Eichorst Statement About Football Program

[cornstar]

I don't know if that is the worst loss. The stakes weren't as high as say, 62-36 2001 NEB/CU or the B1G 2012 70-31 loss or this year's 62-3 curb stomp by tOSU

Those were good teams we got beat by. Purdue was not. That's like losing to Iowa St, or Kansas St.

I think we can agree to agree on this.

All bad losses, terrible actually.

That loss to Purdue sticks in my craw.

 

[Elf]

I don't know if that is the worst loss. The stakes weren't as high as say, 62-36 2001 NEB/CU or the B1G 2012 70-31 loss or this year's 62-3 curb stomp by tOSU

Those were good teams we got beat by. Purdue was not. That's like losing to Iowa St, or Kansas St.

I think we can agree to agree on this.

All bad losses, terrible actually.

That loss to Purdue sticks in my craw.

I can tell.

 

[cornstar]

This team started off very hot at 7-0. Things were looking great, then came Wisconsin where we were shown we don't have the muscle to beat them. I was happy with Nebraska's performance in that game and the fact we had a chance to win it. The problem was we all knew the following week was a loss at Ohio State, and boy did it get bad. Then came Iowa, and now Tennessee.

After the great 7-0 start, Nebraska reverted back to their old ways. Beat the bad teams, lose to any team with a pulse, and lose badly on the big stage.

Next season will be very telling with this staff. It'll be year 3 under this system, it should be the year things get going in the direction the staff wants it to, their handprints should be on the team/program moreso then the previous staff anymore.Their excuse window (or the fans excuse window) will be narrower to blame the previous staff for mishaps and failure.

Nebraska has an extremely tough schedule next year, but we were told Riley was brought here to win championships, and to win championships you have to win seasons with tough schedules. Regardless of how tough NU's schedule is next year, I think the expectations should remain high.

I'm not giving up on Riley, and think this upcoming season will be very telling of what he is capable of doing at Nebraska.

I think year 4 and beyond is where we find out what this staff will be doing for us. Riley seems to be planning for the future, and that is a strategy I don't disagree with but that means we aren't going to have any instant gratification.

Instant gratification?
I don't think that many of us expected conference championships and a payoff berth in the first two seasons.

But, with our favorable schedules and having the best talent in the division, competing for division titles and, at the very least, not getting blown out by Purdue and Iowa are not unreasonable expectations.

We had at least one improvement this year beyond our overall record.

Zero credit for having a better record than 2015. And it's still no better than the last coach.

We didn't get beat by Purdue again.

Another zero credit quote. But I guess it is an improvement for our current coach.

And we didn't get blown out the first time either.

It was 42-16 going into the 4th. That's a blowout. I realize you're big on garbage time points, both for this staff and for Crapahan's, but most that know football don't care about those garbage points.

That said, Purdue is like Iowa St imo, a doormat to wipe our feet on and we lost. We shall forever hang our heads in shame over that.

Wasn't that their first B1G win in 2 or 3 years? Didn't Hazel get fired?
That may well be the worst loss in program history.

Is it still a blowout if we end up winning after being down 42-16? Of course not, only the final score matters in cases like these. How many times in sports have we seen miracle comebacks? We were having one against Purdue, we just ran out of time. But if it makes you feel better to keep calling it a blowout, then by all means, have at it.

We'll have to agree to disagree.

I don't believe in "garbage time" so how can I be big on "garbage time" points?

You mentioned the 07 offense as not being bad, but iirc we were getting boat raced in the USC game that year, they subbed in late and our starters made a little hay and made the final score look not so terrible.
Iirc, against Kansas that same year there was a similar situation.

I call that garbage time. You?

Opponents used to do that against us back in the 80s and 90s, but of course we would be up by 40+ and our 4th, 5th, and 6th teamers were facing their 1sts and 2nds.

 

[Elf]

This team started off very hot at 7-0. Things were looking great, then came Wisconsin where we were shown we don't have the muscle to beat them. I was happy with Nebraska's performance in that game and the fact we had a chance to win it. The problem was we all knew the following week was a loss at Ohio State, and boy did it get bad. Then came Iowa, and now Tennessee.

After the great 7-0 start, Nebraska reverted back to their old ways. Beat the bad teams, lose to any team with a pulse, and lose badly on the big stage.

