Locked due to no posts in 60 days. Report 1st post if need unlocked Barfknechtl: Ok to fire a 9 win coach

[VA_HUSKER]

Although there are probably many cases against this argument here are at least 3 recent coaching changings in the B1G that didnt take 6 years to turn a team around. I just dont think you can instantly discount another coach and claim it will take 3+ years for us to improve.

Michigan
Previous Year 7-6
First year with Hoke 11-2

Ohio State
Previous Year 6-7
First year with Meyer 12-0

Wisconsin
Previous Year 8-5
First year with Anderson 5-2 so far

 

[cthusker]

The '08 team would curb stomp this team.

Probably true........... thinking about it!! Which makes this team all the more pathetic imo..............

 

[skerz5times]

How on gods green earth could you possibly know who would and wouldnt accept a job at Nebraska. Point is you havent a clue. Neither do the rest of us.


There is also no way we can know for sure if the new hire will do better then Bo. Many sure fire coaches and players have flopped, but you cant just be happy with the status quo and do nothing out of fear.

Do you really enjoy watching this team play? Do you look forward to big games like we all used to? I think the majority would say no to both.

I dont have watch parties anymore because who wants to sit around with your buddies after watching your team get destroyed. IT SUCKS!

The fun has been sucked out of something I love and I want it back!

 

[Huskerborn]

On this topic, history is TODAY. Not the 80s, not the 90s, not even the early 2000s.

TODAY, Nebraska has top 25 (but not super elite) facilities, makes a lot of money and spends it on football (but so do at least 25 other teams), has TV exposure (but so do just about all other teams), has an ardent fan base (that's fairly immaterial, see Miami and USC, but so do a lot of other programs), and the list goes on.

I'd even argue that from a historical perspective, NU never had very many built in advantages. Our success were the result of some great coaches who overachieved in their environment.

I can't think of a "hot name" coach who would elect Nebraska over most peer schools in the south or in california.

I'm not going to waste much time debating you on whether Bo should go or not.. I think he should stay another year, depending. That said, I totally disagree about not being able to build and sustain a program at Nebraska. It has been done and can be done again!

 

[cm husker]

I'm not going to waste much time debating you on whether Bo should go or not.. I think he should stay another year, depending. That said, I totally disagree about not being able to build and sustain a program at Nebraska. It has been done and can be done again!

I never said that it can't be built and sustained.

I said it's not well situated to facilitate the building and sustaining.

The coach we hire will have to do much more with less than what his peer programs do.

Tom and Frank did it. I have no doubt it can be done again, and I think Bo, if given enough time to develop as an HC, may be the guy to do it.

 

[cm husker]

How on gods green earth could you possibly know who would and wouldnt accept a job at Nebraska. Point is you havent a clue. Neither do the rest of us.


There is also no way we can know for sure if the new hire will do better then Bo. Many sure fire coaches and players have flopped, but you cant just be happy with the status quo and do nothing out of fear.

Do you really enjoy watching this team play? Do you look forward to big games like we all used to? I think the majority would say no to both.

I dont have watch parties anymore because who wants to sit around with your buddies after watching your team get destroyed. IT SUCKS!

The fun has been sucked out of something I love and I want it back!

We have a ton of evidence with respect to who would or wouldn't take the job.

And this may hurt your ego, but your post is the definition of a fair weather fan. Sorry your saturday get togethers have been ruined.

 

[skerz5times]

Frank didnt build a program, he took the keys to a cadillac.

 

[skerz5times]

Nothing coming from you hurts my ego.

 

[cm husker]

Although there are probably many cases against this argument here are at least 3 recent coaching changings in the B1G that didnt take 6 years to turn a team around. I just dont think you can instantly discount another coach and claim it will take 3+ years for us to improve.

Michigan
Previous Year 7-6
First year with Hoke 11-2

Ohio State
Previous Year 6-7
First year with Meyer 12-0

Wisconsin
Previous Year 8-5
First year with Anderson 5-2 so far

Michigan - We'll see where they end up. They've looked as bad as NU this year.

Ohio St - That 6-7 record is under unusual circumstances, and you know it.

Wisconsin - Again, coach wasn't fired. We'll see where they end up.

And Chizek did great for a year or two at Auburn. Then the wheels came off to the tune of 3-9. Do we want that here, too?

 

[Huskerborn]

I never said that it can't be built and sustained.

I said it's not well situated to facilitate the building and sustaining.

The coach we hire will have to do much more with less than what his peer programs do.

Tom and Frank did it. I have no doubt it can be done again, and I think Bo, if given enough time to develop as an HC, may be the guy to do it.

Oh, I have no doubt it is harder here than other places.. And IF Bo is going to live another year he MUST win more than 7 games total.. I would bet money if that is all he gets he is gone. 7-5 going into the bowl game would be all over for him, and I would bet he wouldn't even get to coach the bowl game. jmo

I don't think we lose this weekend.. I think the team will play inspired.. but then fall flat against Michigan.. that loss could be the start. We shall see.

