Locked due to no posts in 60 days. Report 1st post if need unlocked Learfield Directors Cup

[Merle]

Wow! We finished 40th this past sports year! Compare that with the 90's, when we were challenging everybody for the # 1 spot. I realize many care only about football, but as a UNL alum, I was proud of our 1990's accompishments. We scored big in football, baseball, softball, volleyball, men's and women's track, gymnastics, and women's bowling. Not to mention many others. No longer so! It would be easier to take if we were accomplishing something in football, but we aren't doing that, either. I forget the length, but we had a long, long winning streak in women's bowling, but now we can't take care of the
Susquehana States, et al. Looking at national ratings such as the Directors cup, UNL seems to be at an all time low overall. Too bad.

 

[HuttoHusker]

Welcome to parity... I believe with the new facilities T.O. is building we can and will be a top 20 program again. GBR

 

[ColoREDo]

I don't remember ever challenging for the #1 spot here. What was our best finish?

 

[CGHUSKER]

www.nacda.com/directorscup/nacda-directorscup-previous-scoring.html

NU was in the top 10 most of the 90's, with the best finish being #4 in 96-97.

 

[ColoREDo]

www.nacda.com/directorscup/nacda-directorscup-previous-scoring.html

NU was in the top 10 most of the 90's, with the best finish being #4 in 96-97.

Thanks for the link. I had no idea we had ever placed that high.

 

[wcbsas]

Bill Byrne during his tenure as AD was focused on the Sear's Trophy. Maybe to the detriment some speculated of the football program.

Look at Stanford a perenial contender of the Learfield Trophy ... 36 varsity sports. Including sports like rowing, fencing, syncronized swimming, waterpolo ...

NU has 21 sports.

Stanford has one of the largest athletic endowments in the country.

NU is self-sustaining financially but it pales in comparison to Stanford.

 

[FCHusker]

Bill Byrne during his tenure as AD was focused on the Sear's Trophy. Maybe to the detriment some speculated of the football program.

Look at Stanford a perenial contender of the Learfield Trophy ... 36 varsity sports. Including sports like rowing, fencing, syncronized swimming, waterpolo ...

NU has 21 sports.

Stanford has one of the largest athletic endowments in the country.

NU is self-sustaining financially but it pales in comparison to Stanford.

Thank-you for posting. It is what it is.... nothing more, nothing less.

 

[USMC_BugEater]

I would imagine that with the increase in money that being in the BIG will bring, that our standing will rise.

I think that Osborne will be happy having teams that are competitive and not worry too much about chasing this trophy. Its nice to finish well, but it doesn't really bring anything to the university.

 

[wcbsas]

I would imagine that with the increase in money that being in the BIG will bring, that our standing will rise.

I think that Osborne will be happy having teams that are competitive and not worry too much about chasing this trophy. Its nice to finish well, but it doesn't really bring anything to the university.

I'm not so sure ... I don't see NU adding athletic programs to the current mix. The increased revenue will likely help maintain status quo, improve exisiting programs and reduce reliance on extrenal revenue streams.

I would like to see a renewed focus on overall performance of existing programs ... baseball, men's and woman's basketball, softball and soccer.

 

[Husker Mort]

Bill Byrne during his tenure as AD was focused on the Sear's Trophy. Maybe to the detriment some speculated of the football program.

Look at Stanford a perenial contender of the Learfield Trophy ... 36 varsity sports. Including sports like rowing, fencing, syncronized swimming, waterpolo ...

NU has 21 sports.

Stanford has one of the largest athletic endowments in the country.

NU is self-sustaining financially but it pales in comparison to Stanford.

That is an absurd statement, considering the financial health of the athletic department upon his departure.


As for the Learfield, I hope that NU can improve its standing significantly. Football pays the bills, but the entire concept of a University is being well-rounded and NU is at its best when its baseball, softball, gymnastics, track, wrestling, and soccer teams are vying for conference championships.

 

[wcbsas]

That is an absurd statement, considering the financial health of the athletic department upon his departure.

It is not an absurb statement .... it really is a statement of fact. It is well documented that BB was focused on winning the Sears trophy. He spent an inordinate amount of time focused on non-revenue sports. Aside from expnading Memorial Stadium he did very little with the football program. He also could be blamed some for allowing the TO to FS transition without at least a due diligence review of other possible candidates.

As for the Learfield, I hope that NU can improve its standing significantly. Football pays the bills, but the entire concept of a University is being well-rounded and NU is at its best when its baseball, softball, gymnastics, track, wrestling, and soccer teams are vying for conference championships.

If you are talking about absurb statements not sure how you think a program with 21 varsity sports will ever contend for the Learfield Trophy when Stanford has 36, Ohio State has 37, Michigan has 27 and so on. NU could improve its performance in a number of sports but still fall short. Its not like NU was 10th, it was 40th finishing behind such powerhouses as Princeton, Kentucky, Duke and Baylor.

 

[Cardinal]

Bill Byrne during his tenure as AD was focused on the Sear's Trophy. Maybe to the detriment some speculated of the football program.

Look at Stanford a perenial contender of the Learfield Trophy ... 36 varsity sports. Including sports like rowing, fencing, syncronized swimming, waterpolo ...

NU has 21 sports.

