Faux Bo Pellini is the leading candidate for the job.

It was a long time coming.

Bo has had 7 straight years of 9 or 10 wins. Who is going to top that? I could (maybe) understand this move if he won 6 or 7 this year, but he's still done a decent job this year.

With a firing like this, Cornhuskers fans deserve Muschamp or Hoke.

(12-01-2014 09:13 AM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  Bo has had 7 straight years of 9 or 10 wins. Who is going to top that? I could (maybe) understand this move if he won 6 or 7 this year, but he's still done a decent job this year.

With a firing like this, Cornhuskers fans deserve Muschamp or Hoke.

9 wins isn't special any longer. 22 of the 65 P5 teams won 9+ games already, Oklahoma could join that group with a win in final game vs Oklahoma St or bowl game, and then there are 6 others with 8 wins that could get a 9th in their bowl games. That could mean 29/65 with 9+ wins end of the year.

(12-01-2014 09:20 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 09:13 AM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  Bo has had 7 straight years of 9 or 10 wins. Who is going to top that? I could (maybe) understand this move if he won 6 or 7 this year, but he's still done a decent job this year.

With a firing like this, Cornhuskers fans deserve Muschamp or Hoke.

9 wins isn't special any longer. 22 of the 65 P5 teams won 9+ games already, Oklahoma could join that group with a win in final game vs Oklahoma St or bowl game, and then there are 6 others with 8 wins that could get a 9th in their bowl games. That could mean 29/65 with 9+ wins end of the year.

It's not so much doing it in any given year. But how many have done it seven years in a row? It's all about what the goals are for your program. Some schools aspire to be consistently good, while others are only satisfied to be contending for national championships. They are both legitimate goals, and hiring/firing strategies should reflect those goals. The only problem comes when the goals, while legitimately aspirational, are unrealistic.

Can Nebraska ever again be what it once was? It's hard for me to see that.

I don't think Nebraska can rise back to the level it was at it's height in the current college football structure. That said, they can definitely be more than they are and replace Wisconsin as the class in the west.

Pellini really wasn't a bad coach. He's consistent, but his ceiling doesn't seem that high. As a Nebraska head coach, you have to as least win a conference here and there.

Cussing coaches and players out on the sideline probably has more to do with him being fired than his record. It doesn't look good on tv for coaches to be abusing their employees and players. He was too much of a hothead to be a head coach.

(11-30-2014 04:41 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(11-30-2014 03:53 PM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  Mediocrity will plague Nebraska as long as its pipelines to Texas and the west coast remain practically severed.

I wish I wasn't right about Bo being on a "win the west or else" situation. Good luck replacing that. Good luck trying to tell people you need a presence in certain recruiting territories when you don't have one of your own.

For sure their goal should be to recruit as well as Ohio State, or as well as Michigan when they were good, and at a minimum, as well as Wisconsin and Michigan State.

If the expectations for that job are to have the level of success Wisconsin has had over the last 8 years or so, that's realistic, and fair given how much the coach will be getting paid. If the expectations are to win conference titles and play in the best bowls as often as Osborne's teams did, then any coach with other options should run away from that job.

I suspect the expectations out of Lincoln are to be up there with Ohio State and Michigan every year. They definitely expect more than Wisconsin and Michigan State-like results. What's happening in East Lansing...I don't think that can happen at programs like Nebraska. They think they can still land the studs from across the country and succeed with them. Making monsters out of talent that isn't from "the top shelf" isn't their way, even if their pipelines aren't what they should be.

I agree, though, about recruiting like UM and OSU. Those two programs came back to life because of PSU and its territory. Both of those schools confidently came into this state (all of it) and started taking from it more significantly. It might be harder for UNL to tap PA, NJ, and MD, but until the Big Ten expands deeper to the southeast or into Texas, Nebraska's either got to get a Texas, Florida, or California guy, or make do with what they've got.

I wonder if they'd go after Patterson or Briles. The school doesn't seem to care about the money, so whatever it takes...it wouldn't surprise me.

(12-01-2014 10:09 AM)ohio1317 Wrote:  I don't think Nebraska can rise back to the level it was at it's height in the current college football structure. That said, they can definitely be more than they are and replace Wisconsin as the class in the west.

