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ShortSideOption

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I don't want this to be a bash the previous staff thread, I'm genuinely curious on this. So i'll start by bashing another coach and go from there.

I was with a former Husker a couple days ago and reruns of "Hard Knocks" were on with the New York Jets and Rex Ryan. It so happened to be on the episode where they scheduled a scrimmage at a different location, and during warm-ups the defensive backs went and bought McDonald's and were eating cheeseburgers while warming up. I looked at him and go "boy... tough to see why he didn't make it in New York with such a tight ship that he ran."

It got us onto the conversation of just how difficult it is for professionals to be the total package. Nothing was done to these players eating cheeseburgers at the time, they basically got yelled at the next day during meetings. I kept thinking to myself how I'd make everyone on the team run until someone that was eating these things threw them back up. We wouldn't stop until that happened.

The "total package" then shifted to recruiting and what Nebraska was doing early in the 2018 class. I can't find the article, but we referenced where the previous staff talked about how it was nearly impossible to get kids on campus for unofficials, how once they got them on campus they loved their chances. What has changed to where all of a sudden top 100 kids are able to get here? The easy answer is relationships, but that doesn't answer the question of all of a sudden these kids having money to get here even if they have a relationship with the coach(es).

We basically left with we don't know what has all of a sudden changed. We knew Pelini didn't like recruiting as much as this staff and certainly wasn't as organized doing it (evidenced by the recruiting coordinator publicly saying he didn't know where people were going to go during the bye week up until the Monday of said bye week). But Pelini certainly liked the X's and O's, and things like what he did to Missouri at home in 2010 coming out in a 3 man defensive line was nothing short of masterful. Is it the relationships? Are we targeting kids with more money now? And if it's truly that difficult to get the total package coach, is there going to be something lacking we don't see yet? I would give Pelini the nod on gamedays so far comparatively, but it's just fascinating to me to see what's going on with recruiting right now. Quite honestly, if Pelini would have been able to get the quality we are getting now and had someone to help him identify roster holes, he would have won a conference title in my opinion. There's even rumors of previous staff members going to message boards to find kids because things weren't going well (see Deandre Wills and other late offers that we didn't know about).

My bottom line is I don't know where we are going, but we are building a great foundation of talent and depth. Whereas the other regime was pretty good coaches that just figured it out with what they had. Will our foundation be enough to take us to the heights we want? Can anyone tell me why all of a sudden we can get these kids on campus? My only answer is that effort can go a long way.
 

The total package is hard. Who in life is competent in a wide breath of areas? Even when competent in a wide range there is still the potential for glaring weaknesses that can be fatal flaws. If someone is able to self identify their weaknesses and surround themselves with those that cover those weaknesses up then you are on to something.

Myself, that is one of the major areas of concern with my current position/job situation. I am broadly competent, but have some deficiencies that are harder to cover in the small setting that I am in.

We could use a football analogy to talk about the coaching as well. Gotta have people who are dominate/competent at all 3 levels of defense or else you get exposed. There is a small chance you could be good enough at one to cover for the other two, but that isn't very likely.

Now, the money question.... that is an interesting one and think effort played a yuuge role. I think the kids have always had access to money. IF they like the guys enough to go visit, however, there wasn't enough relationship incentive to get them to spend their money that way under Pelini. KJj was huge in that regards, bringing friends and helping make Nebraska an "it" place to visit. Coaching staff was smart enough to keep that wave going.

11899595_1137918342889387_611457004_n.jpg
 
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ShortSideOption said:
I don't want this to be a bash the previous staff thread, I'm genuinely curious on this. So i'll start by bashing another coach and go from there.

I was with a former Husker a couple days ago and reruns of "Hard Knocks" were on with the New York Jets and Rex Ryan. It so happened to be on the episode where they scheduled a scrimmage at a different location, and during warm-ups the defensive backs went and bought McDonald's and were eating cheeseburgers while warming up. I looked at him and go "boy... tough to see why he didn't make it in New York with such a tight ship that he ran."

