OT - Nebraska fires AD effective immediately

[ShakyTheMohel]

Fire up the BY time machine

Nebraska fired Pelini?

Biggest disappointment for me reading that thread, is that I was actually happy that UConn's HC position was stable with Diaco.

Sad!

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

$81k a month... $170k a month...

Worse gigs may exist ...

 

[uconnphil2016]

One step closer to #InterimCoachBobDiaco

 

[Redding Husky]

My ex-wife is a Cornhusker. Her family has had season tickets since 1962. I know that Nebraska and Oklahoma had the best rivalry in college football from the 1960's to the 1990's because it wasn't just two schools that hated each other; people of those two states hated each other. It was a cultural thing: Nebraska was settled by farmers. Oklahoma was settled by rogues and speculators. Nebraska also had a really good rivalry with Colorado. The Big 8 and those rivalries were good for those schools.

The move to the Big 10 was a no-brainer for the Nebraska administration. They had to accept the invitation. But to Nebraskans, playing Iowa and Minnesota is not like playing Oklahoma and Colorado. It just isn't. And it never will be. This is a black eye for realignment. I think it will be very difficult for Nebraska to become what it was.

 

[TheDrifter75]

My ex-wife is a Cornhusker. Her family has had season tickets since 1962. I know that Nebraska and Oklahoma had the best rivalry in college football from the 1960's to the 1990's because it wasn't just two schools that hated each other; people of those two states hated each other. It was a cultural thing: Nebraska was settled by farmers. Oklahoma was settled by rogues and speculators. Nebraska also had a really good rivalry with Colorado. The Big 8 and those rivalries were good for those schools.

The move to the Big 10 was a no-brainer for the Nebraska administration. They had to accept the invitation. But to Nebraskans, playing Iowa and Minnesota is not like playing Oklahoma and Colorado. It just isn't. And it never will be. This is a black eye for realignment. I think it will be very difficult for Nebraska to become what it was.

Everyones experience is a bit different, but when I lived in Nebraska I never felt the hate thing there with Oklahoma. Likewise, I have family in Oklahoma and they comment how they miss the Nebraska rivalry and the unique respect they had for each other. They hate Texas, as does everyone, but Nebraska had a different vibe. Of course you still wanted to beat them more than anything but it was more like playing your brother than the punk down the street.

 

[Colt house75]

$81k a month...
$170k a month...

Riley hit the lottery.....if terminated, can sit for 3 years and collect over $6mm.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

He is a solid coach at Oregon St. He has no business coaching in the Big 10. It was an obvious swing and miss and it's worked out exactly how most people expected.

I suspect Riley got the job in part because he was able to be moderately successful at a school, Oregon State, that was at a significant recruiting disadvantage to the other schools in its league, much like Nebraska. I also think Nebraska fans and administrators need to reset expectations. Iowa puts up with a lot of mediocrity from Kirk Ferentz because every 5 years or so he puts together an 11 win team. That is probably about the best that Nebraska can hope for. They are in an aging state that isn't growing, they no longer have 2 trips to Texas each year to recruit with, and the recruiting areas of the Big 10 are already very competitive and facing the same demographic problems as Nebraska.

I don't know that Nebraska is going to do that much better with the next coach, and I would not be surprised if have they end up with a bunch of second tier candidates. If you were a 40 year old G5 coach, would you rather go to Texas A&M or Nebraska? Nebraska is not the job it was 30 years ago.

 

[whaler11]

I suspect Riley got the job in part because he was able to be moderately successful at a school, Oregon State, that was at a significant recruiting disadvantage to the other schools in its league, much like Nebraska. I also think Nebraska fans and administrators need to reset expectations. Iowa puts up with a lot of mediocrity from Kirk Ferentz because every 5 years or so he puts together an 11 win team. That is probably about the best that Nebraska can hope for. They are in an aging state that isn't growing, they no longer have 2 trips to Texas each year to recruit with, and the recruiting areas of the Big 10 are already very competitive and facing the same demographic problems as Nebraska.

I don't know that Nebraska is going to do that much better with the next coach, and I would not be surprised if have they end up with a bunch of second tier candidates. If you were a 40 year old G5 coach, would you rather go to Texas A&M or Nebraska? Nebraska is not the job it was 30 years ago.

I think Nebraska is screwed. They are going to be crushed by expectations.

But I know the answer isn't a 61 year old with an all time losing record in the PAC 10/12.

