Holgerson is the greatest thing since sliced bread.
- Thread starter Pavlov's Dog
- Start date
Listen, I get it, gang. I've lived through the past 25 years of Husker Football, just like the rest of you.
But once-upon-a-time, back in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, Husker fans used to dream conference titles and natties EVERY YEAR. Even though it didn't happen most years, I don't recall my fellow fans shaking their heads and giving me the, "I'll believe it when i see it" line.
We're back to those fun summers when we can look ahead and expect good things to happen. After the gawd-awful post-WWII years, Husker fans grew accustomed to expecting bad things to happen, until the Bobfather came to town. Just like when Nick Saban went to Alabama, Steve Sarkisian went to Texas, and Urban Meyer when to Ohio State, most knowledgable CFB pundits saw Matt Rhule taking the reins at Nebraska and knew he'd resurrect a proud Blueblood that had been left to languish for way too long.
I feel it in my bones, the sleeping giant that has been the Nebraska Cornhuskers football program will finally return this fall. The fun part is that there are A LOT of naysayers out there. Let 'um talk smack. Just like back in 1970, I look forward to watching the Big Red kick some butt and shut some mouths.
But once-upon-a-time, back in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, Husker fans used to dream conference titles and natties EVERY YEAR. Even though it didn't happen most years, I don't recall my fellow fans shaking their heads and giving me the, "I'll believe it when i see it" line.
We're back to those fun summers when we can look ahead and expect good things to happen. After the gawd-awful post-WWII years, Husker fans grew accustomed to expecting bad things to happen, until the Bobfather came to town. Just like when Nick Saban went to Alabama, Steve Sarkisian went to Texas, and Urban Meyer when to Ohio State, most knowledgable CFB pundits saw Matt Rhule taking the reins at Nebraska and knew he'd resurrect a proud Blueblood that had been left to languish for way too long.
I feel it in my bones, the sleeping giant that has been the Nebraska Cornhuskers football program will finally return this fall. The fun part is that there are A LOT of naysayers out there. Let 'um talk smack. Just like back in 1970, I look forward to watching the Big Red kick some butt and shut some mouths.
Despite winning the offseason so many years in a row, when was the last time we got reached the “over” in wins? It probably hasn’t happened since Riley was coach. That’s why Confucius once famously said, “football games are won on the field, not during summer press conferences.” Or it could have been Maya Angelou. Someone said it, I’m sure.
I understand where you're coming from, ramelbm. But frankly, I'm sick and tired of the "yeah, buts..."
My counter 'yeah but...' is to assert THIS will be our breakout year. There's no reason to believe otherwise unless fans decide they want to cling to our recent past and wring their hands. That's been a tried and true summer practice too.
We've had a serious problem in Rhule Years 1 and 2 with the offense. Satterfield was one of the worst coordinators we've ever had. Not only did Rhule replace him as OC, he brought in arguably one of The Best OCs in college football (that's no hyperbole). Yeah, the offense could still be 18-points-a-game BAD as we were last season. But odds are with: 1) a sophomore 'one full year under his belt' 5-star QB; 2) a two-deep strong OL; 3) a group of talented, Holgorsen-blessed WRs; and DH calling the plays (and, equally important in my book, running them in a fast-paced, up-tempo fashion), we'll be better (perhaps significantly better.)
If the offense can average 31 points a game (Holgorsen's history has been in the 40+ range), the days of one-score losses are over.
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I'm with you. In the past, we all knew what was needed and we got a lot of lip service, but we never saw changes that would fix those deficiencies. Rhule came into a program with some major gaps that needed to be filled. On top of that, he was not coming from another college program where he already had an established staff. In effect, he was starting from scratch. He made a couple of mistakes in his staff choices. However, he realized that and made the tough choices to remedy those mistakes. He has also made a major talent upgrade to this team. INHO, we have stepped ahead of the traditional middle rung Big teams and are edging closer to the top teams.
In short, better talent, better depth, better coaches, and a talented seasoned QB will help this team make a major step this season. Brind on the Cool-Aid.
Man, the season needs to get here quickly as there is a lot of kool-aid being drank lately!
GO BIG RED!!!
Rhule’s biggest mistake was hiring Satterfield as his OC. I remember that all of the national pundits applauded the hire but if there was one “but I don’t know,” it was always pointed at Satterfield. Satt immediately got off on the wrong foot by going all-in on Jeff Sims. That was a horrible misstep. He was given a second chance given all the injuries we had that year, but there was no excuses for Year 2.
The most damning indictment of Satt was having opposing players on defense saying in their post-game pressers that they knew what we were going to do. UGH!
When it comes to ‘buddy hires,’ Satt is like a son to Rhule. We’re all human and when adversity hits, there’s a natural tendency to circle the wagons and go down fighting. That’s what Bill Callahan did with Cosgrove. But Rhule knew his first priority was winning and he made the unprecedented move of bringing in Holgorsen late in the season. IMHO, that took some Big Kahoonas.
The “yeah, buts” would become “yes, ands” if your annual predictions turned out better. Last year was supposed to be THE year because of “a 5-star phenom, two big transfer portal WRs, and Rhule’s Year 2 Magic”. Before that it was, “finally we have a CEO coach who can win the close games”, “Frost hired a real playcaller so he can pay attention to the whole team”, etc.
