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Lubick vs. Diaco? Sip.

I don't know that anyone "intensely" embraced Diaco's hire as much as they were glad to see Banker go. Frankly, there was more "intensity" around Frosts's hire, and that hasn't panned out yet. That may be more a source of skepticism than the Diaco fiasco.
I’m not even sure that Diaco was the problem. There was such overall dysfunction in Riley’s program that was working against him. I don’t think that even Patton could have lit a fire under that gang in one season.
 
I am cautiously optimistic about this hire, of course I would have been cautiously optimistic even if he hired Jesus Christ. Whomever was hired to me is irrelevant. How they do their job will be telling, so sit back and enjoy the ride and lets talk in December.
I would have chosen Patton instead of Christ as a comparison. You can’t turn the other cheek in the trenches. Lol
 
36704
 



I’m not even sure that Diaco was the problem. There was such overall dysfunction in Riley’s program that was working against him. I don’t think that even Patton could have lit a fire under that gang in one season.
I have come to the same point in hindsight. I don't think Diaco is any sort of football genius or anything similar, but he's been successful as a DC in environments as diverse as Notre Dame and Louisiana Tech; meanwhile, Nebraska hasn't been consistently good at defense for almost a decade, so ... the problem was likely as much more about where he was than who he was. Once I was willing to admit that, then I could put myself in his situation when he showed up in Lincoln, and then everything made a lot more sense to me.

Diaco played at Iowa but was recruited by Nebraska. I don't think that he would have been good enough to see the field at Nebraska from 92 to '95, which is when he played, and he think that he was smart enough to figure that out, which is why he ended up choosing a mid-90s Iowa team that was less than impressive. I believe him that when he came to Nebraska he was in awe of the program, and I think that the facilities and the fans would have added to that awe when he showed up. In the summer of 2017 Nebraska had only had 3 losing seasons in the past half-century, and those days seemed to be behind us. I think that it would have been natural for him to believe what Eichorst believed, which is that Banker wasn't a B1G-level DC, and that Diaco could help put Nebraska over the top. Unless he was spending a lot of time in the weight room, all that he had to judge the quality of his defense was the Nebraska offense that it was lining up against, and I imagine that it looked better than mediocre. So imagine his surprise when Arkansas State showed up and shoved the ball down our throats. I imagine that he was confused by what he was seeing, and it probably didn't make sense for quite awhile. By the time you get to the famous "can you see the strain" post-game interview at Northwestern, I think that he was in full meltdown, realizing how bad the state of the program was, and realizing that people were expecting him to coach up a bunch of non-NFL level defenders to somehow shore up an offense that was consistently hemorrhaging points to the opposing team via pick-6 TDs, etc., in a way that the defense couldn't even help. Once Eichorst was fired, he had lost the ally in admin that had been the main source of bringing him to the program. Whether Riley yet realized that he was a lame duck or not--I don't think he did--Diaco certainly did, especially after Moos was hired. Being a decent DC in an impossible situation with sub-level talent and Titanic expectations, he didn't know what to do. He tried to hide his frustration and consternation with a William F. Buckley-level of vocabulary, but fans and media didn't need a thesaurus to know the difference between chicken soup and chicken crap. End of Nebraska story.

Now his career is rehabilitated, and he's at Purdue, and his first game at Purdue will be against the same Nebraska team that was probably a greater career failure than his lackluster tenure as UConn's head coach. What do those two things now have in common, besides Diaco? Scott Frost. When UCF beat UConn, Frost famously didn't bother to even pick up Diaco's homemade forced "ConnFLiCT" trophy, and everybody jumps on the bandwagon of loving a winner or mocking a loser, and Diaco became a pathetic figure. Nebraska, which had seemed like his shot at redemption, then followed his time at UConn by taking his career and reputation even lower.

Do you suppose he might be working on a gameplan against Nebraska already?
 
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I’m not even sure that Diaco was the problem. There was such overall dysfunction in Riley’s program that was working against him. I don’t think that even Patton could have lit a fire under that gang in one season.
Which, IMO, points out Riley's major flaw: lack of leadership.
 



I have come to the same point in hindsight. I don't think Diaco is any sort of football genius or anything similar, but he's been successful as a DC in environments as diverse as Notre Dame and Louisiana Tech; meanwhile, Nebraska hasn't been consistently good at defense for almost a decade, so ... the problem was likely as much more about where he was than who he was. Once I was willing to admit that, then I could put myself in his situation when he showed up in Lincoln, and then everything made a lot more sense to me.

Diaco played at Iowa but was recruited by Nebraska. I don't think that he would have been good enough to see the field at Nebraska from 92 to '95, which is when he played, and he think that he was smart enough to figure that out, which is why he ended up choosing a mid-90s Iowa team that was less than impressive. I believe him that when he came to Nebraska he was in awe of the program, and I think that the facilities and the fans would have added to that awe when he showed up. In the summer of 2017 Nebraska had only had 3 losing seasons in the past half-century, and those days seemed to be behind us. I think that it would have been natural for him to believe what Eichorst believed, which is that Banker wasn't a B1G-level DC, and that Diaco could help put Nebraska over the top. Unless he was spending a lot of time in the weight room, all that he had to judge the quality of his defense was the Nebraska offense that it was lining up against, and I imagine that it looked better than mediocre. So imagine his surprise when Arkansas State showed up and shoved the ball down our throats. I imagine that he was confused by what he was seeing, and it probably didn't make sense for quite awhile. By the time you get to the famous "can you see the strain" post-game interview at Northwestern, I think that he was in full meltdown, realizing how bad the state of the program was, and realizing that people were expecting him to coach up a bunch of non-NFL level defenders to somehow shore up an offense that was consistently hemorrhaging points to the opposing team via pick-6 TDs, etc., in a way that the defense couldn't even help. Once Eichorst was fired, he had lost the ally in admin that had been the main source of bringing him to the program. Whether Riley yet realized that he was a lame duck or not--I don't think he did--Diaco certainly did, especially after Moos was hired. Being a decent DC in an impossible situation with sub-level talent and Titanic expectations, he didn't know what to do. He tried to hide his frustration and consternation with a William F. Buckley-level of vocabulary, but fans and media didn't need a thesaurus to know the difference between chicken soup and chicken crap. End of Nebraska story.

Now his career is rehabilitated, and he's at Purdue, and his first game at Purdue will be against the same Nebraska team that was probably a greater career failure than his lackluster tenure as UConn's head coach. What do those two things now have in common, besides Diaco? Scott Frost. When UCF beat UConn, Frost famously didn't bother to even pick up Diaco's homemade forced "ConnFLiCT" trophy, and everybody jumps on the bandwagon of loving a winner or mocking a loser, and Diaco became a pathetic figure. Nebraska, which had seemed like his shot at redemption, then followed his time at UConny by taking his career and reputation even lower.

Do you suppose he might be working on a gameplan against Nebraska already?

Wow. That’s some in-depth and much-need perspective. Thanks, MABC!
 

just like Lombardi (or was Lombardi following Christ) no deception, same play over and over ran to perfection
 

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