Coaching Wish List and Your Reason Why?

[Husker316]

I am curious as to who you would to hire if you could and why?

When you make you consideration, ask yourself would he be a good fit for Lincoln and the Husker Fan Base.

My first choice would be: Gary Patterson at TCU (Not because of this years record)

He runs a clean program, has deep recruiting ability not only in Texas but national as well. Has proven to make good OC/DC hires and position coaches. Would work well with the University administration, boosters, and fan base. Players love him and how he approaches the relationship between player/coach. A proven winner and when he had a down year bounced back quickly.

Would be affordable and within the dollars we have allotted for that position.

 

[Guest]

I am curious as to who you would to hire if you could and why?

When you make you consideration, ask yourself would he be a good fit for Lincoln and the Husker Fan Base.

My first choice would be: Gary Patterson at TCU (Not because of this years record)

He runs a clean program, has deep recruiting ability not only in Texas but national as well. Has proven to make good OC/DC hires and position coaches. Would work well with the University administration, boosters, and fan base. Players love him and how he approaches the relationship between player/coach. A proven winner and when he had a down year bounced back quickly.

Would be affordable and within the dollars we have allotted for that position.

This post is interesting to think about, but I just don't see Bo being replaced. ADSE hooked his wagon to Bo last year when he didn't can him. How do you turn 180 degrees now and fire him? I think we are stuck with him as long as he wins 8 or 9 games, even if he is getting blown out. That metric seems to trump everything. As for Patterson, I'm not sure why he would come here. You could make the point that he has a better gig right where he is at.....

 

[RED ED]

Some new coordinators.

 

[Husker21stb]

I don't want Scott Frost, or any other coordinator for the job, and I don't want a Nick Saban-type who has been successful at a big-name program. I want somebody who has been HIGHLY successful at a **** school.

 

[nebraskafaninwi]

I see people keep saying new coordinators around various message boards. That isn't going to be the answer. It starts at the top. We need to replace the head coach.

 

[redfred]

This post is interesting to think about, but I just don't see Bo being replaced. ADSE hooked his wagon to Bo last year when he didn't can him. How do you turn 180 degrees now and fire him? I think we are stuck with him as long as he wins 8 or 9 games, even if he is getting blown out. That metric seems to trump everything. As for Patterson, I'm not sure why he would come here. You could make the point that he has a better gig right where he is at.....

Unless Bo does something illegal, immoral, or starts having losing seasons a la Coach C, I think Jarhead is right. It is hard to fire a coach with a good record. It's not a great record or even very good but nine wins are considered good enough for most places.

It's clear that this is not good enough for our fan base. Losses like last night are not acceptable by me and for most Husker fans that I know. The inconsistent, and at times sloppy play has crossed the line for me. Bo has had enough time to prove his ability to clean up the play. He hasn't. Still, it probably is a hard time to exorcise Bo currently.

Getting someone better probably isn't as easy as it seems either. Getting a coordinator or another first time coach opens up the learning curve process again. Will we give that coach time.....or will we start to pressure him too early and force him into bad decisions as well. A new coach will still have to deal with the same issues that are innate with our program....location, small recruiting circle, climate etc. Those stay no matter who is here.

We've discussed all these things ad nauseam. I think they are all pretty moot until something drastic happens. I think we have Bo and the best we can hope for is improvement. I think he is capable, but he needs to be open to methods needed to make the changes necessary.

 

[Husker94]

I see people keep saying new coordinators around various message boards. That isn't going to be the answer. It starts at the top. We need to replace the head coach.

I concur. The entire staff needs to go. I know what we are saying will not happen. Those with the big bucks are somehow, inexplicably, still in Bo's corner. I thought maybe sleeping on it would abate the anger and disappointment, it did not.

 

[Guest]

Any hire is going to bring some risk with it, but the "safest" route is to hire a successful head coach from one of the non-Big 5 conferences, but one that was a coordinator or top assistant at a big school. That way you get a guy that does not have to learn how to be a HC on the job and a guy that has connections in coaching circles. That would mean he would have connections to coaching talent at top programs, and would understand the value of skill and experience among your assistants.

I'm not sure what guys fit that bill today. There are likely to be a few.

The other thought I have is to steal Jerry Kill away from Minnesota. His health issues seem to be under control this season, so that risk is lower than before. Kill reminds me of Bill Snyder in that he fields a team with less talent than many top teams, but they play hard and they play well - solid, disciplined football. Imagine what Nebraska would have looked like the past 7 years if they played solid, disciplined football week in and week out. Give Jerry Kill NU's talent and see what he can do.