Next season will be very telling with this staff. It'll be year 3 under this system, it should be the year things get going in the direction the staff wants it to, their handprints should be on the team/program moreso then the previous staff anymore.Their excuse window (or the fans excuse window) will be narrower to blame the previous staff for mishaps and failure.

Nebraska has an extremely tough schedule next year, but we were told Riley was brought here to win championships, and to win championships you have to win seasons with tough schedules. Regardless of how tough NU's schedule is next year, I think the expectations should remain high.

I'm not giving up on Riley, and think this upcoming season will be very telling of what he is capable of doing at Nebraska.

I think year 4 and beyond is where we find out what this staff will be doing for us. Riley seems to be planning for the future, and that is a strategy I don't disagree with but that means we aren't going to have any instant gratification.

Instant gratification?
I don't think that many of us expected conference championships and a payoff berth in the first two seasons.

But, with our favorable schedules and having the best talent in the division, competing for division titles and, at the very least, not getting blown out by Purdue and Iowa are not unreasonable expectations.

We had at least one improvement this year beyond our overall record.

Zero credit for having a better record than 2015. And it's still no better than the last coach.

We didn't get beat by Purdue again.

Another zero credit quote. But I guess it is an improvement for our current coach.

And we didn't get blown out the first time either.

It was 42-16 going into the 4th. That's a blowout. I realize you're big on garbage time points, both for this staff and for Crapahan's, but most that know football don't care about those garbage points.

That said, Purdue is like Iowa St imo, a doormat to wipe our feet on and we lost. We shall forever hang our heads in shame over that.

Wasn't that their first B1G win in 2 or 3 years? Didn't Hazel get fired?
That may well be the worst loss in program history.

Is it still a blowout if we end up winning after being down 42-16? Of course not, only the final score matters in cases like these. How many times in sports have we seen miracle comebacks? We were having one against Purdue, we just ran out of time. But if it makes you feel better to keep calling it a blowout, then by all means, have at it.

We'll have to agree to disagree.

I don't believe in "garbage time" so how can I be big on "garbage time" points?

You mentioned the 07 offense as not being bad, but iirc we were getting boat raced in the USC game that year, they subbed in late and our starters made a little hay and made the final score look not so terrible.
Iirc, against Kansas that same year there was a similar situation.

I call that garbage time. You?

Opponents used to do that against us back in the 80s and 90s, but of course we would be up by 40+ and our 4th, 5th, and 6th teamers were facing their 1sts and 2nds.

How is this "garbage time" for either team? We're up by 40+ and our backups are getting valuable playing time. Their backups are getting valuable playing time.

Back in the old days those teams were being boat raced, they never stood a chance against us. I think that's a distinct different between those cases, and Purdue. The Purdue game is an entirely different story if we don't turn it over 5 times. We were making a serious comeback against Purdue's first unit and we got within 10 points.

 

[huskerfan74]

It baffles me why there are so many members on this board that keep making excuses for these coaches. Why can't we just admit that Eichorst made a horrible choice when he hired Riley and that these coaches are nothing but average coaches that are going to produce average results. That is what they have done for decades now, why should it change all of a sudden? I seem t recall that Urban Meyer went undefeated in his first season with Ohio State and he inherited players that he did not recruit. Isn't why these coaches get paid millions? To develop these players and make them talented. Westerkamp, Reilly, Carter, Newby, Pearson El, gerry, dezuris are among some of the best players I have seen yet these coaches failed to develop others to have depth. You are either a good coach or a bad one. Obviously, this bunch has no pulse and will not do anything in Years 3 or 4. I expect a 7-5 record next year and may be an 8-4 record the following year at best. This is what these coaches can bring to the table. Eichorst should be ashamed to cash his fat check. He should apologize for this mess and take action to correct it. Can you imagine what a Florida State or a Clemson would do to us with these coaches at the helm. The game will be over in the middle of the first quarter. I get nightmares just thinking about the prospect. And to think once we were the Alabama of football. Look at what horrible ADs have done to this once elite program.

 

[Elf]

Can you imagine what a Florida State or a Clemson would do to us with these coaches at the helm.

Probably the same thing Ohio St did to us.

I seem t recall that Urban Meyer went undefeated in his first season with Ohio State and he inherited players that he did not recruit.

Urban Meyer inherited a team that is head and shoulders above us in talent right now. OSU is simply better across the board and so are each of those other teams you mentioned.