Stanford has one of the largest athletic endowments in the country.

NU is self-sustaining financially but it pales in comparison to Stanford.

You post is for the most part accurate. A couple clarifications:

1. Stanford is not a "perennial contender" for the Directors' Cup. It is the perennial winner: 18 years of awarding the Cup, 18 years of Stanford receiving it.

2. The Cup is awarded based upon each institution's ten highest finishing men's sports and the ten highest finishing women's sports. So, for example, Stanford doesn't score 35 sports and Nebraska 21. They each score 20. But Stanford's larger pool to chose from obviously is an advantage over those schools like Nebraska that have fewer programs. There are many universities that offer about as many sports as Stanford does, however.

Adding programs to the athletics department of institutions that don't have many, should always be a goal, imo, and it has nothing to do with winning awards. It is to provide more extracurricular opportunities for students, to attract more and better students, and to generally become a better institution of higher learning. It all comes down to the amount and the allocation of available funds. And, of course, in this day and age of Title IX, adding one sport usually means adding two, which makes it financially more difficult.

 

[Husker Mort]

It is not an absurb statement .... it really is a statement of fact. It is well documented that BB was focused on winning the Sears trophy. He spent an inordinate amount of time focused on non-revenue sports. Aside from expnading Memorial Stadium he did very little with the football program. He also could be blamed some for allowing the TO to FS transition without at least a due diligence review of other possible candidates.

Like him or not, Byrne modernized the athletic department and implemented the financial models necessary to sustain the department well beyond his departure. Under his watch, he expanded Memorial stadium, improved practice and training facilities, brought video boards to the first CFB program in the country, initiated Husker Vision and the tunnel walk, implemented the donor points system, and--gasp--invested in several other sports. His run was one of the most successful in college sports, overseeing 10 national championships (3 in football -- the sport that he supposedly ignored) and 83 conference championships. He also helped navigate the conference switch, which was a financial boon for the University at the time.

As for Solich? Go ahead and tell a living legend on the heels of his third title that he cannot appoint his successor and see how well it goes over.

 

[wcbsas]

Like him or not, Byrne modernized the athletic department and implemented the financial models necessary to sustain the department well beyond his departure. Under his watch, he expanded Memorial stadium, improved practice and training facilities, brought video boards to the first CFB program in the country, initiated Husker Vision and the tunnel walk, implemented the donor points system, and--gasp--invested in several other sports. His run was one of the most successful in college sports, overseeing 10 national championships (3 in football -- the sport that he supposedly ignored) and 83 conference championships. He also helped navigate the conference switch, which was a financial boon for the University at the time.

As for Solich? Go ahead and tell a living legend on the heels of his third title that he cannot appoint his successor and see how well it goes over.

I am not dismissing the accomplishments of BB during his NU tenure. He was a professional AD succeeding Devaney a revered personality.

And he did do a lot of good things including Skyboxes ... he also resurrected the baseball program.

I am not sure he deserves much credit for 3 NCs in football aside from the fact that he didn't screw anything up there. Remember TO was in place prior to his arrival.

Regardless of anyone's opinion on FS ... BB's primary job is to ensure that there is the best possible leadership for each of the programs. TO should have had significant input on the successorship but BB failed in allowing the transition to occur without at least doing some due diligence. When I leave my job, I may have some input on who my succesor is but at the end of the day I should not be the sole voice in that decision regardless of how revered I may (or may not) be! I also wonder what would have happened if BB would have told TO that he solely isn't allowed to hand-pick his successor. I wonder what TO would do now if BP told him that he (BP) had hand picked his successor.

I do not find it coincidental that BB left NU for aTm shortly after the football coaching transition occurred.

 

[huskrthill]

I am not dismissing the accomplishments of BB during his NU tenure. He was a professional AD succeeding Devaney a revered personality.

And he did do a lot of good things including Skyboxes ... he also resurrected the baseball program.

I am not sure he deserves much credit for 3 NCs in football aside from the fact that he didn't screw anything up there. Remember TO was in place prior to his arrival.

Regardless of anyone's opinion on FS ... BB's primary job is to ensure that there is the best possible leadership for each of the programs. TO should have had significant input on the successorship but BB failed in allowing the transition to occur without at least doing some due diligence. When I leave my job, I may have some input on who my succesor is but at the end of the day I should not be the sole voice in that decision regardless of how revered I may (or may not) be! I also wonder what would have happened if BB would have told TO that he solely isn't allowed to hand-pick his successor. I wonder what TO would do now if BP told him that he (BP) had hand picked his successor.

I do not find it coincidental that BB left NU for aTm shortly after the football coaching transition occurred.

You are comparing yourself and Bo Pelini to Tom Osborne, but I'm not convinced that either of you are quite as accomplished in your fields (I don't know you, so I suppose it's possible). Tom Osborne is considered one of the greatest football coaches in the history of the game, a living legend. Just like Bob Devaney was able to choose his successor (of course he was also the AD), Tom Osborne earned the right to pick his. And he picked a good one, regardless of what some would like to think.

By the way, Bill Byrne didn't leave "shortly after" Solich took over the football program. He didn't leave until after the 2002 regular season... he was Solich's AD for all but one season of Frank's tenure as HC. Five of his 11 years at NU were with Solich as HC.