act - but I guess things will get more interesting with Frost depending on how this season goes at UCF. And especially after next year if he continues things on an upward trajectory.
 
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