Interim Head Coach Mickey Joseph

JJ Husker said:
Anybody that is judging MJ on game results this year while having SFs players and the SF staff remnants isn’t real sharp. If you want to base your opinion on coaching and decisions MJ has made, fine, but I’m really sick of seeing people claim that the Illinois game result (or specific game results) proves he can’t do the job. I don’t think he should be our 1st or 2nd or 3rd choice but please stop with asinine reasoning that doesn’t allow for the mess he stepped into.
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Disagree. Talent is talent and recruiting remains to be seen. But coaching is about culture, motivation, discipline, inspiration, player assessment/development and scheme. A better coach should be able to take the exact same guys and do better than his predecessor almost immediately. That's why he was hired. I'm not talking overnight miracles, just overnight improvement.  It happens with plenty of interim coaches and first year coaches across all sports.

I was highly optimistic given everything Mickey had said and done, but both the Rutgers win and the Illinois loss left me feeling like he hadn't budged the needle much at all, not even by the terms he set himself. 

Like I just said, he might be able to get the job done given a full coaching cycle — or even this Saturday —  but people who want to give Mickey the job without regard to the 9 game audition he's being given aren't being realistic either.

 
lo country said:
The reality is the longer the search goes, the less "sure" a hire is.  Campbell came in hot, loses 5 in a row IIRC, and no longer wanted.  Aranda has similar rumblings.  Now Klieman looks good.  But he inherited great teams at NDSU, decent team at KSU....It's a complete and total crap shoot.  
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Coaching hires are always a crap shoot.  That's why it's more important for Trev to identify the qualities and experiences he's looking for in the next head coach, rather than the current trend of teams coached by potential candidates.  Trev isn't watching the scoreboards every day saying "Come on Kansas, I need the Jayhawks to win, so hiring Leipold would look better to NU fans."  Trev may be watching some of the games, if they don't conflict with other NU athletic events, but even then I think Trev is less focused on the win-loss results, and looking more at how the game is being played, and how a coach represents his university on the sidelines.

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
Disagree. Talent is talent and recruiting remains to be seen. But coaching is about culture, motivation, discipline, inspiration, player assessment/development and scheme. A better coach should be able to take the exact same guys and do better than his predecessor almost immediately. That's why he was hired. I'm not talking overnight miracles, just overnight improvement.  It happens with plenty of interim coaches and first year coaches across all sports.

I was highly optimistic given everything Mickey had said and done, but both the Rutgers win and the Illinois loss left me feeling like he hadn't budged the needle much at all, not even by the terms he set himself. 

Like I just said, he might be able to get the job done given a full coaching cycle — or even this Saturday —  but people who want to give Mickey the job without regard to the 9 game audition he's being given aren't being realistic either.
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This is one of the best posts I have seen regarding the Joseph candidacy for the full-time Head Coach.  Well said.

 
ColoradoHusk said:
This is one of the best posts I have seen regarding the Joseph candidacy for the full-time Head Coach.  Well said.
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The most damaging part of Mickey's audition thus far IMO has been his support for Whipple abandoning the run and chucking it around.

But IMO the increased physicality in practice and the fortitude it took to can Chins mid year are definitely huge positives. I also think the increased detail, structure, discipline, and top-down motivation from Mickey are vast improvements. 

People can poo-poo the Indiana and Rutgers wins if they'd like, but those are not games this team typically wins over the past 3+ years, so I give Mickey a ton of credit for those wins.

 
ActualCornHusker said:
The most damaging part of Mickey's audition thus far IMO has been his support for Whipple abandoning the run and chucking it around.

But IMO the increased physicality in practice and the fortitude it took to can Chins mid year are definitely huge positives. I also think the increased detail, structure, discipline, and top-down motivation from Mickey are vast improvements. 

People can poo-poo the Indiana and Rutgers wins if they'd like, but those are not games this team typically wins over the past 3+ years, so I give Mickey a ton of credit for those wins.
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I don't follow you on this point.  This is based on pure guessing and speculation, and not facts.  Looking at the results from 2019-21, Frost did relatively well against the dregs of the Big Ten.  In 2019, NU beat Maryland while losing to Indiana (which ended up 8-5 on the season).  In 2020, NU beat Rutgers and Penn State in cross-over games (going 1-4 against the Big Ten West).  In 2021, NU didn't play any weaker teams from the Big Ten East, as NU had Ohio State, Michigan State, and Michigan as cross-over games.

 
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ColoradoHusk said:
I don't follow you on this point.  This is based on pure guessing and speculation, and not facts.  Looking at the results from 2019-21, Frost did relatively well against the dregs of the Big Ten.  In 2019, NU beat Maryland while losing to Indiana (which ended up 8-5 on the season).  In 2020, NU beat Rutgers and Penn State in cross-over games.  In 2021, NU didn't play any weaker teams from the Big Ten East, as NU had Ohio State, Michigan State, and Michigan as cross-over games.
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I'm talking about close games that required halftime adjustments and late game plays to win. Indiana and Rutgers were both 1 score games late in the 4th. Indiana game was put away by an insurance score. Rutgers was a late TD to take the lead, a couple key stops by the defense, and a drive by the offense that drained the clock.