 

[Savage Husker]

Hahaha we are really comparing OSU talent to NU's and calling it apples to apples? I can buy the why is Riley here argument in the first sentence, but I'm lost after comparing 9 underclassman draft picks to 3 senior draft picks, in one class

 

[huskerfan74]

Ok, so if we can't compare our talent to these elite teams then what are these coaches doing except cash fat checks and give pressers that make no sense. Didn't Eichorst promise coaches that will turn things around in a very short period. I do not see any improvement what so ever. We are back where we started winning 9-4 with most wins being hollow ones and our loses being horrible embarrassments. The only difference is that Riley is a nice guy who does not make a scene on the sideline., rather he looks like he has absolutely no pulse whatsoever. In other words, we are back to square zero or minus one since we are paying two useless coaches.

 

[Elf]

The only difference is that Riley is a nice guy who does not make a scene on the sideline., rather he looks like he has absolutely no pulse whatsoever

Announcers called Osborne the Ultimate Stoic many, many times over the years. He gave the dullest interviews, a short smile was A LOT from him. "He did a pretty good job" was pretty big praise, it was pretty darn rare for him to show emotion on the sideline. He used to chew Big Red gum during games. And he turned out ok in the end.

 

[marko polo]

If you want to evaluate a coach's first 2 year performance based on just win-loss record and blowouts then you would have been the guy telling everyone Jim Harbaugh "was never going to get Stanford to a championship" after going 4-8, and 5-7.

Stanford of course has nowhere near the tradition as us, but they recruited with an average recruiting ranking of about 40 the three years prior to Harbaugh. Bo Pelini the 3 years prior to Riley had an average recruiting class of 29. Not much of a gap at all, even without considering the point that of the highest ranked players in those three classes (4*) a third of them never even played meaningful snaps for the Huskers.

All I'm trying to say is we need to give Riley more time, and honestly I think hes done well all things considered to this point. Anyone saying these first two years are evidence he can't get the job done is probably just a worried fan not being objective, which I can be at times as well.

Before Harbaugh was hired for the 2007 season, Stanford had the #59 (2006), #25 (2005), and #60 (2004) classes, or a #48 average. They just came off a 1-11 season, where 9 of those 11 losses were blowouts. He came in and they immediately improved, and then improved again, and then improved again, and finally improved again before he was hired away. The situation Harbaugh inherited at Stanford and improvement he consistently made there is nothing like Riley at Nebraska.

And anyone who says "he's done well all things considered to this point" after a losing season and the curbstompings we've encountered is also not being objective.

Ok that's my bad, so not 40, number 48. I used rivals and 247 in combination and made that mistake. So those 8 places represent a whirlwind of difference in your opinion? Jim Harbaugh is an elite Coach at both the college and NFL level. He took over a team with a talent level within the same ballpark as Riley did in the cupboards. He proceeded to win 4 games, then 5 games, then 8 games. He didn't surpass Mike Riley's 1st season win total until his 3rd year.

"He inherited a team with a 1 win record" you say, so is he from an objective point of view allowed a couple bad seasons? You prove my point in that sentence. It is of course relevant what the previous coach leaves behind in culture and talent, and that of course plays into Riley's losing season and blowouts. You know what Harbaugh didn't inherit Qmany? A defense that gave up an NCAA record breaking amount of yards rushing in a game, a team accustomed to it's coach receiving penalties and being broadcast throwing fits on the sideline, a team that was pulled aside by the previous coach and told the AD was a p*ssy and they should transfer.

Lets be even more objective just to crush your point a little further. Nebraska is the first Major college football program that Riley has coached at. I want to note that I don't count Oregon State due to lack of resources, and unbelievably bad tradition. When he took over at Oregon State, the beavers hadn't been to a bowl game since 1966. There are very few power 5 teams as historically bad as Oregon State. Let's take a look at some of the best coaches in the current era of college football and their record in their first 2 seasons as a head coach of a Major program.

• Mike Riley- Nebraska- (15-10)- 60%
  
• Nick Saban- Michigan State- (12-11-1)- 50%
  
• Jim Harbaugh- Stanford- (9-15)- 37.5%
  
• Urban Meyer- Utah- (22-2)- 92%
  
• Dabo Swinney- Clemson- (13-8)- 62%
  

So lets see, among 4 of the best active College Football Coaches Mike Riley ranks better or about the same as 3 of them. I'm going to go ahead and say its pretty objective to say that he has done nothing in his first two years that proves he can't and wont win a championship. You can continue to pretend his performance his first two years points to the fact he has no chance, but history just doesn't agree.

