Think back to when Riley was hired...

1) Definitely confused and worried that he was the best we could do.

2) Cautiously hopeful that we found a diamond in the rough who could ramp up our recruiting and take the next step with our resources.

I’m anxious and nervous for the next hire. I keep thinking about that anonymous coach who told Athlon how bad this job is and I’m hoping we can still attract a big time coach.

 
gobiggergoredder said:
I wanted Bo gone.  I thought it seemed like a little bit of a strange hire, but it started to grow on me.  The football genius that just never had the opportunity.  It was a story that I fell for.
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That was basically how I felt.  Equal parts "who the @$#& is Mike Riley?" and "he's not Bo Pelini, so there's that I guess".

 
I'm a CFB junkie so I was pretty aware of Mike Riley when he got hired.

My thoughts were:

-Ok, polar opposite of Pelini, not the worst thing in the world

-Will be around 4-5 years to "right the ship" before turning over the reigns to Frost 

-Will turn out a couple awesome WRs

-Jet Sweeps!

-Will maintain 8/9 wins per year but lose a couple games that make zero sense but hopefully offset that with a huge upset or two

I really thought Riley was hired for culture change first and coaching second.  When I saw the staff Riley brought with him I thought, "Dang, this is the best we can do?"  I think the world of Riley as a man, he's the rare coach that is universally respected amongst his peers.  Sadly, it was evident Riley was over his head pretty quickly.  I wish him well in his next endeavor as it's clear that he won't be the coach @ NU much longer.  

 
I definitely remember being dumbfounded by all of the tweets from media people and coaches about how great of a hire it was for Nebraska.  Looking back I think a lot of people think highly of him as a person which to me probably had a lot to do with the sentiment of a lot of those comments. 

Regardless it totally felt like a lame duck hire to me and I was super disappointed.  Now I'm somewhat cautiously optimistic as for the future of the program given the way things have played out.  This will easily be the most crucial hire in Nebraska history imo.

 
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teachercd said:
What were you first two or three thoughts, be honest.

Mine were...

1.  I don't think this tweet is accurate

2.  Wow, seems like an odd hire
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Someone in the local media said something about him during Pelini's coaching time. I remember googling it up, glancing at the stats, shutting the page.

Thought it was odd when he was hired. 

 
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