Mike Riley

HIHusker

HIHusker

Banned
Starting a thread to focus on some positives and give everyone a chance to be gracious in light of MR being on the way out.  I am not an apologist, or believe that MR should stay.  It is time he is let go and we move on to another coach.  That being said we should all thank him and his family for coming here and trying to get us back to prominence.  HC in NCAAF FBS must not be easy and is probably like living under a microscope.  I honestly can't say I could have done any better so I can't be an a-hole about his performance; i have no right.  He did his best and failed, sh** happens and we have all failed at something in life so we can relate.  In light of this I'd like to thank Mr. Riley and his family for coming and wish them the best in whatever the future holds for them.  God bless you and  your family.  Some positives as we look to a new coach and outlook for the program:

1. Clean Program - MR leaves us with no major scandals or NCAA investigations under his tenure; currently or in the foreseeable future.  In this day and age it is a blessing to have this.

2. Cupboards are NOT BARE - MR leaves us with some decent talent on both sides of the ball: POB, Bryant...etc.. (some of you who follow the roster more closely can add to this)

3. Catalyst - MR's performance may have played a major role in the firing of ADSE and bringing in Moos which could be a real blessing for UNL athletics across the board and not just football.

4. Academics - GSR is at it's highest in 13 years.  At least the kids are winning in the classroom:

http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=211677697

Feel free to add any other positives to this and please keep this thread positive.  No need to treat this like Divorce Court, we are better than that.

GBR

 
While I had never hear of MR before he was hired, I warmed up to the person he is and had high hopes he could pull this off.  We all have reasons why we think it didn't work but bottom line is it didn't and it's time to move on.  After the first year it seemed like the players accepted him and most of the staff.  Sometimes in life the good guy doesn't win and things don't work out like we want them too.  I wish he and the staff a good landing after this gig.

 
He is an excellent example for the young men he coached - on how to be a respectable, professional and caring person.  For those who don't go on beyond college ball (which is the majority) they've benefitted from spending time with him.  Have seen a man who treats others with respect.  They've seen a man who puts family up top of his priority list.  His wife's involvement with the program, and her visibility with him also sets a good example for respect for women and longevity.

Also from what I've seen he is a good mentor to other coaches.  To have the WI and the NW coaches during post game interviews speak so fondly of him and to have announcers, past players etc speak highly of him should give some of our kids (and many other coaches) something to aspire to.

The results haven't been what we wanted them to be, but I do feel the program as a whole, with the unmeasureables is better for him having been here.

 
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I also had high hopes, once I learned a bit about Riley. But I also had nagging doubts.

That said, I am grateful for the clean program, and I think our situation is quite a bit brighter than it seems at a glance. We have good/great players on the bench and flashes of greatness in individual players and specific plays. We just never seemed to come together as a fully functional machine. All the parts never synced up at once, or at least not very often. I believe Riley may have set us up for greatness under the next coach.

And Mike and his family will have improved their retirement lifestyle by a large percentage with the paycheck he has and will receive.

Most of all, Mike seems like an absolutely nice guy. I am sorry it didn't work out for that reason alone. Mike is very easy to like and cheer for. But the cheering is getting harder with each staggering loss we continue to endure.

 
Riley represented the program and University very well, and was a breath of badly needed fresh air. I also really wanted it to work out with him, but as others have said, it is time to move on. Thank you, Mike.

 
Always like the way he handled himself at the press conf"s. Not an easy thing to do this season. 

Hope the best for him going forward. 

GBR!!!

 
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I feel for him in many ways.  I don't think he came here to lose games.  I think he thought he was coming to a place where his system would attract better players and therefore he would win more games.  The bad thing is he fired some of his people because Eich told him to revamp his defense.  His D wasn't this bad last year, and unfortunately, that terrible D is part of the reason he is not going to stay around.  I think each time we point fingers at his coaching, Eichorst name should be first.  He took a very big name program's job that was offered.  Cant' blame the guy for dreaming big.

 
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BoneyardHusker said:
Extremely nice guy.

Probably couldn't have asked for a better guy to be around the program and leading these young men with Foltz tragedy.
Click to expand...


Well said.  While I don't think things would have turned out much differently in the grand scheme of things, the death of a beloved senior leader when the program was already in a fragile spot is not an enviable spot to be in.

I feel like Riley is oddly leaving the program in a good spot.  He united the fan base (granted it was against him) and he set up the next guy to play the Gridiron Gang card.  Your way got you here, now it's time to do things my way.  The next coach should have zero issues getting buy in.

 
I knew who he was, actually followed him a little bit.  I work for an SC grad that felt he was the best coach in the Pac 12.  He said they always worried about the Oregon State game, because coach Riley always got more out of less.  He felt we were headed for great things.  I watched him beat SC a couple of times, and truly thought the same.  Unfortunately for Nebraska and Coach Riley, things did not work out as most of us hoped.  He seems to be great person, that gave it a real try.  But just too much for him I am afraid.  The play of his team on several occasions has been embarrassing no question,  but his actions have never made me embarrassed to be a Nebraska fan.    

I hope this closes out his coaching career, and I wish him nothing but the best.  I truly expect his departure to be a mutual agreement, that works out to be fair for Nebraska.  Sad to see the person go, but not the level of coaching we watched. 

 
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