• You do not need to register if you are not going to pay the yearly fee to post. If you register please click here or log in go to "settings" then "my account" then "User Upgrades" and you can renew.

HuskerMax readers can save 50% on  Omaha Steaks .

Learning How to Win

Flat Water said:
Why don't we know how to win?
Click to expand...
Well, its more complex than just a one-hitch fix or the coaches would have done that already. Adam Carriker just had Jack Stark on his show and Mr. Stark talked about mental toughness and player leadership. That's the camp I'm in. I'm not around the program at practices or meetings, but I just can't name a player recently who appears to hold teammates accountable to push themselves and others to be great.

It was obvious with guys like Frazier, Wistrom, Peters Brothers, Michael Jordan with the Bulls, etc, and I wasn't around their programs either. Team leaders just stand out. If social media existed in the 90s we all would have heard a lot more about those guys who refused to let others not give it their all.
 
Last edited:

Redleg said:
Adam Carriker just had Jack Stark on his show and Mr. Stark talked about mental toughness and player leadership. That's the camp I'm in. I'm not around the program at practices or meetings, but I just can't name a player recently who appears to hold teammates accountable to push themselves and others to be great.
Click to expand...

Carriker is actually a great example. Brought in under the FS regime, built on the same foundation from years and years of player leadership, by the time he was a senior he was telling all of us that he was playing on the best DLine in college football as we all silently thought "wow I wish he hadn't said that" and yet, in the end, I'm pretty sure that DLine led the nation in sacks or TFL's that year. That's leadership, calling your shot, pulling up your boots, getting to work and instilling those around you with the confidence of "Hey, yeah we can do this".

All while being on the dumbest team in America per FHFCBC

Yeah, I know he wasn't talking about Nebraska, but you get what I'm saying.

Thanks for the education on flatwater btw, I did not know that.
 



mulletpelini said:
All while being on the dumbest team in America per FHFCBC

Yeah, I know he wasn't talking about Nebraska, but you get what I'm saying.

Thanks for the education on flatwater btw, I did not know that.
Click to expand...
Flat Water said:
And the word Nebraska was derived from the word for the Platte River, hence Flat Water.

You are correct. The term was the Otoe word for the Platte River, which then became the name of the state that we all love.
Click to expand...
I stand corrected. Worse, my 5th grade teacher would be embarrassed at my horrible memory.
 
Recruit players who were unabashed leaders of their HS teams.

You can absolutely develop leadership, but if you bring in guys who have been doing it for years then you are already so far ahead of the game. How many times have we heard them talk about bringing in guys who "love football"?

Frazier, Peters Bros., and others did not arrive to Lincoln as passive bystanders. They were who they were already and we enjoyed the fruit of their character. They would have been that kind of leader at any school and we were thankfully able to maximize it.
 
Flat Water said:
Like all of you, I am concerned that we won't have a college football season this year. I'm going to assume that we will have a season because I don't want to consider the alternative.

I have a masochistic habit of recording all of the Nebraska games each season on my DVR and then re-watching the season in the couple of months before the next season starts. It helps remind me of who our up and coming players are, and it's interesting to watch the evolution (or devolution as the case may be) of the team as the year goes along. So far in watching last season I've only made it through the Colorado game, but watching it reminded me of something that has really bothered me about Husker teams for quite a while now.

People have mentioned the need to improve the overall team talent level, and that is certainly a valid point. We are not going to beat the Ohio States of the world until we close the talent gap. But we still have enough talent to beat most of the teams on our schedule. Nevertheless, we keep losing close games against teams with comparable or lesser talent. Put simply, our team does not know how to win. We were 1-5 in games decided by one score in Frost's first season, and last year we blew games we had good chances to win against Colorado, Indiana, Purdue and Iowa. Although we lost by 16 to Wisconsin, I would even put that game into the category of games that we could have won. We blew several scoring opportunities in the second half. Had we converted those opportunities into points, we would have been in it at the end with a chance to win. Yes, Nebraska beat Illinois and Northwestern last year in close games, but they were bad teams. We didn't win close games against good teams.

What is particularly frustrating is that this is not a new problem. This has been a defining characteristic of Nebraska teams for several years now. If we did nothing else other than win rather than lose a majority of our close games, our record would look much different. Wisconsin wins close games. That's why they are consistently around the ten win mark.

Why don't we know how to win? Frost's teams at UCF were over- rather than underachievers. And it wasn't simply a matter of getting "his" guys in place, because he mainly did it with guys he inherited from the prior staff. You know, the same staff who went winless in their final season in Orlando. Why hasn't he instilled the same mental toughness in his teams in Lincoln? I wish I knew.

We have a tough schedule this year, especially at the back end, but if we show some heart and eke out more close wins against good opponents, I will have hope that Frost is finally turning the corner with this team. For the collective sanity of the State of Nebraska, let's hope we finally see some progress. We have had a very disappointing couple of decades.
Click to expand...

Agree. I've been saying that for a couple of years now. I took a friend to the Northwestern game in 2018. We had a two touchdown lead going into the 4th quarter, and lost. My explination to my friend was, "they don't know how to win".
At some point we need to start winning more than losing, eventually beat someone we're not supposed to beat and begin the expectation of winning when they take the field.
 