It got us onto the conversation of just how difficult it is for professionals to be the total package. Nothing was done to these players eating cheeseburgers at the time, they basically got yelled at the next day during meetings. I kept thinking to myself how I'd make everyone on the team run until someone that was eating these things threw them back up. We wouldn't stop until that happened.

The "total package" then shifted to recruiting and what Nebraska was doing early in the 2018 class. I can't find the article, but we referenced where the previous staff talked about how it was nearly impossible to get kids on campus for unofficials, how once they got them on campus they loved their chances. What has changed to where all of a sudden top 100 kids are able to get here? The easy answer is relationships, but that doesn't answer the question of all of a sudden these kids having money to get here even if they have a relationship with the coach(es).

We basically left with we don't know what has all of a sudden changed. We knew Pelini didn't like recruiting as much as this staff and certainly wasn't as organized doing it (evidenced by the recruiting coordinator publicly saying he didn't know where people were going to go during the bye week up until the Monday of said bye week). But Pelini certainly liked the X's and O's, and things like what he did to Missouri at home in 2010 coming out in a 3 man defensive line was nothing short of masterful. Is it the relationships? Are we targeting kids with more money now? And if it's truly that difficult to get the total package coach, is there going to be something lacking we don't see yet? I would give Pelini the nod on gamedays so far comparatively, but it's just fascinating to me to see what's going on with recruiting right now. Quite honestly, if Pelini would have been able to get the quality we are getting now and had someone to help him identify roster holes, he would have won a conference title in my opinion. There's even rumors of previous staff members going to message boards to find kids because things weren't going well (see Deandre Wills and other late offers that we didn't know about).

My bottom line is I don't know where we are going, but we are building a great foundation of talent and depth. Whereas the other regime was pretty good coaches that just figured it out with what they had. Will our foundation be enough to take us to the heights we want? Can anyone tell me why all of a sudden we can get these kids on campus? My only answer is that effort can go a long way.
Click to expand...


Great post and it seems as if you somewhat answered your own question. I am far from an expert on football but the approach on recruiting between the current and previous staff is strikingly different. The current staff is extremely organized, committed and excited about it. They know how to use social media and also know how to build relationships. I believe the top reason however is the over all quality of the coaching staff which shows top players that NU is all in and they have a chance to do something special. Top that off with the buzz created by other recruits about fan support and how well they are treated and you have the making of something very special that they have to check out.
 



My general feeling is that people will pay money for stuff that they feel is worthwhile, even if they don't have much of it. So to answer your question, I think it's starting with relationship building and because these kids not only feel like Nebraska is an up-and-comer, they're also able to convince their parents of the same.

That being said, it is interesting how many kids we are pulling from private schools or semi-wealthy areas. The Calabasas crew, the IMG guys, all of the different prep schools being targeted..
 
chicago husker said:
Great post and it seems as if you somewhat answered your own question. I am far from an expert on football but the approach on recruiting between the current and previous staff is strikingly different. The current staff is extremely organized, committed and excited about it. They know how to use social media and also know how to build relationships. I believe the top reason however is the over all quality of the coaching staff which shows top players that NU is all in and they have a chance to do something special. Top that off with the buzz created by other recruits about fan support and how well they are treated and you have the making of something very special that they have to check out.
Click to expand...

Well Said...The current staff is totally focused on talent and acquisition of top talent. They know what today's athletes are looking for and provide the optimal experience to try and get them to join 'the movement'. As others have said now this needs to translate on the field into wins.

The past staff took a system, recruited to that system and tried to build winners through that method. It gave us a solid 9 win program year in, year out but also left the ceiling at a lower level with the talent being brought in. Some will argue this, however the past regime got the most out of the talent they could bring in, and put a lot of guys in the NFL that were not highly recruited. I think this was the key downfall that they sometimes chose not to shoot high enough on targeting some of the top athletes coming out of high school and settling for mid range recruits.

Talent wins games, coaching wins championships I am hoping our new blend of both can get us to the next level of at least winning the Big Ten consistently and being relevant and ranked in the top 10 frequently.
 
ShortSideOption said:
I don't want this to be a bash the previous staff thread, I'm genuinely curious on this. So i'll start by bashing another coach and go from there.

