High Quality Coaching Since TO

[Doc Fumble]

We haven't had high quality coaching since Tom Osborne.

Husker99's take was posted elsewhere but I thought it was provocative enough to warrant its own discussion thread.

Personally, I feel that Rhule and this year's staff is the best overall group of coaches we've had since Tom retired. I also feel like we've had a number of individual coaches here who were high-quality. I'm not going to mention Frankie's staff because the ones I'd mention were also part of Osborne's.

Callahan's staff:
John Blake. Failed as a head coach but he was one of, if not The Top recruiter of his time. He is the sole reason why Ndamukong Suh became a Cornhusker.
Bill Busch. His resume speaks for itself.
Pelini's staff:
Ron Brown. A high quality coach by any definition.
Mike Eckler. I would have put him on the list even before he returned to Nebraska this spring. His enthusiasm and energy are contageous.
** I thought (and still do) that Bo and Carl were both damn good coaches. But neither possessed the character to be judged as 'high' quality.
Riley's staff:
Nobody.
Frost's staff:
** Nobody. I'm probably being overly dismissive because one could argue that Sean Beckton and Mike Dawson were (and still are) a couple quality coaches. Same with Chinander with a better head coach with a different philosophy. But 'high' quality? Not in my book.

This exercise has helped illustrate for me why we've sucked for so long.

What do you think? Do we have (or have we had) high quality coaches since Osborne?

 

[Navy60]

Husker99's take was posted elsewhere but I thought it was provocative enough to warrant its own discussion thread.

Personally, I feel that Rhule and this year's staff is the best overall group of coaches we've had since Tom retired. I also feel like we've had a number of individual coaches here who were high-quality. I'm not going to mention Frankie's staff because the ones I'd mention were also part of Osborne's.

Callahan's staff:
John Blake. Failed as a head coach but he was one of, if not The Top recruiter of his time. He is the sole reason why Ndamukong Suh became a Cornhusker.
Bill Busch. His resume speaks for itself.
Pelini's staff:
Ron Brown. A high quality coach by any definition.
Mike Eckler. I would have put him on the list even before he returned to Nebraska this spring. His enthusiasm and energy are contageous.
** I thought (and still do) that Bo and Carl were both damn good coaches. But neither possessed the character to be judged as 'high' quality.
Riley's staff:
Nobody.
Frost's staff:
** Nobody. I'm probably being overly dismissive because one could argue that Sean Beckton and Mike Dawson were (and still are) a couple quality coaches. Same with Chinander with a better head coach with a different philosophy. But 'high' quality? Not in my book.

This exercise has helped illustrate for me why we've sucked for so long.

What do you think? Do we have (or have we had) high quality coaches since Osborne?

A high quality coach is one that wins championships....so, NO.

 

[Doc Fumble]

A high quality coach is one that wins championships....so, NO.

Hard to argue with that, Navy60.

 

[Uenth]

Hard to argue with that, Navy60.

I would just caveat it as coaches that have/had the potential to become high quality coaches.

I'd go with Busch and Ekeler.

 

[Righteous Red]

It’s hard to gauge the effectiveness of many of these coaches because many had such a short shelf life here. It’s been a coaching carousel the last 20 years. I would say that Tony White made a rapid impact while he was here for two years. I would have liked to have seen how good of a DC he was if he stayed given some of the players that graduated, declared or portaled out.

 

[Huskergod84]

A high quality coach is one that wins championships....so, NO.

So are you saying that Tom wasn't a high quality coach until 1994? There is FAR more to being a high quality coach than just winning championships.

 

[Uenth]

So are you saying that Tom wasn't a high quality coach until 1994? There is FAR more to being a high quality coach than just winning championships.

That's why I added my caveat of coaches with the potential to become high quality. There are a lot of factors that come into play during the season. They all have to be in alignment perfectly to win that MNC and I don't think that's a fair statement to say that you have to win a championship to become a high quality coach.

 

[Doc Fumble]

I would say that Tony White made a rapid impact while he was here for two years.

THIS!

It’s hard to gauge the effectiveness of many of these coaches because many had such a short shelf life here.

Agree. So much of our opinions of a position coach is colored by their head coach.

So are you saying that Tom wasn't a high quality coach until 1994? There is FAR more to being a high quality coach than just winning championships.

