SI Article on Saban - Similarities to what Bo is implementing.

[kchusker_chris]

Good point... so why did NU hire an inexperienced coach in pelini rather than an experienced one?

Last time Tom Osborne and I were sipping cognacs in his study he told me he did it just to mess with the folks on message boards. Then he went into this long rant about coeds and sorority girls.

Come to think of it.... that may have been Not Tom Osborne.

TO has no time for sipping...he chugs.

 

[teachercd]

I totally remember when Saban was winning all those championships at MSU...oh wait.

Bo is such a young head coach still guys, you have to remember that.

 

[kchusker_chris]

I don't honestly remember all the coaches we were considering at the time so I'm sure someone can give a better detailed list of candidates. But of the two candidates I do remember, Pelini and Turner Gill, Pelini was and still is the better choice.

here's who was hired that year...

Arkansas - Petrino (gone)

Baylor - Briles (great hire)

CSU - Fairchild (gone)

Duke - Cutcliffe

GTech - Johnson (who I'm surprised didn't end up at NU)

Hawaii - McMackin

Houston - Sumlin (gone)

Michigan - Rich Rod. (gone)

Mississippi - Nutt (gone)

Navy - Niumatatalolo

Northern Illinois - Jerry Kill (gone - but pretty successful in his time there - 10-3 2 seasons ago, and was coming off 12-2 Southern Illinois season)

SMU - June Jones (mildly successful)

Southern Miss - Larry Fedora (gone - but very successful in his time there 12-2 last season)

A&M - Mike Sherman (gone)

UCLA - Slick Rick (gone)

Washington State - Paul Wuff (gone)

WV - Stewart (gone)

Some others fired that were notable - Ed Orgeron, Franchione, Chan Gailey

...slim pickins

 

[kchusker_chris]

Just out of curiosity I was looking at the 2004 coaching changes. Arizona hired Mike Stoops, and Mississippi state hired Croom. Otherwise coaches were slim pickings that year. I hardly recognize a single name on the fired/hired list. Cincninnati hired Mark Dantonio though, and Central Michigan Brian Kelly. Idaho canned Tom Cable.

 

[NUpolo8]

Saban also got absolutely trounced by Tom Osborne at Michigan State back in 1995. So badly that Osborne consoled him after the game.

1996 as well.

 

[Count 'Bility]

Even if Bo's process is similar it sure hasn't yielded similar results. It's time for less talk and more wins. (Or at least fewer than 4 losses . . . generally at least 1 of which we have no business losing.)

:facepalm:

Because Bo has all the advantages Saban has and has had.

Did someone say that he did? (I did laugh that this comment came from someone with the username "accountability." )

Read into the point. Bo has only been here 4 years, and it has yielded respectable results. He did not have the recruiting hotbed to turn it around so quickly. That's all I was saying. Nebraska wouldnt have won the National Championship in his 3rd year if Saban were hired here. He would still be fighting the same uphill battle Bo is. It's a fact, not an opinion. I'm just calling for a little more patience.

 

[Count 'Bility]

People tend to gloss over, or simply forget, that many of the great coaches we see today (i.e. Saban) spent years as a head coach at smaller universities. Saban's been a head coach since 1990, and has held five coaching gigs including Alabama. That's remarkable experience in comparison to Pelini. Pelini, although experienced in his own right, is still a pretty young head coach.

People tend to gloss over, or simply forget, that many of the great coaches we see today (i.e. Saban) spent years as a head coach at smaller universities. Saban's been a head coach since 1990, and has held five coaching gigs including Alabama. That's remarkable experience in comparison to Pelini. Pelini, although experienced in his own right, is still a pretty young head coach.

Good point... so why did NU hire an inexperienced coach in pelini rather than an experienced one?

I say it's for the sake of long term continuity. A program like ours depends up that. It was like that for so long, and then it seemed like everything we mystically stood for was canned. Now we have to find it again. Meyer will lead Ohio St. to a Big 10 title or 2, maybe even an NC appearence/win, but what happens when he bolts after Miller graduates or he loses a couple 3 games?

What about Saban? I dont see him being at Bama much longer. He seems like the type who looks for the next big challenge, when it comes along, he's gone, and Bama will be a 6-7 win team again. Nebraska cant afford for that to happen so we give a chance to someone who wants to be here for a long time and hopefully a few years from now everything starts falling in place for a nice run again.

 

[carlfense]

Read into the point. Bo has only been here 4 years, and it has yielded respectable results. He did not have the recruiting hotbed to turn it around so quickly.

Totally agree that Nebraska has bigger hurdles. I don't think I'm alone in expecting to have fewer than four losses every couple seasons or so. I don't expect national championships. And I don't think expecting a conference title or a BCS game a couple times a decade is an unreasonable expectation for Nebraska fans and boosters.

Nebraska wouldnt have won the National Championship in his 3rd year if Saban were hired here. He would still be fighting the same uphill battle Bo is. It's a fact, not an opinion.

Actually, that is not factual at all. There's no way of knowing what Saban would have done in year three if he was coaching at Nebraska. That's pretty much the definition of an opinion.