I was with a former Husker a couple days ago and reruns of "Hard Knocks" were on with the New York Jets and Rex Ryan. It so happened to be on the episode where they scheduled a scrimmage at a different location, and during warm-ups the defensive backs went and bought McDonald's and were eating cheeseburgers while warming up. I looked at him and go "boy... tough to see why he didn't make it in New York with such a tight ship that he ran."

It got us onto the conversation of just how difficult it is for professionals to be the total package. Nothing was done to these players eating cheeseburgers at the time, they basically got yelled at the next day during meetings. I kept thinking to myself how I'd make everyone on the team run until someone that was eating these things threw them back up. We wouldn't stop until that happened.

The "total package" then shifted to recruiting and what Nebraska was doing early in the 2018 class. I can't find the article, but we referenced where the previous staff talked about how it was nearly impossible to get kids on campus for unofficials, how once they got them on campus they loved their chances. What has changed to where all of a sudden top 100 kids are able to get here? The easy answer is relationships, but that doesn't answer the question of all of a sudden these kids having money to get here even if they have a relationship with the coach(es).

We basically left with we don't know what has all of a sudden changed. We knew Pelini didn't like recruiting as much as this staff and certainly wasn't as organized doing it (evidenced by the recruiting coordinator publicly saying he didn't know where people were going to go during the bye week up until the Monday of said bye week). But Pelini certainly liked the X's and O's, and things like what he did to Missouri at home in 2010 coming out in a 3 man defensive line was nothing short of masterful. Is it the relationships? Are we targeting kids with more money now? And if it's truly that difficult to get the total package coach, is there going to be something lacking we don't see yet? I would give Pelini the nod on gamedays so far comparatively, but it's just fascinating to me to see what's going on with recruiting right now. Quite honestly, if Pelini would have been able to get the quality we are getting now and had someone to help him identify roster holes, he would have won a conference title in my opinion. There's even rumors of previous staff members going to message boards to find kids because things weren't going well (see Deandre Wills and other late offers that we didn't know about).

My bottom line is I don't know where we are going, but we are building a great foundation of talent and depth. Whereas the other regime was pretty good coaches that just figured it out with what they had. Will our foundation be enough to take us to the heights we want? Can anyone tell me why all of a sudden we can get these kids on campus? My only answer is that effort can go a long way.
Click to expand...
I have given your post a lot of thought. Looking over the last two years, I recall only 2 games in which we were seriously out athleted (if that's a word!) OSU and probably Oregon. We got lucky with Oregon because of the head coaches dislike of his extra point kicker. Wisconsin, Iowa, Northwestern, Illinois, Purdue, BYU etc. we had equal or better talent. We lost because of poor game planning, clock management, injuries etc. I seriously want Nebraska to be successful! I appreciate this staff's ability to recruit but I am at a point they need to prove it on the field. Two years ago the clock management issues were just unacceptable from a veteran staff. I don't want to come off as a negative nelly, but we have some serious issues to overcome and recruiting really isn't going to fix it.
 
HuskerInTexas said:
My general feeling is that people will pay money for stuff that they feel is worthwhile, even if they don't have much of it. So to answer your question, I think it's starting with relationship building and because these kids not only feel like Nebraska is an up-and-comer, they're also able to convince their parents of the same.

That being said, it is interesting how many kids we are pulling from private schools or semi-wealthy areas. The Calabasas crew, the IMG guys, all of the different prep schools being targeted..
Click to expand...
A note on Calabasas and students wealth: We've signed three kids from Calabasas, two come from wealthy families (KJJ and Gebbia) and the other was a kid who was from Compton, transferred to the school and commuted daily. I really appreciate Keyshawn Johnson paying for all the kids on his 7x7 team to tour out-state schools is that many of them would not have had the funds otherwise, and it opened up opportunities.

In Colorado, Valor Christian is pulling kids from all over to come to their athletic teams. It was Mullen before them. Various schools in Omaha and Southeast in Lincoln have been accused of athletic recruiting in the past. Those schools have the athletes, so that's where UNL offers. That's more the correlation than recruiting wealthy athletes.
 