Pelini has really put Nebraska in a bind. It is no small risk to fire a coach that will have won 9 games a year for 7 straight years and won his division 3 times. That would likely scare away some otherwise viable candidates, and will certainly result in criticism from some sources. But I think Shawn Eichorst can manage the initial storm by saying something along the lines of:

"We appreciate the effort that Coach Pelini and his staff gave for the past 7 years. Coach Pelini came into the program during a time of turmoil and uncertainty. He helped stabilize the program. He and his staff recruited great student-athletes to the University of Nebraska - many that won National awards and were a great source of pride for the University and its fans. They produced solid results these past 7 years."

"However, it is no secret that the University of Nebraska has high standards for all of it's athletic programs. That is especially true of our football program - the most visible of all our athletic endeavors. We consider our football program one of the top programs in the nation. We devote a tremendous amount of resources to facilitate the success of the program - financial and otherwise. Our commitment in this regard is well above the average for a University in the FBS. As such, we expect results that are commensurate with our commitment. In order to achieve those results, we believe it is in the best interest of the University of Nebraska to move in a different direction with the coaching staff of the football program."

"I'll now take questions...."

 

[Big Red]

Without getting into the merits of whether or not replacing our current HC is a good idea... IF it is going to happen, one thing is essential IMHO ...

- An agreement with a solid, reputable, and respected existing head coach should be worked out by the AD and announced almost simultaneously to the current HC being let go. The one thing that cannot happen is a prolonged period of angst and debate over who the next coach should be. I understand the politics that would have to be worked out to make this happen, but cutting down the time for debate on whether it is was wise to fire a 9 win coach will only happen if the discussion is quickly re-focused on the new guy.

 

[joshuahuskers]

There are A LOT of coaches out there that could go 9-4 with the schedule and talent we had the last few years. A LOT. We can get one who can AT LEAST do what bo has done. And if we get a new one, the ceiling is much higher. It's a no brainier.

Let me ask you this: if Nebraska fired bo, would any power five school hire him? Anyone?

 

[nebraskafaninwi]

1 - Brian Kelly - Notre Dame - If we're going to talk about fantasyland hires, swinging for the fence, and taking a guy who has some controversy in his past, I think Brian Kelly is the guy we should chase. At only 53 years old, the guy has over two decades of head coaching experience, an astounding 214-73-2 record, national titles on the small school level, a winning bowl record, and winning tenures at several stops.

2 - Gary Patterson - Texas Christian - Patterson is 54 with 15 years of head coaching experience. In that time he has amassed a 126-45 overall record while guiding TCU to 6 conference championships. Would he make the move? He has a great long-term situation and is making good money. If you have to throw a boatload of cash at him, does he make the move only for the bling and not come in hungry? This would be my only concern.

3 - Mark Dantonio - Michigan State - Dantonio probably deserves more consideration than most are giving him. A Veteran, Saban-esque coach (well he is at MSU at least) who is delivering results for Michigan's little sister. His teams have won three consecutive bowls (including the Rose) and he has two big 10 titles under his belt. I don't think he'd make the biggest splash coming in, but he looks like the CEO type who could bring titles to Nebraska.

4 - Mike Gundy - Oklahoma State - "I'm a man!" has an 82-41 record and he's still in his 40's. While I'm not convinced that he's a home run hire, there's no denying that he's raised the bar for his program. The problem is getting him to Nebraska. He's making almost 4 million a year where he's at and I tend to think his past flirtations with Tennessee were just that.

5 - Mark Hudspeth - Louisiana Lafayette - If you can't pluck an established big-timer and you want to dip in to the not-quite-mid-majors for your guy, Hudspeth is the one. He has a 97-36 record and 3 conference championships along with a 3-0 bowl record. Both his head coaching jobs have featured big success relative to program stature. He's also got a little "Ric Flair" in his personality that I think players would line up and play for. Check this out to see what I mean:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQLuCq99QAU
And this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_hSUzKed4Y

6 - David Cutcliffe - Duke - In my opinion, if we make a change at head caoch, this guy could be a dark horse. Cutcliffe has tutored TWO Mannings, he has a winning record even though his two employers are grease trap programs, and he has Duke at the best they've been since Spurrier was there. He's a guy who has proven he can win more with less. Contrary to popular assumption, Cutcliffe is only 60 years old. He's down my list a bit, but he might be the kind of sneaky hire that comes out of nowhere and turns out to be great.

