Why I think MR was, is and always will be a 50% winning coach

[Voice Of Reason]

I’m sure some of our local experts will jump on the thread and explain how full of sh-t I am but here are my thoughts on why nice guy MR is only a 50% winning coach in his career.

MR’s basic philosophy is not run the ball on offense and stop the run on defense, his basic philosophy is get big plays on offense and stop big plays on defense. He believes you cannot win without getting big plays and that you cannot lose if you don’t give up big plays. That’s why he tends to kill good drives by throwing deep so often and why on defense he is willing to give up plays of 5 yards or less all day long. Any team with the patience to take the five yards every play and the discipline to not have drive killing penalty’s can beat him every time. And conversely on the days when his deep balls are connecting he can beat anybody.

He believes you cannot win without big plays and he coaches and recruits accordingly. He doesn’t think it’s possible to drive it down the field and score without a big play in there somewhere. We all know the old saying “if you don’t believe you can do something then you can’t do it”. He doesn’t recruit to run the ball or to stop the run. He spends a lot of time recruiting wide receivers and cornerbacks because he spends a lot of time practicing the deep throw and that tends to wear out receivers and corners.

It’s easy to blame the coordinators for the above problems but it’s possible they are simply doing what they are being told to do. If you are being told you have to big plays you are going to throw it deep often and if you are being told on defense that you cannot give up a big play you are going to play off the receivers and give them the underneath throws.

Anyway those are my thoughts, what are yours?

 

[NUinID]

Not a bad thought and to some extent you may be right. They always have a deep route on almost every pass play and it does get thrown to a lot. Armstrong did it a lot more than Lee does.

My reason for MR not succeeding is that he is a grinder of a coach, which is kind of an NFL mentality. I can be 5-5 in the NFL, but if I am 5-1 in my last 6 games I finish 10-6 and make the playoffs. Anything can happen then. He thinks as long as his team is improving than he is doing his job. As long as the team gets better the wins will eventually come.

The offense is getting better even though the score board doesn't show it. They just played the 2 best defenses of the year. Lee does look better and more than likely will finish strong. I have my doubts about the defense though.

MR's teams are notorious slow starters and that doesn't play well at Nebraska.

 

[WestTexasHusker]

For 50% of the D1 college football programs out there, 50% is good enough to keep you around.

 

[1standten]

OP- Your thoughts seem to mirror what we've seen on the field in 2 1/2 years of Riley. His scheme on both sides of the ball has flaws which is likely why we're currently on a 5-8 skid.

 

[Bean]

I’m sure some of our local experts will jump on the thread and explain how full of sh-t I am but here are my thoughts on why nice guy MR is only a 50% winning coach in his career.

MR’s basic philosophy is not run the ball on offense and stop the run on defense, his basic philosophy is get big plays on offense and stop big plays on defense. He believes you cannot win without getting big plays and that you cannot lose if you don’t give up big plays. That’s why he tends to kill good drives by throwing deep so often and why on defense he is willing to give up plays of 5 yards or less all day long. Any team with the patience to take the five yards every play and the discipline to not have drive killing penalty’s can beat him every time. And conversely on the days when his deep balls are connecting he can beat anybody.

He believes you cannot win without big plays and he coaches and recruits accordingly. He doesn’t think it’s possible to drive it down the field and score without a big play in there somewhere. We all know the old saying “if you don’t believe you can do something then you can’t do it”. He doesn’t recruit to run the ball or to stop the run. He spends a lot of time recruiting wide receivers and cornerbacks because he spends a lot of time practicing the deep throw and that tends to wear out receivers and corners.

It’s easy to blame the coordinators for the above problems but it’s possible they are simply doing what they are being told to do. If you are being told you have to big plays you are going to throw it deep often and if you are being told on defense that you cannot give up a big play you are going to play off the receivers and give them the underneath throws.

Anyway those are my thoughts, what are yours?

I was thinking something similar; if MR and his staff were the coach of Alabama, Clemson, OSU, or PSU, with the same players they have now, would he be as successful as those teams current coaches? I don't know the answer but one thing I thing is he probably wouldn't have recruited the many if the same players because they wouldn't fit his style of offense/defense.

 

[ramsker]

Might be some truth to that.

I just think Riley believes too much in raw talent and how that's the path to winning . . . you just have more raw talent (size, speed, whatever) and you run your painfully vanilla offense and you win because your guys are straight-up better than their guys. Problem with that is . . . parity has made "their guys" pretty darn good and a better coach with more aggressive/creative schemes and "good enough" players can trump an ok coach with better players. Put an ok coach with ok players in a scheme that is ok--and you have us right now. I'm not confident that even getting elite talent makes an ok coach desirable long term, because the elite coach with the elite talent will still beat you more often than not.

