Message from former player.

[winnerwinner]

If the guys on the field aren’t playing with heart, none of those other things matter. The best game plan doesn’t work without heart. No adjustment can overcome a guy who isn’t tough. You and some of your buddies need to know we won numerous games in the past just because we were tougher. Remember that pep talk TO gave at halftime against Miami? Keep doing what you are doing, you are wearing them down. Remember Graham describing how they could see the quit showing up more every play. We didn’t make adjustments, we worked the plan, played tough, and broke them. That’s all MN did on Saturday, no great coaching tricks, they just were tougher.

if the players aren't playing with heart, they shouldn't be on the field. that's accountability. 100% within the purview of the coaches. if what you say is correct, and it all starts with heart, well then, there's 150 players on campus. are you telling me we can't find 30 players out of 150 to play with heart?

we went through that with each of the last two staffs.

 

[goodnterribles]

Love it when ex-players interject themselves into the dumpster fire. Frost did it back in the day when he had a ton of ideas on how to end the boat races. Tommy Frazier had his infamous rants. Damion, Peter, Crouch all weigh in. Not to mention a slew less prolific ex-skers want to flex their toughness. Or insanity.

None of it matters. It’s all hot air about how things were done 20 years ago. This is a different generation of athlete. They have to be coached and motivated differently. Having a freshman like Wandale walking in fear through the varsity locker room would be dumb. Wouldn’t fly today. Not to mention beating each other into the dirt in practice is simply going to reduce the available bodies come game day.

This reads like a drunken rant. First injured and couldn’t play and then played 8 games? Seems passionate but a little nutso.

*Tommie
*Damon

 

[Huskerwisdom]

Do you really believe what you just typed? The strength of our walk on classes is so far down the list of needs for this team right now. If we have walk on starting or playing significant minutes it’s because we have made to many recruiting misses. There is true value in the walk on program but not to the extent some of you make it out to be and are not what I would call the foundation for our success.

I don't put it at the top of the list, but we're a bit like the business case for Southwest airlines. There aren't a lot of things we can be the "best" at in our business, but we have to be very good to excellent at a whole range of things.

In Walk-ons we can be the best as it's unique to us, and we need it to be a national contender again, IMO, but it certainly isn't the only thing we need.

I will say this, though, if we had the walk on program working like this 5 years ago, our OL would look entirely different right now - Hixson, Forbes, Miller and a number of the other guys will be very solid players as Juniors/Seniors and maybe even by the end of their sophomore year as well.

 

[CO4NU]

If the guys on the field aren’t playing with heart, none of those other things matter. The best game plan doesn’t work without heart. No adjustment can overcome a guy who isn’t tough. You and some of your buddies need to know we won numerous games in the past just because we were tougher. Remember that pep talk TO gave at halftime against Miami? Keep doing what you are doing, you are wearing them down. Remember Graham describing how they could see the quit showing up more every play. We didn’t make adjustments, we worked the plan, played tough, and broke them. That’s all MN did on Saturday, no great coaching tricks, they just were tougher.

Yep

 

[HuskerNash]

I don't put it at the top of the list, but we're a bit like the business case for Southwest airlines. There aren't a lot of things we can be the "best" at in our business, but we have to be very good to excellent at a whole range of things.

In Walk-ons we can be the best as it's unique to us, and we need it to be a national contender again, IMO, but it certainly isn't the only thing we need.

I will say this, though, if we had the walk on program working like this 5 years ago, our OL would look entirely different right now - Hixson, Forbes, Miller and a number of the other guys will be very solid players as Juniors/Seniors and maybe even by the end of their sophomore year as well.

As I have mentioned several times I am not discounting the value of the walk-on program. I agree with what you are saying, I just don't put the value of it at the top of our priority list. Scott is no dummy and I'm not sure some of his "talk" isn't just to satisfy the masses. Sure he knows he needs a strong program but I think he realizes it's limitations in the current form and understands that when we have walk on's starting it is because of misses in recruiting. Once again that doesn't minimize the value or need. My opinion has been based on the offense we now run and the changes in the college football landscape. I also don't think that walk-on program is or ever has been unique to us. I just think that the combination of difficulties in recruiting to our locale, the uniqueness of our offense in it's day, coupled with the point of emphasis we have put on it makes it seem that we have some sort of monopoly on it. In the past we needed road grading run blockers and found many local kids that were undervalued due to the offenses run in our Nebraska High Schools. With the advent of spread offenses we are looking for a different kind of skill set that might not be as readily available in local high schools. Scott also is very committed to his philosophies and has certain measurables he is looking for at various positions. You have to remember that back in the day of TO, we had nearly EVERY high school coach in Nebraska running something similar to what the Huskers ran. What we ran was different than nearly everyone else. That provided a ripe environment for a very strong walk on program as we had somewhat of a feeder system of football players that didn't fit other systems. Not sure we are anywhere close to that today but I do know we have moved back to the pack and are no longer unique in anything we do offensively.