Pellini really wasn't a bad coach. He's consistent, but his ceiling doesn't seem that high. As a Nebraska head coach, you have to as least win a conference here and there.

When conferences were smaller, and there were more of them, winning a championship was a little easier than it is today. And it's not likelier to get easier in the future.

As to my earlier question, the only other schools to win at least nine games in each of the past seven seasons are Alabama and Oregon. The current season is the Tide's 7th in a row, and Oregon's 8th. Schools with five in a row are Florida State, Oklahoma, and LSU, assuming that the Sooners win either their game this week or their bowl and LSU wins its bowl game.

So, Nebraska's record isn't too shabby. Maybe they can get Les Miles to move north. He might be getting tired of facing Alabama in his division every year.

(12-01-2014 09:50 AM)ken d Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 09:20 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 09:13 AM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  Bo has had 7 straight years of 9 or 10 wins. Who is going to top that? I could (maybe) understand this move if he won 6 or 7 this year, but he's still done a decent job this year.

With a firing like this, Cornhuskers fans deserve Muschamp or Hoke.

9 wins isn't special any longer. 22 of the 65 P5 teams won 9+ games already, Oklahoma could join that group with a win in final game vs Oklahoma St or bowl game, and then there are 6 others with 8 wins that could get a 9th in their bowl games. That could mean 29/65 with 9+ wins end of the year.

It's not so much doing it in any given year. But how many have done it seven years in a row?

Exactly. Charlie Weiss did it for two years, and Brady Hoke did it for 1. But winning that many games 7 years in a row is darn impressive. Nick Saban only got 9 wins in 3 of his 5 years at LSU. Urban Meyer slipped below that in year 6 at Florida.

Among active coaches with at least 2 years experience at their current school, Pelini has the 11th best record at his current school. At this point Peloni is a proven winner.

(12-01-2014 10:27 AM)4x4hokies Wrote:  Cussing coaches and players out on the sideline probably has more to do with him being fired than his record. It doesn't look good on tv for coaches to be abusing their employees and players. He was too much of a hothead to be a head coach.

Good point. Even Bobby Knight, Woody Hayes, and Bear Bryant were fired because of this issue. I've never seen Bo but if he was doing this stuff then it all makes sense to me.

(12-01-2014 10:38 AM)ken d Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 10:09 AM)ohio1317 Wrote:  I don't think Nebraska can rise back to the level it was at it's height in the current college football structure. That said, they can definitely be more than they are and replace Wisconsin as the class in the west.

Pellini really wasn't a bad coach. He's consistent, but his ceiling doesn't seem that high. As a Nebraska head coach, you have to as least win a conference here and there.

When conferences were smaller, and there were more of them, winning a championship was a little easier than it is today. And it's not likelier to get easier in the future.

As to my earlier question, the only other schools to win at least nine games in each of the past seven seasons are Alabama and Oregon. The current season is the Tide's 7th in a row, and Oregon's 8th. Schools with five in a row are Florida State, Oklahoma, and LSU, assuming that the Sooners win either their game this week or their bowl and LSU wins its bowl game.

So, Nebraska's record isn't too shabby. Maybe they can get Les Miles to move north. He might be getting tired of facing Alabama in his division every year.

There is a Big Ten school looking for a head coach that might get Miles to move north. But it's not Nebraska.

(12-01-2014 11:07 AM)Wedge Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 10:38 AM)ken d Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 10:09 AM)ohio1317 Wrote:  I don't think Nebraska can rise back to the level it was at it's height in the current college football structure. That said, they can definitely be more than they are and replace Wisconsin as the class in the west.

Pellini really wasn't a bad coach. He's consistent, but his ceiling doesn't seem that high. As a Nebraska head coach, you have to as least win a conference here and there.

When conferences were smaller, and there were more of them, winning a championship was a little easier than it is today. And it's not likelier to get easier in the future.

As to my earlier question, the only other schools to win at least nine games in each of the past seven seasons are Alabama and Oregon. The current season is the Tide's 7th in a row, and Oregon's 8th. Schools with five in a row are Florida State, Oklahoma, and LSU, assuming that the Sooners win either their game this week or their bowl and LSU wins its bowl game.

