Who entered a better situation?

[Treand3]

Bo easy. People wanted him after Solich was fired and he built goodwill from his '03 defense. Callahan left such a bad taste in nearly everyone's mouth, combined with what he did in '03, made it a welcoming transition. Not to mention Callahan left Bo a good deal of talent. Not saying Bo didn't leave Riley any, but there are sizable deficiencies at QB and the front 7 that weren't there for Bo.

 

[alwayshusking]

Tough call. The returning talent is pretty close.

QB Even - Pelini had Ganz, but just for 1 year. There may be more overall QB talent on this roster but it's tough to say.

RB Pelini

WR/TE Riley

OL Even - There may be more talent currently, but most of the talent is young/inexperienced

DL Pelini - We've got some talent now but Bo inherited Suh

LB Even - Maybe an edge to the current roster believe it or not. Tyler Wortman and Cody Glenn had to play for Pelini's 1st D

DB Riley - Bo did a good job recruiting in the secondary

Riley's biggest challenge will be transitioning the offense while still winning games.

 

[Count 'Bility]

Hey Nuance, I think comparing the recruiting losses of each situation is kinda difficult. It was a couple of pretty different dynamics. Like Michigan this past season, everyone knew by October it was dun and it was just a matter of time. With firing Bo, even after all that had gone on and those hoping it would happen, it was still a rather shocking and bizarre development. I think a lot of the '08 class was pretty much jumping ship before Callahan was even fired, because it was a foregone conclusion.

Agreed. It wasn't Callahan or Pelini's fault that much of our 2008 recruiting class bailed out. It was more of a timing thing like you say.

By contrast, the firing of Pelini and hiring of Riley had to be one of the most seamless, well orchestrated coaching changes ever. Props to Eichorst for that.

That's cuz I believe the decision was already made before the season was over. Like, during the 4th quarter of the Madison trip.

Ok, maybe not that soon. But for things like that to take place so quickly-I mean seriously, Riley accepted the job without even taking a visit here after turning down high profile jobs in the past-it suggests that there had to be something happening before-hand.

 

[Treand3]

Hey Nuance, I think comparing the recruiting losses of each situation is kinda difficult. It was a couple of pretty different dynamics. Like Michigan this past season, everyone knew by October it was dun and it was just a matter of time. With firing Bo, even after all that had gone on and those hoping it would happen, it was still a rather shocking and bizarre development. I think a lot of the '08 class was pretty much jumping ship before Callahan was even fired, because it was a foregone conclusion.

Agreed. It wasn't Callahan or Pelini's fault that much of our 2008 recruiting class bailed out. It was more of a timing thing like you say.

By contrast, the firing of Pelini and hiring of Riley had to be one of the most seamless, well orchestrated coaching changes ever. Props to Eichorst for that.

That's cuz I believe the decision was already made before the season was over. Like, during the 4th quarter of the Madison trip.
Ok, maybe not that soon. But for things like that to take place so quickly-I mean seriously, Riley accepted the job without even taking a visit here after turning down high profile jobs in the past-it suggests that there had to be something happening before-hand.

Agree. It seemed to be weeks in the making, at least from Eichorst's end.

 

[Count 'Bility]

Tough call. The returning talent is pretty close.

QB Even - Pelini had Ganz, but just for 1 year. There may be more overall QB talent on this roster but it's tough to say.

RB Pelini

WR/TE Riley

OL Even - There may be more talent currently, but most of the talent is young/inexperienced

DL Pelini - We've got some talent now but Bo inherited Suh

LB Even - Maybe an edge to the current roster believe it or not. Tyler Wortman and Cody Glenn had to play for Pelini's 1st D

DB Riley - Bo did a good job recruiting in the secondary

Riley's biggest challenge will be transitioning the offense while still winning games.

The returning talent on our oline now is light years better that it was for Bo. Sure we had a solid line in '08 but in the long term, our line was really hit hard by the recruiting departures of the Callahan firing. There was a stat mentioned that at one time, Callahan had like 4 oline committs in that 2008 class at one time that wound up starting, being all-conference and drafted at other high profile programs or something like that.

 

[alwayshusking]

I also think what the fanbase thinks of the hire is overrated. You can win or lose the fanbase by the product you put on the field.

There still seems to be plenty of excitement of the Riley era as evidenced by the 62,500 tickets already sold for the spring game.

 

[alwayshusking]

Tough call. The returning talent is pretty close.

QB Even - Pelini had Ganz, but just for 1 year. There may be more overall QB talent on this roster but it's tough to say.

RB Pelini

WR/TE Riley

OL Even - There may be more talent currently, but most of the talent is young/inexperienced

DL Pelini - We've got some talent now but Bo inherited Suh

LB Even - Maybe an edge to the current roster believe it or not. Tyler Wortman and Cody Glenn had to play for Pelini's 1st D

DB Riley - Bo did a good job recruiting in the secondary

Riley's biggest challenge will be transitioning the offense while still winning games.

The returning talent on our oline now is light years better that it was for Bo. Sure we had a solid line in '08 but in the long term, our line was really hit hard by the recruiting departures of the Callahan firing. There was a stat mentioned that at one time, Callahan had like 4 oline committs in that 2008 class at one time that wound up starting, being all-conference and drafted at other high profile programs or something like that.

I think you're right but I want to see some of these young guys play first. I really like the potential of the young guys.

 

[Redux]

I'd say it's pretty close—the situation each guy walked into.

