The Moaning of Life
- Thread starter knapplc
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kchusker_chris
New member
This is what worries me. Shawn didn't pull the trigger after Iowa - and in doing so I think he might have just painting himself into a corner with Bo. The decision to fire Frank was made after the 2002 season. Not entirely, but that's when it should have happened. Maybe they evaluated prospects and found interest wasn't what they wanted. (sound familiar?). Then went into 2003 with their decision already partially made. Short of a brilliant season, it was his last year. Then he put together 9 wins. Mediocre became a buzzword and here we are, back in an eerily similar position. The main difference is Frank had just turned the program around. Hired a hotshot D coordinator that put together one of the better D's in quite a while. Bo's struggling more and more to hit that 9 win mark.
At the end of next season, he'll have 8 or more wins. There's a very slim chance we implode to the point where we lose more. I just can't find more than 5 teams on that schedule that can beat us, even on a really rough day. Even the most negative of us can surely admit that. So worst case scenario for the Huskers, we're in a similar position to this season. If he didn't pull the trigger after Iowa, can he with an improved defense and 8-9 wins? Don't think so. No matter how the 3 or 4 losses looked. The time was after Iowa. I don't see Bo giving him that opportunity until 2016, when we actually play a top 50 schedule finally.
So assuming that's how it plays out next year (certainly likely), after finishing yet again with 4 losses...do we blame the administration for not extending Bo's contract? Or are we forced to extend it when Bo cries "I can't recruit w/ a short contract", and paint ourselves even more into a corner?
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Ulty
New member
I agree with this. After surviving an 8-4 regular season capped by his behavior at and after the Iowa game, I can't imagine Bo getting fired next season, or any season honestly, unless there is much more serious dip in performance.
There's a lot of debating about 9 wins and 4 losses. Whether we are optimistic or pessimistic about it, I think we just gotta get used to it.
Saunders
Administrator
Unless he leaves on his own accord, or he hangs himself, he's here to stay. It ties into my post above about 10 years ago, I don't think NU wants to go down that road again.
kchusker_chris
New member
Agree. The opportunity was after Iowa. It's passed. After watching this years hiring I'm fairly confident we could have landed a hell of a coach. It wouldn't have looked as bad as the Solich thing. Pelini certainly had given the administration more than enough ammo at that point. Not a single coach would have been shocked. It was very different than Frank at that point. But I don't see that opportunity surfacing again. 2016 will be a 7 win season. That'll do it. (if he hasn't already left) But as of now, 14'/15' are all Pelini.
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Saunders
Administrator
I don't think it was even a slam dunk after Iowa. There was some national talk about will (or should) NU let him go, and it was much more mixed than I expected. But, it certainly was easier right then than it would be now.
kchusker_chris
New member
Really? I sure thought it was. Most of what I read after Iowa were pretty shocked he wasn't let go. (I usually read Staples/Mandel on SI, couple on ESPN) But that was after it was already announced he was coming back. I didn't watch a lot of news or read much in the immediate days after because I was on vaca and kind of checked out in regards to the Huskers after that showing.
BigRedBuster
Active member
You claim Shawn painted himself in a corner by not firing Bo after the Iowa game. However, let's say that he put out feelers to coaches that he wanted and he received no interest in the job. What are his options?
Saunders
Administrator
I have a way-too-large CFB RSS right now. I read those guys and a whole bunch of others. Mandel and Feldman had a conversation on one of their podcasts about it, and basically said they saw both sides of fire/keep for Bo.
kchusker_chris
New member
That's what I originally thought - then I watched the coaching hires play out. I can't imagine that we wouldn't have been able to land a top candidate. Maybe one of the best years in a long time considering USC/Texas (PSU late) were the only big time programs making changes, and both made underwhelming hires. Strong would have been a much better fit at Nebraska than Texas IMO. Like anything, I'd imagine the job opening would generate interest Shawn couldn't have gauged just by putting out feelers. We'll never know obviously.
My opinion is that he had a far better opportunity to make a clean break from Bo after Iowa than he likely will any time over the next couple of seasons. Obviously it wasn't the right time to make the break. But now he'll have a hard time doing it.
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Enhance
Administrator
The negativity on this board is little else than human nature. It's always the same - upset people are much more likely to look for an avenue to voice their opinion than people that are content. And I accept that. Plus, we all know what the team did well this past year, but the far more interesting conversation is what Nebraska can do to improve in the areas it needs to improve. That's where you get debate and that's where things get interesting.
Some of the complaints and negativity on here are redundant and annoying, but I still find good conversation hidden in the rough.
One thing I'd like to see stop, though, is a few select posters consistently going after each other in threads. We get they don't like each other, but their back-and-forth derails some conversation.
Some of the complaints and negativity on here are redundant and annoying, but I still find good conversation hidden in the rough.
One thing I'd like to see stop, though, is a few select posters consistently going after each other in threads. We get they don't like each other, but their back-and-forth derails some conversation.
BigRedBuster
Active member
That's your opinion but, you really don't know.
What if the recruiting disadvantages Nebraska has because of location and NCAA regulations makes it so that top coaching candidates really don't want to come here? What if it makes it so that they would be much more willing to go to a place that might not have the history that Nebraska has but they are in a hot bed of talent?
In the "Recruits Decomitting" thread, there is a good discussion where pretty much everyone is agreeing that it is harder to get kids here and our coaches need to out work everyone else to get the same players. What if coaches that have the ability to go anywhere because they are that good just don't want to go to a place they have to work that hard to recruit?
These are all things we don't know but there is a chance this is happening.
QMany
New member
Count 'Bility
Banned
Buster has something here. Until this administration is will to pour the big bucks into the program and allow the HC to hire up a huge recruiting staff ala the big boys like Bama, I really dont think top coaches want anything to do with this place. Seriously, it is more work to the be the head coach at Nebraska than most places when it comes to recruiting. Youre constantly traveling and you have next to nothing to lean on as far as home grown kids. And theres no damn excuse why our staff shouldnt have full time access to mulitple private jets for things like this. I hear constantly about how they have to fly commercially and that's bullsh#t, and complete waste of time. We hammer Bo, but I dont think the administration is currently doing everything they can to support either. If we wanna play with the big boys, we're gonna have to pay like the big boys. It's that simple.