Thank goodness the fans don't hire coaches.
No kidding. If this were the case we'd probably hire
Paul Johnson. Who, by the way, after having a great season in 2014, is 2-4 this year right alongside Riley. His players, his system.
The truth is I completely understand where many fans are coming from. We're sick and tired of losing. We spent four decades being one of the greatest programs in the country and now are pretty average, and have only been average the last 14 or so years. We then see programs like Michigan hire a head coach who has things completely turned around in year one.
The problem, however, is that these types of situations are completely incomparable. Nebraska is not Michigan or any place else, and vice versa. Transition years can be rough because you need buy in, you need talent and you need a lot of things to go your way. I don't think there's a lot of buy in yet, I think this may be one of the least talented teams we've had around here in years and a lot of things aren't going our way.
I just take a more calming approach to these matters and hope for improvement in the coming years after a difficult transition. If 2-4 years from now things are really looking rough then it will be time to look elsewhere. But, I believe getting rid of a coach after one year will look horrible nationally and makes me question who would be comfortable coming here to coaching knowing a bad transition in year one could be a death sentence.