 
ActualCornHusker said:
I'm talking about close games that required halftime adjustments and late game plays to win. Indiana and Rutgers were both 1 score games late in the 4th. Indiana game was put away by an insurance score. Rutgers was a late TD to take the lead, a couple key stops by the defense, and a drive by the offense that drained the clock.
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Fair enough.  However, I think that NU was able to beat teams like Indiana and Rutgers in close games mainly because those two teams aren't very good.  Yes, NU lost a lot of close games, especially in 2021, but many of those "close games that NU blew" were against much better teams than Indiana and Rutgers.

When watching the Rutgers game this year, that was very bad football.  It was a terrible game to watch, where both teams played bad football.  NU just happened to play "not as bad" as Rutgers that night.  I don't understand how people want to give the coaching staff a ton of credit for that game.

 
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ActualCornHusker said:
People can poo-poo the Indiana and Rutgers wins if they'd like, but those are not games this team typically wins over the past 3+ years, so I give Mickey a ton of credit for those wins.
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Huh? Those are exactly the games Nebraska won during the Scott Frost era. Two bottom tier Big 10 wins and a couple non-con patsies. 

In 2020 we beat a slightly better Rutgers team with a considerably better performance. 

This is what I mean by people who so badly want Mickey to succeed that they start making things up. 

 
ColoradoHusk said:
Coaching hires are always a crap shoot.  That's why it's more important for Trev to identify the qualities and experiences he's looking for in the next head coach, rather than the current trend of teams coached by potential candidates.  Trev isn't watching the scoreboards every day saying "Come on Kansas, I need the Jayhawks to win, so hiring Leipold would look better to NU fans."  Trev may be watching some of the games, if they don't conflict with other NU athletic events, but even then I think Trev is less focused on the win-loss results, and looking more at how the game is being played, and how a coach represents his university on the sidelines.
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I agree.  I'm still high on Chadwell.  Even after the Old Dominion loss :D .  A coach with "more experience" theoretically does give you much better snapshot of what they are capable of.  Every week, one of our choices rises and some fall....  Based on one single game.  

 
Guy Chamberlin said:
Huh? Those are exactly the games Nebraska won during the Scott Frost era. Two bottom tier Big 10 wins and a couple non-con patsies. 

In 2020 we beat a slightly better Rutgers team with a considerably better performance. 

This is what I mean by people who so badly want Mickey to succeed that they start making things up. 
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Disagree. We were down 14-0 at half to Rutgers. SF beat teams like Bethune-Cookman and on the very rare occasion-a BIG team that he got an early lead on.   In his last year he pulled out zero wins in competitive games.  

 
krc1995 said:
Disagree. We were down 14-0 at half to Rutgers. SF beat teams like Bethune-Cookman and on the very rare occasion-a BIG team that he got an early lead on.   In his last year he pulled out zero wins in competitive games.  
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I agree that Frost struggled to win close games.  That's not new.  However, two of those "close losses" from 2021 were against teams that finished in the top 8 of 2021 rankings (Michigan and Michigan State).  NU traded those 2 top 10 teams for Rutgers and Indiana on the schedule.  NU was able to win those "close games" as a testament on how bad those 2 teams are.  Those games pitted 2 of the 5 worst teams in the Big Ten.

 
Born N Bled Red said:
1) I don't see a single coach with a proven track record of success and the ability to pull in great recruits available.
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who. the. f***. cares?

Ignoring this year's too-early-to-tell hires (Riley and Kelly), in the last three years there have been exactly three proven experienced sure thing coaching hires who were hired and then succeeded. Saban, Meyer, Harbaugh. That's it. Everyone else was either a gamble that worked or didn't, or a perceived non-gamble that didn't.

Jimbo Fisher has a proven track record of success and recruiting powerhouse. You want him? 

Rich Rod had a proven track record of success and was making huge recruiting splashes at Michigan. You want him? 

Les Miles had those qualities when he was hired at Kansas. You want him? 

Now here's a list of just a few of the non-proven/gamble hires...

Lincoln Riley

Ryan Day

Dabo Swinney

Kirby Smart

Lane Kiffen

Josh Huepel

Dan Lanning

Sonny Dykes

Mike Gundy

Bob Stoops

Chris Klein

 
ColoradoHusk said:
I agree that Frost struggled to win close games.  That's not new.  However, two of those "close losses" from 2021 were against teams that finished in the top 8 of 2021 rankings (Michigan and Michigan State).  NU traded those 2 top 10 teams for Rutgers and Indiana on the schedule.  NU was able to win those "close games" as a testament on how bad those 2 teams are.  Those games pitted 2 of the 5 worst teams in the Big Ten.
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Don’t care. He lost to Ga Southern just this year.  The MSU game was all but in the books as a W. We can go over every 7 point or less loss in his tenure, but they were still loses and he’s a loser. 

 
krc1995 said:
Don’t care. He lost to Ga Southern just this year.  The MSU game was all but in the books as a W. We can go over every 7 point or less loss in his tenure, but they were still loses and he’s a loser. 
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I’m not trying to say that Frost was anything but a loser. I know he was. However, I think we need to tap the brakes on how “great” Mickey’s 2 wins are, just because he managed to win close games. 

 
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