So, Nebraska's record isn't too shabby. Maybe they can get Les Miles to move north. He might be getting tired of facing Alabama in his division every year.

There is a Big Ten school looking for a head coach that might get Miles to move north. But it's not Nebraska.

I thought about that. Do they have a vacancy (yet)?

I expect Pellini to sit out next season and enjoy getting paid to do nothing. In the meantime he can scout out the good jobs likely available to him for 2016 and still hit the recruiting trail a bit. Where will he end up in 2016? I don't know, but I don't think he'll coach next season.

Just was looking and 2008-13 he was only #18 in winning percentage.

Also comparing him to Meyer and Saban is complete lunacy. If he had won a title, things are a ton different. But when you are mediocre(which is all that 9-4 is)- you don't have that long of a leash.

(11-30-2014 04:41 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(11-30-2014 03:53 PM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  Mediocrity will plague Nebraska as long as its pipelines to Texas and the west coast remain practically severed.

I wish I wasn't right about Bo being on a "win the west or else" situation. Good luck replacing that. Good luck trying to tell people you need a presence in certain recruiting territories when you don't have one of your own.

For sure their goal should be to recruit as well as Ohio State, or as well as Michigan when they were good, and at a minimum, as well as Wisconsin and Michigan State.

If the expectations for that job are to have the level of success Wisconsin has had over the last 8 years or so, that's realistic, and fair given how much the coach will be getting paid. If the expectations are to win conference titles and play in the best bowls as often as Osborne's teams did, then any coach with other options should run away from that job.

Nebraska can't and won't recruit like Ohio state and Michigan. Those latter two actually have solid in-state talent to recruit. Wisconsin and Michigan state are good examples of what Nebraska should hope to be. But that's kind of what Nebraska has been, just one notch before those two, really. It's doubtful a new coach is going to take them that rung higher, but seems likely a new coach will drop them back down a rung or two.

(12-01-2014 11:27 AM)stever20 Wrote:  Just was looking and 2008-13 he was only #18 in winning percentage.

Also comparing him to Meyer and Saban is complete lunacy. If he had won a title, things are a ton different. But when you are mediocre(which is all that 9-4 is)- you don't have that long of a leash.

Wouldn't compare him to Meyer and Saban, but 9-4 every year still puts him ahead of 80% of the other head coaches. He'll get another HC job if he wants it. Probably not a job as "big" as Nebraska, but he can have another P5 job if he wants it, because averaging 9 wins a year would make you the all-time best coach for somewhere between a third and two-thirds of those teams.

(12-01-2014 11:50 AM)Wedge Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 11:27 AM)stever20 Wrote:  Just was looking and 2008-13 he was only #18 in winning percentage.

Also comparing him to Meyer and Saban is complete lunacy. If he had won a title, things are a ton different. But when you are mediocre(which is all that 9-4 is)- you don't have that long of a leash.

Wouldn't compare him to Meyer and Saban, but 9-4 every year still puts him ahead of 80% of the other head coaches. He'll get another HC job if he wants it. Probably not a job as "big" as Nebraska, but he can have another P5 job if he wants it, because averaging 9 wins a year would make you the all-time best coach for somewhere between a third and two-thirds of those teams.

I think you might be making a big assumption that Pelini could go to one of those middle to bottom of the P5 pack and still average 9 wins a year. Some of those wins come from just being Nebraska with all its history. Also, you might also get away with being a curmudgeon at Nebraska better than you would at a school where the boosters are accustomed to having their butts kissed regularly in exchange for tolerating mediocrity on the field.

(12-01-2014 12:19 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 11:50 AM)Wedge Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 11:27 AM)stever20 Wrote:  Just was looking and 2008-13 he was only #18 in winning percentage.

Also comparing him to Meyer and Saban is complete lunacy. If he had won a title, things are a ton different. But when you are mediocre(which is all that 9-4 is)- you don't have that long of a leash.

Wouldn't compare him to Meyer and Saban, but 9-4 every year still puts him ahead of 80% of the other head coaches. He'll get another HC job if he wants it. Probably not a job as "big" as Nebraska, but he can have another P5 job if he wants it, because averaging 9 wins a year would make you the all-time best coach for somewhere between a third and two-thirds of those teams.

