84HuskerLaw
New member
Let me first state that I believe Milt was a great coach and don't want any misunderstanding of where I am coming from but I recall very well the coaches stating the interest in getting meaningful game snaps for the backups and their backups. We had offensive lines that were 3 deep and good. Now, if Milt is saying that the current coaches don't have the luxury of being able to put in the seconds and thirds and expecting 'winning' football from them, that may well be true. During a large part of Milt's tenure, we 'reloaded' and didn't rebuild the O line. Offensive linemen were recruited and then put into the system and it was very common for guys to redshirt and then wait their turn as starters during their freshmen and sophomore seasons as the upper classmen who had likewise paid their dues and worked their way through the 'pipeline' system had done before them.
But, they reached a point where the depth during the mid/late nineties was incredibly strong. Nebraska's second string O line was better than the starters on most teams we played. Often, we could have played our third string line and expected to win the game nonetheless. This allowed for free substitutions and WE DID so, often giving the seconds a series or two in the middle of the second quarter. Of course, we normally had a substantial lead and 'knew' we had the game in control. Riley and Pelini and Callahan and Frank all had very few games where this was true after about 1999. The decade of dominance ended abruptly in 2000 really. While there have been some big wins since 2000, there are not that many and far too many games where the winner was not decided before the middle or late 4th quarter. This does not afford the 'luxury' of playing the backups. This in turn means each year you are gong to spend much of the first half of the season getting 'experience' and developing team chemistry and unity and confidence, etc. This is why some of us feel that in the 'rebuilding' years, you must look to the future with your mind open. While nobody wants to lose, you need to seriously consider sacrifice of a some wins now for the future of the program. The win now and let the future take care of itself approach almost never works in my opinion.
You want to win but to win championships you must have a full blown 'program' and not just a team. The interests of each and every team member, coach and other staff members MUST be subject to the overall interests in building the program to championship level. Players who are unwilling to sacrifice their personal wishes to those of the greater good of the team and program are to be avoided really. Players who leave or refuse to support the team because they think they should be starter as freshmen notwithstanding there are better players above them on the chart become part of the problem and not the solution. And conversely, upper classmen don't get to start because of age seniority and must be the better player. Choices for who plays with 'even' Senior vs sophomore) are made based on the future and not just the current season,.
It seems to me that there has been far too much pressure placed on each of the coahces (Frank, Bill, Bo and Mike) to win right out of the starting gate, expecting miracles really. Solich was given the best chance and opportunity to take over and win at the highest levels from the beginning as he was given the BEST job in the country in a program that was maybe in the best condtion ever. He failed to keep things rolling along and stumbled badly. The depth and capacity to 'reload' was lost and we began to rebuild. Callahan thought he could do it in a couple years but his ego exceeded his capacity obviously. Be gave it a heck of try with Tom's supervision and guidance no doubt. He didn't get it done. Now, Riley is given his shot. He wasn't fired or burned at the stake after this first season (a disaster at 6-7 no doubt) so perhaps there is some realization that we have to rebuild the 'program' from the ground up. That means we don't worry as much about winning now because we are focused on the long term growth and development of the 'program' over the immediate teams issues. Unfortunately, in my view, we should have played far more youth than we did so that by this fall, we are not starting anyone (offense, defense, special teams) that has not 'lettered' with significant playing time when the game is still yet to decided. Whether we substitute one or two guys or by whole unit, we need to play our seconds and thirds some to get the acclimated to the challenges and speed of the game and to experience live and 3D living color what it takes to play winning Big Ten football.
But, they reached a point where the depth during the mid/late nineties was incredibly strong. Nebraska's second string O line was better than the starters on most teams we played. Often, we could have played our third string line and expected to win the game nonetheless. This allowed for free substitutions and WE DID so, often giving the seconds a series or two in the middle of the second quarter. Of course, we normally had a substantial lead and 'knew' we had the game in control. Riley and Pelini and Callahan and Frank all had very few games where this was true after about 1999. The decade of dominance ended abruptly in 2000 really. While there have been some big wins since 2000, there are not that many and far too many games where the winner was not decided before the middle or late 4th quarter. This does not afford the 'luxury' of playing the backups. This in turn means each year you are gong to spend much of the first half of the season getting 'experience' and developing team chemistry and unity and confidence, etc. This is why some of us feel that in the 'rebuilding' years, you must look to the future with your mind open. While nobody wants to lose, you need to seriously consider sacrifice of a some wins now for the future of the program. The win now and let the future take care of itself approach almost never works in my opinion.
You want to win but to win championships you must have a full blown 'program' and not just a team. The interests of each and every team member, coach and other staff members MUST be subject to the overall interests in building the program to championship level. Players who are unwilling to sacrifice their personal wishes to those of the greater good of the team and program are to be avoided really. Players who leave or refuse to support the team because they think they should be starter as freshmen notwithstanding there are better players above them on the chart become part of the problem and not the solution. And conversely, upper classmen don't get to start because of age seniority and must be the better player. Choices for who plays with 'even' Senior vs sophomore) are made based on the future and not just the current season,.
It seems to me that there has been far too much pressure placed on each of the coahces (Frank, Bill, Bo and Mike) to win right out of the starting gate, expecting miracles really. Solich was given the best chance and opportunity to take over and win at the highest levels from the beginning as he was given the BEST job in the country in a program that was maybe in the best condtion ever. He failed to keep things rolling along and stumbled badly. The depth and capacity to 'reload' was lost and we began to rebuild. Callahan thought he could do it in a couple years but his ego exceeded his capacity obviously. Be gave it a heck of try with Tom's supervision and guidance no doubt. He didn't get it done. Now, Riley is given his shot. He wasn't fired or burned at the stake after this first season (a disaster at 6-7 no doubt) so perhaps there is some realization that we have to rebuild the 'program' from the ground up. That means we don't worry as much about winning now because we are focused on the long term growth and development of the 'program' over the immediate teams issues. Unfortunately, in my view, we should have played far more youth than we did so that by this fall, we are not starting anyone (offense, defense, special teams) that has not 'lettered' with significant playing time when the game is still yet to decided. Whether we substitute one or two guys or by whole unit, we need to play our seconds and thirds some to get the acclimated to the challenges and speed of the game and to experience live and 3D living color what it takes to play winning Big Ten football.