Wow, seriously? You're comparing what Saban took over at MSU, or what Harbaugh took over at Standford, to what Riley took over at Nebraska? Nebraska was a 9 win per season team with the exact same talent that Riley took over. At this point, any fewer wins for Riley than 18 is unacceptable. This season the Huskers literally lost every game against a quality opponent (with the arguable exception of Minnesota). To be sitting here at 15-11 after two years is ridiculous...and we all know that should be 14-11 since Nebraska didn't belong in a bowl at 5-7 last season.

So now Riley is sitting here at 57%. That's a huge surprise, said nobody with half a clue. He has been coaching for 30 years and has been a .500 coach the entire time. So here he sits at Nebraska as a .500 coach....okay .576 but it's right around where he has been his entire career. No surprises here.

Oh yes seriously, I am comparing those two head coach's at two different programs to Mike Riley in their first two years. And I am sorry to say it but Nebraska has been nothing special for a long time so try not to be so shocked I could compare those two programs to us. There is of course an imbalance between Nebraska where Riley got them, and the other two programs no doubt about it. They are two of the greatest coach's ever however, so even with a disadvantage it seems ok to me to pit Riley against them.

Everyone here is still upset about the blowouts and I get it. As I keep saying I'm not here preaching how amazing Riley is and he is the next Saban. I'm just saying its a bit early to completely write him off as a head coach. The reactions i'm getting are that I am unreasonable, which is why I point out a few of the greatest coaches and how their first two years at a major program went. I did it to illustrate sometimes coaches need more than two years, not for any other point. Plenty of coaches have had tons of success their first two years, and we all know it.

Like it or not we are all getting another year of Riley. I would just prefer to be optimistic leading into it. I still think there's a chance for a big turn around next year.

Yeah, well...you go ahead and try to be optimistic, I'm going to choose reality. Riley is a .500 coach. He has always been a .500 coach. There is no indication that anything other than a weak schedule will change that. And any hope that he can compete against the likes of Harbaugh and Meyer is just fantasy.

You do realize that Harbaugh only played 4 games outside the state of Michigan this year and went 1-3 with his only win at Rutgers. He lost at Iowa, tOSU, and against FSU. Let's see how he does next year when all of Hoke's kids leave after this year.

It won't make any difference they will still be kickin our a$$! that is how far down the sh#t hole we are.

 

[marko polo]

The only difference is that Riley is a nice guy who does not make a scene on the sideline., rather he looks like he has absolutely no pulse whatsoever

Announcers called Osborne the Ultimate Stoic many, many times over the years. He gave the dullest interviews, a short smile was A LOT from him. "He did a pretty good job" was pretty big praise, it was pretty darn rare for him to show emotion on the sideline. He used to chew Big Red gum during games. And he turned out ok in the end.

Are you intimating with a straight face that will happen with Mike and crew? comeone man

 

[huskered17]

It baffles me why there are so many members on this board that keep making excuses for these coaches. Why can't we just admit that Eichorst made a horrible choice when he hired Riley and that these coaches are nothing but average coaches that are going to produce average results. That is what they have done for decades now, why should it change all of a sudden? I seem t recall that Urban Meyer went undefeated in his first season with Ohio State and he inherited players that he did not recruit. Isn't why these coaches get paid millions? To develop these players and make them talented. Westerkamp, Reilly, Carter, Newby, Pearson El, gerry, dezuris are among some of the best players I have seen yet these coaches failed to develop others to have depth. You are either a good coach or a bad one. Obviously, this bunch has no pulse and will not do anything in Years 3 or 4. I expect a 7-5 record next year and may be an 8-4 record the following year at best. This is what these coaches can bring to the table. Eichorst should be ashamed to cash his fat check. He should apologize for this mess and take action to correct it. Can you imagine what a Florida State or a Clemson would do to us with these coaches at the helm. The game will be over in the middle of the first quarter. I get nightmares just thinking about the prospect. And to think once we were the Alabama of football. Look at what horrible ADs have done to this once elite program.

If Riley's team go's 8-4 in 2018, I would think he will probably be looking for a new job or a place to retire. He will have all his recruits with at least two or three years under his guidance. That is his make it or brake it year, to me.

GBR!!!

 

[NM11046]

The only difference is that Riley is a nice guy who does not make a scene on the sideline., rather he looks like he has absolutely no pulse whatsoever

Announcers called Osborne the Ultimate Stoic many, many times over the years. He gave the dullest interviews, a short smile was A LOT from him. "He did a pretty good job" was pretty big praise, it was pretty darn rare for him to show emotion on the sideline. He used to chew Big Red gum during games. And he turned out ok in the end.