 

[AzHusker]

If the guys on the field aren’t playing with heart, none of those other things matter. The best game plan doesn’t work without heart. No adjustment can overcome a guy who isn’t tough. You and some of your buddies need to know we won numerous games in the past just because we were tougher. Remember that pep talk TO gave at halftime against Miami? Keep doing what you are doing, you are wearing them down. Remember Graham describing how they could see the quit showing up more every play. We didn’t make adjustments, we worked the plan, played tough, and broke them. That’s all MN did on Saturday, no great coaching tricks, they just were tougher.

Those were the days!!

After the Minnie game, Scott basically said we are not good enough to dominate anybody, so they have try to scheme better (basically as a last resort).

 

[sdhusker]

As I post.......lack of football players.........lots of guy playing football.........just not football players..........like a Kenny Bell or Rex Burkhead

 

[Bugeater45]

No you’re quite wrong I was one of the ones that said we were banking on our improvement based on close losses last year to Iowa and Ohio state and wins over some pretty average teams. I believe in Scott frost but I get tired of walk on stories and memories of our past and how it was done 20+ years ago. I also think it’s a dis-service to elite level athletes if you think they need a walk on to push them as it insinuates the are lazy or unmotivated. You mentioned it as a foundation for success and I might call it a brick. We have much bigger issues to be concerned with. I also value of the guys that have been there and done that in the glory years but let’s be honest most have huge egos and think the only way to return to greatness is how they did it under TO. My guess is current huskers quickly tire of the stories of the past and hearing how men in their 40s did things. I’m not saying that’s right but putting myself in today’s husker shoes, I know I’d tire quickly of hearing stories of how we did it better back in the day.

I watched a game Saturday night where a good (but not great) Minnesota team looked a whole heck of a lot closer to a Husker team of the '90's than anything I have seen wearing scarlet and cream over the last 10+ years. And the game wasn't even as close as the score indicated. Maybe it wouldn't hurt for today's players to be reminded of what it took to win in the '90's and what it will take to win in the future. Hell, if I were coach, I would probably loop some '90's highlights of tough running, offensive line pancakes and devastatingly, fundamentally sound tackling so that current players can see and be reminded of what those men in their 40's did game in and game out to win over 90% of their football games back in the day. And I am fine with coaches telling current players to get better, tougher, more physical or quit this team. Winning old school is not old fashion...Minnesota proved that point quite convincingly Saturday night.

You keep talking about how walk-ons are not our biggest problems (and I don't disagree) or that reminding these current players of the past is not the answer, what exactly are we missing right now in your opinion and what will turn this around?

 

[Goal-line]

Brian Schuster is with Chris Dishman and 2 others.
2 hrs ·

Common theme with these people. Each of us including Kenny, Toby Wright and Holbein were just tougher than everyone we played. Stars matter at some skill positions but heart and toughness is what football is. Football is about burying the guy across from you. It's about making the other guy quit. It's about him tapping his helmet and letting his backup come get his whipping. Right now we have 3 years of a soft attitude to still overcome. Our leaders were recruited and told grand stories about just showing up and doing whatever to get to the NFL. That doesn't work. Theres a reason Saban coaches as hard and tough as he does.
My kids know you never get helped off the field. You crawl off if needed. Nobody sees you hurt. You make the other guy quit. You dont let your coaches, teammates, friends down. You dont sing on the bus after a loss. You dont smile for pictures after. You dont leave anything on the field. Period. You dont have to play dirty but you play to hurt people clean and get them to quit and you come play after play. Not just in the fall, but everyday. 3/5ths of our roster would enter the transfer portal the first time Scott grabbed a facemask. Kevin Steele used to tell me I was crap, I was soft, I needed to be tougher... He then went to Carolina and called me during the draft and told me how much respect he had for me and signed me to the Panthers.
Toby used to kill me everyday. EVERY DAY! The first thing he said when I saw him was that he loved me and hugged me like brothers. I havent seen him in 25 years basically. These guys were nasty and they hit me, buried me, jumped on me, pushed me in the dirt, held me down, and then let me know about it. Then did it again and again, every play of everyday. It was our mindset. You get tougher or you quit. We had lots of attrition, nobody talked much about that.
I was so afraid of letting my teammates and coaches down I played 5 stars above who I was. Can you imagine me looking at Tommie and telling him to deal with me being lazy and letting him get hit? Scott too. 37 cortisone shots in my neck and shoulders in one season. Broken collarbone and grade 4 separated shoulder. Didnt play one game but I was suited up and ready to go if needed. Played 8 games with that. Surgery wasnt an option. Joel and Billy had bad hamstrings. Coach Osborne told me no matter what, I could not come off the field in 3 games. That's when you see how tough you are.
Our entire staff is doing everything right. I've been there as a former player and a father of a recruit listening to their plan and daily activities. All of our pieces are in place to be great again. The toughness mindset is not a quick fix. You not only have lots of kids that play that never had it or will, they are leading our new recruits and that still permeates through the program for years.
There is something to be said about a freshman being terrified of walking through the varsity locker Room because of how nasty and physically intimidating our defense was.
It is comical to me that any fan on here would question anything that this that staff is doing and trying to overcome. Scott said it best, he sees how much weight these guys move in the weight room and the fact that they cant move a guy across from him is just what I've said. We have the right guy, the right staff, the right group. I promise you.

