Respect for Devaney

What has stood out to me with both Devaney and Osborne, is they were both willing to look "outside the box" and try some things which were not too common during their eras.  From going towards strength and conditioning, to nutrition, to sports psychology, to the types of systems they ran to even bringing in Prop 48 guys, they figured it out.  They figured out you could win at Nebraska and do it consistently.  I don't think too many people would not like to see that today, but you may need to think outside of the box to be different, to be unique, to be something that works here and be the best at it.  I am not sure what edge we can get in this era, but the groundwork has been set in the past that it can be done here.  

 
There wasn't exactly an opening for TO to become AD when he retired as Bill Byrne was the AD.  It's long been rumored Byrne resigned as AD because he didn't want to be the one to fire Solich. 

 
10_point_buck said:
What has stood out to me with both Devaney and Osborne, is they were both willing to look "outside the box" and try some things which were not too common during their eras.  From going towards strength and conditioning, to nutrition, to sports psychology, to the types of systems they ran to even bringing in Prop 48 guys, they figured it out.  They figured out you could win at Nebraska and do it consistently.  I don't think too many people would not like to see that today, but you may need to think outside of the box to be different, to be unique, to be something that works here and be the best at it.  I am not sure what edge we can get in this era, but the groundwork has been set in the past that it can be done here.  
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My best guess is it would involve head trauma removal from the game.  From my small corner of the state of Nebraska, football is slowly becoming extinct.  A lot of local schools have had to play 8 man because they can't get enough guys to go out to field an 11 man team.  One local school is set to vote sometime in the next few months whether they drop to 8 man.  This is a school that has close to 100 boys in high school. 

Another guess would be jumping on the bandwagon to compensate players.  We're a rich school known primarily for football.  If/when players can be compensated, we should benefit more than most schools.

 
10_point_buck said:
What has stood out to me with both Devaney and Osborne, is they were both willing to look "outside the box" and try some things which were not too common during their eras.  From going towards strength and conditioning, to nutrition, to sports psychology, to the types of systems they ran to even bringing in Prop 48 guys, they figured it out.  They figured out you could win at Nebraska and do it consistently.  I don't think too many people would not like to see that today, but you may need to think outside of the box to be different, to be unique, to be something that works here and be the best at it.  I am not sure what edge we can get in this era, but the groundwork has been set in the past that it can be done here.  
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NUance: “... Nebraska was pretty good up through the early forties--a few dominant years mixed in with mostly good seasons and a few bad seasons... But from about 1942 until Devaney arrived in 1961 the Huskers were mediocre at best.”

Simply put, there is no Nebraska Cornhusker football as we’ve known it for nearly 60 years without Coach Devaney. He transformed Husker football forever. Said another way, the entire history of the Huskers would be different without him. Would the Huskers have ever reached multiple National Championship status? The odds are against it. There would have to have been a different Devaney to come along at the right time and elevate the Husker program. And the odds are against that. Look at all the programs that never had a Devaney figure come along. Some of those are in the Big 10/14 right now, not to mention the rest of the nation.

As for the Huskers being pretty good to the mid-forties, that game and era is so different from now. College ball was not the cultural giant it is today. It was, like the NFL was back then, operating in relative anonymity. Maybe a big deal around campus, but much of the nation could not have cared less. And, the players would not get much money from their image and likeness as hardly anybody knew who they were except for the very biggest names from places like Notre Dame.

Husker fans owe a great debt to Coach Devaney. He made Husker football into what it was, is, and can be again. Notre Dame had one. Texas had one. Alabama had one. Ohio State had one. And Lincoln was lucky enough to have one.

 
Roundball Shaman said:
NUance: “... Nebraska was pretty good up through the early forties--a few dominant years mixed in with mostly good seasons and a few bad seasons... But from about 1942 until Devaney arrived in 1961 the Huskers were mediocre at best.”

Simply put, there is no Nebraska Cornhusker football as we’ve known it for nearly 60 years without Coach Devaney. He transformed Husker football forever. Said another way, the entire history of the Huskers would be different without him. Would the Huskers have ever reached multiple National Championship status? The odds are against it. There would have to have been a different Devaney to come along at the right time and elevate the Husker program. And the odds are against that. Look at all the programs that never had a Devaney figure come along. Some of those are in the Big 10/14 right now, not to mention the rest of the nation.

As for the Huskers being pretty good to the mid-forties, that game and era is so different from now. College ball was not the cultural giant it is today. It was, like the NFL was back then, operating in relative anonymity. Maybe a big deal around campus, but much of the nation could not have cared less. And, the players would not get much money from their image and likeness as hardly anybody knew who they were except for the very biggest names from places like Notre Dame.

Husker fans owe a great debt to Coach Devaney. He made Husker football into what it was, is, and can be again. Notre Dame had one. Texas had one. Alabama had one. Ohio State had one. And Lincoln was lucky enough to have one.
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Good review.

 
junior4949 said:
My best guess is it would involve head trauma removal from the game.  From my small corner of the state of Nebraska, football is slowly becoming extinct.  A lot of local schools have had to play 8 man because they can't get enough guys to go out to field an 11 man team.  One local school is set to vote sometime in the next few months whether they drop to 8 man.  This is a school that has close to 100 boys in high school. 
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Wow, that's astonishing.  I know Nebraskans are conservative and figured there would be an overreaction to all the news about head injuries.  On the other hand, the dream of playing for the Big Red should keep participation up.  We have nobody to blame for the decline of the Huskers but ourselves.  It's disingenuous to expect success from a sport that you wouldn't let your own son play.  If I was a parent in Nebraska who didn't let their son play football because of CTE concerns, I wouldn't complain about the Huskers being bad.  That's like insisting they need to import good players that are willing to take the risk.  We've lost the core support for the sport in the state.  We shouldn't be surprised or disappointed that the state's university program is bad.