Are you intimating with a straight face that will happen with Mike and crew? comeone man

We don't know Marko - the point is it took Tom MANY years to get the program to a place that people thought was acceptable, and it only was there for a few years. He wasn't the hero you all are making him out to be now looking back in retrospect. Can't recall your age, but I vividly remember fans calling for his, and each of the coaches jobs at the end of each season.

It's a game, it's cyclical and it's a slow process of building blocks year over year to get the reputation and talent to be a powerhouse. From what I've seen you write I don't think there's a way you'll ever be pleased with this staff, and that's fine, but I'm confident in saying you would have never been pleased by Tom and his crew either (except those 2-3 years).

There are far more similarities between the coaching perspective of TO and MR than differences.

 

[cornstar]

This team started off very hot at 7-0. Things were looking great, then came Wisconsin where we were shown we don't have the muscle to beat them. I was happy with Nebraska's performance in that game and the fact we had a chance to win it. The problem was we all knew the following week was a loss at Ohio State, and boy did it get bad. Then came Iowa, and now Tennessee.

After the great 7-0 start, Nebraska reverted back to their old ways. Beat the bad teams, lose to any team with a pulse, and lose badly on the big stage.

Next season will be very telling with this staff. It'll be year 3 under this system, it should be the year things get going in the direction the staff wants it to, their handprints should be on the team/program moreso then the previous staff anymore.Their excuse window (or the fans excuse window) will be narrower to blame the previous staff for mishaps and failure.

Nebraska has an extremely tough schedule next year, but we were told Riley was brought here to win championships, and to win championships you have to win seasons with tough schedules. Regardless of how tough NU's schedule is next year, I think the expectations should remain high.

I'm not giving up on Riley, and think this upcoming season will be very telling of what he is capable of doing at Nebraska.

I think year 4 and beyond is where we find out what this staff will be doing for us. Riley seems to be planning for the future, and that is a strategy I don't disagree with but that means we aren't going to have any instant gratification.

Instant gratification?
I don't think that many of us expected conference championships and a payoff berth in the first two seasons.

But, with our favorable schedules and having the best talent in the division, competing for division titles and, at the very least, not getting blown out by Purdue and Iowa are not unreasonable expectations.

We had at least one improvement this year beyond our overall record.

Zero credit for having a better record than 2015. And it's still no better than the last coach.

We didn't get beat by Purdue again.

Another zero credit quote. But I guess it is an improvement for our current coach.

And we didn't get blown out the first time either.

It was 42-16 going into the 4th. That's a blowout. I realize you're big on garbage time points, both for this staff and for Crapahan's, but most that know football don't care about those garbage points.

That said, Purdue is like Iowa St imo, a doormat to wipe our feet on and we lost. We shall forever hang our heads in shame over that.

Wasn't that their first B1G win in 2 or 3 years? Didn't Hazel get fired?
That may well be the worst loss in program history.

Is it still a blowout if we end up winning after being down 42-16? Of course not, only the final score matters in cases like these. How many times in sports have we seen miracle comebacks? We were having one against Purdue, we just ran out of time. But if it makes you feel better to keep calling it a blowout, then by all means, have at it.

We'll have to agree to disagree.

I don't believe in "garbage time" so how can I be big on "garbage time" points?

You mentioned the 07 offense as not being bad, but iirc we were getting boat raced in the USC game that year, they subbed in late and our starters made a little hay and made the final score look not so terrible.
Iirc, against Kansas that same year there was a similar situation.

I call that garbage time. You?

Opponents used to do that against us back in the 80s and 90s, but of course we would be up by 40+ and our 4th, 5th, and 6th teamers were facing their 1sts and 2nds.

How is this "garbage time" for either team? We're up by 40+ and our backups are getting valuable playing time. Their backups are getting valuable playing time.

Yes those reps are important but the game has been decided. Some of the guys still playing may be giving half effort, and their reps won't determine the outcome of the game.

Garbage time, it's a pretty common term.

 

[cornstar]

Urban Meyer inherited a team that is head and shoulders above us in talent right now. OSU is simply better across the board and so are each of those other teams you mentioned.

I'm fairly certain that we beat Ohio state the year before Meyer took over. They didn't look that much more athletic than we did that day.