The offense won’t score 31/game in B1G play this year. DH needs time to figure out the league, which is way tougher than the Big 12 and whatever conference Houston was in at the time.
Rhule is doing a good job of building a foundation, but it takes time. He and his staff are putting in the work. I’m sure he tells his players there isn’t a silver bullet, even if he can’t tell the fans.
Okay, okay, so I've been wrong once or twice ... or three or four ... or maybe more here. But look out, THIS YEAR it's going to happen!
Even a broken clock is right twice a day so I'm WAY past-due for folks here to tell me in December, "Damn, Doc, you nailed it!!!
That sounds like a fair prediction, especially when you consider the B1G had the top two defense in the country and five of the top ten last season,
But quess what? With all those heavy-weight B1G defenses out there, we still had five teams who averaged over 30 points a game, and one (Indiana) who averaged 41 points a game. Will it happen for Nebraska this year? It remains to be seen but it's certainly not beyond the realm of possibility when we arguably have (on paper) one of the better offenses in the league.
People could have said the same thing about Chip Kelly stepping in as OSU's new OC last season. Any OC who underestimates his conference competition isn't very good (any names jump to mind?)
Despite being influenced by Ted Lasso, I can not imitate a goldfish. I remember before last season, being told that if DR just manages the game, with all our talent, we would be 3-4 games better than the previous year. We were going to be better coached and would know how to finish games.
We ended up one game better in the regular season and I'm still sick over the Iowa game. We won a bowl game against a team that was way below us in stature and talent when their biggest star decided getting ready for draft day was more important. We were a below average team in the B1G, anyway you slice it.
I know I sometimes come across a little negative. It's part of being a realist.
I too can fantasize about competing for a Natty this year. Realistically, a HUGE step up would be 5-4 in the B1G.
I'll be rooting hard for these young men, Win, Lose, or forfeit.
We ended up one game better in the regular season and I'm still sick over the Iowa game. We won a bowl game against a team that was way below us in stature and talent when their biggest star decided getting ready for draft day was more important. We were a below average team in the B1G, anyway you slice it.
I know I sometimes come across a little negative. It's part of being a realist.
I too can fantasize about competing for a Natty this year. Realistically, a HUGE step up would be 5-4 in the B1G.
I'll be rooting hard for these young men, Win, Lose, or forfeit.
That feeling in your bones, are you sure it isn't just osteoporosis?
To your point though, in these last 20 years or so, we've had so many different head coaches and in so many years we've thought: This is the year. I am on record saying I think this is a 10+ win team, but again, until Nebraska actually does it, that doubt will persist. I also think this is Matt Rhule's make or break year. I think this year defines his tenure here. Another disappointing year and we regress back to 6-6 or worse mediocrity or worse. A break out year, 10+ wins, and that solidifies Rhule's place at Nebraska and shows the players that all the hard work is worth it.
When it comes to ‘buddy hires,’ Satt is like a son to Rhule. We’re all human and when adversity hits, there’s a natural tendency to circle the wagons and go down fighting. That’s what Bill Callahan did with Cosgrove. But Rhule knew his first priority was winning and he made the unprecedented move of bringing in Holgorsen late in the season. IMHO, that took some Big Kahoonas.[/QUOTE]
Holgorson may have been the "big kahuna" that HCMR brought in, but that move took some "big cojones". Just mentioning a pet peeve.
Holgorson may have been the "big kahuna" that HCMR brought in, but that move took some "big cojones". Just mentioning a pet peeve.
Duly noted, Navy60!Holgorson may have been the "big kahuna" that HCMR brought in, but that move took some "big cojones". Just mentioning a pet peeve.
My big fantasy is a B 2 dropping a bunker buster MOP on ESPN HQ!!! MCSGA..Make College Sports Great Again.
I had that dream too, val.
Unfortunately in mine, it was announced that trucks were seen transporting Skip Bayless, Stephen A Smith, Jemele Hill, and Mike Golic away from Bristol, Connecticut prior to the blast.
I've had my fill of buddy hires to last the rest of my life. I don't blame Solich for how he kept TO's staff so he gets a pass. Every coach since FS has hired their buddies to start their tenure - BP is the only one that mostly made that work but there was a clear down trend on defensive coaching after Carl was run out of town and BP doubled down on yes men assistants (and just being lazy at recruiting). All other HCs got kneecapped by their stupid assistant coaching hires. Rhule has made MASSIVE changes - effectively all new coordinators for Year 3 - so he understands the need to stay on the curve (level of coaching curve) in the B1G. I THINK he made the right hires but will reserve judgement until we play actual games. He also gets credit for hiring TW - dude is an elite DC IMHO.
Can't really prove it, but I tend to think all coaches make "buddy" hires because they like to hire coaches they know. And often coaches they know, they think are doing a great job. I mean obviously the most blatant "buddy" hire that we all knew was going to fail was Bill Callahan hiring Kevin Cosgrove. But yeah, I feel confident most coaches do make buddy hires.
NEBRASKA
VS
WASHINGTON
TIME TO KICKOFF
00DAYS
:
00HRS
:
00MINS
:
00SECS
DATE
OCT 31
TIME
7:00 PM
STADIUM
MEMORIAL
LOCATION
LINCOLN
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