What happen to NU swag?

Yep. We are consistently out-hustled by every opponent.  We lack fire, we lack that killer instinct, and it's been that way for a long time. 

Riley is part of the problem, but the problem predates him. It goes back fifteen years, at least. 

 
wiuhusker said:
Went to the LJS to have some drinks after the game this weekend. Started talking to a guy from my hometown and he mentioned that one way or another the knew someone on the sidelines for the NIU game. This person said that there was a good section of the bench that was laughing and having a good time when NU was down 14-0. Now this could be fabricated I realize that. But to even have this be a possibility is troubling. 
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Our bench or NIU's?  Because the sideline reporter noted how odd she thought it was that the Nebraska bench was so subdued. 

You sure that guy didn't have his sidelines mixed up?

 
knapplc said:
Our bench or NIU's?  Because the sideline reporter noted how odd she thought it was that the Nebraska bench was so subdued. 

You sure that guy didn't have his sidelines mixed up?
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Just going by what they guy told me was that the guy he talked to was on the Nebraska sideline for the entire game. Like I said it could be made up too. 

Could you imagine the outrage if the sideline reporter had said on TV that the Nebraska bench was laughing while down 14-0? 

 
Topics of discussion like this have nothing to do with the swag, or the business-like-ness, or any behavior of the team - they only have to do with losing.

The '94 team was about as business like as it gets. You watch those old tunnel walk videos, they were all on a mission and had no time to dance around. We praised it because it resulted in championships.

In '08 after Nate Swift's punt return touchdown, there were a bunch of players dancing and jumping around on the sideline. A lot of people on Huskerboard didn't like how they were goofing off, because we lost.

We don't care or talk about any of this if we're winning.

 
What happened to Nebraska's swag? Swag comes from having confidence. Confidence comes from playing well.

Nebraska isn't playing well, so the players don't have confidence. No confidence, no swag. 

 
Hans Gruber said:
What happened to Nebraska's swag? Swag comes from having confidence. Confidence comes from playing well.

Nebraska isn't playing well, so the players don't have confidence. No confidence, no swag. 
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Eh.  NIU came into this game 1-1, facing a much better opponent on the road in front of a huge partisan crowd.  They played with swagger the whole game.

I think confidence has a lot less to do with winning and a lot more to do with knowing you have a good plan that you're capable of executing. 

Nebraska fails to 1) Have confidence in their own plan, & 2) disrupt their opponent's plan.  It's been this way for years.

 
knapplc said:
Eh.  NIU came into this game 1-1, facing a much better opponent on the road in front of a huge partisan crowd.  They played with swagger the whole game.

I think confidence has a lot less to do with winning and a lot more to do with knowing you have a good plan that you're capable of executing. 

Nebraska fails to 1) Have confidence in their own plan, & 2) disrupt their opponent's plan.  It's been this way for years.
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I felt like NIU started playing with confidence and swag after the first pick six. Whether is was before or after though, it's easier to play with confidence on the road when you're up 14-0.

I honestly don't really care either way about swag (I think it's kind of a chicken vs. egg debate), but I think it does come from feeling confident. Based on three games this year Nebraska players don't look they have much reason for confidence. 

 
zoogs said:
I don't know, I think it does kind of go to the coaches. It's not easy to foster the right sort of culture and environment and I don't want to be too hard on the coaches when things aren't going the right way. I'm happy to give them time -- lots of it -- to right the ship, keep plugging away, etc.

But at some point the only logical answer is there needs to be a new voice at the top. We're not there yet, but Riley is not helping his case, unfortunately. I'm just hoping he gets the next two years to show otherwise, because I really believe in what this coaching staff is all about off the field.
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This ... to some extent.

I think you've got to have a balance of the calm, calculated, non emotional, methodical and the fiery, emotional, in your face motivators.  It's why a head coach like Osborne did well with Kiffin, McBride etc.  Slow and steady up top - when he got angry or emotional you knew things were bad, but beneath him, dealing with the players one on one were the in your face guys.  It's why Bo didn't work - they were all fiery & emotional.  Riley's started as all nice - we've improved upon that.  So I think we've got that fire with Diaco.  I think we've got it with Parella and Coach Dub.  I haven't see much of the others on the sidelines (on national tv they typically only show Riley or go to commercial), I'm guessing coach Williams does.  Best thing any leader does is surround himself with people who are better than him.  He's got to get someone else on that OLine (and I've been a Cav defender until this game).

Did someone talk to Pierson El after the first screwed up punt return?  After the second?  He should have NEVER been put on the field again for the third after his continued bad decisions.  That I put on the coaches.  Has someone talked to the lineman about their penalties?  After the first one I'd expect that to happen, and then someone gets pulled out after the second.  Has someone sat down with Lamar and really discussed what his poor decisions have done for the team?  He has mad some pretty big flubs.  If there's no ramifications for these errors, if there is no coaching then how can we expect improvements?  At the end of the day these are kids, and they are here to be coached and developed - and we should be stoked to see improvements week over week.  If we were losing but playing well I don't think the same level of frustration would be apparent in the crowd.

Now to those who say Riley and this staff, "they don't know our culture" "we're smashmouth football" I'd challenge you.  I vividly remember how many people complained about the lack of passing game when TO was here.  History does funny things to the memory.  We look at that time fondly cuz we won - if we'd done so passing you'd be saying Riley doesn't do that enough.  If Riley was winning nobody would be saying he is not aware of our "culture".

