Since TO retired...have the coaches walked into good/bad situations?

[cornhuskers4ever]

If anyone could turn the program around, I think it would be Frost.  He isn't going to come in with the attitude "You USED to be Nebraska", he will come in with the attitude "You still are Nebraska".  He will help them get that edge back, the take no prisoners, eye of the tiger, chew em up and spit them out attitude. 

 

[Nebfanatic]

Riley had it tougher than Bo and it's pretty simple as to why. Bo had fan support, no one was clinging on to Callahan in the fan base or on the roster. On top of that Bo inherited the most talented roster of everyone but Solich. Riley had to battle fans who were divided on his ability, fans and a team somewhat divided on letting the last coach go in the first place. There was a 9 win bar in place and the roster Riley inherited was just not as good as the one Bo inherited especially on defense. Riley for sure had the tougher situation. That isn't an excuse for his results but you asked the question and that is the answer. Frost is walking into a pretty good situation imo. The roster talent is decent, probably about the same as when Riley arrived. The brand is still in a good place despite a bad season. The expectation is at an all time low. Frost is a fan favorite and there will be less division within the team and fanbase about whether their ex coach deserved to be fired. Everyone will be behind Frost. As much as you want to act like it didn't happen, not everyone was behind Riley. That has an effect even if it is just a small one. He could have done something about it, but it's a tough way to start a gig.

 

[JJ Husker]

I've always contended that you want to be the guy after the guy and coaches seem to run in groups of 3.  TO obviously blows my theory out of the water following Devaney but you could argue that if TO were coaching in today's climate he doesn't last long enough to win his MNCs in the 90s but that's a discussion for another day.  So here we go...

TO=GOAT

Solich=On the surface comes into a good spot, actually not the case.  Solich gets the dead cat bounce the first few years with TOs guys and things seem to be going ok until Colorado 2001 where Husker Nation experiences the mother of all band aid rip offs.  I don't think I'm alone where I remember exactly where I was when the game happened and the feeling of hopelessness that came over me as Chris Brown & Co ran rough shed over Nebraska.  Solich gets fired by Stevie P.  Solich was doomed from the start because he was TO's handpicked guy and rightly or wrongly people were going to expect TO level results.  Frank=Guy

Callahan=Comes out with his WCO supposed wizardry and gaudy recruiting rankings.  Tries to overall things and it obviously doesn't work.  However, he was SP's guy so he was going to get a ton of cover as long as SP was there.  Cally refused to hire a competent DC that could've saved his job but still recruits at a fairly decent level.  Ultimately gets wacked when TO takes over @ AD.   I felt Cally walked into a better spot than Solich because people thought the program 'bottomed out' under Solich and there was some distance between Cally and TO...oh how wrong we were.  Cally=Guy after the guy

Pelini=Bo does a masterful job of using Cally's guys on the defensive side of the ball and arguably peaks in 2009 when he assembles the best defense since the mid 90s wrecking crews but is undone due to a lack of an offensive identity and unwillingness to make changes to his coaching staff even though it is shown that his guys are out of their depth.  Eventually, Bo shows what his ceiling is and the Ginger Assassin lets him go.  Bo=reset of group of 3.

HCMR=We've covered Mike's tenure at length here so I don't need to add anything.  Of all the coaches listed, he probably was in the worst spot of all the coaches due to the polarizing nature of Pelini.   HCMR=guy

HCSF?=We shall see.  Regardless, Frost is coming in as the guy after the guy and is coming into a pretty good spot IMO. 