HuSkaBob said:
A note on Calabasas and students wealth: We've signed three kids from Calabasas, two come from wealthy families (KJJ and Gebbia) and the other was a kid who was from Compton, transferred to the school and commuted daily. I really appreciate Keyshawn Johnson paying for all the kids on his 7x7 team to tour out-state schools is that many of them would not have had the funds otherwise, and it opened up opportunities.

In Colorado, Valor Christian is pulling kids from all over to come to their athletic teams. It was Mullen before them. Various schools in Omaha and Southeast in Lincoln have been accused of athletic recruiting in the past. Those schools have the athletes, so that's where UNL offers. That's more the correlation than recruiting wealthy athletes.
Click to expand...
I am not in the know about NCAA recruiting rules but isn't Keyshawn kinda skirting the rules about extra benefits especially since his son enrolled at NU. I know for now he is no longer enrolled but this seems like a slippery slope!!
 
djlhuskerfan said:
I am not in the know about NCAA recruiting rules but isn't Keyshawn kinda skirting the rules about extra benefits especially since his son enrolled at NU. I know for now he is no longer enrolled but this seems like a slippery slope!!
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This was in the summer of 2015, before his son had signed with UNL, and it wasn't evident that KJJ would sign at that point.
 
djlhuskerfan said:
Ok thanks for clearing that up for me!!!:nod:Now I can sleep better!!!
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while i can't speak for anyone else i believe what he meant is that is before KJ had any affiliation with NU and wasn't a booster. He also took them to many other schools for them to check out. It would be like a dad loading kids in his car and driving them to a camp and paying for their expenses but KJ did it by plane and upscale so it stands out.

I don't think he could do that in the future as his son had been enrolled and now has that affiliation. JMPO
 
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chicago husker said:
I am far from an expert on football but the approach on recruiting between the current and previous staff is strikingly different. The current staff is extremely organized, committed and excited about it.
Click to expand...

I think ChicagoHusker began to nail it on the head regarding recruiting... let me see if I can drive it all the way home with a compare/contrast.

Riley and staff
extremely organized
extremely committed
extremely excited

How many times do we hear from HCMR and others about how easy it is to recruit here, to coach here, to play here? Looking back, Riley's positive attitude about all things Nebraska, including recruiting, certainly carry over to his assistants and the current players. As a result, (sorry but I'm going to generalize) the high school recruits and their family members can sense a special feeling in Lincoln along with social media and by word of mouth. That feeling is cemented once they get here. They experience a college football culture with a great vibe and it attracts players with that similar mindset.

Pelini and staff
far less organized
far less committed
far less excited

How many times did we hear from Bo and others about how difficult it was to recruit here, to coach here, to play here? Looking back, Pelini's poor attitude about most things Nebraska, including recruiting, certainly carried over to his assistants and his players. As a result, (sorry but I'm going to generalize) fewer high school recruits and their family members could be convinced that a special feeling existed in Lincoln, which carried over to sports networks and social media. Those recruits who did visit, probably bought into Bo's intensity and/or us vs the world mentality or the spirit of all Nebraska. They experienced a college football culture with a seemingly good vibe and it attracted players with a similar mindset.
 

djlhuskerfan said:
I have given your post a lot of thought. Looking over the last two years, I recall only 2 games in which we were seriously out athleted (if that's a word!) OSU and probably Oregon. We got lucky with Oregon because of the head coaches dislike of his extra point kicker. Wisconsin, Iowa, Northwestern, Illinois, Purdue, BYU etc. we had equal or better talent. We lost because of poor game planning, clock management, injuries etc. I seriously want Nebraska to be successful! I appreciate this staff's ability to recruit but I am at a point they need to prove it on the field. Two years ago the clock management issues were just unacceptable from a veteran staff. I don't want to come off as a negative nelly, but we have some serious issues to overcome and recruiting really isn't going to fix it.
Click to expand...

I agree with your concerns. It mystifies me that a veteran staff seems to have made so many "rookie" mistakes. If that continues, we can recruit all the 4 star talent in the world but will never really achieve a lot of success.
 
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