So who the heck is Mike Riley and what has he ever done as a coach!?

[southernoregonhusker]

And the stadium seats HALF of what Memorial holds. It truly is a Texas HS football stadium.

That's an old picture. It's been renovated since.

 

[cg_8]

I think the one thing that we should focus on are the things that left us scratching our heads with Bo and whether those issues existed at Oregon St. I think this is truly the one and only way we can truly look at this hire. From a truly football perspective. What has cost us games?

Turnovers. I do not have time at the moment to go through the games to see how turnovers affected outcomes for games for Oregon St. However, it affected us a lot. We lost to ISU with 8 turnovers. We lost by 2 points. There are numerous games, but that one comes to mind for me.

Penalties. These have cost us a game or two also. A&M comes to mind. Although it was very much a controversial call, there have been a few more occasions where the penalties cost us.

Mental mistakes. This can go hand in hand with the next thing which is:

Execution. That damn word. Albeit we get sick of hearing it. It was the one and only thing keeping otherwise sound and effective systems on both sides of the ball from working. Too often than not we spent time hearing about how we lost contain, we weren't gap sound, we didn't tackle well.

At first glance, my football eye just thought these issues were just plain there. They are issues nobody wants and work hard to avoid them. But for some odd reason, nobody can truly figure out "why?" Sure they happen, but it seemed to happen consistently with us. Maybe I am wrong, but consistently we'd complained about those 4 things. Those four things kept us from getting over that hump. Why?

I think the answer lies within what Jerry Kill and his staff has. I have watched Minnesota beat Nebraska twice now. The talent was in our favor by a lot. However, they beat us doing absolutely nothing special. NOTHING. There were no trick plays nor any "outside of the box" concepts they brought for our game. They just plain lined up and ran the plays. They just plain beat us. Both times they just beat us.

What is it that Jerry Kill and his staff have?

Well for one, they had ZERO turnovers.

They had only ONE penalty. That penalty was incredibly late in the game and was almost costly considering we almost scored the game winning TD, but we didn't. Minnesota forced a turnover to win the game.

They're offensive line blocked. They just plain executed.

So to me, some coaches just have a knack for true discipline and true execution. That's no knock on Bo, but for some reason, and if someone could answer why, Bo and his staff couldn't figure out and answer "why?"

Meanwhile, Jerry Kill and his crew have that answer. They have a +11 TO margin this season.

Oregon State has a +4.

Nebraska -2. And it was a good year. One year we gave the ball away 35 times. This year, 24. Minn, 14. Oregon St., 11.

So how do you coach it? I don't know. Not sure anyone truly knows. But some guys have that knack.

I think Mike Riley might have that knack.

And believe me, I was VERY underwhelmed. Disappointed. But then I REALLY thought about it. And now, I am optimistic.

Sorry for the length.

GBR!

 

[SouthLincoln Husker]

Most Oregon State fans have wanted Riley fired for three years now. His offense is antiquated and predictable. His defense is lead by Mark Banker and cannot stop a running QB. In the past five years, they've lost to two FCS schools (Sacramento State and Eastern Washington.) I, as an Oregon State alum, am in utter shock that my Huskers hired this guy. Yes, he's a nice guy. He also doesn't allow cursing on the sidelines. He treats his players like 12 year olds and he gets the effort of a 12 year old. Terrible hire. Terrible.

I am sorry, but no one can recruit to Oregon St. Poor facilities and very little university support.

 

[The Dude]

This is a "anti-Pelini" hire all the way. He'll act like a professional and act as a unifier. If you were wondering if the players would like and want to play for the next coach, the answer is yes.

This would have been a "big" hire a few years back when he had Oregon State overachieving. Remember folks, this is Oregon State were talking about.

He's an underrated coach who has turned down USC and Alabama.

Whether or not he pans out here, I don't know, but I like the hire.

I hate that argument. Its the same argument that nearly got Gill hired here, look how it turned out for Kansas. We needed a proven winner.......we got the exact polar opposite. All of this "he's a great guy" rah rah BS is code word for participation award winner. Clearly we havent hit rock bottom enough to understand college football changed with conference expansion. We are applying old rules and thinking to a new environment. That assuredly spells disaster.

It's not an argument, it's a fact. And Gill going to Kansas doesn't apply here. Kansas doesn't offer the resources and competitive advantages Nebraska does. We needed a good coach, and we got one. How all this turns out is anyone's guess.

 

[SouthLincoln Husker]

We have more 4 star recruits in one of our recruiting classes than he has on his entire team. He builds players like TO used to do. We have better university support, so he can get a good DC. Plus, we have Epply back. I think this is a good hire and I can not wait to see who he is going to bring on as coordinators.

 

[Mavric]

Nate Clouse ‏@NateClouse 1m1 minute ago
Really like how new #Huskers head coach @Coach_Riley utilized social media for recruiting while at Oregon State. https://twitter.com/coach_riley/status/520595837366198273 …

 

[Bowfin]

He gets mostly 2 and 3 star recruits....and he BEATS RANKED TEAMS WITH THEM.

...or loses to FCS schools.

But I admire the "glass is half full, not half empty" giddiness, even if I can't succumb to the Kool-Aid in it yet.

 

[Bowfin]

I mean you're going to see what you see and no amount of reasons to be optimistic will influence your distaste.

Here's one of the "optimistic reasons" I'm not buying into: "Coach Riley was offered the Head Coach job at Alabama once!" (Half full, right?)

What no one seems to remember is that Alabama was a dumpster fire at the time. Mike Dubose was one game over .500 for four years. Franchione then came in and went 7-5 and then 10-3. Franchione then bailed after saying he was definitely staying when he found out that Alabama would be losing 21 scholarships, their next two bowl games, the SEC championship game and serving five years probation. Franchione literally left town and never came back. He told his players and staff in a remote broadcast.

So it wasn't like Riley was turning down an offer to coach a Nick Saban type Alabama that was ruling college football. It was an Alabama team that was 41-31 in its last six years and going to be crippled for the next three or four and had their head coach unexpectedly walk out. (Now the glass is half empty, right?)

...and on an unrelated trivia note, the guy who DID get the Alabama job that Riley turned down was Mike Price. He had the dubious distinction of being fired before he coached a single game at Alabama, due to problems with bars, strip clubs, and women not named Mrs. Price signing for room service in his hotel rooms while he was "recruiting talent".