McKewon: Carry on

[Undone]

This short paragraph from Sam:

"Riley’s approach is never going to be nearly as polarizing or political [as Pelini's]. Fans, media, boosters and regents can get as whipped into a frenzy as they like, but, if face to face with Riley for any amount of time, I doubt you’d come away faulting the program structure, recruiting organization or mindset within the program."

doesn't quite go the whole way for me.

We may indeed not wind up faulting the program structure, recruiting organization or mindset within the program, we but I suspect we will have a relatively good shot at faulting the quality of coordinators and assistants Riley has surrounded himself with.

After a full season, I think Mike is a coach that's completely capable of coaching a team that starts and finishes in the Top 25 each season, and a coach who can get a team into the Top 10 sometimes. A coach who can seriously compete for a Big 10 title.

His coordinators though...that's a completely different issue where the doubts seem to be swirling feverishly.

 

[Enhance]

Not sure what article you guys read, but that actually eroded even more of my confidence in Riley. This says it all:

It doesn’t mean Riley, when reviewing the 2015 season, is satisfied. When asked if he thought Nebraska would finish 5-7, Riley said, “Probably not.”

"Probably not"?!?! How about, "Hell f'ing no!" Jesus, this guy went into the 2015 season thinking 5-7 was a real possibility. Nebraska is going to go anywhere until Charmin pulls his head out of his a$$, starts benching malcontents, and shifts to a power-run offense that relies on the run to setup the pass, not the other way around.

I think you're reading far too much into two words of an hour long interview. I would've said the same thing if asked that question preseason. Probabilities and expectations are two different things.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

http://www.omaha.com/huskers/mckewon-husker-football-coach-riley-carries-on-trying-to-translate/article_5b45146e-52db-5381-983d-14f4442df631.html

A great piece by Sam.

I think Sam McKewon and Dirk Chatelain have really picked up their game with their articles over the season. The guys at the Omaha World Herald in general have done an excellent job.

 

[Bowfin]

Remember how much discussion we had on that play after the Illinois game? Odd that no one mentioned the same play--run correctly--after the Michigan State game. I guess there's nothing to discuss when things are executed correctly, huh?.

Nobody talks much about icebergs unless they sink a luxury liner. Getting by one iceberg doesn't cancel out hitting one, now does it?

 

[cornographic]

Well, the 5-7 result on the season makes it fairly difficult to defend this coaching staff--especially the losses to ILL and Purdue(should never have happened). At the same time, these coaches seem competent and set an excellent tone for a good culture for Big Red football. In particular, I like what Langsdorf brings to the table with his offense and I thought overall his play calling was pretty decent. Our RB situation turned out to be surprisingly weak, otherwise I think there would have been more emphasis on the rushing game--which needs to happen @ NU.

Hate to say it again, but the outcome of some of those losses was the direct result of TA's play--i.e., the INTs. On the other hand, he is what probably kept us in most games and is a good leader for the team.

I don't know, lol, I really don't. The won/loss for the season sucks, but the coaches seem decent, likeable, and free from all the drama. All of the games we lost could easily have been wins, sooo...

I hope these guys can make it work, I want them to be successful so we don't have to go through this coaching change thing again.

Give 'em a chance, is what I'm saying, I guess.

 

[hskrpwr13]

Remember how much discussion we had on that play after the Illinois game? Odd that no one mentioned the same play--run correctly--after the Michigan State game. I guess there's nothing to discuss when things are executed correctly, huh?.

Nobody talks much about icebergs unless they sink a luxury liner. Getting by one iceberg doesn't cancel out hitting one, now does it?

Also, I doubt many saw the TD against MSU and thought, "Huh, isnt that the same play we saw against ILL, but executed correctly?". It was after the ILL game that it was revealed that the play call wasn't supposed to be a pass (ie TA's fault, not DL's). You're spot on, Bowfin, that DL getting a mulligan if you will for the ILL call, it doesn't absolve is overall questionable play calling with the talent at hand.

 

[cornographic]

Remember how much discussion we had on that play after the Illinois game? Odd that no one mentioned the same play--run correctly--after the Michigan State game. I guess there's nothing to discuss when things are executed correctly, huh?.

Nobody talks much about icebergs unless they sink a luxury liner. Getting by one iceberg doesn't cancel out hitting one, now does it?

Also, I doubt many saw the TD against MSU and thought, "Huh, isnt that the same play we saw against ILL, but executed correctly?". It was after the ILL game that it was revealed that the play call wasn't supposed to be a pass (ie TA's fault, not DL's). You're spot on, Bowfin, that DL getting a mulligan if you will for the ILL call, it doesn't absolve is overall questionable play calling with the talent at hand.

I was only able to listen to the ILL game on satellite radio and the main thing I recall about that game is TA throwing numerous, consecutive incompletions more than once during the game. I think he ended @ 39% passing. Well, makes one wonder, as usual, why they didn't run the ball more, but TA had a particularly bad game.

 

[Elf]

Is anyone really surprised that Riley isn't planning on any staff changes. These are his best buddies. He is gonna ride it out with them, for better or worse.

