Athlon: Open letter to the concerned Nebraska fan

[NUance]

Verbal commitments to other schools mean nothing. This staff plays Big Boy College Football and I can tell you that you’ll enjoy what Nebraska wraps up in a bow for you this February. Not only that, but the Huskers are in on more four- and five-star prospects than I can ever remember for next year.

This little snippet at the end seems sort of out of context. But, boy, I LIKE what I hear.

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[knapplc]

Reading the comments there and seeing some of the flaming here has me convinced that there are way too many idiots that call themselves Husker fans.

Same ol' same ol'. The patient, sane fans don't tend to post alot.

'
I have the most posts on this site. What are you saying?

 

[Savage Husker]

But wasn't South Carolina horrible and didn't SS lead them to their only 10 win seasons or something like that? With a few top 5 rankings during the seasons and some high ranked recruiting classes?

Saban took over a pretty bad LSU team and won a title.

Look, Riley will get it done at NU, there is no doubt. But the comparisons seem odd.

I know SS lead them to a top10 but all I ever heard was how Lou Holtz was the one that turned South Carolina around and SS built from there.

 

[MichiganDad3]

Nothing frustrates me more than when people say Riley is "Callahan 2.0". About the only thing the two have in common is they run a pro style offense. Riley is embracing the tradition at Nebraska. He's allowing former players to help in practice, he gave out the blackshirts before the season started so we could avoid the "when will Bo give out the blackshirts talk?" throughout the season, and heck he's allowing Boyd Epley to help in the training room! I believe Sipple wrote an article before the season about Dantonio and Michigan State, and how just a couple years ago they were a 6-6 team, that we need to be patient.

And to anyone who says "You hire a .500 coach, you're going to be .500", you're being completely naive. It's been said time and time again Oregon State and Nebraska are two completely different programs, but apparently that doesn't mean anything to some people so let's use other examples. Can you imagine if a coach was consistently .500 or better at schools like Purdue, Iowa State, and Kentucky? They would be celebrated as the next up and coming coach. That's what Mike Riley did at Oregon State.

Being a Chargers fan, me as much as anyone should be pessimistic about Riley, this is the 2nd time he's coached one of my teams. But I'm not because I'm able to see that this guy can coach as good as anyone. He's not Bill Callahan, not even close. I truly believe that Mike Riley and his staff are going to do great things here at Nebraska, and when his time here is done, we're going to be on a better path than we were before he came here.

I think it is a combination of WCO and an historically bad DC who is a buddy that causes the Callahan 2.0 comments.

 

[GBRedneck]

Nothing frustrates me more than when people say Riley is "Callahan 2.0". About the only thing the two have in common is they run a pro style offense. Riley is embracing the tradition at Nebraska. He's allowing former players to help in practice, he gave out the blackshirts before the season started so we could avoid the "when will Bo give out the blackshirts talk?" throughout the season, and heck he's allowing Boyd Epley to help in the training room! I believe Sipple wrote an article before the season about Dantonio and Michigan State, and how just a couple years ago they were a 6-6 team, that we need to be patient.

And to anyone who says "You hire a .500 coach, you're going to be .500", you're being completely naive. It's been said time and time again Oregon State and Nebraska are two completely different programs, but apparently that doesn't mean anything to some people so let's use other examples. Can you imagine if a coach was consistently .500 or better at schools like Purdue, Iowa State, and Kentucky? They would be celebrated as the next up and coming coach. That's what Mike Riley did at Oregon State.

Being a Chargers fan, me as much as anyone should be pessimistic about Riley, this is the 2nd time he's coached one of my teams. But I'm not because I'm able to see that this guy can coach as good as anyone. He's not Bill Callahan, not even close. I truly believe that Mike Riley and his staff are going to do great things here at Nebraska, and when his time here is done, we're going to be on a better path than we were before he came here.

I think it is a combination of WCO and an historically bad DC who is a buddy that causes the Callahan 2.0 comments.

