Coaching Carousel

[ColinKSU]

My friend has a great idea for Nebraska’s future. They aren’t going to ever be a powerhouse again, so why not go gimmick with it and have some fun?

Coach. Ken. KeNU. The triple option back in Lincoln? Sign me the fuck up. They’ll win 6-7 games a year and knock off a highly ranked Ohio State or Michigan every now and then.

Ken Niumatalolo is the only man on earth that can (kind of) save Nebraska football

They might not ever take over for Ohio State at the top of the Big Ten as a true national power, but there's no reason why Nebraska can't be a nationally relevant program again. A lot of teams currently better than them would kill for Nebraska's facilities, money and fan support.

IMO, the current state of Nebraska football has more to do with bad coaching than it does a massive talent gap. Scott Frost going 5-21 in one-score games tells me that he has the talent to win games, but those players aren't getting the coaching they need to succeed.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Could Nebraska lure Fickell? I doubt it, he probably wants a job already setup for winning. Campbell? I wish they'd try to pull Lane Kiffin out of the SEC only because it's such a mismatch. It'd be so fun to watch.

 

[Irishdrunk]

Pat Fitzgerald?? Jeff Brohm??

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Could Nebraska lure Fickell? I doubt it, he probably wants a job already setup for winning. Campbell? I wish they'd try to pull Lane Kiffin out of the SEC only because it's such a mismatch. It'd be so fun to watch.

I doubt it too.

Fickell is probably waiting for two college jobs to open up if the timing is right, and one just get filled by his buddy Marcus.

 

[stlnd01]

Pat Fitzgerald?? Jeff Brohm??

Could maybe see Brohm taking that job and being a good fit, at least as good as someone without Nebraska ties could be. Not sure why Fitzgerald would go there though.

 

[arndtjc]

They might not ever take over for Ohio State at the top of the Big Ten as a true national power, but there's no reason why Nebraska can't be a nationally relevant program again. A lot of teams currently better than them would kill for Nebraska's facilities, money and fan support.

IMO, the current state of Nebraska football has more to do with bad coaching than it does a massive talent gap. Scott Frost going 5-21 in one-score games tells me that he has the talent to win games, but those players aren't getting the coaching they need to succeed.

They’re not even getting the best in-state kids anymore, how are they expecting to get the top national players at this point? They’re picking from OSU, ND, Michigan, Sparty, Wisconsin, and at this point Iowa’s leftovers, and all those schools are eating Frost’s lunch on the recruiting trail. Minnesota, Purdue, and Northwestern are all higher ranked classes for ‘23, that’s a gigantic problem

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Could maybe see Brohm taking that job and being a good fit, at least as good as someone without Nebraska ties could be. Not sure why Fitzgerald would go there though.

He wouldn't. I think he'd have to suffer multiple consecutive losing seasons at Northwestern to get fired, and even then I think they'd be hesitant to make a move. Or do something horribly dumb off the field. His name seems to come up every year in the carousel and he's never made a move to this point. I just don't see him leaving.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

2023 Rivals.com Nebraska Top 12

The definitive source for all Rivals news.

n.rivals.com

It's a state of just under 2 million people. They have top ten recruits verballed to Iowa State, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Malachi Coleman is currently undecided and taking September visits to Ole Miss and SC.

It's not good for Nebraska from an already small in state pond to begin with.

 

[ColinKSU]

They’re not even getting the best in-state kids anymore, how are they expecting to get the top national players at this point? They’re picking from OSU, ND, Michigan, Sparty, Wisconsin, and at this point Iowa’s leftovers, and all those schools are eating Frost’s lunch on the recruiting trail. Minnesota, Purdue, and Northwestern are all higher ranked classes for ‘23, that’s a gigantic problem

Is that Nebraska’s fault, or Scott Frost’s fault? Was it Notre Dame’s fault that Ty couldn’t recruit, or was it Ty’s fault?