 

[cm husker]

Do you think OU is a great destination? If so why? Certainly isn't for the beautiful countryside. Perhaps it's the TEXASS castaways picked up by OU? I could name many places that aren't any better or perhaps worse then Lincoln what have some very good programs. Nope we are not CA or TEXASS but many coaches do not want to coach in those places either. Simply because SP couldn't find his you know what in closet or TO wasn't going to spend 3 or 4 million doesn't mean we can't find a high profile, proven HC for Nebraska. That's a defeatist attitude right out of the box. There are plenty of name brand coaches that would certainly consider Lincoln if the price is right............

Absolutely Norman is better positioned than Nebraska. Take a look at a map and draw a circle around a 3 hour driving radius.

Name the places ... I'd be happy to hear them.

 

[cm husker]

If someone thinks Bo can be that overachiever I'd love to hear why.

I'll have to spend a lot of time pulling the numbers together, but I'd be interested to see where Bo's first 6 year winning % stacks against the first 6 years of head coaching among those people consider elite coaches today, particularly if those coaches had their first gig in a BCS conference.

I'd be pretty shocked if Bo wasn't among the best in that comparison.

People forget it takes time to learn a new job... The book Outliers talks about repetitions/hours of experience and that the benefit usually starts to show up after 7 years.

Barring Bo having a blowup, on the field or off, I just think there's enough evidence so far that it's worth riding things out and seeing if he makes the jump.

 

[denisonred]

Let's just hope that if Eichorst feels compelled to make a coaching change, he's a bit more prepared than Pederson was. Firing a guy is easy. The hard work is having someone lined up to take the job.

I would hope Pedey is the exception to the rule.

 

[wcbsas]

To run with the "husband analogy," Pelini is NOT a nice husband who makes a quarter million a year. He makes $65,000 and acts like he makes, $75,000, and it's not looking like his prospects are improving. He acts like a jackass in front of our proverbial mother. He constantly brings up politics at thanksgiving dinner and embarrasses the hell out of us. He's unreliable and sometimes emotionally abusive.

Ultimately, the gravity of this analogy is entirely inappropriate for the subject matter at hand. If Bo ever reads this I hope he realizes that I don't think any of those things about him. Domestic violence and even the kind of marital relationship that I described is far more serious than anything he might have done wrong as our coach.

Bo is not the end all be all, he's not a terrible coach either. But we do appear to be spinning our wheels and the nation knows it.

Another thing people are forgetting, is that Bo and company are not 2 years removed from a National Title appearance. They did not make a staff overhaul, with marked improvement, only to have the coach and staff fired anyway. Meyer and Spurrier weren't going to work for THAT GUY. The situation is different and everyone should acknowledge that.

Ultimately though, if Bo gets 4 wins out of the next 5 I do NOT think he should be fired. Changes might need to be directed, outside consultants brought. But he shouldn't be fired.

But his children are well behaved, stay out of trouble, are treated fairly and equally, have high expectations placed on them, will become good corporate citizens, represent you and the family well.

 

[The Big Red Lebowski]

This is why these threads go back and forth and back and forth. People either don't articulate their point or or others don't read/understand it. Let me try again.

1. I think we can do better than our current level of performance.

2. I think we should do better than our current level of performance.

3. I don't think we get to our preferred level of performance quicker by firing Pelini than by giving him another year or two to prove, one way or the other, whether he's capable of making the leap. It's much more likely, in my opinion, that he makes the jump to our preferred level of success than we hire a new coach who comes in and reaches that level in his first 5 years.

4. I see a lot of potential downside in making a change. CFB is replete with examples of teams firing a coach only to have the decision look like it was bad or ineffectual. Bad and ineffectual aren't worth the turmoil that a 3rd coaching change in 10 years would wrought on the program.

5. Therefore, despite not being overjoyed with our current performance, I think the prudent move is to retain Bo for at least another year (i.e., through 2014) for a whole number of reasons. We can always go another route then.

Honestly, re: the 9 win floor, I still believe you can't fire a coach who wins 9 games year after year. There has to be some floor in order to avoid the "I didn't FEEL good about the program" subjectivity causing us to adopt a revolving door philosophy in the head coach's office. That's still not the same as me being happy or satisfied with every 9 win season.

I'm having trouble reconciling points one and two with posts you are making in other threads like this one:

I guess I'm a doom and gloomer, but I think the "sophisticated coaches who know the difference in 9 win seasons" also recognize that Nebraska, despite ardent fans and top 25 facilities is not well situated for building and sustaining a program.

Like I said, doom and gloom, but I doubt if we had been .500 for 4 years leading up to '03 we would have had Meyer looking to move to Lincoln.

Objectively, Nebraska is not a top 10 job, and it wasn't even when Tom was here (at least after 1990 when everyone started playing on TV and investing in facilities). Tom just performed at a top 10 level consistently. That overachievement is what made him the best, in my opinion.

Basically, we can and should do better....but here are all the reasons we can't and shouldn't do better. Doom and gloom indeed.