I agree. But, rightly or wrongly, the public's opinion is colored by the head coach's trophy case. Yes, TO cemented his reputation with three natties at the end of his career. But championships include the conference kind too -- and nowadays, they include CFP appearances. Osborne tied for his first conference championship in his third year as HC and won 14 in his career.

 

[Huskergod84]

THIS!
Agree. So much of our opinions of a position coach is colored by their head coach.

I agree. But, rightly or wrongly, the public's opinion is colored by the head coach's trophy case. Yes, TO cemented his reputation with three natties at the end of his career. But championships include the conference kind too -- and nowadays, they include CFP appearances. Osborne tied for his first conference championship in his third year as HC and won 14 in his career.

Yes but there were no championship games back in those days. Didn't start for the Big Red until what 1997? Could have won more or less depending on what happened in the championship games. I believe it would have been more, but who knows.

 

[Doc Fumble]

I believe it would have been more, but who knows.

Yep, I agree. We dominated the 80s and 90s. Yet, it's easy to look back now and realize how many more trophies slipped from our grasp, in part, due to referee whistles (or non-whistles).

 

[Hunchback Johnny]

I will not stand idly by and allow Bob Diaco to be smirched in this manner.

 

[Navy60]

So are you saying that Tom wasn't a high quality coach until 1994? There is FAR more to being a high quality coach than just winning championships.

You may have inferred that, but that is not what I said. TO won several conference championships before 1994. Other factors may be involved, but to be a high quality coach there must be championships....IMHO.

 

[Uenth]

You may have inferred that, but that is not what I said. TO won several conference championships before 1994. Other factors may be involved, but to be a high quality coach there must be championships....IMHO.

I would phrase it differently. You have to be able to win the "Big Games". Quoting my late FIL, Tom was a good coach but he would never beat OU (our big one, back in the day). Then it morphed as Tom progressed. FIL still maintained he'd never win the BIG ONE (MNC) until such time as he did. Then Dad just sat back and enjoyed the ride.

There has to be a benchmark to be a high quality coach. I'm happy with being able to beat your nemesis, for starters. Once that goal has been obtained, the bar is raised with the last goal being to win MNC's.

 

[Jimbosc]

Fumble avoided the elephant in the room. Why did Solich fail? Great staff when he took over - BUT - I think Frankie didn't have the long term vision it takes to be a great head coach. He was a really good one at Ohio and it appeared to learn from what happened in Lincoln.

Solich in a nutshell
- Given elite assistants 1st season
- Many assistants long in the tooth and didn't love hitting the recruiting trail
- Frank was reluctant to address some of the assistants needing to move on/retire
- Recruiting tanked - the talent level in 2002 was a big problem - I remember several discussion on message boards before that season of people watching practices and saying....uh - we aren't very good
- Frank bends under pressure and fires even long term assistants to bring in Pelini as DC
- You can argue what happened in 2003 set up a long slide - but I agreed with the decision. Just not the absolute disaster of a hiring process that followed thanks to Peddy being completely inept

So we started with a great staff- but Frank was put in a tough spot and didn't really have the stones to put his stamp on things to ensure we staying ahead of the curve especially in recruiting.

Also - I think Frank choked in tight games - he struggled with play calling especially and should have given that over to an OC IMHO.

 

[Uenth]

Fumble avoided the elephant in the room. Why did Solich fail? Great staff when he took over - BUT - I think Frankie didn't have the long term vision it takes to be a great head coach. He was a really good one at Ohio and it appeared to learn from what happened in Lincoln.

Also - I think Frank choked in tight games - he struggled with play calling especially and should have given that over to an OC IMHO.

Pull up the Frankie games and you can tell we are going to tank because he always got the classic "deer in the headlights" look.

 

[Huskergod84]

Fumble avoided the elephant in the room. Why did Solich fail? Great staff when he took over - BUT - I think Frankie didn't have the long term vision it takes to be a great head coach. He was a really good one at Ohio and it appeared to learn from what happened in Lincoln.