And:

- Replaces a 9-3 coach winning over 70% of his games with no losing seasons at the only school that ever fired a 9-3 coach

- Breaks multiple long time record winning streaks
- Starts a dual threat QB built to run the previous system
- Has fans vocally blaming woes on a bare cupboard
- Has lifetime winning percentage between .480 and .520
- Winless when trailing at halftime

There's probably more. And there will almost certainly be more in the future. Loss to Southern Miss first season?

 

[teachercd]

But wasn't South Carolina horrible and didn't SS lead them to their only 10 win seasons or something like that? With a few top 5 rankings during the seasons and some high ranked recruiting classes?

Saban took over a pretty bad LSU team and won a title.

Look, Riley will get it done at NU, there is no doubt. But the comparisons seem odd.

I know SS lead them to a top10 but all I ever heard was how Lou Holtz was the one that turned South Carolina around and SS built from there.

I guess I always thought Holtz was kind of lame while at USC

 

[NU5XChamps]

Nothing frustrates me more than when people say Riley is "Callahan 2.0". About the only thing the two have in common is they run a pro style offense. Riley is embracing the tradition at Nebraska. He's allowing former players to help in practice, he gave out the blackshirts before the season started so we could avoid the "when will Bo give out the blackshirts talk?" throughout the season, and heck he's allowing Boyd Epley to help in the training room! I believe Sipple wrote an article before the season about Dantonio and Michigan State, and how just a couple years ago they were a 6-6 team, that we need to be patient.

And to anyone who says "You hire a .500 coach, you're going to be .500", you're being completely naive. It's been said time and time again Oregon State and Nebraska are two completely different programs, but apparently that doesn't mean anything to some people so let's use other examples. Can you imagine if a coach was consistently .500 or better at schools like Purdue, Iowa State, and Kentucky? They would be celebrated as the next up and coming coach. That's what Mike Riley did at Oregon State.

Being a Chargers fan, me as much as anyone should be pessimistic about Riley, this is the 2nd time he's coached one of my teams. But I'm not because I'm able to see that this guy can coach as good as anyone. He's not Bill Callahan, not even close. I truly believe that Mike Riley and his staff are going to do great things here at Nebraska, and when his time here is done, we're going to be on a better path than we were before he came here.

I think it is a combination of WCO and an historically bad DC who is a buddy that causes the Callahan 2.0 comments.

And:

- Replaces a 9-3 coach winning over 70% of his games with no losing seasons at the only school that ever fired a 9-3 coach

- Breaks multiple long time record winning streaks
- Starts a dual threat QB built to run the previous system
- Has fans vocally blaming woes on a bare cupboard
- Has lifetime winning percentage between .480 and .520
- Winless when trailing at halftime

There's probably more. And there will almost certainly be more in the future. Loss to Southern Miss first season?

Haters will be haters. Your probably the same guy that was blasting "BO" for the blow out losses and sideline tirades. Get over it, he's gone and we have move on.

 

[Spooky Tooth]

Nothing frustrates me more than when people say Riley is "Callahan 2.0". About the only thing the two have in common is they run a pro style offense. Riley is embracing the tradition at Nebraska. He's allowing former players to help in practice, he gave out the blackshirts before the season started so we could avoid the "when will Bo give out the blackshirts talk?" throughout the season, and heck he's allowing Boyd Epley to help in the training room! I believe Sipple wrote an article before the season about Dantonio and Michigan State, and how just a couple years ago they were a 6-6 team, that we need to be patient.

And to anyone who says "You hire a .500 coach, you're going to be .500", you're being completely naive. It's been said time and time again Oregon State and Nebraska are two completely different programs, but apparently that doesn't mean anything to some people so let's use other examples. Can you imagine if a coach was consistently .500 or better at schools like Purdue, Iowa State, and Kentucky? They would be celebrated as the next up and coming coach. That's what Mike Riley did at Oregon State.

Being a Chargers fan, me as much as anyone should be pessimistic about Riley, this is the 2nd time he's coached one of my teams. But I'm not because I'm able to see that this guy can coach as good as anyone. He's not Bill Callahan, not even close. I truly believe that Mike Riley and his staff are going to do great things here at Nebraska, and when his time here is done, we're going to be on a better path than we were before he came here.