If they set their expectations to the Iowa level then someone would have a chance but I have a feeling that isn't going to happen.

 

[UConnJim]

I suspect Riley got the job in part because he was able to be moderately successful at a school, Oregon State, that was at a significant recruiting disadvantage to the other schools in its league, much like Nebraska. I also think Nebraska fans and administrators need to reset expectations. Iowa puts up with a lot of mediocrity from Kirk Ferentz because every 5 years or so he puts together an 11 win team. That is probably about the best that Nebraska can hope for. They are in an aging state that isn't growing, they no longer have 2 trips to Texas each year to recruit with, and the recruiting areas of the Big 10 are already very competitive and facing the same demographic problems as Nebraska.

I don't know that Nebraska is going to do that much better with the next coach, and I would not be surprised if have they end up with a bunch of second tier candidates. If you were a 40 year old G5 coach, would you rather go to Texas A&M or Nebraska? Nebraska is not the job it was 30 years ago.

Nelson, I disagree with you on a number of counts. First, Texas never really played in Texas until they joined the Big 12. In fact, Nebraska has played Texas and Texas A&M 14 times, Texas Tech 11x, and TCU 7x in their history. Nebraska has a long history with the old Big 8 schools, Oklahoma, Oklahoma St., Missouri, Iowa St., Kansas, Kansas St., and Colorado. They have played Oklahoma 86x, Kansas 117x, and Missouri 104x.

As for recruiting, Nebraska was never been big in Texas recruiting. If you look at their 1994 national championship team, there were 11 players from California, 7 from NY/NJ, 6 from Texas, and 5 from Florida. Nebraska recruited all of the recruiting hotbeds and had a ton of kids from Nebraska. Their 1971 national championship team had 10 from California and 1 from Texas.

Looking towards the future, if I was a coach, I would want to coach at Nebraska over Texas A&M. Why? Look at their division in the Big 10: Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Illinois, and Purdue. That looks really manageable and winnable to me! Nebraska should be able to compete to win their division every year. At Texas A&M, they are in a division with Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Arkansas, Ole Miss, and Miss St. That is not easy.

As with any sport, Nebraska needs to hire a good coach. Will they compete for national championships? Probably not unless they get lucky in a given year, but they should be at least on par with Wisconsin and be in the Big 10 Championship game on a regular basis.

 

[Drew]

I think Nebraska is screwed. They are going to be crushed by expectations.

But I know the answer isn't a 61 year old with an all time losing record in the PAC 10/12.

If they set their expectations to the Iowa level then someone would have a chance but I have a feeling that isn't going to happen.

I alluded to this earlier but a majority of the fanbase (at least the people I know and speak with there- including a few members of the AD) don't have these wild expectations that a lot of people seem to think Nebraska fans have. Nebraska fans really just want the following:

1. a team that plays sound fundamental football and won't beat themselves/quit
2. to be competitive in 95% of the games you play (i.e. not having 2 45+ point losses a season)
3. to win the games you are supposed to win (and Riley has lost to Purdue, Illinois, Northern Illinois since being here)

Most people in Lincoln would love to be Wisconsin. A physical, in your face team with great defense that maximizes the most out of the talent they are able to get. Nebraska still recruits at a top 25 or so level. There's no reason Nebraska can't be the favorite in the Big Ten West every other year.

The Riley hire was ridiculous but it was spearheaded by former administrators who were sick of Bo's attitude and the "perception" it gave Nebraska nationally. I'm not trying to give excuses here, just an insight into why he was fired. It really wasn't because of the 9 and 10 win seasons. Bo's attitude combined with the refusal to shake up certain positions on his staff when it was requested to him (sound familiar?) ultimately led to his dismissal. And it was time. Shawn and Bo never saw eye to eye and Bo was ready to move on. It actually probably should've happened a year earlier than it did, after the whole "if they wanna fire me go ahead" press conference after the Iowa game.

For Nebraska to maximize its modern day potential, it needs to flex the financial backing that it does have, and truly search for the best coach available. There is a sense that that hasn't truly happened in any of the coaching searches post Osborne. It was Solich, who got the Ollie treatment and was recommended by Tom. Then he was fired and it was Bill Callahan who was supposed to "bring Nebraska into the modern era". He recruited well, even a top 10 (possibly 5?) class. But he didn't fit at UNL or really even in the college game. The defense was awful and they brought in Bo Pelini. Bo's attitude wore on a lot of people and they hired the nicest guy in college football.