 Good rundown. I think Callahan arrived in the best situation but unfortunately he wanted to change everything. Bo probably had the most potential to really do something good but was hamstringed by being stubborn and abrasive. Solich 3rd best situation- Just following TO though makes it near impossible with sky high expectations. Riley had it the worst IMO. If he was a better coach that may have changed his lot but when he arrived the fan base was fed up and split, the players were fractured and pretty f’d up mentally and then he just didn’t have the right stuff or staff or plan to get the job done. I think for all of Riley’s failings that he is leaving the program in an excellent situation for Frost. We now all know that any monkey cannot coach this team to 9 wins (I was guilty of this faulty thought). He leaves the program in the bottom of the barrel record and expectationswise. There really is only way up from here. But he is leaving with dignity and not poisoning the well and I think that will leave the players very susceptible to making the required changes. I just hope the softness and lack of rigor for the last 3 years doesn’t hang on with these player’s attitudes. The good thing is, either way, I’m pretty confident of Frost’s ability to deal with it appropriately and remedy it. My only concern is, if it doesn’t happen with Frost and soon, it absolutely never will. This is Nebraska’s last chance to recapture national relevance. It really is, this is it. If we continue to suck and don’t see significant strides within 3 years....we will forever be Kansas/Iowa.

 

[JJ Husker]

Well, let’s be clear. The only one of the 4 that inherited decent talent was Bo. I hate(d) Callahan but he did bring in some talent. Solich inherited a working machine but Tom did not leave him an enormous pool of talent and he sure didn’t help things by not bringing any in himself. Bo left the cupboards fairly bare and the team in shambles. Riley tidied things up a bit and restocked some of the non-essential items but is leaving us without some of the everyday staples.

 

[Nebfanatic]

Well, let’s be clear. The only one of the 4 that inherited decent talent was Bo. I hate(d) Callahan but he did bring in some talent. Solich inherited a working machine but Tom did not leave him an enormous pool of talent and he sure didn’t help things by not bringing any in himself. Bo left the cupboards fairly bare and the team in shambles. Riley tidied things up a bit and restocked some of the non-essential items but is leaving us without some of the everyday staples.

Ehhh I disagree. This is entirely a guess but 

Solich inherited ~top 15 roster 

Callahan inherited ~top 25 roster 

Pelini inherited ~ top 20 roster 

Riley inherited ~top 30 roster 

Top 30 is probably around where we stand now. Relative to the country I suppose these numbers aren't fantastic, but relative to our success especially within our division since joining this conference, we have a talented roster. Certainly talented enough to be competing for a chance to go to Indy on a regular basis. 

 

[JJ Husker]

Ehhh I disagree. This is entirely a guess but 

Solich inherited ~top 15 roster 

Callahan inherited ~top 25 roster 

Pelini inherited ~ top 20 roster 

Riley inherited ~top 30 roster 

Top 30 is probably around where we stand now. Relative to the country I suppose these numbers aren't fantastic, but relative to our success especially within our division since joining this conference, we have a talented roster. Certainly talented enough to be competing for a chance to go to Indy on a regular basis. 

Yeah, I pretty much agree with you. My perception was being somewhat relative to the prior regime. Solich surely inherited well enough but it was a little off from prior TO years.

 

[I.M. OLD]

Yeah, I pretty much agree with you. My perception was being somewhat relative to the prior regime. Solich surely inherited well enough but it was a little off from prior TO years.

Frank followed 2 HOF coaches. They are some monster shoes to fill. The next coach will have to fix a much bigger mess than Riley hadn’t “fixed”

 

[Nebfanatic]

Yeah, I pretty much agree with you. My perception was being somewhat relative to the prior regime. Solich surely inherited well enough but it was a little off from prior TO years.

I was born in 95 so I have no recollection of the TO years unfortunately. I would love to get back to that place but right now it seems like beating Wisconsin is all we can hope for.

 

[JJ Husker]

Frank followed 2 HOF coaches. They are some monster shoes to fill. The next coach will have to fix a much bigger mess than Riley hadn’t “fixed”

 IDK, as miserable as these last 5 years have been, I do think Riley started to get a few things turned around. With the right guy (Frost) I don't think it will be as tough as what Riley started with. Don't get me wrong, it's a mighty big job but I think the basic structure of the program is in a much better place than when Callahan left. He basically decimated everything. Bo repaired some of it and Riley repaired some of it. They each left their own problems but I think the issues Frost has to address are more readily fixable than what the prior two had.