I think it is a combination of WCO and an historically bad DC who is a buddy that causes the Callahan 2.0 comments.

And:

- Replaces a 9-3 coach winning over 70% of his games with no losing seasons at the only school that ever fired a 9-3 coach

- Breaks multiple long time record winning streaks
- Starts a dual threat QB built to run the previous system
- Has fans vocally blaming woes on a bare cupboard
- Has lifetime winning percentage between .480 and .520
- Winless when trailing at halftime

There's probably more. And there will almost certainly be more in the future. Loss to Southern Miss first season?

Hey, now. In the interest of balance, Bo was the only coach in modern times at NU to repeatedly make a fool of himself on national television. Make ya a bet......tv cameras will be less absorbed with Riley's behavior on the field than they were with ol' lickspittle. Take me up on that?

 

[Highway6]

That is a really bad article. First thing that stuck out:

"Believe me, I knew I’d hear the complaints about him being a “.500 coach” or “the next Bill Callahan”, but these claims simply aren’t true. "

OK, he might or might not be right about the Callahan part. That's opinion. But the ".500 coach" part? That is a an absolute fact. Riley's current lifetime head coaching W/L record is 148-148. He is EXACTLY a ".500 coach".

Next part, which is just inaccurate ignorance that I see way too much of:

There are plenty of people that’ll call me a “hater” for saying this (and you may be one of them), but Bo Pelini’s team doesn’t get to overtime. His team doesn’t score another point in the fourth and might even give up another three or seven.

This isn’t because I dislike Pelini at all; it was just his MO at Nebraska. When the going got tough, the tougher ran away with the win.

Bo has the biggest comeback victory in Husker history! He had a huge come from behind OT victory in his last game! He came back and won a lot of games after trailing at halftime.

OTOH, Callahan was 0-17 when trailing at halftime, and Riley is off to a very Callahanesque start with an 0-2 record when trailing at halftime after only three games.

Oh wait, this might explain it . . . Written by Brandon Cavanaugh, who is part of the Athlon Contributor Network.

Is this one of those sites where anybody can be a sportswriter?

Boom! Roasted.

 

[ScottyIce]

Please get out the ban stick, please!!!

 

[BigRedBuster]

But wasn't South Carolina horrible and didn't SS lead them to their only 10 win seasons or something like that? With a few top 5 rankings during the seasons and some high ranked recruiting classes?

Saban took over a pretty bad LSU team and won a title.

Look, Riley will get it done at NU, there is no doubt. But the comparisons seem odd.

And now Spurrier is back yo only winning 7 games.

OSU was pathetically horrible before Rilry and he took them to their first 10 win season.

 

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Nothing frustrates me more than when people say Riley is "Callahan 2.0". About the only thing the two have in common is they run a pro style offense. Riley is embracing the tradition at Nebraska. He's allowing former players to help in practice, he gave out the blackshirts before the season started so we could avoid the "when will Bo give out the blackshirts talk?" throughout the season, and heck he's allowing Boyd Epley to help in the training room! I believe Sipple wrote an article before the season about Dantonio and Michigan State, and how just a couple years ago they were a 6-6 team, that we need to be patient.

And to anyone who says "You hire a .500 coach, you're going to be .500", you're being completely naive. It's been said time and time again Oregon State and Nebraska are two completely different programs, but apparently that doesn't mean anything to some people so let's use other examples. Can you imagine if a coach was consistently .500 or better at schools like Purdue, Iowa State, and Kentucky? They would be celebrated as the next up and coming coach. That's what Mike Riley did at Oregon State.

Being a Chargers fan, me as much as anyone should be pessimistic about Riley, this is the 2nd time he's coached one of my teams. But I'm not because I'm able to see that this guy can coach as good as anyone. He's not Bill Callahan, not even close. I truly believe that Mike Riley and his staff are going to do great things here at Nebraska, and when his time here is done, we're going to be on a better path than we were before he came here.

I think it is a combination of WCO and an historically bad DC who is a buddy that causes the Callahan 2.0 comments.

