My Gut Reaction to Mark Banker Being Fired

[Hville]

One would think you would be very happy over this, you are getting what you want, but then that is right I forget that only one side can bring up whatever they want when ever they want. " I just hope he does well."

Yea its one thing bring something up for discussion. Its another thing when you answer every post opposite your opinion with an accusation of "agenda" while bringing nothing to the conversation. That is why he asked you to give it a rest.

 

[Chi-Town Cube]

I'm conflicted. Part of me loves that Riley is willing to do what it takes to win now and he seems to understand that up to this point hasn't been good enough. But I'm concerned that we've fired 3 coaches in 2 years, that's not a very good sign and it makes me question his judgement to begin with. I understand things are different here in Nebraska than Oregon State, but he should have known that before he got here. I feel like this learning curve he has is bigger than it should be. Either he's not showing his staff the same patience I'm saying we should show him, or he made some big mistakes in the beginning and now we have to try to straighten them out. This firing may or may not have been necessary, but it's concerning to me because it shows how unstable the program is right now. I was also surprised at the timing of it, that really caught me off guard. I would have thought it would've happened right after the bowl game or maybe before the bowl game, like the special teams coordinator. The timing of the firing has me concerned, because it must have to do with recruiting, which is obviously kind of a big deal. I will say this, I'd expect and sure hope he already has a replacement DC in mind.

I bet you he took this long to secure a replacement. My bet is an announcement over the weekend.

Riley doesn't seem to be a guy that acts impulsively.

My guess is that he has a replacement lined up.

 

[Skunkman1]

Yea its one thing bring something up for discussion. Its another thing when you answer every post opposite your opinion with an accusation of "agenda" while bringing nothing to the conversation. That is why he asked you to give it a rest.

Practice what you preach preacher!

 

[huskernut]

If this came down from Eichorst, which I really doubt, then the program is in real trouble. When you have non-football people meddling in the program over the football leadership (see Al Davis), things aren't going to end well.

I would agree with SoCal (which I can't believe I just wrote) that revolving door coaching is not good for program stability. That has to be weighed though against keeping a coach who seems to be nothing specially strategically or in recruiting.

I would agree that it is weird that he hired Banker in the first place given that he was fired 2 years later

Well it's definitely not a feather in Riley's cap that he had to fire these people this quickly. You'd wish he'd just showed up with a staff the equal or better of any in the SEC.

But to those who are concerned about that, I'd urge you to look at the overall picture and realize the take away from what Riley just did is outstanding. It's not too surprising that Riley basically brought most of his staff with him to start with. That's what almost always happens. It's fast. Eichorst may or may not have told Riley he had an open check book. Riley was used to Oregon State, where just like with recruits he had to attract and keep coaches at a B-level program. (And here an "anti-Riley" may chime in that goes for Riley too and they're partly right.) And also, maybe most importantly, Riley knew his first order of business would be establish it as "his" program with "his" culture. Transplanting in his staff was really important in doing that.

But now he's getting calibrated to Nebraska - recognizing the level of competition is incredibly high, even to make it out of the West, that in recruiting the Nebraska brand still has some heft but only goes so far, that the expectations are through the roof and the fans want it now, that his AD has told him to do what it takes and the resources will be there.

Now he could just ride this thing out with his buddies for a few more years, milking the cash, living large, enjoying the fantasy of being the coach at a big time program, and treating this Nebraska gig as an unlikely bon-bon landing on his lap just before he rides into the sunset of a sweet retirement down in Texas. Oh boy. Life is good, isn't it?

But instead he says, "You know what? We aren't going anywhere unless we make adjustments, of all kinds, and we have to be fast, and super aggressive or there is no point." He is already competitive as hell anyway, and just like any coach he wants to prove that he has the talent and skills to win big. And he actually really likes the place and gets it and admires the people who support it and wants to do well by them. And his AD keeps saying, "Whatever it takes."

Is it "weird" or "concerning" that he is changing out so much of his staff so quickly? I suppose it is if a person wants it to be, but it actually doesn't matter much. Riley's shown he upgrades when he replaces.

But isn't it better to have stability on a staff? I suppose it is when you've found the right staff.