I think you might be making a big assumption that Pelini could go to one of those middle to bottom of the P5 pack and still average 9 wins a year. Some of those wins come from just being Nebraska with all its history. Also, you might also get away with being a curmudgeon at Nebraska better than you would at a school where the boosters are accustomed to having their butts kissed regularly in exchange for tolerating mediocrity on the field.

A good fit for Pelini in about a year would be Virginia Tech...very good instate talent...just a thought whenever they make a change from Beamer....

(12-01-2014 12:19 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 11:50 AM)Wedge Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 11:27 AM)stever20 Wrote:  Just was looking and 2008-13 he was only #18 in winning percentage.

Also comparing him to Meyer and Saban is complete lunacy. If he had won a title, things are a ton different. But when you are mediocre(which is all that 9-4 is)- you don't have that long of a leash.

Wouldn't compare him to Meyer and Saban, but 9-4 every year still puts him ahead of 80% of the other head coaches. He'll get another HC job if he wants it. Probably not a job as "big" as Nebraska, but he can have another P5 job if he wants it, because averaging 9 wins a year would make you the all-time best coach for somewhere between a third and two-thirds of those teams.

I think you might be making a big assumption that Pelini could go to one of those middle to bottom of the P5 pack and still average 9 wins a year. Some of those wins come from just being Nebraska with all its history. Also, you might also get away with being a curmudgeon at Nebraska better than you would at a school where the boosters are accustomed to having their butts kissed regularly in exchange for tolerating mediocrity on the field.

I don't know. I mean, entitlement is entitlement, and while Nebraska's got some great fans, this has been pretty ugly. Maybe other programs don't prolong this theatre, so it looks like they're better at scrapping folks they don't want any longer, but it hasn't been pretty in Lincoln since Osborne, and that was 17 years ago. I bet we have people on this board who weren't even alive to see him coach a game. That's a pretty long time to be a bunch of cranky-pants about things.

I have to wonder if Osborne himself could have survived a decade of Big XII football. He (wisely) avoided a lot of that.

(12-01-2014 12:44 PM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 12:19 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 11:50 AM)Wedge Wrote:  

(12-01-2014 11:27 AM)stever20 Wrote:  Just was looking and 2008-13 he was only #18 in winning percentage.

Also comparing him to Meyer and Saban is complete lunacy. If he had won a title, things are a ton different. But when you are mediocre(which is all that 9-4 is)- you don't have that long of a leash.

Wouldn't compare him to Meyer and Saban, but 9-4 every year still puts him ahead of 80% of the other head coaches. He'll get another HC job if he wants it. Probably not a job as "big" as Nebraska, but he can have another P5 job if he wants it, because averaging 9 wins a year would make you the all-time best coach for somewhere between a third and two-thirds of those teams.

I think you might be making a big assumption that Pelini could go to one of those middle to bottom of the P5 pack and still average 9 wins a year. Some of those wins come from just being Nebraska with all its history. Also, you might also get away with being a curmudgeon at Nebraska better than you would at a school where the boosters are accustomed to having their butts kissed regularly in exchange for tolerating mediocrity on the field.

I don't know. I mean, entitlement is entitlement, and while Nebraska's got some great fans, this has been pretty ugly. Maybe other programs don't prolong this theatre, so it looks like they're better at scrapping folks they don't want any longer, but it hasn't been pretty in Lincoln since Osborne, and that was 17 years ago. I bet we have people on this board who weren't even alive to see him coach a game. That's a pretty long time to be a bunch of cranky-pants about things.

I have to wonder if Osborne himself could have survived a decade of Big XII football. He (wisely) avoided a lot of that.

Yeah, any coach looking at Nebraska has to look at all of that and think that maybe, for the Nebraska boosters, nothing is good enough for them even though they ought to know that no coach can duplicate the successes of "the good old days". When Osborne was there, Nebraska and Oklahoma were so far ahead of the rest of the Big 8 that almost every year was pretty much a one-game regular season. That's the time that Osborne's reputation is based on. No Nebraska coach today is going to have that built-in advantage.