We like to think we're pretty special - we're not.  We love our team and the game, but we are just fans and they are just players.  Nebraska is no different than any other program.  We have to stop acting like we are.

 
NM11046 said:
This ... to some extent.

I think you've got to have a balance of the calm, calculated, non emotional, methodical and the fiery, emotional, in your face motivators.  It's why a head coach like Osborne did well with Kiffin, McBride etc.  Slow and steady up top - when he got angry or emotional you knew things were bad, but beneath him, dealing with the players one on one were the in your face guys.  It's why Bo didn't work - they were all fiery & emotional.  Riley's started as all nice - we've improved upon that.  So I think we've got that fire with Diaco.  I think we've got it with Parella and Coach Dub.  I haven't see much of the others on the sidelines (on national tv they typically only show Riley or go to commercial), I'm guessing coach Williams does.  Best thing any leader does is surround himself with people who are better than him.  He's got to get someone else on that OLine (and I've been a Cav defender until this game).

Did someone talk to Pierson El after the first screwed up punt return?  After the second?  He should have NEVER been put on the field again for the third after his continued bad decisions.  That I put on the coaches.  Has someone talked to the lineman about their penalties?  After the first one I'd expect that to happen, and then someone gets pulled out after the second.  Has someone sat down with Lamar and really discussed what his poor decisions have done for the team?  He has mad some pretty big flubs.  If there's no ramifications for these errors, if there is no coaching then how can we expect improvements?  At the end of the day these are kids, and they are here to be coached and developed - and we should be stoked to see improvements week over week.  If we were losing but playing well I don't think the same level of frustration would be apparent in the crowd.

Now to those who say Riley and this staff, "they don't know our culture" "we're smashmouth football" I'd challenge you.  I vividly remember how many people complained about the lack of passing game when TO was here.  History does funny things to the memory.  We look at that time fondly cuz we won - if we'd done so passing you'd be saying Riley doesn't do that enough.  If Riley was winning nobody would be saying he is not aware of our "culture".

We like to think we're pretty special - we're not.  We love our team and the game, but we are just fans and they are just players.  Nebraska is no different than any other program.  We have to stop acting like we are.
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Think a minute about that statement. Then consider this: consider how important Husker football is to this state. We ARE different than other programs if only because of our history. I for one, and I may be the only one who feels this way, will NEVER stop acting like we are different.  

 
Pedro Guerrero said:
Didn't see this one coming.  I've been waiting for a meme to pop-up around here.  I'm sure all the chap-stick slapstick people got all worked up over TO just chomping his gum.

I don't blame the coaches for the players not having "swagger".  Having a sack and want-to is totally 100% on the players.
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I do when the scheme is to rush 3 against 5 blockers and play ten yards off the receivers. You're starting to sound like a troll or part of the coaching staff.

 
zoogs said:
I don't know, I think it does kind of go to the coaches. It's not easy to foster the right sort of culture and environment and I don't want to be too hard on the coaches when things aren't going the right way. I'm happy to give them time -- lots of it -- to right the ship, keep plugging away, etc.

But at some point the only logical answer is there needs to be a new voice at the top. We're not there yet, but Riley is not helping his case, unfortunately. I'm just hoping he gets the next two years to show otherwise, because I really believe in what this coaching staff is all about off the field.
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I'm hoping we get Dan Mullen like Saunders suggested... enough of this nonsense.

 
ladyhawke said:
Think a minute about that statement. Then consider this: consider how important Husker football is to this state. We ARE different than other programs if only because of our history. I for one, and I may be the only one who feels this way, will NEVER stop acting like we are different.  
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I don't disagree that it's important to the state.  But if you ever left the state you'd see that there are programs equally important to their respective areas.  We aren't the only ones that love our boys.  Our program's history is not that different than many others.  We had an amazing run a couple times, we've struggled some years, we've had coaches good and bad come and go.  I think our sense of entitlement and the fact that we think we're "special" and talk about it openly, often sets us apart, and not always in a good way.

I too will never think there' s a better team than Nebraska, but my neighbors from ND, Michigan, Alabama, Michigan State, Boston College all fly their flags on Saturday just like me.  If you were out on a weekend you'd see any number of alumni groups gathering in pubs to watch the games.  All of us walking the dogs talk smack about our teams' recruiting efforts and schedules.  

 
When have we last had a vocal, get in your face leader?  I'm tired of the "I'm actually a quiet guy, I like my performance to do the talking"...............I want guys on both sides of the ball who light into teammates for not caring their load, for dropping passes, missing blocks, tackles assignments etc.....I want guys throwing the bones, pointing to the crowd, "celebrating" on a big play, pointing at a first down, hell even copy Zeke "feed me"......I know college rles are different regarding celebration, but damn, we are like a dead fish on the field and sidelines..... and have been  for a while.

 
NM11046 said:
I too will never think there' s a better team than Nebraska, but my neighbors from ND, Michigan, Alabama, Michigan State, Boston College all fly their flags on Saturday just like me.
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Everyone has fans, and passionate ones. But what other state embodies one program, one school, one sport. Notre Dame may have a rich history, but Indiana is as much associated as a basketball state as anything. When you say "Nebraska", everyone knows you're talking Husker football.

 
brophog said:
Everyone has fans, and passionate ones. But what other state embodies one program, one school, one sport. Notre Dame may have a rich history, but Indiana is as much associated as a basketball state as anything. When you say "Nebraska", everyone knows you're talking Husker football.
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Or volleyball depending on who you Are talking too.  And half the people in IN don't care about ND

 
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