Local guys not exactly buying it either:
When Nebraska Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst sent out that statement on Monday, my first thought was a scene from “Animal House.” That’s the one in which Kevin Bacon’s character stands in front of a rioting crowd, throws up his hands and says, “Remain calm. All is well.”
And then he gets run over.
I’m not sure Eichorst’s attempt will achieve different results.
Eichorst and coach Mike Riley acknowledged the “elephant” in the room: The heat is on. The A.D. who said he would never comment on a coach in season just gave a vote of confidence — in his coach’s first season.
This tells me Eichorst is getting a lot of noise from boosters and/or regents about Riley’s 3-6 start. No surprise there.
Riley said he jotted down notes on Sunday night to talk about the state of the program because he expected the topic. Before being asked a question, he said, “with all this going on, we can’t be distracted.”
Welcome to Nebraska, Mike.
It was good to hear from both on the brush fire that is Nebraska football. But these statements don’t put out the fire. If anything, they fan the flames.
The thing that extinguishes fires is winning football games.
OWH
I'm not sure it was necessary for Eichorst to send out that letter, but I also have no problem with it — except for the part where he suggests Riley is rebuilding the program. It was 9-4 last season, not 4-9, right? Then again, if you're in Eichorst's shoes, or share his agenda, such a spin makes perfect sense.
Bottom line, there's no serious harm in Eichorst trying to convince fans that all is well. He might also have been trying to convince himself.
LJS
Thanks for the links, Mav. Yeah, on that -- not only are the fans not buying it, the local media isn't buying it and the national media isn't buying it either. ADSE is borderline snake oil salesman. This whole debacle has gotten out of hand. I believe with the board's approval along with President Hank Bounds and Chancellor Harvey Perlman, we can get rid of Eichorst. Harvey Perlman can save face just before he steps down next year and get a Nebraska son to be the new AD and to fix this mess. He did it in 2007 but nobody knew Pelini's attitude would be a thing of controversy in Lincoln. For obvious reasons, one has to include Trev Alberts into the mix. If Alberts is hired as the new AD, Erstad stays with the baseball program. Erstad wants out and he may very well get the LA Dodgers job and I don't think he likes working for Eichorst. The administration has been the problem for so long, they've got to own up to it and do something.
The stench of the football program's failures could go well beyond into next year and I know people love to talk recruiting but haven't we learned? We CAN'T place an 18 year old kid on a pedestal! The football program doesn't revolve around one single person. I don't care if we have Tommie Frazier 2.0 back there next year or Joe Montana, if we have Mike Riley and this staff here it doesn't matter. I have seen enough where I don't see the defense improving. I don't see a run game all of a sudden becoming efficient.
This IS Bill Callahan part II - The biggest danger is if the administration lets this disaster continue for 3-4 years only then will our program be in the depths. It's no secret that Regents, the President, and the Chancellor have all attended practices and most of them were at the game last week. More than half of them are concerned of the same old crap week in and week out, and I am too. I'm tired of this team regressing, I'm tired of listening to Riley and his staff dupe us and do the opposite. I'm not all happy joy joy with his Monday presser's they're more like someone who is trying to defend his job providing
small moral victories so the media doesn't chew him up and spit him out and the local media has been very generous to him. Riley and his staff do not know nor do they respect this football program. Riley didn't even know we traditionally wear red pants on the road. This is how misinformed he is. Eichorst made a pitch and it's almost like 75% of fans took it.
Now, every week we see him on the sidelines, jaw dropped, frozen in time. Motionless, speechless, not communicating with players, not communicating on his headset. He's just... inactive. These are all signs of someone who is burned out and ready to pack his bags and get out. Nebraska cannot continue to become a national punchline through loss after loss. It is going to damage our image, it's going to hurt recruiting. The gracious thing would be for Riley to resign, but this situation is uglier than that. It's going to take a lot more and from what I have "heard" this whole thing is 50/50 and up in the air. We've got 3 games left, two of them to be nationally televised. The worst is yet to come, IMO and fans are pretty aware of that.
