Will Cain and Adam Rittenberg

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tmfr15

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Will Cain, ESPN talking head, and Adam Rittenberg, ESPN's Big 10 guy, recently discussed programs that are down in a segment on the Will Cain Show... Those programs were Nebraska, USC, Miami and FSU. Both agreed that USC has the best chance of the four to get to the playoff soon. That I guess is in spite of Clay. They said Mike Norvell would do well despite the fact that conversations about FSU are all about the bad culture there.

Lastly, they settled on the notion that Nebraska is settling in as a sub par program and may never return to any kind of championship caliber football.

How many Nebraska fans would reluctantly agreed with those sentiments?

I am not ready to do so and find it humorous that they stipulate Nebraska might never come back. 

Never. Really.

That's a long time ya know.

 
It all depends on what "back" means. Could nebraska be on the level of a Clemson or Alabama where they just reload and are in contention for a national title every year? No. Could nebraska be something between Wisconsin and those powerhouse teams? Yes. I don't think it's to crazy to say nebraska could win a conference title every 4-5 years and play for a national title once or twice every ten years or so.

 
tmfr15 said:
Will Cain, ESPN talking head, and Adam Rittenberg, ESPN's Big 10 guy, recently discussed programs that are down in a segment on the Will Cain Show... Those programs were Nebraska, USC, Miami and FSU. Both agreed that USC has the best chance of the four to get to the playoff soon. That I guess is in spite of Clay. They said Mike Norvell would do well despite the fact that conversations about FSU are all about the bad culture there.

Lastly, they settled on the notion that Nebraska is settling in as a sub par program and may never return to any kind of championship caliber football.

How many Nebraska fans would reluctantly agreed with those sentiments?

I am not ready to do so and find it humorous that they stipulate Nebraska might never come back. 

Never. Really.

That's a long time ya know.
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Rittenberg used to be pretty good but lately his NW bias has been showing and his personal thoughts have been coming through in his reporting. Anyone can look at USC recently and then look at their recent recruiting classes to see that their trajectory is pointing down in a bad way. Rittenberg is still just butthurt the Huskers beat NW and ran onto the field excited about the game winning field goal :dunno

 
tmfr15 said:
Lastly, they settled on the notion that Nebraska is settling in as a sub par program and may never return to any kind of championship caliber football.

How many Nebraska fans would reluctantly agreed with those sentiments?

I am not ready to do so and find it humorous that they stipulate Nebraska might never come back. 

Never. Really.

That's a long time ya know.
Click to expand...
No, fans are going to agree to that, of course not. But the reality is if Frost hasn't turned this program back into a consistent 9-10 game winner in his first 5-7 years, then I would agree with them that it probably isn't going to happen again.  Starting over AGAIN, with the golden boy failing even, and support finally will finally have dried up. I can't see boosters continuing to blindly throw money at a program that hasn't won a conference title in 25 years at that point after yet another failure, and what coach is going to come here then?  There must be a limit to even Nebraska fans loyalty, and to the effect of history from so long ago in attracting coaches and recruits.

Why do you find that notion humorous? Because you're a homer, like most of us.  If Frost can't get it done, what legitimate reasons do you have to think it will happen magically?  Money and support alone have proven to be not enough on their own, and if those go away then it's over for sure.  I still think he will get it done, but to simply think that it will still happen some day just because is humorous also. Not how life works.

 
runningblind said:
No, fans are going to agree to that, of course not. But the reality is if Frost hasn't turned this program back into a consistent 9-10 game winner in his first 5-7 years, then I would agree with them that it probably isn't going to happen again.  Starting over AGAIN, with the golden boy failing even, and support finally will finally have dried up. I can't see boosters continuing to blindly throw money at a program that hasn't won a conference title in 25 years at that point after yet another failure, and what coach is going to come here then?  There must be a limit to even Nebraska fans loyalty, and to the effect of history from so long ago in attracting coaches and recruits.

Why do you find that notion humorous? Because you're a homer, like most of us.  If Frost can't get it done, what legitimate reasons do you have to think it will happen magically?  Money and support alone have proven to be not enough on their own, and if those go away then it's over for sure.  I still think he will get it done, but to simply think that it will still happen some day just because is humorous also. Not how life works.
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The thing is all Frost has to do is coach. We can get the players we need. We clearly aren't settling in as a sub par program just based off recruiting. Sub par programs don't go 13-23 in 3 seasons and follow up those seasons with top 20 recruiting classes. Unless Frost doesn't actually know how to coach football we should have a pretty decent team in a year or 2 

 
Nebfanatic said:
The thing is all Frost has to do is coach. We can get the players we need. We clearly aren't settling in as a sub par program just based off recruiting. Sub par programs don't go 13-23 in 3 seasons and follow up those seasons with top 20 recruiting classes. Unless Frost doesn't actually know how to coach football we should have a pretty decent team in a year or 2 
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Things are trending up still at the moment I agree,  but there won't be any more top 20 classes coming if we go 5-7 again the next two years.  I believe he can coach so that shouldn't matter, but if I'm wrong we're in the scenario the article raised.  Nothing wrong with looking at things objectively while still being a fan.

 
LumberJackSker said:
It all depends on what "back" means. Could nebraska be on the level of a Clemson or Alabama where they just reload and are in contention for a national title every year? No. Could nebraska be something between Wisconsin and those powerhouse teams? Yes. I don't think it's to crazy to say nebraska could win a conference title every 4-5 years and play for a national title once or twice every ten years or so.
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This is where I'm at.