Why the following guys aren't on the list:

Rich Rodriguez - He left a program on probation and had players publicly speaking out against his character. Regardless of his offensive prowess, he doesn't appear to be the kind of man we want.

Todd Graham - Graham has a history of job hopping and not handling those moves with the class. The last thing we need is a guy who Lane Kiffin's the program and sets it back even further.

Dan Mullen - I think Mullen is too young (42) and hasn't proven enough yet to justify the gamble. He's 43-28 in his only stop as head coach and has yet to have a 10 win season or win a championship of any kind.

Bob Stoops - Not coming until proven otherwise but would be a great hire if he would come here.

Art Briles - I almost included Briles in my top 6, but he's already making 4.3 million dollars. His record is a little better than the numbers would indicate though, as he did get things rolling in the fourth year at each of his stops.

Kevin Sumlin - Makes way too much money to be considered and he has yet to prove he can field a defense.

Bill Snyder - He is over 100 years old.

Jim Mora - Mora has the NFL background and looks to be doing very well at UCLA, but I just want a lengthier college resume than he has right now.

Jim Mcelwain - The guy has a very short resume and would be a big risk.

 

[Husker94]

RealHusker,

That is a beautifully crafted theoretical press conference opening statement.
_____________________________

I would have been okay with a Nebraska loss if it had been close (1-9 points).

But these continual drubbings we are suffering by merely decent teams is an untenable situation.

 

[Removed Spleen of Jordan]

Craig Bohl? I know it would be weird bringing back the guy that was let go as the scapegoat for the Colorado debacle but since that time he has gone about proving that he is a very very good HC. What he built in North Dakota was dynastic for that level of football and it was built upon basic smash mouth offense and sound fundamental defense.

 

[Big Red]

Nebraska is 8-2 with two games left.
If the Huskers beat Iowa and Minnesota, the HC will be 10-2 with an opporunity to go 11-2. Chance of current HC being fired - 0%
If the Huskers split the final two, the HC will be 9-3 with an opportunity to go 10-3 (although history tells us it will be 9-4). Chance of current HC being fired -

 

[OhioHusker]

There are A LOT of coaches out there that could go 9-4 with the schedule and talent we had the last few years. A LOT. We can get one who can AT LEAST do what bo has done. And if we get a new one, the ceiling is much higher. It's a no brainier.

Let me ask you this: if Nebraska fired bo, would any power five school hire him? Anyone?

God no. He isn't a head coach. He doesn't have the ability to separate hires that are best for the program versus hires that are good for his buddies. He hitches his wagon to failing players as well and refuses to pull them long after it is apparent they should be riding the pine. What in the hell was TA doing in the game in the 4th quarter yesterday?

I really don't care who they hire if they were to ever make a change, that's why SE is paid the big bucks. But this disgrace of a coaching staff and quite frankly gutless bunch of quitting players need to move on. I've seen more than enough big game meltdowns and won't watch another game of pelini not coached Huskers.

 

[OhioHusker]

Nebraska is 8-2 with two games left.
If the Huskers beat Iowa and Minnesota, the HC will be 10-2 with an opporunity to go 11-2. Chance of current HC being fired - 0%
If the Huskers split the final two, the HC will be 9-3 with an opportunity to go 10-3 (although history tells us it will be 9-4). Chance of current HC being fired -

 

[Hunchback Johnny]

Nebraska is 8-2 with two games left.
If the Huskers beat Iowa and Minnesota, the HC will be 10-2 with an opporunity to go 11-2. Chance of current HC being fired - 0%
If the Huskers split the final two, the HC will be 9-3 with an opportunity to go 10-3 (although history tells us it will be 9-4). Chance of current HC being fired -

 

[joshuahuskers]

God no. He isn't a head coach. He doesn't have the ability to separate hires that are best for the program versus hires that are good for his buddies.

Exactly. If we let him go, and no one else would hire him (it's true!) there should be no shame in firing him. I think the majority if the national media agree that Nebraska can do better.

 

[OhioHusker]

^This....unfortunately. Had a couple of out of state friends call this morning to see if I was on suicide watch. Not saying I'm apathetic, but nothing surprises or upsets me with Pelini coached teams anymore. Sad, but true. I don't feel the need to defend or make excuses for the huskers, just shrug the shoulders and move on.

Want to know what's really, really sad? My friends don't bother calling at all.

 

[Guest]

Sad to think some here believe Bo will be back. Really? tux