bingo. nebraska has to work harder and smarter at recruiting than practically any other program, due to our location. to compare our recruiting to a school located in perhaps the single most talent rich area of the country is ridiculous. should we compete with them, yes, but let's not ignore the obvious obstacles to be overcome.
Updated Recruiting Board
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bingo. nebraska has to work harder and smarter at recruiting than practically any other program, due to our location. to compare our recruiting to a school located in perhaps the single most talent rich area of the country is ridiculous. should we compete with them, yes, but let's not ignore the obvious obstacles to be overcome.
bshirt
Banned
Yep!
Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Texas, etc are all a long, LONG ways away from Nebraska. It is indeed silly to think we can compete with equal footing. We've got tradition which helps a lot but "location" is a killer.
It ain't easy.....
panhandle husker
New member
bshirt.........ALL of the schools you mentioned wanted to be just like NU back in the mid 90's. What has changed since then other than we NOW have the BEST FACILITIES in college football? mmmmmm..........might be the head coach.............just guessing.
HANC
New member
Hate to say it, but I am not sure that our facilities are the BEST IN THE COUNTRY.....yes, back in the 80's, our weight room was historic and we had one of the first indoor facilities.....but now, almost EVERY TEAM worth a crap has exactly what we have......
Not defending the HC or taking sides, just saying that our facilities are great, but no longer enough to sway a recruit every time. Location is biggest problem....and friggin cold.
panhandle husker
New member
HANC, have you toured the facilities lately? I have a couple different times, the players who don't choose Nebraska, all say that they have not seen anything facilities better. I've been lucky enough to see the locker room to the players lounge, its plush. T.O. never had the advantages that Pelini has today. Thats my point.
while i'm not sure it's your point, it is worth taking a moment to realize what an absolute genius osborne was to make NU the consistent power it was for so long. even for all of his genius though, he had a lot of three loss seasons. bo seems to at least have gotten us back on the tracks. it remains to be seen if he can get us back to a top ten program, but at least there's hope (and winning nine games a year right out of the shoot is hardly something to take for granted...just ask TO).
and while our facilities are top notch, as they should be, so are quite a few other places. another place TO is showing his genius is by now expanding our advantage in athlete support systems. he's certainly doing his best to give bo everything he needs. and so far, at least in recruiting, i'd say bo has done his part just fine.
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panhandle husker
New member
Dylan, are you serious? TO was winning 9 games a year in an 11 game season 9-2 is alot different than 9-4. TO, and THE DONORS to the NU football program have given Pelini EVERY CHANCE IN THE WORLD to succeed, and he is failing miserably. Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan St, Ohio St.....they are all cold weather schools, when are people gonna quit making excuses for Pelini?
You're kidding right?
First of all, Oregon's facilities are superior to any school in the country, Nebraska included.
Secondly, what are these so-called advantages that Pelini has that Osborne was never afforded?
If I remember correctly, Osborne did not have to deal with an 85 scholarship limit. He was allowed partial qualifiers for much of his coaching career. His team was one of the few that was consistently nationally televised. He also took over a coach who had won 2 of the past 3 National Championships. All of these were clear advantages that Pelini is up against...
I am rather indifferent about Bo, but believe 100% that he is doing the best he can in an uphill battle in recruiting. He is up against location, weather, lack of D-1 talent nearby, and most importantly, a lack of national relevancy in the past 15 years.
failing miserably? he took a program in shambles and has won 9 or more every season. how many programs can say that they've won 9 games each of the last four years? i agree that we should expect more, but calling him a failure is just plain ridiculous.
(i also agree, by the way, that TO's record is all the more impressive given the number of games played. i also think people under-rate the difficulty of the old big 8. it's worth mentioning though that TO took over a program that was already at the top, though he certainly played a role getting it there as the OC.)
also, there's a lot more to location than climate. look at the level of talent within reasonable driving distance to the schools you listed, then compare it to lincoln. what percentage of their recruiting classes come from within that area? what percentage of ours? from a local talent perspective, we are nearly in the worst place in the country. i think nebraska produces a high number of quality players per capita, but the capita is teeny. the only way we could be in a worse location is in the dakotas or maybe montana.
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panhandle husker
New member
jgreen, have you walked through oregon's facilities? How do you know they are better? Dylan, you are acting like Pelini is facing more difficlulty than TO. Its the the same school, same town, same climate, that TO won THREE NATIONAL TITLES!!!!!!!!!!! The University has given him recruiting tools that Tom never had!!!!! So why are you playing up the we can't recruit because we live in nebraska? THAT IS bullsh#t!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Callahan had no problem recruiting! Its a fact! The top HS kids don't want to play for Pelini PERIOD!!!!!!!!! His image out weighs what our facilities have to offer.......................IT IS A FACT!!!!!! Why does nobody see this or understand this?
HuskerShark
Banned
because it's BS. Just wait 5 more days and you will be extremely pleased with the recruiting class that we will be signing. If not, then there's no pleasing you.
other than where they started from, i don't think pelini has it more difficult. you can't ignore though that it's harder to win out of the gate taking over for a disaster than it is taking over a program a year removed from back to back titles.
and yes, i've agreed whole heartedly that TO was amazing. now if only we can find a way to always have the greatest coach in college history coaching at NU. i suppose i'll take the next best thing of having him help guide from the AD spot.
also, i never said we can't recruit because we live in nebraska, i said it's a simple truth, based upon clear demographics, that it's HARDER to recruit to NU than most any other major program, because of our location. to overcome that,we do indeed have excellent facilities and expect to have top notch coaches to make up for our disadvantage. part of that coaching is that they simply have to work harder and better at recruiting than other places do.
and to claim that callahan recruited any better than pelini is just plain wrong, by any metric, including stars and on-field results, particularly if you factor in walk-ons, the attitude of the kids he's bringing in and the reduction of jucos to only true difference makers. bo has brought in successful recruiting classes every single year, and it appears that if we finish like it's looking, this year will be no different.
also, i'm not sure that word "fact" means what you think it means, as i see plenty of kids signing up to play for pelini, yet i don't see any evidence that his image is keeping others away. you know how facts work, right?
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HuskerShark
Banned
Well said. In fact, pretty much every recruit I have ever heard comment on their talks with Bo and the rest of the coaching staff have said that they love how Bo and the rest of the coaches are so straight forward. As far as I know, they have never told anyone that they would be guaranteed playing time. They tell recruits that if they put in the work and earn the right to play, they will play. Recruits and parents love that about Bo, so I don't think there is the problem that panhandle husker believes there is...