Yes

 

[Huskerwisdom]

As I have mentioned several times I am not discounting the value of the walk-on program. I agree with what you are saying, I just don't put the value of it at the top of our priority list. Scott is no dummy and I'm not sure some of his "talk" isn't just to satisfy the masses. Sure he knows he needs a strong program but I think he realizes it's limitations in the current form and understands that when we have walk on's starting it is because of misses in recruiting. Once again that doesn't minimize the value or need. My opinion has been based on the offense we now run and the changes in the college football landscape. I also don't think that walk-on program is or ever has been unique to us. I just think that the combination of difficulties in recruiting to our locale, the uniqueness of our offense in it's day, coupled with the point of emphasis we have put on it makes it seem that we have some sort of monopoly on it. In the past we needed road grading run blockers and found many local kids that were undervalued due to the offenses run in our Nebraska High Schools. With the advent of spread offenses we are looking for a different kind of skill set that might not be as readily available in local high schools. Scott also is very committed to his philosophies and has certain measurables he is looking for at various positions. You have to remember that back in the day of TO, we had nearly EVERY high school coach in Nebraska running something similar to what the Huskers ran. What we ran was different than nearly everyone else. That provided a ripe environment for a very strong walk on program as we had somewhat of a feeder system of football players that didn't fit other systems. Not sure we are anywhere close to that today but I do know we have moved back to the pack and are no longer unique in anything we do offensively.

We have some clear areas where we can recruit walk-ons - some LB positions, Interior OL, some TE's, safety, and even WR.

Interior OL works well for us because we can get guys who fit with quickness, athleticism and nastiness, but overall, our walk on program has an opportunity because of the 85 scholarship limit and the size of the schools in Nebraska.

So many skill players today are recruited not just for athleticism, but for development, polish and scheme. Even linemen are much more developed at P5 programs than they ever were 20 to 30 years ago. But while our in state schools do nice work, they aren't doing nearly what a huge HS in Texas is to get guys ready (in some cases leaded to maxed out players who really aren't going to get all that much better in college). So we're able to find some of these smaller school kids who aren't all that developed -- even in positions where you think we wouldn't find walk-ons -- for instance look at Reimer and Stalbird - excellent athletes who slipped between the cracks to us.

We're also finding OLinemen to walk on with great frames who fit our style. Now, it's going to be up to Duval and Ellis to show us they can get those guys ready, but that's true of the entire team. S&C hasn't been cutting edge since about the time Solich took over, unfortunately

 

[LarstheRed]

if the players aren't playing with heart, they shouldn't be on the field. that's accountability. 100% within the purview of the coaches. if what you say is correct, and it all starts with heart, well then, there's 150 players on campus. are you telling me we can't find 30 players out of 150 to play with heart?

we went through that with each of the last two staffs.

Right, let’s load up with those scrappy walkons, and then we’ll show the world!

In high school, my team didn’t know about winning, and we sure weren’t tough. We could beat some with talent alone, but if we played a team that was scrappy, more often than not, we’d lose. The same was true of my team as a freshman. Then I went to a team that was successful, winning was expected, our guys were nasty, they were winners. It started to rub off on me. It didn’t fully set in my first year, or even my second, but by year 3, I was one of the guys showing the young guys what it meant to play tough. It takes a little time to learn to live it everyday.

If I were a coach, I’d look for the right high schools that teach toughness, and not entitlement. I’m sure there are 30 guys who are tough, but if they are 260 lb linemen, that’s not going to work. If they are 4.7 receivers, that’s not cutting it.

Last year was spent running off at least some of the lazy, entitled guys, and trying to teach them new everything. This year we are still teaching, still cleaning up, but we have one more class of players we believe are the type we want to grow with.

Take a breath, stop thinking you have the answer, recognize we have had a soft team for at least the last 6 years, and let the process continue without needing someone to blame for your hurt feelings.

