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Devaney and Frost

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What is the difference between their first years?

Devaney inherited a team with a losing tradition (at least in the years just prior to his hiring). How was it that he was immediately successful?
 

Jennings was a decent recruiter for starters. We weren't playing in the Big 10... that helped. We had a very very good Sr QB Dennis Claridge. In BD book he believed Claridge was one of the best to ever play at Nebraska and was disappointed he only had him 1 year...... I also believe college football has become so much more competitive compared to 1963..... BD was also one of the BETTER all time college coaches and had a lot of experience...

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In addition to the reasons above, Bob had their ear because he was a man and they were college kids. Kids did what adults told them to, by virtue of their respective places in the hierarchy. Kids today only listen if they decide to. For some reason, you have to earn their respect first. You don’t just have it because you are in a position to be hired for $5mil.
 
Besides Claridge he had All American Bob Brown, Larry Kramer and other great linemen. Bill Thunder Thornton in the backfield. There were also several easy games in the old big 8.
 




anotherdumbprediction said:
In addition to the reasons above, Bob had their ear because he was a man and they were college kids. Kids did what adults told them to, by virtue of their respective places in the hierarchy. Kids today only listen if they decide to. For some reason, you have to earn their respect first. You don’t just have it because you are in a position to be hired for $5mil.
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Gee, if it was that easy in the 60's why didn't all of the coaches build dynasties like Devaney did? Thing is, lots has changed but greatness becomes apparent....it isn't just tell kids to win, and watch them do it...never was, never will be.
 
HuskerFed said:
Besides Claridge he had All American Bob Brown, Larry Kramer and other great linemen. Bill Thunder Thornton in the backfield. There were also several easy games in the old big 8.
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And if Bob hadn't come in and turned that batch of losers into winners, you wouldn't have ever heard of Claridge, Thornton, or any of those others except for the very few that made it big in the NFL.
 
Biggest difference? The internet.

Honestly.

With the rapid speed at which information flows today, nobody has an ace up their sleeve anymore. Nebraska used to win on strength, conditioning and nutrition, along with great coaches and great athletes. But the secret sauce was the system. Other teams ran the option. But nobody ran it like us.

Today, there are no cones of silence. If Nebraska's doing something cool in the weight room, it's plastered all over social media. If Chip Kelly invents a new jet sweep, it's all over ESPN getting dissected by analysts and former players. If some high school kid is a freak athlete and tears it up some league in North Dakota, it's all over Hudl, Rivals and other boards. He'll have his own hype video on YouTube.

Look back at Nebraska stars of the past. Sure, we have some guys who got big offers from other schools. But a lot of them were guys who flew under the radar. They were snapping necks playing D3 ball in southern Kansas. Or competing in some 8-man league in Wyoming or South Dakota. We landed a BUNCH of diamonds in the rough because guys like Gill, Tenopir, McBride and others busted their rear-ends on the recruiting trails across the wild west. Today, Nick Saban has an army of minions who scour through the FaceTubes and Twitterpedias to find talent.

There are no secrets anymore due to the proliferation of information. Technology has brought parity.
 



cthusker said:
Jennings was a decent recruiter for starters. We weren't playing in the Big 10... that helped. We had a very very good Sr QB Dennis Claridge. In BD book he believed Claridge was one of the best to ever play at Nebraska and was disappointed he only had him 1 year...... I also believe college football has become so much more competitive compared to 1963..... BD was also one of the BETTER all time college coaches and had a lot of experience...

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To clarify, you are referring to Devaney's second year, which was Claridge's senior year.

Devaney's first year at Nebraska was 1962. Claridge was a junior. ;)
 

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