I'm just calling for a little more patience.

Agreed. I'm not calling for Bo's head. If we don't win something in the next two seasons (2012-2013) that seat will get warm, and rightfully so.

 

[Husker_x]

Osborne's most successful coaching period also came after decades of experience. The thing about Pelini that I like is it seems (from afar, anyway) that he is willing to reexamine his coaching practices and the way they do things in the program. That's encouraging. To me that's why experience really matters when you get down to it. You have to learn from your mistakes. The more adept you are at finding mistakes and the quicker you are at correcting them, the better off you'll be. See the Callhan/Cosgrove relationship as a counter example.

 

[Count 'Bility]

Read into the point. Bo has only been here 4 years, and it has yielded respectable results. He did not have the recruiting hotbed to turn it around so quickly.

Totally agree that Nebraska has bigger hurdles. I don't think I'm alone in expecting to have fewer than four losses every couple seasons or so. I don't expect national championships. And I don't think expecting a conference title or a BCS game a couple times a decade is an unreasonable expectation for Nebraska fans and boosters.

Nebraska wouldnt have won the National Championship in his 3rd year if Saban were hired here. He would still be fighting the same uphill battle Bo is. It's a fact, not an opinion.

Actually, that is not factual at all. There's no way of knowing what Saban would have done in year three if he was coaching at Nebraska. That's pretty much the definition of an opinion.

I'm just calling for a little more patience.

Agreed. I'm not calling for Bo's head. If we don't win something in the next two seasons (2012-2013) that seat will get warm, and rightfully so.

Good. We understand each other.

It is a fact by the way..

 

[Count 'Bility]

Osborne's most successful coaching period also came after decades of experience. The thing about Pelini that I like is it seems (from afar, anyway) that he is willing to reexamine his coaching practices and the way they do things in the program. That's encouraging. To me that's why experience really matters when you get down to it. You have to learn from your mistakes. The more adept you are at finding mistakes and the quicker you are at correcting them, the better off you'll be. See the Callhan/Cosgrove relationship as a counter example.

Nice. We've spent the offseason reading a lot of sunshine pumping about how he's re-examined this, and tinkered with that. Even the recruiting seems to be moving up. We're no longer settling for the ones we know we can get, we're flat out going after the ones we need full-bore. Osborne did a lot of adjusting in his tenure I'm sure. Esp. in 1991 with the unity council and again in 92 with the 43..

 

[carlfense]

Osborne's most successful coaching period also came after decades of experience. The thing about Pelini that I like is it seems (from afar, anyway) that he is willing to reexamine his coaching practices and the way they do things in the program. That's encouraging. To me that's why experience really matters when you get down to it. You have to learn from your mistakes. The more adept you are at finding mistakes and the quicker you are at correcting them, the better off you'll be. See the Callhan/Cosgrove relationship as a counter example.

I mostly agree. That argument would be even stronger if a few years back a certain OL coach was encouraged to pursue other opportunities.

 

[Husker_x]

Osborne's most successful coaching period also came after decades of experience. The thing about Pelini that I like is it seems (from afar, anyway) that he is willing to reexamine his coaching practices and the way they do things in the program. That's encouraging. To me that's why experience really matters when you get down to it. You have to learn from your mistakes. The more adept you are at finding mistakes and the quicker you are at correcting them, the better off you'll be. See the Callhan/Cosgrove relationship as a counter example.

I mostly agree. That argument would be even stronger if a few years back a certain OL coach was encouraged to pursue other opportunities.

Hard to argue with you there, but he did also bring in Garrison. Bo strikes me as a pretty rational guy (or at a more basic level, a strategic thinker, hence his defensive genius). There must be something he sees in Barney that he likes. I don't know what it is, but then I'm not working with the guy every day. We only see the results, not the causes.

Bo's loyal. It's one of his most admirable character traits. It's a trait that might pay off huge if JPap and Beck are the coordinators he thinks they are. They'll be more likely to stick around longer; he is, after all, the one that gave them their shot. The question is how long will he tolerate mediocrity for loyalty? Hard to say. We also know Bo doesn't like to lose.

 

[huKSer]

Even if Bo's process is similar it sure hasn't yielded similar results. It's time for less talk and more wins. (Or at least fewer than 4 losses . . . generally at least 1 of which we have no business losing.)

Patience. Saban has been a head coach for 18 years. Bo's only got 4+ at this point. Bo may never equal the success of Saban, and even if he does he might not do it here, but he's go ta long way to go before he gets it all figured out.

Plus 'Bama can buy good athletes

 

[TonyStalloni]

One of TO's great accomplishments was winning the Natl Championship 3 times in 4 years and was close to winning 5 straight years. Another way of looking at it was that he won 3 Natl Championships in 25 years. A lot of growing, tinkering, complete overhauls when he finally decided something wasn't working went into those first 20 years and that is a lot of what made the last 5 years special. Many Husker fans only remember those last 5 years and fail to realize that it was the process of success and failure that let him arrive at a workable formula. Hats off to the BobFather for standing behind Tom in the rough years. We nearly ran him off. Thankfully cooler heads prevailed, as they should now.