 
Fun fact: Bill Jennings was famous for running a conservative offense. Really conservative. The three yards and a cloud of dust stuff, and occasionally punting on third down,  just to be safe.

In Bob Devaney's first game at Nebraska, the first play he called was a pass. It was incomplete, but Memorial Stadium gave him a standing ovation anyway. 

 
4skers89 said:
Wow, that's astonishing.  I know Nebraskans are conservative and figured there would be an overreaction to all the news about head injuries.  On the other hand, the dream of playing for the Big Red should keep participation up.  We have nobody to blame for the decline of the Huskers but ourselves.  It's disingenuous to expect success from a sport that you wouldn't let your own son play.  If I was a parent in Nebraska who didn't let their son play football because of CTE concerns, I wouldn't complain about the Huskers being bad.  That's like insisting they need to import good players that are willing to take the risk.  We've lost the core support for the sport in the state.  We shouldn't be surprised or disappointed that the state's university program is bad.
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Sort of an over reaction to what’s happening. 

 
Devaney was high school football coach in Saganaw, MI. This was back when college teams regularly hired high school coaches. Devaney was hired by Michigan State's Biggie Munn in 1953. A year later Munn became AD and Duffy Daugherty was promoted to HC. Devaney was hired in 1957 by Wyoming.

Here's Wyoming's records (BD years are bolded).





6-1-2


1961-Wyoming (Skyline)




8-2


1960-Wyoming (Skyline)




9-1


1959-Wyoming (Skyline)




8-3


1958-Wyoming (Skyline)




4-3-3


1957-Wyoming (Skyline)




10-0


1956-Wyoming (Skyline)




8-3


1955-Wyoming (Skyline)




6-4


1954-Wyoming (Skyline)




5-4-1


1953-Wyoming (Skyline)




5-4


1952-Wyoming (Skyline)




7-2-1


1951-Wyoming (Skyline)




10-0


1950-Wyoming (Skyline)




9-1


1949-Wyoming (Skyline)




4-5


1948-Wyoming (Skyline)




4-5


1947-Wyoming (Mountain States)




1-8-1


1946-Wyoming (Mountain States)




 
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What husker fans need to realize is that just because you were once a great program, that doesnt mean you will be again.   Minnesota was once great, Yale was once great. The other bluebloods are all in fertile recruiting lands.  Nebraska is the lone outlier in that, which is part of what makes what Nebraska did in the past so special. 

Its not to say we cant be great again, but us fans expect it, and that is a lil bit loco.   The only way we may ever be a consistent top 10-15 team again, is if we can land one of the best coaches in the game, and if he has a passion for this place strong enough to stay here for 15+ years.  We may have that in Frost.....time will tell, if he turns out to be an average coach we may never get back to anything consistently better than where Bo had us.  The more time that passes, the worse our chances are.  Thats why if Frost doesnt pan out, our tradition may be a thing of the past.  Does our up and coming generation have a passion for Nebraska Football? If our state loses the passion of the fan base, we lose the one thing keeping us relevant.  And this young generation isnt going to be passionate about a team thats never that great.  They have 100 other teams to choose from , most of which play most of their games on TV.  These next few years are huge....but we need to be patient.  If we ever let go of Frost, im not sure anyone else any good would stay here for long.

 
10_point_buck said:
What has stood out to me with both Devaney and Osborne, is they were both willing to look "outside the box" and try some things which were not too common during their eras.  From going towards strength and conditioning, to nutrition, to sports psychology, to the types of systems they ran to even bringing in Prop 48 guys, they figured it out.  They figured out you could win at Nebraska and do it consistently.  I don't think too many people would not like to see that today, but you may need to think outside of the box to be different, to be unique, to be something that works here and be the best at it.  I am not sure what edge we can get in this era, but the groundwork has been set in the past that it can be done here.  
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Like bringing a shotgun spread offense to a place that loves I-formation and fullbacks?

 
BigPeterJ said:
What husker fans need to realize is that just because you were once a great program, that doesnt mean you will be again.   Minnesota was once great, Yale was once great. The other bluebloods are all in fertile recruiting lands.  Nebraska is the lone outlier in that, which is part of what makes what Nebraska did in the past so special. 

Its not to say we cant be great again, but us fans expect it, and that is a lil bit loco.   The only way we may ever be a consistent top 10-15 team again, is if we can land one of the best coaches in the game, and if he has a passion for this place strong enough to stay here for 15+ years.  We may have that in Frost.....time will tell, if he turns out to be an average coach we may never get back to anything consistently better than where Bo had us.  The more time that passes, the worse our chances are.  Thats why if Frost doesnt pan out, our tradition may be a thing of the past.  Does our up and coming generation have a passion for Nebraska Football? If our state loses the passion of the fan base, we lose the one thing keeping us relevant.  And this young generation isnt going to be passionate about a team thats never that great.  They have 100 other teams to choose from , most of which play most of their games on TV.  These next few years are huge....but we need to be patient.  If we ever let go of Frost, im not sure anyone else any good would stay here for long.
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I think you hit it on the head.  Anyone born in the last 20-25 years knows nothing about Nebraska being anything more than what they have seen.  I know my own kids are not overly excited or thrilled to go to games, watch them on TV, or even care about them.  They are in HS now and don't have that passion as they have never had anything to be passionate about.  We are on the cusp of never being able to reach the apex again.

 
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