 

[tussin]

More than X's and O's, Nebraska needs someone that can actually recruit. A great hire for them would be a top-tier assistant in the South that can capture some of their recruiting mojo in Texas (think Brent Venables type hire). Blue bloods should be able to overcome geographic challenges to recruit at a Top-10 level (see Notre Dame). Maybe I'm just nostalgic for the 90s, but I don't see a reason that the Huskers shouldn't be pulling top classes and winning the B1G West every year.

 

[arndtjc]

Is that Nebraska’s fault, or Scott Frost’s fault? Was it Notre Dame’s fault that Ty couldn’t recruit, or was it Ty’s fault?

The recruiting was bad under the previous regimes too. Kids do not want to go to Lincoln, simple as that. Having classes in the 30s isn’t going to cut it in the West, let alone on a national stage. The portal can only bandaid you for so long, and that’s essentially what Frost banked his job on this season

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Too much fanfare for a guy that only coached two seasons at UCF. It was more of a gamble than they wanted to admit at the time, but he was a former player and they probably felt pressure to make it happen. They've been fighting to get back to being average for a couple of decades now. In reality, Nebraska was more ready for Scott Frost than Scott Frost was ready for the job.

Josh Heupel took over UCF and went 12-1 the following year, 10-3 the next. Again, that's with mostly George O'Leary recruits who were in that program.

I get why Harsin took the Auburn job, and he probably wasn't even their third choice, but he did a good job at Boise State and is probably a better fit at Nebraska than he is at Auburn. He's going to be judged by this Auburn gig, fairly or unfairly, but Nebraska can and have done a lot worse. I just don't see Harsin surviving this season at Auburn regardless of how many games he wins.

 

[stlnd01]

More than X's and O's, Nebraska needs someone that can actually recruit. A great hire for them would be a top-tier assistant in the South that can capture some of their recruiting mojo in Texas (think Brent Venables type hire). Blue bloods should be able to overcome geographic challenges to recruit at a Top-10 level (see Notre Dame). Maybe I'm just nostalgic for the 90s, but I don't see a reason that the Huskers shouldn't be pulling top classes and winning the B1G West every year.

While I agree they should certainly be competitive in the Big Ten West, Nebraska's geographic challenges are bigger than most.
Notre Dame is 90 minutes from Chicago, close to Ohio and Michigan which produce a lot of football players, and is a national university. Lincoln is a rural state school three hours from Kansas City.

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

Recruiting is falling off now but for the classes of 2018 through 2021 Nebraska finished 4th, 4th, 4th, and 5th in B1G recruiting per 247. Nationally that amounts to 23rd, 17th, 20th, and 20th.

 

[tussin]

While I agree they should certainly be competitive in the Big Ten West, Nebraska's geographic challenges are bigger than most.
Notre Dame is 90 minutes from Chicago, close to Ohio and Michigan which produce a lot of football players, and is a national university. Lincoln is a rural state school three hours from Kansas City.

State College is also 3 hours from the nearest major metro in the middle of nowhere. City proximity is overrated though you do have a point regarding Nebraska as an overall state that lacks HS talent.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Nebraska under Osbourne really feels like Wisconsin today when you look back. Offensive identity, strength and conditioning program, similar state population and demographics. Osbourne's walk on program was legendary. The 1995 champions started two walk ons on offense. It wasn't a Sabanesque recruiting juggernaut. They had an intricate offense that they needed the right kinds of players to fit into. Tommie Frazier was from FL, Lawrence Phillips was from CA. They had two starters on the OL from Texas.

What's the ceiling for them, modern day, Wisconsin? Michigan State?

 

[Domina Nostra]

Haha! That Nebraska team was feared and had a whole bunch of future pros on it. They did well in the draft every year.

 

[stlnd01]

Nebraska under Osbourne really feels like Wisconsin today when you look back. Offensive identity, strength and conditioning program, similar state population and demographics. Osbourne's walk on program was legendary. The 1995 champions started two walk ons on offense. It wasn't a Sabanesque recruiting juggernaut. They had an intricate offense that they needed the right kinds of players to fit into. Tommie Frazier was from FL, Lawrence Phillips was from CA. They had two starters on the OL from Texas.

