Stealing Nebraska's identity

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grapevine7

New member
Primary culprits:  Wisconsin.   Close second:  Iowa.

Who here wouldn't want what they've got - honestly.

Perhaps "steal" is not the word - we've screwed our own pooch.  We have continually questioned our coaching staff, our AD - ad infinitum -  until one or the other is fired.  Our athletic administration has failed to withstand pressure from the fanbase.  We had stability in the 70's, the 80's, the 90's.  Contrast the last two decades.  There is absolutely no stability at Nebraska and HS recruits know it.

The idea of taking scores of Nebraska farm-boys and developing a solid, reliable running attack is, perhaps, forever gone. 

It has been said many times and I agree totally:  We are all in with Scott Frost.  But I'll take it one step further -- If he doesn't work out, Nebraska's identity will be forged for years to come.  Save the criticisms of Frost; the situation here is dire; it's time to rally around the coach.

Was it stolen, or did we just give it away?  I'm of the opinion we just let Wisconsin and Iowa take it from us.  Isn't that worse?

 
The only (potentially) bad firing decision was Solich. All other questioning, pressure, and firings of coaches and ADs was deserved, and the firings (post Solich) did not cause us to go away from what we were good at in the 70s 80s and 90s. Most of that was gone already. One of the coach/AD duos purposely tried to get rid of these things because they thought they knew better.

The questionable/terrible decisions were the hirings, especially the 1st and 3rd hiring after Solich.
 

I really don't get what you're talking about with Iowa. I haven't paid much attention to them, ever really, but it seems to me they've been doing the same type of thing for at least 40 years now, or whenever Hayden Fry started. That said I do see similarities between those 2 teams and Nebraska. Neither is great at recruiting due to similar geographical/population issues that Nebraska has, but they still seem to be at least decent every year (although Iowa tends to have a really crappy season occasionally). Both of those teams show that development of decent players can lead to success. But obviously our goal is to do more than they have.

 
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grapevine7 said:
Perhaps "steal" is not the word - we've screwed our own pooch.  We have continually questioned our coaching staff, our AD - ad infinitum -  until one or the other is fired.  Our athletic administration has failed to withstand pressure from the fanbase.  We had stability in the 70's, the 80's, the 90's.  Contrast the last two decades.  There is absolutely no stability at Nebraska and HS recruits know it.
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If fan complaints equaled losses, no college football team would win a game. Ever. Not Alabama, not USC, not Ohio State,  none of them. So the argument that Nebraska fans, who continue to pack 90,000 into a stadium to watch a winless team are somehow leading to instability is hogwash. 

We've pretty consistently recruited in the mid 20s over the past ten years, so this idea that recruits have turned away is also hogwash.

 
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Wisconsin didn’t steal our identity, they copied it.

Iowa is nothing like what Nebraska was. If anything their mediocrity reminds of our last 15 years, just more stable and consistent, and extremely more boring.

Nobody stole our identity, Peterson and Callahan threw it away. Pelini couldn’t resurrect it and was satisfied with only beating doormats and was basically a raging a-hole. Riley was a frikken joke and let mediocrity, softness and a loser attitude settle in.

The fans have not caused the failures of the last 3 coaches. You don’t stick with a direction that is going nowhere or the wrong direction.

Wisconsin has made the Nebraska blueprint work and has been a very solid program. Iowa is....well, Iowa. I don’t want to be either one of them but I sure wouldn’t mind if we were more like Wisconsin, at least until Frost gets us back to being Nebraska.

The only thing you said that I agree with is that it is Frost or bust. I firmly believe he will get us back to being a regular contender. It won’t be as quick as anyone wants and it won’t be painless but we’ll get there. If he can’t get it done nobody can and I have no interest in seeing what the next guy might do.  I will be done with it.

 
I agree. No matter what has happened in the past or sick we are to see us right now it’s time for everyone to just start getting behind Frost and the program again because that’s what’s best for the team and really all we can do on our part. 

It’s easy to compare iowa and Wisconsin to Nebraska’s blueprint but I feel Wisconsin is closer to it than iowa. I just feel iowa is the type of team that upholds the big ten reputation and blueprint within the conference and nationally. They have a great fan base, always will be tough to beat on the road or just period but something is just missing when it goes to anything beyond being a solid big ten team. Wisconsin is everything I just described with iowa but with a little more firepower or something I’m not sure what it is.

so while I would take Iowa’s blueprint I feel Wisconsin is what we should be striving for as far as results and expectations. Compete in the big ten first  but have the expectations to compete beyond the big ten. Not be satisfied with 8-4 and always have an eye on the national scene something I don’t think iowa does or expects to do really. Not trying to knock them just explaining what I see in the difference between iowa and Wisconsin 

 
Right now we don’t have an identity. 

It’ll be interesting to see what it becomes under Frost. I agree it’s with him or nil. 

What we “were” is gone. We need to become something. Anything. 

