Talent vs Coaching: A New Thread!

Guy Chamberlin

Guy Chamberlin

Active member
Talent? Or Coaching?

Why not both? Here's how it breaks down.

TALENT

A defensive line has the strength, speed, and technique to make sure the opposing QB can never set his feet and get comfortable with any throw. That's Talent

A defensive secondary has the speed to break on the ball -- making receivers look open when they're not. That's Talent.

Receivers who instinctively know where they are on the field, and how to get their feet down in bounds. That's Talent.

An offensive line has the strength, speed and technique to give their QB time. That's Talent.

A QB with a strong arm and good field vision. That's Talent

A QB who instinctively knows what to do when things go wrong. That's Talent.

An RB who has the strength and determination not to be tackled. That's Talent.

COACHING

Teaching technique and discipline. That's Coaching. 

Drawing game plans that protect player weaknesses and support their strengths. That's Coaching. 

Making in-game adjustments when those initial plans don't work. That's Coaching.

Having players prepared for the game, keeping them focused and motivated regardless of the score. That's Coaching. 

Pulling off an upset against better talent --- something that happens every Saturday --- That's Coaching. 

Recruiting and developing talent. That's Coaching.

It's excruciatingly obvious that Ohio State is more talented. But I don't think the Empty Cupboard excuse is fair to the talent we have, and Scott Frost and staff have earned a little heat five games into their second season. No one I know is pining for a new coaching search. But we also aren't asking to be Ohio State yet. We'd just like to beat Illinois  and South Alabama convincingly, and yeah....that's on coaching.

While we're waiting for the five-star talent to arrive, here are the Coaching things that bothered me yesterday.

• The quarterback Scott Frost hand-picked for his system has seriously regressed in his second season. That's on Coaching.

• Needing a spark and having already tried to get the ball in playmaker Wan'dale Robinson's hands any way possible, Robinson calls for fair catches on the kickoffs -- including balls he caught well in the field of play with no one around. Almost certain that was a coaching call. 

• The mentally and physically defeated body language of Nebraska players by the second quarter -- something everyone watching on TV could notice. 

• Nothing different on both sides of the ball coming out of halftime. 

• The Nebraska defense -- regardless of talent -- seemed out of position on every key play. Ohio State could glance at our scheme and know how to get whatever yardage they needed. Talent? Sure. Also: Coaching. 

Of course it's possible this is still all Harvey Perlman's fault.

Discuss. 

 
I think this is a more interesting debate than before because the last time we fielded a really good defence is 2009.  We did have Suh during that time also.  Sometimes it takes one or two over outstanding players to bring everything together.  We had that in the back half of the season with Martinez but for some reason thats all gone away now.

 
I’m slightly perplexed because preseason people outside the program were expecting big things. Big ten came in very impressed with our improved physique and the crispness of our practice. So if those things looked so good- we also hear frost talk about all these great practices. Then why is it not translating to games. How can Martinez look so good in practice but look like the 3rd string qb in games. 

 
Why does it say new thread? Sounds like all the others right now. Coaching could be better but its hard to coach a team with this few upperclassmen, many of whom were not the top recruits of the classes they were brought in with. Major attrition due to coaching stability issues have left a roster depleted of talented upperclassmen. And this isn't  about Rileys players sucking, they just aren't even here.

 
Random thought: I was frustrated that Frost went away from those rushing plays with Mills on our drive that was working when it was 14-0. I say keep pounding the rock until they stop it.

On the other hand, that seam route Wan'Dale ran was awesome...Adrian just didn't hit him. And the game was over on that play. Frustrating.

 
Undone said:
Random thought: I was frustrated that Frost went away from those rushing plays with Mills on our drive that was working when it was 14-0. I say keep pounding the rock until they stop it.

On the other hand, that seam route Wan'Dale ran was awesome...Adrian just didn't hit him. And the game was over on that play. Frustrating.
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Agree. But having slept on it I decided that if Nebraska had made that touchdown to pull to 14-7,  we probably would have lost 51-17.

 
Nebraska hasn’t recruited at a level they’ve needed to for a chance to meet our expectations for the better part of two decades. The reason why is because outside of a few outliers in the Callahan era, it hasn’t been a priority. 

That absolutely has to end. As of right now we still have a G5 staff that aren’t all closers. We need to follow the Dabo Sweeney model and get a group of assistants and coordinators who are worth their money and all nails at getting kids to sign. 

Once that happens, we can talk development. Until then expect more of the same, middling teams that get crushed against the big boys while we look wistfully at the good times. 

 
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I think it's a combination of both. Most of the players Frost inherited weren't pursued by P5 schools or didn't have a ton of offers. This includes 4 star rated guys that committed to Nebraska prior to Frost's arrival.

I also think the staff he brought from UCF were a bit questionable. I think the jury is out on Walters and Dewitt. Why not give full LB duties to Coach Ruud and have him coach ST? I think it's time for Dewitt and Walters to go. We need both a WR coach on the field and coach Verduzco on the field rather than in a booth, IMO. Maybe it's time to question Verduzco, too? I'd like to see Ryan Held get a shot at being an OC and be the eye in the sky to be honest.

 
CapoValley said:
Nebraska hasn’t recruited at a level they’ve needed to for a chance to meet our expectations for the better part of two decades. The reason why is because outside of a few outliers in the Callahan era, it hasn’t been a priority. 

That absolutely has to end. As of right now we still have a G5 staff that aren’t all closers. We need to follow the Dabo Sweeney model and get a group of assistants and coordinators who are worth their money and all nails at getting kids to sign. 

Once that happens, we can talk development. Until then expect more of the same, middling teams that get crushed against the big boys while we look wistfully at the good times. 
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I’m going to agree we need to recruit better. That’s a no brainer. 

However I’m going to disagree with you on the development. That needs to happen now....and I think it is. 

Look at our recruiting classes over the last 10 years. We get some good players to commit....problem is, very seldom have they panned out and many leave the program early. 2017 is the obvious extreme case. 

We have some very good players on campus and they will be developed. 

The O line is a perfect example. We need upper class linemen that have developed bodies and skills. We don’t have that and that’s not Frost’s fault. It takes years to fix this particular problem. 

You’re not going to have a great O line with freshmen and sophomores across the line. 

 
BigRedBuster said:
I’m going to agree we need to recruit better. That’s a no brainer. 

However I’m going to disagree with you on the development. That needs to happen now....and I think it is. 

Look at our recruiting classes over the last 10 years. We get some good players to commit....problem is, very seldom have they panned out and many leave the program early. 2017 is the obvious extreme case. 

We have some very good players on campus and they will be developed. 

The O line is a perfect example. We need upper class linemen that have developed bodies and skills. We don’t have that and that’s not Frost’s fault. It takes years to fix this particular problem. 

You’re not going to have a great O line with freshmen and sophomores across the line. 
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I agree with a lot of this, our lines are where development is going to take the longest. I also wonder what would happen if we had an experienced coordinators as sometimes I feel like Frost may be trying to take it all on. 

 
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