While I agree Nebraska isn't winning a national title any time soon, based off of all the reading and discussions I've had I really don't get the sense that the fanbase expects that either. We are just tired of constantly shooting ourselves in the foot. Striving to be a Wisconsin like program should be and realistically is the goal for now. Establish that level of success and then you can begin to talk about more than that.

 

[TheDrifter75]

I alluded to this earlier but a majority of the fanbase (at least the people I know and speak with there- including a few members of the AD) don't have these wild expectations that a lot of people seem to think Nebraska fans have. Nebraska fans really just want the following:

1. a team that plays sound fundamental football and won't beat themselves/quit
2. to be competitive in 95% of the games you play (i.e. not having 2 45+ point losses a season)
3. to win the games you are supposed to win (and Riley has lost to Purdue, Illinois, Northern Illinois since being here)

Most people in Lincoln would love to be Wisconsin. A physical, in your face team with great defense that maximizes the most out of the talent they are able to get. Nebraska still recruits at a top 25 or so level. There's no reason Nebraska can't be the favorite in the Big Ten West every other year.

The Riley hire was ridiculous but it was spearheaded by former administrators who were sick of Bo's latetude and the "perception" it gave Nebraska nationally. I'm not trying to give excuses here, just an insight into why he was fired. It really wasn't because of the 9 and 10 win seasons. Bo's attitude combined with the refusal to shake up certain positions on his staff when it was requested to him (sound familiar?) ultimately led to his dismissal. And it was time. Shawn and Bo never saw eye to eye and Bo was ready to move on. It actually probably should've happened a year earlier than it did, after the whole "if they wanna fire me go ahead" press conference after the Iowa game.

For Nebraska to maximize its modern day potential, it needs to flex the financial backing that it does have, and truly search for the best coach available. There is a sense that that hasn't truly happened in any of the coaching searches post Osborne. It was Solich, who got the Ollie treatment and was recommended by Tom. Then he was fired and it was Bill Callahan who was supposed to "bring Nebraska into the modern era". He recruited well, even a top 10 (possibly 5?) class. But he didn't fit at UNL or really even in the college game. The defense was awful and they brought in Bo Pelini. Bo's attitude wore on a lot of people and they hired the nicest guy in college football.

While I agree Nebraska isn't winning a national title any time soon, based off of all the reading and discussions I've had I really don't get the sense that the fanbase expects that either. We are just tired of constantly shooting ourselves in the foot. Striving to be a Wisconsin like program should be and realistically is the goal for now. Establish that level of success and then you can begin to talk about more than that.

This is spot on. Just to reiterate its not that 9 and 10 wins isn't good enough. It's win your division a couple times a decade maybe even a conference championship. Don't get absolutely blown out by top and even mediocre teams, starting way back with Colorado and TTech(others as well but those stand out to me). Then beating the teams you should. Nebraska had a history of beating teams 15, 20 even 30 years straight. Ok, so maybe that's not maintained but every game against Northwestern and Illinois shouldn't be in question late.

 

[Adios]

If Minnesota Gophers and Illinois Fighting Illini football fans can reset their expectations, so can Cornhuskers fans! On the bright side, the Cornhuskers will continue to get solid attendance....

 

[Pudge]

The Riley hire was maybe the worst hire of the decade. Just laughable on the day it happened.

O cmon ... there are a lot of massively strange hires.

Riley is just the poster boy of the last month.

 

[whaler11]

O cmon ... there are a lot of massively strange hires.

Riley is just the poster boy of the last month.

Well one of them has to be the worst.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Nelson, I disagree with you on a number of counts. First, Texas never really played in Texas until they joined the Big 12. In fact, Nebraska has played Texas and Texas A&M 14 times, Texas Tech 11x, and TCU 7x in their history. Nebraska has a long history with the old Big 8 schools, Oklahoma, Oklahoma St., Missouri, Iowa St., Kansas, Kansas St., and Colorado. They have played Oklahoma 86x, Kansas 117x, and Missouri 104x.

As for recruiting, Nebraska was never been big in Texas recruiting. If you look at their 1994 national championship team, there were 11 players from California, 7 from NY/NJ, 6 from Texas, and 5 from Florida. Nebraska recruited all of the recruiting hotbeds and had a ton of kids from Nebraska. Their 1971 national championship team had 10 from California and 1 from Texas.