Solich in a nutshell
- Given elite assistants 1st season
- Many assistants long in the tooth and didn't love hitting the recruiting trail
- Frank was reluctant to address some of the assistants needing to move on/retire
- Recruiting tanked - the talent level in 2002 was a big problem - I remember several discussion on message boards before that season of people watching practices and saying....uh - we aren't very good
- Frank bends under pressure and fires even long term assistants to bring in Pelini as DC
- You can argue what happened in 2003 set up a long slide - but I agreed with the decision. Just not the absolute disaster of a hiring process that followed thanks to Peddy being completely inept

So we started with a great staff- but Frank was put in a tough spot and didn't really have the stones to put his stamp on things to ensure we staying ahead of the curve especially in recruiting.

Also - I think Frank choked in tight games - he struggled with play calling especially and should have given that over to an OC IMHO.

You and I remember things differently.
!. Frank was given the HC job with the understanding the rest of the staff remained intact.
2. Frank wanted to make changes but could'nt
3. Frank finally fought for and was given permission to change coaches and made several very good changes, including Pelini as the DC.
4. That staff was never really given a chance to show what they could have done here.

 

[Cigarman]

Fumble avoided the elephant in the room. Why did Solich fail? Great staff when he took over - BUT - I think Frankie didn't have the long term vision it takes to be a great head coach. He was a really good one at Ohio and it appeared to learn from what happened in Lincoln.

Solich in a nutshell
- Given elite assistants 1st season
- Many assistants long in the tooth and didn't love hitting the recruiting trail
- Frank was reluctant to address some of the assistants needing to move on/retire
- Recruiting tanked - the talent level in 2002 was a big problem - I remember several discussion on message boards before that season of people watching practices and saying....uh - we aren't very good
- Frank bends under pressure and fires even long term assistants to bring in Pelini as DC
- You can argue what happened in 2003 set up a long slide - but I agreed with the decision. Just not the absolute disaster of a hiring process that followed thanks to Peddy being completely inept

So we started with a great staff- but Frank was put in a tough spot and didn't really have the stones to put his stamp on things to ensure we staying ahead of the curve especially in recruiting.

Also - I think Frank choked in tight games - he struggled with play calling especially and should have given that over to an OC IMHO.

Osborne was always the main recruiter for his teams. When he left, all that was left was coaches. That's where the catch 22 came in. Talent makes great coaches. Without that great talent, those great coaches weren't that great anymore.

 

[Pavlov's Dog]

What I'm about to say may be sacrilegious to some.
When Bob Devaney handed off the coaching reins to TO, he stopped giving coaching opinions to the public. He referred questions about what the team should do to Tom Osborne. He kept to administration and fundraising. TO never felt like The Legend was looking over his shoulder, second guessing his moves.
TO did not subscribe to this method. It's been almost thirty years and he still gives his opinion on what should be done and what should have been done. The ONLY coach that pretty much got a pass was Scott Frost.
It is hard being the head coach at a major D1 school. Not having the full support of the previous legend is detrimental to the team. Coach Tom's taking us to the top multiple times has earned my gratitude and respect. However, he didn't let go of the reins to let FS truly lead the team. And every coach after him has had to dance around the minefield that is TO giving his opinion about how to coach the Huskers.
Now I'll just go put on my asbestos suit.

 

[Uenth]

What I'm about to say may be sacrilegious to some.
When Bob Devaney handed off the coaching reins to TO, he stopped giving coaching opinions to the public. He referred questions about what the team should do to Tom Osborne. He kept to administration and fundraising. TO never felt like The Legend was looking over his shoulder, second guessing his moves.
TO did not subscribe to this method. It's been almost thirty years and he still gives his opinion on what should be done and what should have been done. The ONLY coach that pretty much got a pass was Scott Frost.
It is hard being the head coach at a major D1 school. Not having the full support of the previous legend is detrimental to the team. Coach Tom's taking us to the top multiple times has earned my gratitude and respect. However, he didn't let go of the reins to let FS truly lead the team. And every coach after him has had to dance around the minefield that is TO giving his opinion about how to coach the Huskers.
Now I'll just go put on my asbestos suit.

He also said, about FS, that there was "nothing that couldn't have been worked out" or words to that effect so he dumped all over SP as well.

I was stunned that he didn't have any words for Frost's bs.

 

[innmc]

I will not stand idly by and allow Bob Diaco to be smirched in this manner.

Can you feel the strain?