 

[HuskerNash]

I watched a game Saturday night where a good (but not great) Minnesota team looked a whole heck of a lot closer to a Husker team of the '90's than anything I have seen wearing scarlet and cream over the last 10+ years. And the game wasn't even as close as the score indicated. Maybe it wouldn't hurt for today's players to be reminded of what it took to win in the '90's and what it will take to win in the future. Hell, if I were coach, I would probably loop some '90's highlights of tough running, offensive line pancakes and devastatingly, fundamentally sound tackling so that current players can see and be reminded of what those men in their 40's did game in and game out to win over 90% of their football games back in the day. And I am fine with coaches telling current players to get better, tougher, more physical or quit this team. Winning old school is not old fashion...Minnesota proved that point quite convincingly Saturday night.

You keep talking about how walk-ons are not our biggest problems (and I don't disagree) or that reminding these current players of the past is not the answer, what exactly are we missing right now in your opinion and what will turn this around?

I'm not paid to figure it out. I'm only giving an opinion. You put more value than I do on the walk on program. You put more value on 95 Husker player telling them how to get it done than I do. It's ok to have a different viewpoint. I just believe some have a love affair with the walk on story and put too much emphasis on doing things how they were done 20 years ago but that too is ok. We are all fans in different ways. I'm not trying to change your or anyone else's opinion. Just stating mine and why I feel that way.

 

[Bugeater45]

As I have mentioned several times I am not discounting the value of the walk-on program. I agree with what you are saying, I just don't put the value of it at the top of our priority list. Scott is no dummy and I'm not sure some of his "talk" isn't just to satisfy the masses. Sure he knows he needs a strong program but I think he realizes it's limitations in the current form and understands that when we have walk on's starting it is because of misses in recruiting. Once again that doesn't minimize the value or need. My opinion has been based on the offense we now run and the changes in the college football landscape. I also don't think that walk-on program is or ever has been unique to us. I just think that the combination of difficulties in recruiting to our locale, the uniqueness of our offense in it's day, coupled with the point of emphasis we have put on it makes it seem that we have some sort of monopoly on it. In the past we needed road grading run blockers and found many local kids that were undervalued due to the offenses run in our Nebraska High Schools. With the advent of spread offenses we are looking for a different kind of skill set that might not be as readily available in local high schools. Scott also is very committed to his philosophies and has certain measurables he is looking for at various positions. You have to remember that back in the day of TO, we had nearly EVERY high school coach in Nebraska running something similar to what the Huskers ran. What we ran was different than nearly everyone else. That provided a ripe environment for a very strong walk on program as we had somewhat of a feeder system of football players that didn't fit other systems. Not sure we are anywhere close to that today but I do know we have moved back to the pack and are no longer unique in anything we do offensively.

Maybe at some point Scott will need to reassess his commitment to his spread offense philosophy in light of the realities of playing every week in in Big Ten country. Osborne began his head coaching career with a very pass-heavy offense, but after losing to Oklahoma 6 or 7 straight times, his philosophy changed. Once he adapted his offensive philosophy to a more run-heavy offense did his football team see the kind of success it takes to win multiple national championships.

I just hope it doesn't take Scott 6 or 7 years to figure this out...

 

[HuskerNash]

Maybe at some point Scott will need to reassess his commitment to his spread offense philosophy in light of the realities of playing every week in in Big Ten country. Osborne began his head coaching career with a very pass-heavy offense, but after losing to Oklahoma 6 or 7 straight times, his philosophy changed. Once he adapted his offensive philosophy to a more run-heavy offense did his football team see the kind of success it takes to win multiple national championships.

I just hope it doesn't take Scott 6 or 7 years to figure this out...

Me either. Much of what I like about SF and his offense is that it is fun. When it's working, it's fun too watch, I think players love it, and I think recruits do as well.

 

[Bugeater45]

I'm not paid to figure it out. I'm only giving an opinion. You put more value than I do on the walk on program. You put more value on 95 Husker player telling them how to get it done than I do. It's ok to have a different viewpoint. I just believe some have a love affair with the walk on story and put too much emphasis on doing things how they were done 20 years ago but that too is ok. We are all fans in different ways. I'm not trying to change your or anyone else's opinion. Just stating mine and why I feel that way.

No worries. Everyone can have their opinion. Mine would be that there is value and lessons that today's players can learn from our teams from the '90's. In terms of he walk-on program in Nebraska, I feel it is most important to give us numbers/depth. We need that in this league probably as much if not more than we did in the Big 12, especially with the scholarship limits. And when you find those 3-5 diamonds in the rough every year...walk-ons that make a difference and play and contribute quality minutes, it makes the walk-on program all the more important.