• Fan's wanting a new guy: When Bo took over there was much more clamor by the fans to fire Callahan and get a new coach. Bo was universally recognized as a guy who could be our savior. Back then anyway. Sure, there was a lot of talk about firing Bo five months ago. But it certainly wasn't universal like it was back in 2007. Not even close. (Edge to Bo.)
• Recruiting class loss: If you recall, when Callahan got fired we lost nearly our entire recruiting class. Sure, Bo pulled in a number of solid 11th hour recruits. But if you look back at that 2008 recruiting class you'll see a lot of names of guys who never sniffed the depth chart. The transition in bringing Riley in was MUCH more smooth. Barely even a hiccup in the 2015 recruiting. (Edge to Riley.)
• Roster Talent: Talent-wise on the whole roster, I'd say it's pretty even.
• Expectations for performance: And finally, as for fan expectations, we're another seven years removed from the period of Husker dominance that was the 90s. I think our expectations are tempered a bit too. Or at least mine are.

I voted for Riley. I think he is equipped with a better attitude and outlook to succeed at DONU. I don't think Rile will alienate the fans, reporters, refs, his boss, the kid at the drive-up window of MacDonalds, etc. like Bo had a propensity to do.

I don't think that this team has anywhere the talent that Bo was left. Granted that talent still needed to be molded which Bo did a great job of doing, but I don't see any Suh's or Amukamara's on this team.

Yeah, Suh was one of a kind. We don't have a game changer like him. But Nate Gerry could easily be a first round pick in a couple years. And who know how big of an impact Pierson-El will be in Riley's offense.

If you look at the whole roster I don't think we're lacking for talent right now. Not far off from where we were when Pelini started out. /JMHO

Overall, I agree the talent is pretty close.

In key spots, Bo walked into a WAY better spot. Helu, Ganz, Suh, Amukamara. We have a bundle of QB's and RB's that have to be sorted through and yeah we can only hope to get Suh like production out of Gerry or Valentine.

 

[HuskerNationNick]

In my opinion, Riley hands down. Sure Bo left on some slippery slopes, but he had a lot of supporters, until his audio tape leaked with the team. He had a winning (and completely padded record). I think Riley takes over with a lot more talent, and has a lot more money/resources being given to recruit. We didn't really start forking out the money and everything we could until Bo's 4th year, if I remember correctly. The program isn't is shambles, like it was when Bo took over as well.

Now, the pressure is a lot higher for Riley. He's taking over a team who hasn't lost less than "9 games" a season. His expectations are the same, if not higher, as it was for Bo.

So, pressure wise, Riley has it worse, but as far as taking over on a good foundation, Riley has it better.

 

[huKSer]

I thought that meant THIS year - Riley at NU and Bo @ YSU. I still don't have to change my answer - Bo has it better at both places. Bo @ NU: more talent, NU had a losing record, Bo had history with the program. Bo @ YSU - who cares?

 

[zoogs]

In key spots, Bo walked into a WAY better spot. Helu, Ganz, Suh, Amukamara. We have a bundle of QB's and RB's that have to be sorted through and yeah we can only hope to get Suh like production out of Gerry or Valentine.

We seem to have the talent and bodies at DT in particular. There's some ample talent in the secondary and a lot of guys at OL, QB, RB, WR. It's not terrible, but the weakness at DE and LB is glaring and it's not like there are a lot of established stars returning -- potential more so than stars. Though the same was true of guys such as Suh and Amukamara at the time.

 

[KazLong]

Bo entered a much better situation. almost everybody thought Bo was the rebirth of the bobfather when he was hired. half of the people on this board wanted Riley fired the day he was hired.

Agree about Riley comment. However I think Riley is in an easy situation, due to easier to rise from a higher platform, not taking into account our team then and team now.

 

[admo]

It's tough to say, but I think Bo had it easier. The season prior to the Callahan/Cosgrove meltdown, the Huskers were 9-3 in the regular season. They finished first in the Big 12 North. They lost to #8 OU 21-7, then lost to #10 Auburn 17-14 in the Cotton Bowl and finished at 9-5. Championship games and Bowls are not automatic wins. The can be tough. And not to mention, it took a game winning FG with :23 seconds left for #5 Texas to beat the Huskers during the season. I think Brandon Jackson coughed the ball up which helped ruin the upset. Had the Huskers won, they would have gone into that CCG 10-2!

The next season, after a scary 4-1 start, the unbelievable fallout happened. So they finish 5-7, there's chaos everywhere, coaches get fired, bring in Bo to right this ship!

So I think Bo was basically taking an 8-4, 9-4 kind of team that fell apart emotionally, and got them back to 9-4.

To take a 9-4 team and make them better than that is a little more difficult.

Couple interesting points here...Did you know? (Or maybe forget)

The season the Huskers finished 9-5 with Callahan, the 5 losses were by a combined 56 points. The biggest lost was by 18 points (#4 USC)

The season following, when the Huskers completely fell apart under Callahan, they were ranked in the AP for 6 weeks!

During Bo's first season, at no point were the Huskers ever ranked!

During Bo's first season, they had a 3 game losing streak!

At one point during Bo's first season, the Huskers were 5-4!

Also during Bo's first season, they lost to Missouri on Homecoming 52-17, and also lost to OU 62-28

To get to 9 wins, the Huskers went on a 4 game win streak to end the season (including bowl game) against 4 unranked teams (KU, KSU, CU, Clemson)

 

[hskrpwr13]

I believe Terrence Nunn was the fumbling culprit, not Brandon Jackson. I know it was a receiver.

 

[Mierin]

I'm not seeing how this tough at all. Hands down Bo had it easier. Our expectation right now is to get at least 9 wins in year 1. Our expectations when Bo arrived were much lower.