The important thing isn't what Riley brought in when he started. It's that he is acting with urgency to position Nebraska to win going forward, and that so far when he's done this he appears to know what he's doing. But does Riley really have enough talent personally to pull it off? Hell if I know. But complaining about him isn't going to change the fact he IS going to be the coach long enough for us all to find out, and doesn't help anyway.

I have no idea if he can live up to these words, but when people say, hey Nebraska, where ya been?, this is Riley answering, "It ain't where we been, fat boy, it's where we're going'.

 

[HuskerWeatherman]

I don't necessarily think it has mostly to do with recruiting, although it could. I'm sure that Riley and his staff have ongoing discussions about all aspects of the football program. It could just be that Riley has a vision for where the defense should move going forward that Banker just doesn't share. If you have philosophic differences with your boss, but your work is above reproach, your boss may be inclined to ignore the differences. Banker's work has not been above reproach.

We'll probably never know for certain the reasoning, but the timing is what makes it interesting and worth questioning.

As Adam states (and others of us have as well), if you are getting rid of an assistant based solely on coaching performance, that would have best been done either prior to the bowl game or immediately following. Nothing new has developed in the past two weeks since the bowl game from a coaching aspect to base that decision. However, we are two weeks closer to signing day, which is now only 20 days away. Just seems like the only thing that could have developed in the past two weeks for Riley to make this decision was based on recruiting. Maybe not entirely, but I tend to think at least a significant reason.

Certainly, Banker was not above and beyond getting fired. And I do admire Riley for putting the program ahead of his friendships. FWIW, the 2016 was statistically our best defense since NU joined the Big Ten in 2011. Not that it was a great defense. It wasn't. Our defense did improve in 2016 -- all while having a totally revamped line, due to early departures. Maybe I just became used to Bo being overly-loyal to his assistants.

Regardless of the reasoning for Banker being let go, we have to hope Riley has a DC just about ready to sign a contract. It's a dangerous game not having a DC now only 20 days until signing day.

 

[Skunkman1]

We'll probably never know for certain the reasoning, but the timing is what makes it interesting and worth questioning.

As Adam states (and others of us have as well), if you are getting rid of an assistant based solely on coaching performance, that would have best been done either prior to the bowl game or immediately following. Nothing new has developed in the past two weeks since the bowl game from a coaching aspect to base that decision. However, we are two weeks closer to signing day, which is now only 20 days away. Just seems like the only thing that could have developed in the past two weeks for Riley to make this decision was based on recruiting. Maybe not entirely, but I tend to think at least a significant reason.

Certainly, Banker was not above and beyond getting fired. And I do admire Riley for putting the program ahead of his friendships. FWIW, the 2016 was statistically our best defense since NU joined the Big Ten in 2011. Not that it was a great defense. It wasn't. Our defense did improve in 2016 -- all while having a totally revamped line, due to early departures. Maybe I just became used to Bo being overly-loyal to his assistants.

Regardless of the reasoning for Banker being let go, we have to hope Riley has a DC just about ready to sign a contract. It's a dangerous game not having a DC now only 20 days until signing day.

Maybe he just last night got the "Yes" from who he was waiting on?

 

[HuskerWeatherman]

Maybe he just last night got the "Yes" from who he was waiting on?

We can hope!

 

[Nehunter88]

We'll probably never know for certain the reasoning, but the timing is what makes it interesting and worth questioning.

As Adam states (and others of us have as well), if you are getting rid of an assistant based solely on coaching performance, that would have best been done either prior to the bowl game or immediately following. Nothing new has developed in the past two weeks since the bowl game from a coaching aspect to base that decision. However, we are two weeks closer to signing day, which is now only 20 days away. Just seems like the only thing that could have developed in the past two weeks for Riley to make this decision was based on recruiting. Maybe not entirely, but I tend to think at least a significant reason.

Certainly, Banker was not above and beyond getting fired. And I do admire Riley for putting the program ahead of his friendships. FWIW, the 2016 was statistically our best defense since NU joined the Big Ten in 2011. Not that it was a great defense. It wasn't. Our defense did improve in 2016 -- all while having a totally revamped line, due to early departures. Maybe I just became used to Bo being overly-loyal to his assistants.

Regardless of the reasoning for Banker being let go, we have to hope Riley has a DC just about ready to sign a contract. It's a dangerous game not having a DC now only 20 days until signing day.