Obviously we can’t lose forever. Once we won a few, can we beat people that matter. To me that’s the biggest hurdle. We will win games. Will we win the games that matter being the new “Nebraska”...consistenly. 

Excited to see where it goes...

 
grapevine7 said:
Primary culprits:  Wisconsin.   Close second:  Iowa.

Who here wouldn't want what they've got - honestly.

Perhaps "steal" is not the word - we've screwed our own pooch.  We have continually questioned our coaching staff, our AD - ad infinitum -  until one or the other is fired.  Our athletic administration has failed to withstand pressure from the fanbase.  We had stability in the 70's, the 80's, the 90's.  Contrast the last two decades.  There is absolutely no stability at Nebraska and HS recruits know it.

The idea of taking scores of Nebraska farm-boys and developing a solid, reliable running attack is, perhaps, forever gone. 

It has been said many times and I agree totally:  We are all in with Scott Frost.  But I'll take it one step further -- If he doesn't work out, Nebraska's identity will be forged for years to come.  Save the criticisms of Frost; the situation here is dire; it's time to rally around the coach.

Was it stolen, or did we just give it away?  I'm of the opinion we just let Wisconsin and Iowa take it from us.  Isn't that worse?
Click to expand...


We didn't let anyone "take it from us."  We, for reasons unknown, (or known only to the morons who were in charge at the time) decided to "modernize" the program.

It started with Steve Pederson who thought the way Devany, Osborne, and Solich did it was "outdated."  We had Athletic Directors and University Administrators who didn't know a damn (bleep) about football and rather than sticking to our roots and what we knew worked, these people decided to take Nebraska a new direction.  The hiring of Callahan was about as big of a middle finger to Tom Osborne as Steve Pederson could give.

One disastrous coaching hire after another.  Outsiders who had no understanding whatsoever of WHY Nebraska was so good for so long.  In their hubris, they thought they knew better.  The fallacy was, their systems were inadequate because they took away the street fighter mentality that was trademark Nebraska for so long.  And when they took away that hard-nosed, physical running game style, the strength and conditioning naturally went by the wayside also.  

That was the genesis of Nebraska's decline.  And Wisconsin and Iowa (and to a lesser degree Minnesota) took what Nebraska did so well and applied to their programs.  Peoe think football games are won on the field in the fall.  They're not.  Football games are won during winter and summer conditioning.  Football games are won in the weight room.  What we see on the field is merely the by-product of all the work the players put in during winter, spring practice, and summer conditioning--that's when football games are won and lost.

Coach Frost has rekindled the fire.  Progress has been slow, but it is painly visible to those of us who know what we're looking for.

So no, no one took Nebraska's mojo, we just lost it for a while because we had people who didn't understand that mojo or how to harness and use it.  Frost does and like Austin Powers, we're about to rediscover our mojo.

 
If we can perform on offense like some of the Oregon and UCF teams then I will be very happy with that identity.  Defense is also an area where our brand has suffered.  New rules will dictate that we won't have big hitters in the secondary like the days gone by, but edge rushers and speed to make TFL's will do a lot to re-brand the defense.  Defense is getting less and less about big hits and more about INT's, creating turnovers, and getting sacks/TFL's.  Basically playmakers needed on defense.    

 
As mentioned above above, I am unsure of the last time in recent years (post Solich) we have had an identity.  We tried numerous times to establish WCO, spread, inside/outside zone, up tempo, Pro style, no style etc....Throw in each generally tried to implement scheme "X" with players previously recruited for another, multiple OC's and DC's for each scheme with some of the kids seeing a new coordinator/position coach almost every year they were here destroyed any resemblance of who or what Nebraska was.

Ref the original OP, Wisky has emulated NU very well IMHO.  Not specifically in scheme, but in composition.  They've recruited very well for their system. IIRC, 2-3 DC's the past 4 years, maybe an OC change, HC change and they still roll on.  They have embraced the walk-on program and never let it drop.  The do a great job at finding/developing talent.  And most importantly, even as viewed through the lens of Frost and Co, they play incredibly sound, fundamental football.  They are very good at execution.  They pay attention to the "little things".  They play disciplined on both sides.  They played physical and beat you down.  These characteristics, more than anything, identified NU in it's "glory days".  Regardless of the triple option, counters/traps and FB play, NU was physical on both sides.  They were perfectionists in their approach  to the game.  Frost was a part of this.  He is going to bring it back.  Regardless of scheme, we get back to sound, fundamental and physical play, we start to win.  A lot.  

Iowa?  They too play sound, physical football......

Frost will get us back.  It will just take  longer than most thought.  Like Moos said yesterday, "It took us 15 years to go from first to worst.  It's gonna take time to go from worst to first"....

 
Well they can mimic Nebraska's old football identity.  Quite well in Wisconsin's case. 

But Nebraska gave it up freely long ago;  didn't have it stolen.

 
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