[snip]

- Replaces a 9-3 coach winning over 70% of his games with no losing seasons at the only school that ever fired a 9-3 coach Stop.

- Breaks multiple long time record winning streaks Stop. Since the turn of the century, BYU is probably the toughest team we've faced to start the season. Riley keeps the "vaunted" winning streak going if we play South Alabama (much like Bo, Bill, and Frank did) first and BYU second. We also don't schedule 2 teams who could clearly beat us early in the year. It's always been: crap school, crap school, tough game, crap school, conference play. You come off as a fool if you don't acknowledge that pretty important bit of information.

- Starts a dual threat QB built to run the previous system Stop. What the hell else is Mike Riley supposed to do? Not start a guy who has started the last two years for the team in favor of someone who has never started? Really?!

- Has fans vocally blaming woes on a bare cupboard Stop. The team has talent, but it doesn't have depth, which once again can't be put pinned to Mike Riley. You need depth to win a lot of games, just look at Alabama, Michigan State, Ohio State; all those schools has depth. Nebraska doesn't. What's nice though, is that Nebraska will essentially return everyone next year, which means that we have a tremendous opportunity to build depth this year. That's exciting, most schools going through a coaching change don't have that luxury.

- Has lifetime winning percentage between .480 and .520 Stop. Anyone who continues to purport this fact as an argument must be the same people who think building a wall is going to stop our drug problem. Rarely is anything the cause of a single factor (i.e., coaching ability in this case). Here are the past records of the last 50 years of OSU coaches: Dee Andros 44-64 (.407), Craig Fertig 8-36 (.182), Joe Avezzano, 6-47 (.113), Dave Kragthorpe 16-48 (.250), Jerry Pettibone, 13-52 (.200), Mike Riley I 8-14 (.363) Dennis Erickson 31-17 (.646), Mike Riley II 75-66 (.532). Yes, even the great Dennis Erickson--who won national championships at Miami, couldn't replicate the same thing at Oregon State. Why do you think that is? He's obviously a national championship winning coach, so why didn't he win a national title at Oregon State?

--Winless when trailing at halftime Stop. Obviously, Mike Riley has won games when trailing at halftime. He hasn't done it while he's been here yet, but the guy has coached 3 games. It's dense to think that, it must be set in stone that we'll never win when trailing at the half just because it's happened after 3 games. For the longest time under Bo, Nebraska was undefeated when rushing for over x yards, and if that stat would've held--like you must think it does--we would've won a lot more games than we actually did.

 

[teachercd]

But wasn't South Carolina horrible and didn't SS lead them to their only 10 win seasons or something like that? With a few top 5 rankings during the seasons and some high ranked recruiting classes?

Saban took over a pretty bad LSU team and won a title.

Look, Riley will get it done at NU, there is no doubt. But the comparisons seem odd.

And now Spurrier is back yo only winning 7 games.

OSU was pathetically horrible before Rilry and he took them to their first 10 win season.

You don't have to tell me! I am Pro-Riley!!!!

 

[BigRedBuster]

But wasn't South Carolina horrible and didn't SS lead them to their only 10 win seasons or something like that? With a few top 5 rankings during the seasons and some high ranked recruiting classes?

Saban took over a pretty bad LSU team and won a title.

Look, Riley will get it done at NU, there is no doubt. But the comparisons seem odd.

And now Spurrier is back yo only winning 7 games. OSU was pathetically horrible before Rilry and he took them to their first 10 win season.

You don't have to tell me! I am Pro-Riley!!!!

Good!!!

 

[teachercd]

But wasn't South Carolina horrible and didn't SS lead them to their only 10 win seasons or something like that? With a few top 5 rankings during the seasons and some high ranked recruiting classes?

Saban took over a pretty bad LSU team and won a title.

Look, Riley will get it done at NU, there is no doubt. But the comparisons seem odd.

And now Spurrier is back yo only winning 7 games. OSU was pathetically horrible before Rilry and he took them to their first 10 win season.

You don't have to tell me! I am Pro-Riley!!!!

Good!!!

I guess you could argue that it also shows how hard it is to win 9-10 games each year