Looking towards the future, if I was a coach, I would want to coach at Nebraska over Texas A&M. Why? Look at their division in the Big 10: Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Illinois, and Purdue. That looks really manageable and winnable to me! Nebraska should be able to compete to win their division every year. At Texas A&M, they are in a division with Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Arkansas, Ole Miss, and Miss St. That is not easy.

As with any sport, Nebraska needs to hire a good coach. Will they compete for national championships? Probably not unless they get lucky in a given year, but they should be at least on par with Wisconsin and be in the Big 10 Championship game on a regular basis.

Nebraska's first year in the Big 12 was 1996. Everything that happened before basically doesn't matter. As soon as conferences got control of their own TV contracts, the landscape was going to change completely. The way that Nebraska was able to compete in the 60's, 70's and 80's is no more relevant than discussing how Atari was able to compete in the video game market. From the moment it joined the Big 12, Nebraska was dependent on Texas and Oklahoma recruits. Its national recruiting days were over.

As for the other posters thoughts about expectations.

Today's recruits were 2 years old last time Nebraska played in a major bowl game. As for the fans' expectations, Solich was fired off 4 10+ win seasons in 6 years, and Pellini was fired despite never going worse than 9-4. "Nebraska would settle for being Wisconsin" is a ridiculous statement. Nebraska has a population of 1.9 million, Wisconsin's is 5.8 million. I think Osborne saw the writing on the wall for a small state program that wants to relive its glory days as a national power, and got them into the Big 10 before Nebraska both lost its AAU status and became less attractive as an athletic program. If he had waited 5 more years, Nebraska would be looking at a death sentence like the rest of the northern Big 12 teams.

 

[TheDrifter75]

Nebraska's first year in the Big 12 was 1996. Everything that happened before basically doesn't matter. As soon as conferences got control of their own TV contracts, the landscape was going to change completely. The way that Nebraska was able to compete in the 60's, 70's and 80's is no more relevant than discussing how Atari was able to compete in the video game market. From the moment it joined the Big 12, Nebraska was dependent on Texas and Oklahoma recruits. Its national recruiting days were over.

As for the other posters thoughts about expectations.

Today's recruits were 2 years old last time Nebraska played in a major bowl game. As for the fans' expectations, Solich was fired off 4 10+ win seasons in 6 years, and Pellini was fired despite never going worse than 9-4. "Nebraska would settle for being Wisconsin" is a ridiculous statement. Nebraska has a population of 1.9 million, Wisconsin's is 5.8 million. I think Osborne saw the writing on the wall for a small state program that wants to relive its glory days as a national power, and got them into the Big 10 before Nebraska both lost its AAU status and became less attractive as an athletic program. If he had waited 5 more years, Nebraska would be looking at a death sentence like the rest of the northern Big 12 teams.

If Nebraska hadn't left the big 12 the big 12 would likely still be the big 12, possibly the big 14. They made the right move regardless.

Again the wins is not why those coaches were fired. Go back and look at the magnitude of the losses. I agree in that I think the Solich firing was premature. He had just brought in Bo as his DC and Bo served as the interim to get the 10th win that year. But the type of losses were not acceptable. In my opinion it actually started in 2001. Though they played for the NC that year many thought they shouldn't have. They allowed Colorado to put up 60 some pts on them which in turn kept them from the big 12 championship game. The following year they were 7-7. In 03 they had 3 blow out losses 2 to unranked teams. That, combined with what started with the Buffs was to much. He should have had 1 more year minimum in mho. Calahan should never have been hired by a college program. Bo, once again, the magnitude of the losses combined with his love him or hate him rage got him fired. So, to clarify as @Drew and I have stated, 9 and 10 wins is fine but not when it's just lipstick on a pig.

 

[SubbaBub]

They fired a guy who never won fewer than 9 games. Nebraska fans can't claim they don't have unrealistic expectations. It would be like us expecting to make the Final Four every season. We do expect to make the second round at least, though.

 

[Drew]

They fired a guy who never won fewer than 9 games. Nebraska fans can't claim they don't have unrealistic expectations. It would be like us expecting to make the Final Four every season. We do expect to make the second round at least, though.