I could see two things.

One, seniors that are leaving having an open and honest discussion with MR about Banker.

Two, MR talking to defensive recruits that we may have lost or are wavering, and seeing some of it may be due to Banker.

 

[Voice Of Reason]

I don't necessarily think it has mostly to do with recruiting, although it could. I'm sure that Riley and his staff have ongoing discussions about all aspects of the football program. It could just be that Riley has a vision for where the defense should move going forward that Banker just doesn't share. If you have philosophic differences with your boss, but your work is above reproach, your boss may be inclined to ignore the differences. Banker's work has not been above reproach.

I think it is possible that they did have some philosophic differences. That bloodbath comment Banker made seemed to indicate he favored more physical practices.

 

[bilsker]

Everyone seems to be leaving out the possibility that something happened rather suddenly....

Maybe banker was caught leaving an upper decker in riley's private bathroom or something.

Probably not but you never know

 

[Deleted member 3889]

Everyone seems to be leaving out the possibility that something happened rather suddenly....

Maybe banker was caught leaving an upper decker in riley's private bathroom or something.

Probably not but you never know

I have it on good authority that it was hville who upper tanked Mike Riley.

 

[Twelve String]

There are the superfluous exclamation points.

The Superfluous Exclamation Points would be a GREAT name for a rock band.

 

[SoCalRed]

Do you want to stabilize at 9-4 with occasional beat downs?

Well, we could stabilize at 5-7 with 9-4 as our ceiling.

 

[SoCalRed]

I bet you he took this long to secure a replacement. My bet is an announcement over the weekend.

Riley doesn't seem to be a guy that acts impulsively.

My guess is that he has a replacement lined up.

If they don't already have a replacement lined up its an ill-considered move.

 

[SoCalRed]

Well it's definitely not a feather in Riley's cap that he had to fire these people this quickly. You'd wish he'd just showed up with a staff the equal or better of any in the SEC.

But to those who are concerned about that, I'd urge you to look at the overall picture and realize the take away from what Riley just did is outstanding. It's not too surprising that Riley basically brought most of his staff with him to start with. That's what almost always happens. It's fast. Eichorst may or may not have told Riley he had an open check book. Riley was used to Oregon State, where just like with recruits he had to attract and keep coaches at a B-level program. (And here an "anti-Riley" may chime in that goes for Riley too and they're partly right.) And also, maybe most importantly, Riley knew his first order of business would be establish it as "his" program with "his" culture. Transplanting in his staff was really important in doing that.

But now he's getting calibrated to Nebraska - recognizing the level of competition is incredibly high, even to make it out of the West, that in recruiting the Nebraska brand still has some heft but only goes so far, that the expectations are through the roof and the fans want it now, that his AD has told him to do what it takes and the resources will be there.

Now he could just ride this thing out with his buddies for a few more years, milking the cash, living large, enjoying the fantasy of being the coach at a big time program, and treating this Nebraska gig as an unlikely bon-bon landing on his lap just before he rides into the sunset of a sweet retirement down in Texas. Oh boy. Life is good, isn't it?

But instead he says, "You know what? We aren't going anywhere unless we make adjustments, of all kinds, and we have to be fast, and super aggressive or there is no point." He is already competitive as hell anyway, and just like any coach he wants to prove that he has the talent and skills to win big. And he actually really likes the place and gets it and admires the people who support it and wants to do well by them. And his AD keeps saying, "Whatever it takes."

Is it "weird" or "concerning" that he is changing out so much of his staff so quickly? I suppose it is if a person wants it to be, but it actually doesn't matter much. Riley's shown he upgrades when he replaces.

But isn't it better to have stability on a staff? I suppose it is when you've found the right staff.

The important thing isn't what Riley brought in when he started. It's that he is acting with urgency to position Nebraska to win going forward, and that so far when he's done this he appears to know what he's doing. But does Riley really have enough talent personally to pull it off? Hell if I know. But complaining about him isn't going to change the fact he IS going to be the coach long enough for us all to find out, and doesn't help anyway.

I have no idea if he can live up to these words, but when people say, hey Nebraska, where ya been?, this is Riley answering, "It ain't where we been, fat boy, it's where we're going'.

That's definitely painting the best possible portrait of events, but seriously that's a huge leap of faith.