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Whatever happened to Mike Riley?

EastOfEden said:
The previous coach I thought was the worst was Callahan, and no one mentions him. He's a great line coach in the NFL,highly regarded, but from the beginning he treated UN as a pit stop and cared not at all about the school.

MR was a better coach than SF has been so far. I don't know how good he would have been in the long run - not so good I suspect. I don't think he was a good recruiter.

I just can't accept the arguments that "we were so close" as showing good qualities in a HC. I know many sound people on the board really believe that, but to me that shows a distinct failure in a HC - the inability to finish. Once or twice, OK, but over and over again is a display of a basic weakness.
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Don't forget that it was MR who recruited the "Calabsas Huskers" guys who were all pretty highly regarded. He also got Keyshawn's son to come to Lincoln. Unfortunately, none of those guys worked out (especially Keyshawn's kid, who left under some of the most weird circumstances I've ever seen.) If those guys had worked out for Nebraska, Riley's recruiting looks a lot better.

IMO, the problem that emerged under Riley, and I think would have continued is, for the lack of a better term, culture. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's generally established that there was a general lack of self discipline that emerged under Riley, to the point where guys weren't eating or training correctly to play Big Ten football. I recall at least one story where a lot of the OL were supposedly regulars at Raising Caine's. That's okay for "regular" college kids, but not for Big Ten athletes.
 
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HuskerWeatherman said:
Did this just now happen under Frost? Or was it more acceptable under Riley or Callahan?
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What's "different" now is expectations. Everybody absolutely expected Frost to come in and fix this mess. At least 50% of the fan base never wanted or liked Callahan in the first place, and at least 50% of the fan base's reaction when Riley got hired was "who?"

At least for me, if Frost isn't the guy to fix this I really fear that college football has changed so much that it's impossible for Nebraska to get back to regularly competing for conference championships, never mind being in the CFP conversation on a regular basis. For me, it feels like Nebraska's in an even worse position than when Alabama spent a decade or so "in the wilderness." In some ways they got "lucky" with Saban, but he'd been a successful college coach before he jumped to the NFL.
 
HuskerWeatherman said:
Did this just now happen under Frost? Or was it more acceptable under Riley or Callahan?
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It's been going on since Solich took TO's place.

There is a reasonable level of bitching and moaning and it was exceeded during Callahan's tenure, Pelini's time in Lincoln, during Riley's stint and yes....even now with the epic failure we've witnessed under Frost...some can't stop beating the drum and it gets old.
 



SWVAHusker said:
What's "different" now is expectations. Everybody absolutely expected Frost to come in and fix this mess. At least 50% of the fan base never wanted or liked Callahan in the first place, and at least 50% of the fan base's reaction when Riley got hired was "who?"

At least for me, if Frost isn't the guy to fix this I really fear that college football has changed so much that it's impossible for Nebraska to get back to regularly competing for conference championships, never mind being in the CFP conversation on a regular basis. For me, it feels like Nebraska's in an even worse position than when Alabama spent a decade or so "in the wilderness." In some ways they got "lucky" with Saban, but he'd been a successful college coach before he jumped to the NFL.
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I agree that nearly every Nebraska fan expected more from Frost than Callahan or Riley. That was a pretty low bar from those two, so it wasn't unreasonable to think Frost would be better. It's a bitter pill for sure to realize Frost is actually worse.

There's no way another coach would roll out four straight losing seasons, so I have to believe we've bottomed out. If I'm wrong, oh well. I've never believed we'd win another national title, so that part doesn't bother me at all. We absolutely have the resources to consistently be one of the top 2-3 teams in the West division.

Yes, Saban won a national title at LSU prior to Alabama.
 
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CrabHusker said:
It's been going on since Solich took TO's place.

There is a reasonable level of bitching and moaning and it was exceeded during Callahan's tenure, Pelini's time in Lincoln, during Riley's stint and yes....even now with the epic failure we've witnessed under Frost...some can't stop beating the drum and it gets old.
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I agree that it "gets old." That's why I tend to stay off the board for the most part during the offseason. Unless there's recruiting or staff news during the offseason, what else is there to say about what's happened since Solich left Lincoln?
 
Ogahusker said:
I'm sick of losing too, but I'm even more sick of how miserable and cynical a lot of Husker fans have become. Get an effing hobby.
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This, all day! I avoid this board like the plague lately, just check in when there is something in the news, and regret it the rest of the day. I can't believe how some people let something they have no control over take them to such a dark place. Step away, get outside, enjoy life!
 




WIHUSKER said:
This, all day! I avoid this board like the plague lately, just check in when there is something in the news, and regret it the rest of the day. I can't believe how some people let something they have no control over take them to such a dark place. Step away, get outside, enjoy life!
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With all due respect, how do you know people that share criticisms of the football program are a) in a dark place, and b) don't enjoy life?

I encourage you to take the @CrabHusker pledge and join me in doing our best to treat all posters with respect.
 
BasilLongfellow said:
With all due respect, how do you know people that share criticisms of the football program are a) in a dark place, and b) don't enjoy life?

I encourage you to take the @CrabHusker pledge and join me in doing our best to treat all posters with respect.
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I have a confession to make.

I was unkind to @Warhorse very recently, but will try to improve.
 



Ogahusker said:
Doesn't matter. I'm not here to split hairs, I'm just sick of it. People can pi$$ and moan all they want. I remember people wanting Osborne fired too.
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True story.

1978 and we're living in Colorado. My sister had very recently married a guy who was a big CU fan. The Rocky Mountain News runs a piece about Osborne interviewing for the head coaching job that had recently being opened up with the firing of Bill Mallory. My BIL freaks out and starts talking absolute crap about not wanting to hire a loser like Osborne, a guy who was just riding Devaney coat tails. It was pretty funny when he started doing victory laps when Fairbanks was hired instead. I had a really good time watching the 1979 NU-CU game with him.
 
CrabHusker said:
It's been going on since Solich took TO's place.

There is a reasonable level of bitching and moaning and it was exceeded during Callahan's tenure, Pelini's time in Lincoln, during Riley's stint and yes....even now with the epic failure we've witnessed under Frost...some can't stop beating the drum and it gets old.
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This.
 

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