If you read what I wrote above, it had nothing to do with the win/loss record. Bo's attitude and refusal to make shakeups on the staff when requested to in addition to his subpar relationship with Eichorst ultimately led to his dismissal. The former Chancellor Harvey Pearlman brought in Eichorst and more or less told him Bo needed to go. The administration and Bo did not get along. At all. Bo was even ready to go when it was all said and done. He publicly challenged the administration to fire him at a press conference.

I've outlined what most Nebraska fans would consider reasonable in posts above, and specifically the "expectation" level of the program. Its much different than you think it is.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

If Nebraska hadn't left the big 12 the big 12 would likely still be the big 12, possibly the big 14. They made the right move regardless.

So you think Texas A&M and Missouri would have passed on the SEC and Colorado on the Pac 12 if Nebraska stayed?

 

[UConnJim]

From the moment it joined the Big 12, Nebraska was dependent on Texas and Oklahoma recruits. Its national recruiting days were over.

I don't know what you are talking about. Nebraska has never been a big recruiter in Texas or Oklahoma. From 1999 to 2017, Nebraska has averaged ~3.5 recruits from Texas per year and they have had a total of 4 recruits from Oklahoma in those 19 recruiting classes. They have averaged ~3.2 recruits per year from California.

Nebraska still recruits nationally. From 2010 to 2017, Nebraska has signed 4* athletes from 18 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin.

Finally, if you compare the recruiting classes in the Big 10 West since Nebraska has joined the conference, their recruiting class was #1 in six out of 7 years and they were #2 in the other year. Nebraska should be dominating the Big 10 West and play in the conference championship game 2 out of 3 years.

 

[LIuconn]

Generational wealth for getting fired. Incredible. If I'm an assistant coach somewhere I'm taking the first decent-paying head job that comes my way. Can fail, get paid, then pick up a similar level coordinator/assoc AD job elsewhere.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Generational wealth for getting fired. Incredible. If I'm an assistant coach somewhere I'm taking the first decent-paying head job that comes my way. Can fail, get paid, then pick up a similar level coordinator/assoc AD job elsewhere.

A la Pepperoni the 2nd time and Fiasco

 

[TheDrifter75]

So you think Texas A&M and Missouri would have passed on the SEC and Colorado on the Pac 12 if Nebraska stayed?

The whole dynamic changes on Nebraska leaving. That move triggered a landscape change of conference realignment. With Nebraska TAM Missouri and Colorado the big 12 money is different. I'm not saying 100% none of those moves happen, but they are less likely. Maybe only 1 or 2 of them do. Their numbers would still match the name was my point. Texas is the virus in that conference and a huge reason for the departure of Neb and TAM. They hold the conference hostage with LHN. With those teams and tv network the money surpasses the pac and is closer to the other conferences. Admittedly I haven't research all those numbers at present and dont know the pac and big 12 rank on revenue. Just saying with those conditions the big 12 would surpass them.

 

[Drew]

Nebraska solidified itself in major athletics and as a player in research and the academic world moving forward through the next 100+ years by moving to the B1G. It was an absolute no brainer from a University standpoint. Plus they're making hand over fist what they were making in the Big XII. There's a lot of revisionist history happening in this thread right now.

You can argue that Nebraska will no longer be able to recruit Texas but I don't know how much I buy that. Everyone recruits Texas. The Huskers signed 3 kids from Texas last class, and currently hold a commitment from Joshua Moore who is the most offered WR in the nation from Yoakum, TX. The current staff's emphasis is and will be California, since that is where they have the most established connections and relationships. But the Huskers will continue to recruit TX in the future, just as everyone (including UConn) does.

 

[Drew]

I don't know what you are talking about. Nebraska has never been a big recruiter in Texas or Oklahoma. From 1999 to 2017, Nebraska has averaged ~3.5 recruits from Texas per year and they have had a total of 4 recruits from Oklahoma in those 19 recruiting classes. They have averaged ~3.2 recruits per year from California.

Nebraska still recruits nationally. From 2010 to 2017, Nebraska has signed 4* athletes from 18 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin.

Finally, if you compare the recruiting classes in the Big 10 West since Nebraska has joined the conference, their recruiting class was #1 in six out of 7 years and they were #2 in the other year. Nebraska should be dominating the Big 10 West and play in the conference championship game 2 out of 3 years.

Thank you. You put it absolutely perfectly. Even under Riley and co the Huskers continue to recruit better than everyone in the B1G West. Nebraska has a top 12 class right now by class average on the 247 Composite. The idea that Nebraska shouldn't expect more success than what they have currently is laughable.