Why would he make changes? We aren't going to fire him after one year so why should he fire any assistants after one year?

The defense and secondary was a complete mess for most of the year, and a lot of people thought the coaching staff did a pretty poor job with the team overall.

Is anyone really surprised that Riley isn't planning on any staff changes. These are his best buddies. He is gonna ride it out with them, for better or worse.

Why would he make changes? We aren't going to fire him after one year so why should he fire any assistants after one year?

The defense and secondary was a complete mess for most of the year, and a lot of people thought the coaching staff did a pretty poor job with the team overall.

Good thing fans don't dictate policy to the athletic department. The defense started to come together in the last half of the season, so again, why would we fire assistants? They've only been here for one season.

 

[zoogs]

http://www.omaha.com/huskers/mckewon-husker-football-coach-riley-carries-on-trying-to-translate/article_5b45146e-52db-5381-983d-14f4442df631.html

A great piece by Sam.

I think Sam McKewon and Dirk Chatelain have really picked up their game with their articles over the season. The guys at the Omaha World Herald in general have done an excellent job.

Yeah, I really like it! Brian Christopherson over at the LJS has done some really nice stuff as well.

 

[hskrpwr13]

http://www.omaha.com/huskers/mckewon-husker-football-coach-riley-carries-on-trying-to-translate/article_5b45146e-52db-5381-983d-14f4442df631.html

A great piece by Sam.

I think Sam McKewon and Dirk Chatelain have really picked up their game with their articles over the season. The guys at the Omaha World Herald in general have done an excellent job.

Yeah, I really like it! Brian Christopherson over at the LJS has done some really nice stuff as well.

You think some of this has to do with the personality/"openness" of the new coach? Just throwing it out there.

 

[NUance]

Remember how much discussion we had on that play after the Illinois game? Odd that no one mentioned the same play--run correctly--after the Michigan State game. I guess there's nothing to discuss when things are executed correctly, huh?.

Nobody talks much about icebergs unless they sink a luxury liner. Getting by one iceberg doesn't cancel out hitting one, now does it?

Also, I doubt many saw the TD against MSU and thought, "Huh, isnt that the same play we saw against ILL, but executed correctly?". It was after the ILL game that it was revealed that the play call wasn't supposed to be a pass (ie TA's fault, not DL's). You're spot on, Bowfin, that DL getting a mulligan if you will for the ILL call, it doesn't absolve is overall questionable play calling with the talent at hand.

And this is my point exactly. There was a HUGE uproar when we ran this play against Illinois and Tommy improvised, and botched, a short pass. We had a five page thread in which people castigated the coaches and talked about the sheer incompetence of calling this play. It was an iceberg! But the coaches didn't listen to the collective fan wisdom about that iceberg play. They went over the play in practice, and even went so far as to rename the play in an effort to prevent another miscue. So we pull it out again against a stout Michigan State defense. This time we run it correctly and Tommy takes it to the house. And some fans (e.g., you two) still call this play an iceberg—saying the TD against Sparty doesn't cancel out the first time we ran it.

So I guess what you're saying is that if we run a play and it doesn't work we should just tear that page out of the playbook. So we don't ever hit that iceberg again!

 

[Undone]

As a bit of a tangent though to the last offensive play in question against Illinois - That entire game was an offensive failure so bad, it's hard to know where to even begin dissecting it.

In other words, you're right - A lot of people obsessed over that last play...but the entire game was an offensive embarrassment, from our coaching to our QB, for four quarters.

 

[NUinID]

http://www.omaha.com/huskers/mckewon-husker-football-coach-riley-carries-on-trying-to-translate/article_5b45146e-52db-5381-983d-14f4442df631.html

A great piece by Sam.

I think Sam McKewon and Dirk Chatelain have really picked up their game with their articles over the season. The guys at the Omaha World Herald in general have done an excellent job.

Yeah, I really like it! Brian Christopherson over at the LJS has done some really nice stuff as well.

You think some of this has to do with the personality/"openness" of the new coach? Just throwing it out there.

I can speak for Zoogs but IMO it is completely about MR personality and oppeness that he is getting leeway in the wake of this season.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

http://www.omaha.com/huskers/mckewon-husker-football-coach-riley-carries-on-trying-to-translate/article_5b45146e-52db-5381-983d-14f4442df631.html

A great piece by Sam.

I think Sam McKewon and Dirk Chatelain have really picked up their game with their articles over the season. The guys at the Omaha World Herald in general have done an excellent job.

Yeah, I really like it! Brian Christopherson over at the LJS has done some really nice stuff as well.

You think some of this has to do with the personality/"openness" of the new coach? Just throwing it out there.

I can speak for Zoogs but IMO it is completely about MR personality and oppeness that he is getting leeway in the wake of this season.

I thought the quality last year was really high as well. The difference was that they were even more critical of the program than they are so far this year, particularly Dirk, and fans didn't like his articles.

 

[zoogs]

The last coach more or less told fans they should dislike Dirk. I don't know, some journalists really cross the line sometimes, but I can't imagine Riley making it a public personal issue like that even if it happened.