 

[The Big Red Lebowski]

I was mostly pro-Riley when the hire was made. My one caveat was that his long tenure at Oregon St. was indicative of a lack of ambition. The very best coaches want to test their mettle at the highest level. Saban didn't plant himself at Michigan St. for 15 years. Urban was never going to stay at Utah very long.

The fact that Riley didn't take better jobs when offered was a sign he's less interested in winning championships and more interested in a comfortable lifestyle. The expectation at Oregon St. is to win 6 and go bowling. I can think of worse ways to spend a career than making low 7-figures doing what you love with a level of stress and pressure that allows for a life outside of football. When I watch the amount of stress the guys at top programs have to endure, I can't say I blame him.

In short, Riley never really wanted to take a crack at being a championship-caliber coach at a program like Nebraska. He kind of fell into it. He called it his "one last adventure." That's quite accurate when you think about it. He didn't come in hungry to win titles. He came in looking at it like buying an RV and touring the Black Hills.

 

[1standten]

...
In short, Riley never really wanted to take a crack at being a championship-caliber coach at a program like Nebraska. He kind of fell into it. He called it his "one last adventure." That's quite accurate when you think about it. He didn't come in hungry to win titles. He came in looking at it like buying an RV and touring the Black Hills.

Seems to be the case. He was on the hot seat at OSU and got an offer to take a trip to Disneyland in NU.

I was shocked at the Riley hire, but quickly supported him up until this year.

I openly stated to begin year three I'd support him as long as we:
- beat the teams we should- Strike one.
-be competitive against the West teams- Strike two.
-not suffer any more humiliating beat-downs from the premier teams- Strike three.

 

[The Big Red Lebowski]

Seems to be the case. He was on the hot seat at OSU and got an offer to take a trip to Disneyland in NU.

I was shocked at the Riley hire, but quickly supported him up until this year.

I openly stated to begin year three I'd support him as long as we:
- beat the teams we should- Strike one.
-be competitive against the West teams- Strike two.
-not suffer any more humiliating beat-downs from the premier teams- Strike three.

Yeah, there isn't much to hang your hat on at this point. It's a hot mess. The stretch from the Michigan St. game in 2015 through Wisconsin 2016 gave me a lot of hope that Riley was going to do great things in Lincoln, but the wheels are off the wagon.

 

[Pealjim]

I agree that it seems time for a new HC. But here's a thought. Not sure if he would do it but why not offer MR an assoc AD position (don't give me that Peter Principle crap). He's honest, ethical, personable and appears to be a doggone good recruiter. And Bill knows him. He would still be an excellent rep for NU and even an extra set of eyes for the new HC if he is willing to do so. Doubt if he would get another bite of the coaching apple.

 

[alabamahusker]

My short answer to the "why I think he is and was a 50% coach is........... he has coached for 42 years and is 179-175 roughly.............

 

[NUinID]

I was mostly pro-Riley when the hire was made. My one caveat was that his long tenure at Oregon St. was indicative of a lack of ambition. The very best coaches want to test their mettle at the highest level. Saban didn't plant himself at Michigan St. for 15 years. Urban was never going to stay at Utah very long.

The fact that Riley didn't take better jobs when offered was a sign he's less interested in winning championships and more interested in a comfortable lifestyle. The expectation at Oregon St. is to win 6 and go bowling. I can think of worse ways to spend a career than making low 7-figures doing what you love with a level of stress and pressure that allows for a life outside of football. When I watch the amount of stress the guys at top programs have to endure, I can't say I blame him.

In short, Riley never really wanted to take a crack at being a championship-caliber coach at a program like Nebraska. He kind of fell into it. He called it his "one last adventure." That's quite accurate when you think about it. He didn't come in hungry to win titles. He came in looking at it like buying an RV and touring the Black Hills.

Dude, that is actually a pretty good analogy. I am with you and completely agree with your second paragraph. I have a little bit of that in myself.

 

[The Big Red Lebowski]

Dude, that is actually a pretty good analogy. I am with you and completely agree with your second paragraph. I have a little bit of that in myself.

I think most people are that way (ie, choosing life in the work-life balance). I suppose that's why there are so few great college football coaches (or people great at anything really). It takes a singular level of commitment and sacrifice few people have. It takes obsession bordering on insanity.