I remember back in the later part of the 70's when TO had a call-in show on KFAB. I remember distinctly one caller asking him how long did he think it would take to make Kansas State (this was before Bill Snyder) a consistent winner--not competing for championships, but winning more games than losing, if he were able to take his entire take his entire coaching staff and have the same recruiting and operating budgets. Without hesitation, Tom said a minimum of five years.

In 1988, the year before Snyder arrived at KSU, they went 0-11. In his first year as HC Snyder went 1-10 followed by 5-6 in 1990. He did turn things around year 3 when they went 7-4, but then slipped back to 5-6 in 1992 before going 9-2-1 in 1993. There, at a school with no football tradition, it took three years to get a winning season, but five years to build a team that could win consistently.

That is what make what Bob Devaney did in 1962 look so great--he took a team that only won 14 games the previous 5 years and went 9-2 in year one, and 28-5 in his first three seasons. I know the game has changed during the past 50 years, but it is still about blocking and tackling , based on toughness, speed, and dedication.
 




izzycohen said:
Agree. I've been saying that for a couple of years now. I took a friend to the Northwestern game in 2018. We had a two touchdown lead going into the 4th quarter, and lost. My explination to my friend was, "they don't know how to win".
At some point we need to start winning more than losing, eventually beat someone we're not supposed to beat and begin the expectation of winning when they take the field.
Click to expand...
It’s not just that, it’s the REFUSAL TO LOSE Eventually turns Into FEROCIOUS DETERMINATION to win. ...... it ALL
 
NorthwoodHusker said:
You dont go 5-7 to 9-4 to 4-8 unless things are messed up, not addressed that are messed up, and the staffs direction just doesn't fit .
Knowing you could go 9-4 two times then stumble means you're going backwards.
This staff inherited disastor, too few leaders, kids from two staffs, of which both couldn't be more opposite, many just wanted out, many before this staff, the same.
So, now you've also inherited huge attrition.

So, matching the first years with the previous might be expected, maybe one extra win.
Second year, should have seen a jump, but close games were the norm, much like MR year one.
So better, but no jump.

I think once this staff fully learns, not just what other Big teams are or can do, what opposing coaches can do, if your team isn't meeting your terms as a coach, until they do, you're still learning, which are important lessons, because each year is a new team.
Getting your team up to your levels is paramount first.

Imo, that's this year, young and all.
Click to expand...
Heck of a post and spot on
 
Kwajsker said:
Recruit players who were unabashed leaders of their HS teams.

You can absolutely develop leadership, but if you bring in guys who have been doing it for years then you are already so far ahead of the game. How many times have we heard them talk about bringing in guys who "love football"?

Frazier, Peters Bros., and others did not arrive to Lincoln as passive bystanders. They were who they were already and we enjoyed the fruit of their character. They would have been that kind of leader at any school and we were thankfully able to maximize it.
Click to expand...

This.

You have to recruit leadership. We don’t have enough highly competitive players on our roster. Sure, we have players who want/like to win, but it’s not just as important as breathing to them. You sprinkle a handful of those types throughout your program and other players will fall in line. Even during some of our good years under Pelini we didn’t have near enough of them. Some of the comments Kenny Bell and others made about 9 wins were really telling. No highly-competitive person thinks that way. Or blows kisses to fans for that matter. And that was some of the better leadership we’ve had recently.

We need to find them and get them in our program. It’s hard because winners want to win....and we aren’t winning.
 



Learning how to win? 1) establish an identity 2) recruit the right players who fit in terms of character and physical needs 3) develop players to fit the offensive and defensive schemes

I think Frost is doing just that, it will just take longer than we all hoped/expected, probably including the staff. We'll get there. GBR!
 
I think more importantly than, "learning how to win," is learning how, NOT TO LOSE! I have friends in WI and perhaps an "intangible factor" of them winning by the end of many very close games is, the "end-of-the third quarter jump around!" NU needs to create their own "magic," at the EOTTQ." This antic provides an emotional "release" for the fans and the team--then, the WI teams have a look in their eyes, going into the 4th quarter like, "we're WI and we're going to run you over!" (No matter if its MSU, MI, MN OR OSU). Over the past decade, many of our losses were really us beating ourselves. Opposing teams appeared to "perceive" that the debacle was imminent by the end of tight games and, they just got out of the way and watched us implode on ourselves! As ALWAYS, I will be a BIG RED FAN forever!
 
Last edited:

Ahhhhh, learning how to win. Hopefully these highly sought after skillful players come from programs at some point in their life where they already learned how to win. Maybe, players who don't like the alternative. Or maybe don't have the players who can win.
Whenever I read about learning how to win, I keep seeing teams who seem to have accepted that they won't? Gosh, think of all of those wonderful 1970's K-State teams (well it was wonderful for other teams) surely they wanted to win?
Anyway, learning how to win. Harkens back to the movie "The Natural".
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

GET TICKETS


Get 50% off on Omaha Steaks

Back
Top