Easy for them to say that when one school isn't like the others. Also, Nebraska as a program is/ was in worse shape than the other three. All three have played(and won) a NY6 bowl game in the last four seasons and have natural recruiting areas they produce kids more often than not want to play for. I think while all schools need some semblance of stability, we see how delicate things are if you have the wrong coach, whether it be they just aren't good HCs(Bo/Riley, Helton, Golden, Strong) or they stop giving af (Fisher/Bo toward the end), especially for a place like Nebraska. Using Wisconsin again, it's why they are relatively the same program they have been all these years, and won't be much different going forward. They can't make notable changes like we tried to do over 15 years ago, otherwise they'll fall off faster than a spilled drink on a table. Nebraska needs stability/patience to turn things around, it also doesn't help Frost is still learning as a HC. We've seen that bite us at times the 1st two years. I agree if he can't turn it around the next 5 years, then I think we can "settle in" as a subpar program.

 
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Minnesota in the 1950s was really good, winning several national championships, and a really solid program. Then they fell off the face of the earth.

We could be on that same trajectory. If Frost can't bring the program back to respectability he'll eventually be gone. Then who do you get to replace him? How long will the old-money boosters be there to pay for a new coach? What if that money dries up and we have to settle for a series of Mike Rileys?  That's what Minnesota did, and they've never fully recovered.

So sure, it's possible. But predicting the future based on the past is pretty tough. In the 1990s, there's no way people would have believed the last two decades were in Nebraska's immediate future.

 
What's old is new again.  NU just seems to wandering around in mediocrity (and worse) the past 20 years...Much more than the "traditional programs" have IMHO.  Recruiting is MUCH better than I would have expected with 3 losing seasons in a row.  The recruits are probably getting to "see behind the curtain" by Frost and Co to things fans are not.  They believe it what he's selling.  I was surprised Frost let 2 guys go this season.  Again, IMHO, he is aware that what he thought would work at NU will not in its previous UCF format.  I also think a coach or 2 are also on notice or will be this season if things do not improve.  Off the top of my head I am looking at ILB and TE....

If Frost can't get us back, I am unsure if we spend 10 million per year to get a Saban, Urbs, Dabo ie a proven winner over a long period of time......I do think we can get to the point where we compete for the West every year and make a run at/win the conference every few years.  BUT, if we get the depth to where we are truly reloading not always replacing/rebuilding it will go a long way to getting us back to where we want to be....

 
Sometimes I think DONU has been in a perfect storm while Devaney and Osborne were our coaches.

With our very limited population base and even the windy weather during half the season and what should've been, limited funds.

It still amazes me how we did as well as we did.

We were once one of the few teams televised in the country, which really helped us in recruiting.

We could stockpile players, sometimes recruiting players just to keep them off our opponents' teams.

Being the pioneer in nutrition and weight training... and PEDs helped keep us playin' over our heads for a decade or three.

Tuition was cheap enough that we could have walk-ons double as tackling dummies.

Exceptional assistant coaches that continued to learn on the job and quickly gained the reputation of getting the most out of each player...which also aided in our recruiting.

Osborne's memory and attention to detail still baffles me..He'd notice if a player lined up a few inches from where he was supposed to...He even remembered meeting me for a couple of minutes as a freshman, and then again 3 years later ...and asked about.''Millie and Jim'' who were parents of my cousin that played for him from '79 to '82. 

 He had an intense desire to win but also the ability to eventually put winning in perspective.

I think Scott can get us in the top 10 within 6 years, but I'm starting to veer away from thinking ''if he can't do it, nobody can''.

And until he eventually starts prioritizing the Defensive side..We'll probably never sniff a 4 team playoff.  

 
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HUSKER 37 said:
Sometimes I think DONU has been in a perfect storm while Devaney and Osborne were our coaches.

With our very limited population base and even the windy weather during half the season and what should've been, limited funds.

It still amazes me how we did as well as we did.

We were once one of the few teams televised in the country, which really helped us in recruiting.

We could stockpile players, sometimes recruiting players just to keep them off our opponents' teams.

Being the pioneer in nutrition and weight training... and PEDs helped keep us playin' over our heads for a decade or three.

Tuition was cheap enough that we could have walk-ons double as tackling dummies.

Exceptional assistant coaches that continued to learn on the job and quickly gained the reputation of getting the most out of each player...which also aided in our recruiting.

Osborne's memory and attention to detail still baffles me..He'd notice if a player lined up a few inches from where he was supposed to...He even remembered meeting me for a couple of minutes as a freshman, and then again 3 years later ...and asked about.''Millie and Jim'' who were parents of my cousin that played for him from '79 to '82. 

 He had an intense desire to win but also the ability to eventually put winning in perspective.

I think Scott can get us in the top 10 within 6 years, but I'm starting to veer away from thinking ''if he can't do it, nobody can''.

And until he eventually starts prioritizing the Defensive side..We'll probably never sniff a 4 team playoff.  
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Good points all the way around. TO was a genius.  One of the smartest to coach the game IMHO.  

To the bolded, I agree 100%.  You are not going to win anything of value with the "you score 40, I'll score 41" mentality.  The defense has got to be as prolific as Frost wants the offense to be.  As posted in the combine thread, getting better LB play will be a HUGE step in getting the defense respectable.  IIRC, last year we gave up like 4.6 yards per carry.  Get that average 1 yrd less and we have a top 40 defense against the run.  The team will go as far as the defense can carry it.... 

 
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