Who should our next HC be?

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I admit to putting a lot of weight on the W/L records of prospective coaches.  Nick Saban is something else again.  I'm looking at Nebraska's coaching history and see that our most amazing successes were coaches who were here through thick and thin and were then promoted to HC.  I don't think Alabama has the same culture as Nebraska at all;  it's smack in the middle of some of the greatest recruitment regions in the country.  Our player successes came from great Nebraskans and some brought out from the West Coast, etc. 

All arguments about W/L records rise and fall on what the coach did next, of course.  Some fine ones plopped at another school like cow flop.  Some piss ants flourished when brought to a better overall program.  It can look like a crapshoot, when analysing coach's histories.  But it ain't over the long haul for Nebraska.  Devaney's 35 - 10 at Wyoming was just good enough.  Then he came here where it does not rain inside the gym and flourished.


Except the only HC you referenced didn't do that.   it's more about fit than anything else.   You want a guy that can identify and develop talent.  And the one commonality between Bob, Tom, Bo, Frank was the emphasis on defense.  They were top 25 in defense something like 90% of the time.  Callahan's two best teams, he was top 25 in defense, his first year was the transition year, so you can understand the drop that season, his last season was a rebuild year and the defense just didn't have it.   Between Riley and Frost, the emphasis was on the wrong area.  Frost on offense and getting the ball back for his playstation system and Riley on being Mr. Rogers to build morale.    Campbell has a history of developing talent, has a history of identifying talent to compete and those are skills that translate regardless of school.  Too often people look at W/L and get enamored with that and don't realize he's not a good coach and that's why you see some of these splash hires flail.   Nebraska is no different, we don't need a home grown, developed in the system coach, you just need a coach that knows what he's doing and has a track record of being successful.   That also shows how good Bob and TO where, able to identify and develop their successor, but that isn't necessary, to be successful here.   Campbell, Liepold, Klieman, Fleck will all be successful here even if they aren't the splash hire that people want as they have proven at multiple stops they can recruit, develop and compete and those skills will translate to Nebraska.  

Urb would also be successful here too, but he's slimy in a slick used car salesman type of way.   Nebraska can reach the same levels without having to dip into the cesspool known as Urban Meyer.

 
None of them do. This is big $ business nowadays and all that matters is winning and profits. If you're looking for a top-tier coach with strong morals and ethics, good luck.
But if you don't have someone who genuinely cares about people, the program never revives. You may get a couple of good years and/or a national championship, but you never course correct and are in a hole again anyway churning through hires. We aren't looking for angels, but con artists should be avoided for your own sustainability.

But we here at Nebraska have morals and values so our coach should too!!!! I don't care about that. Give us a coach that hates losing and is a grinder. Someone that will take us to the top where we belong and keep us there. College Football is all about money and how much are you willing to spend to be great. 


People like Urban and Jimbo talk smooth, bring in all the kids and money, but if you don't take accountability for their environment and development, you quickly loose the reigns when it gets hard. Kids quit when you lose or your moral choice come back to bite you. Ask FSU how selling out for two or three years has turned out. Ask Florida how the environment is since Urban. Another decade of sifting through coaches is not a solid plan after the snake oil goes bad. Find someone who is a good leader and cares and has a good work ethic and watch the changes become strong and consistent. 

 
Perhaps, but some have better chances than others.




Yeah and some have better chances than fans will ever be able to understand because the DNA that makes a successful coach is an unsolvable puzzle, and an AD making decisions based on, "we can't afford to risk ______" is absolutely doomed to fail. A good AD understands that any choice is a gamble and that there is a lot of luck that plays a roll and can't be predicted or controlled.

People said we couldn't afford to risk losing out on Frost in 2018. Now in hindsight there's a pretty compelling argument that hiring him then is what caused this to become a nightmare.

 
Another thing I hear against Urban Meyer is he is a short term solution. So if he were to bring a championship or even close to won 2-4 years and he bails out then that's bad for Nebraska i disagree. I look at the fact if he were to do that it would show the next coach after him the formula to succeed plus Nebraska would have more exposure saying look if he can win at a high level it can happen

 
Another thing I hear against Urban Meyer is he is a short term solution. So if he were to bring a championship or even close to won 2-4 years and he bails out then that's bad for Nebraska i disagree. I look at the fact if he were to do that it would show the next coach after him the formula to succeed plus Nebraska would have more exposure saying look if he can win at a high level it can happen
I personally don’t see him bailing until he reaches the summit. Once that peak has been reached, he moves on. That’s why I’d like to see Herman as his OC/head coach in waiting. Of course, Herman may have higher aspirations.

 
I personally don’t see him bailing until he reaches the summit. Once that peak has been reached, he moves on. That’s why I’d like to see Herman as his OC/head coach in waiting. Of course, Herman may have higher aspirations.
They could make Nebraska great again.  Urb 'gets sick again' and Herman is set up to take charge of a rebuilt blueblood program and we begin a new coaching tree and legacy at Nebraska.  And pigs will fly and all year will be candy and nuts. 

 
The problem with that is that guys like that are few and far between. It's hard enough finding a coach who could be successful here, let alone one who has the qualities you mentioned and the integrity/character that Trev wants.


I dont think it would be that hard to find a coach who could at least get us back on track. Out of the last 4 coaches hired: Pelini had us winning an amount that we would all take right now, Riley was an absolute poor choice by a bad AD, Callahan the exact same, and Frost was the only one that looked good to everyone on paper but just wasn't it for whatever reason. I feel like even if we get someone who is the bottom coach on some people's list, Matt Campbell, can get us back to a solid bowl team pretty quickly and then we figure it out from there once we have stability and culture. If we had Eichorst still I would be worried but I just think even if Trev plays it safe he will not pick a Mike Riley Or Callahan who were both chosen after either not looking or not getting anyone we actually wanted.  Hell even Pederson almost got us Mike Zimmer who would have been a slam dunk, and I seriously doubt we are gonna get outbid on our #1 choice this time. 

 
Another thing I hear against Urban Meyer is he is a short term solution. So if he were to bring a championship or even close to won 2-4 years and he bails out then that's bad for Nebraska i disagree. I look at the fact if he were to do that it would show the next coach after him the formula to succeed plus Nebraska would have more exposure saying look if he can win at a high level it can happen
High profile coaches don't seem to leave good recruiting regions for poor recruiting regions.  Maybe someone can correct me, but of the successful coaches I can think of that have moved around (Meyer, Saban, Fisher, Harbaugh, Lincoln Riley, Brian Kelly), I can't think of one that left a fertile recruiting area, and down the line took a job with a tougher situation than the one they had before.  

These coaches are competitive.  They want to win, and they want the best athletes possible to help them compete.  Nebraska will NEVER out-recruit the Ohio States of the world.  Maybe Urban's tarnished reputation makes the situation a bit more interesting, but I just don't see it.

 
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I can't wait until we start seeing the meme's of "Confirmed Safe from Being linked to the Nebraska Cornhuskers Head coaching job."  

 
15 coaches who "could" be Nebraska's HC

Matt Campbell

Shawn Clark

Dave Aranda

Chris Klieman

Kalen DeBoer

Matt Entz

Luke Fickell 

Matt Rhule

Mickey Joseph 

Lance Leipold

Jim Leonhard 

Jeff Grimes

Mark Stoops 

Jamey Chadwell 

Charles Huff

 
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