Have people forgotten?

A

arkiehusker

New member
Not trying to start a fuss. Just wondering. As a life long (46 years) Husker fan I remember TO's struggles, or perceived struggles. People always said " He cant beat Oklahoma" then it was " he cant win the big one". It wasnt until he made changes and got speed on speed with the defense and started making those historic runs, winning NC's that he became one of the greatest coaches of all time (according to some) and became loved by the fans.

I am a huge Bo Pelini fan. I think he tries to win the right way, with right kids. I just wonder if those not in the " Bo camp" are younger and dont remember TO's struggles.

 
Also a lifelong Husker fan(48 years). I think its just this generation.Instant gratification.Little work ethic.I'm sure Bob Devaney would have had a few words of wisdom for them.But first you would have to tell them who Bob was.

 
I don't think people are patient enough today to allow a coach several years to work through problems. You can look all across the country and see university presidents, athletic directors, boosters, and fans, who all have a "win now" mentality. Fewer and fewer people are willing to wait extended periods of time for success, especially when they see coaches take new jobs and have immediate success. You look at Michigan, who fired Rich Rodriguez after four mediocre years, hire a new coach, and win a BCS game. You look at Alabama, who went 6-6, 10-2, and 6-7, before hiring Nick Saban, who went 7-6, 12-2, and then won a championship. Lane Kiffin gets hired at USC and, after a few tough years with NCAA penalties, has them poised for a championship this next season with a loaded roster.

If you look across the college football smorgasborg, you see teams making good hires and having immediate success, and that's what people want, that's what people desire most. They want a bombshell hire who will take them places now - not tomorrow, not next week - now. Not everybody has that immediate success and ends up firing their coach (see Charlie Weis), but who cares? People would rather go through a couple of coaches in a decade to find the winning one than allow a coach a decade or more to bring the team to prominence. OP, you've been around since the late 60's through the Tom Osborne era. Think to yourself now - how many people would give Bo Pelini, say, 23 years to win a championship, like we gave Osborne? Heck, it took Osborne 11 years just to get to the game, which he lost, and didn't return to for over a decade.

It's little more than selfishness spawned by the often-lawded brilliance of great coaching hires and immediate success.

 
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Enhance,

I think that fans in general have always been impatient. Obviously we know the stories of how TO was catching crap from all directions and the fanbase doubted him. The difference back then is that the media was much different. The media today is all about NOW NOW NOW, what have you done for me lately REACTIONS, DISCUSS, calling people out, etc. Plus, the media is much more visible now, much more noticeable every single day, bleeding into our lives nearly every minute as sports news often finds its way onto facebook and texting allows people to share info within seconds. Twitter, it seems like, was practically invented for the sports media. I believe that the media's current state helps to drive the impatience of a fanbase. I believe it also puts pressure on an athletic department because if your team is struggling, those coaching woes will be exposed for all to see. An AD pretty much must fire a struggling coach or the program will face all sorts of negative attention from the media.

 
Still should have better depth and talent developed at O-line spots. Seriously, the trenches is where its at!

Close losses while not desired are way way better than blowouts in primetime...shore that up and we are well on our way!

TO had alot more time then Bo will get but Bo will get there faster I believe. Just got to get rid of the fluffy white colored thing not producing as a developer of NFL level talent -----> O line coach . We clear?

 
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huskerenner said:
Also a lifelong Husker fan(48 years). I think its just this generation.Instant gratification.Little work ethic.I'm sure Bob Devaney would have had a few words of wisdom for them.But first you would have to tell them who Bob was.
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He was the belligerent drunk who won two national titles in the early 70s. I'm not sure what you are getting at here, other than the stereotypical "old man hating young people" bit. Every coach has struggles, many people are impatient and want steady signs of improvement. Osborne's longest conference title drought was only 3 years, but he was still fielding top 10 teams even through that lone drought. You don't even consider firing a coach who is very consistently winning conference titles. That's just plain dumb.

Bo obviously deserves more time, especially since he inherited a program in shambles and now has to transition to a new conference instead of a team coming off two national titles. Since he is not already bringing in conference titles like Tom was the whole time, I want to see progress. Last year was a step back, but I feel that he clearly made progress the three years before it. I don't want to set an ultimatum, but I'm going to be incredibly disappointed if we don't make a conference title game or BCS bowl in the next 4 years. Depending on the circumstances, maybe then it will be time to see what else might be out there.

 
tschu said:
Enhance,

I think that fans in general have always been impatient. Obviously we know the stories of how TO was catching crap from all directions and the fanbase doubted him. The difference back then is that the media was much different. The media today is all about NOW NOW NOW, what have you done for me lately REACTIONS, DISCUSS, calling people out, etc. Plus, the media is much more visible now, much more noticeable every single day, bleeding into our lives nearly every minute as sports news often finds its way onto facebook and texting allows people to share info within seconds. Twitter, it seems like, was practically invented for the sports media. I believe that the media's current state helps to drive the impatience of a fanbase. I believe it also puts pressure on an athletic department because if your team is struggling, those coaching woes will be exposed for all to see. An AD pretty much must fire a struggling coach or the program will face all sorts of negative attention from the media.
Click to expand...
That's mostly what I was alluding to, even though I didn't come right out and say it. We're fed, daily, the success stories of the great programs who have great coaches and made great hires. We're showed the big programs that made big hires that failed, and then we follow the coaching hires closely. I guarantee the media evolution is what led to this outspoken impatience, and that's exactly why I don't think people will give Pelini years to get things rolling. They'll see great hires at other universities and they'll want the same here. They'll boot Pelini if they get the chance.

 
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As someone alluded to, Bob gave "words of wisdom" or was very media savvy for his day. Made people laugh, won games, brought something up from scratch. TO took reigns, was calm, carried on, lost some gut wrenchers, finally found a groove in the last 1/5 of his term.

Bo isn't so pretty in front of microphones, he hasn't won a championship yet. But his team was in the crapper when he took it over. If he was quippy and smart-wise on the 'takes' we could stomach the tough ones. But Bo is cut and dry and has a tough go with building a bridge between smoothing over the fan base and getting real gains behind the curtain.

This year and next better spell some bug wins, but I'm looking to 2014-2016 to see his alent level and overall national competitive level. It took 3 yrs just to pull the rope from the toilet swirl

 
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