What's the ceiling for them, modern day, Wisconsin? Michigan State?

Yeah Wisconsin would probably be the program for them to emulate. Develop a system and identity, recruit and develop to fit it. Completely own your state in recruiting and pick off good-fit, under-the-radar players from elsewhere as needed. Become one of the most consistent programs in college football. That's the model.

The question is whether nine/ten win seasons that end in defeat at the Big Ten title game is good enough for Nebraska fans?

 

[Whiskeyjack]

More than X's and O's, Nebraska needs someone that can actually recruit. A great hire for them would be a top-tier assistant in the South that can capture some of their recruiting mojo in Texas (think Brent Venables type hire). Blue bloods should be able to overcome geographic challenges to recruit at a Top-10 level (see Notre Dame). Maybe I'm just nostalgic for the 90s, but I don't see a reason that the Huskers shouldn't be pulling top classes and winning the B1G West every year.

NU isn't a blue blood though. They had a glorious run in the mid-90s through early adoption of modern S&C principals, but that's a pretty weak nail to hang a national rebuild from given their recent failures and all the other challenges people have outlined here today.

 

[Ndaccountant]

NU isn't a blue blood though. They had a glorious run in the mid-90s through early adoption of modern S&C principals, but that's a pretty weak nail to hang a national rebuild from given their recent failures and all the other challenges people have outlined here today.

Nebraska finished in the top 20 in AP or coaches from 1963 to 2001 in all but 2 years. During that same time period, they finished in the top 10 31 times. It was an incredible run of consistency that produced multiple national titles. I guess it depends on who you consider a blue blood, but Nebraska has a better history than most, like Penn State for example.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Yeah Wisconsin would probably be the program for them to emulate. Develop a system and identity, recruit and develop to fit it. Completely own your state in recruiting and pick off good-fit, under-the-radar players from elsewhere as needed. Become one of the most consistent programs in college football. That's the model.

The question is whether nine/ten win seasons that end in defeat at the Big Ten title game is good enough for Nebraska fans?

Beggars can't be choosers. There has to come a point where reality sets it. Since they fired Solich, they haven't exactly hit big with the hires they made and in hindsight Scott Frost rose far and fast on the work of others. He's been brutal at NU and Heupel had two more double digit win seasons at UCF. That's an indicator that Frost was likely not the catalyst for that 13-0 season. They had talent there thanks to George O'Leary.

Nebraska has done far worse in recent years than Wisconsin, MSU and Iowa. They should take that kind of trajectory for now and run with it, at least for the time being. It would be a good foundation to build upon.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Nebraska finished in the top 20 in AP or coaches from 1963 to 2001 in all but 2 years. During that same time period, they finished in the top 10 31 times. It was an incredible run of consistency that produced multiple national titles. I guess it depends on who you consider a blue blood, but Nebraska has a better history than most, like Penn State for example.

Guess it depends on where you draw the line. I wouldn't put Penn State in that category either, though they're both borderline:

 

[tussin]

This is a blueblood resume -- or at the very least more than a program that had a brief moment in the sun.

 

[Ndaccountant]

Guess it depends on where you draw the line. I wouldn't put Penn State in that category either, though they're both borderline:

I think for many, recency bias clouds the picture. But if I go historically, my blue bloods are..
Tier 1
ND
Ohio State
Michigan
Texas
USC
Alabama
Oklahoma
Nebraska

Tier 2:
Tennessee
Penn State
UGA
LSU
UF
Miami
FSU

 

[ulukinatme]

Too much fanfare for a guy that only coached two seasons at UCF. It was more of a gamble than they wanted to admit at the time, but he was a former player and they probably felt pressure to make it happen. They've been fighting to get back to being average for a couple of decades now. In reality, Nebraska was more ready for Scott Frost than Scott Frost was ready for the job.

Josh Heupel took over UCF and went 12-1 the following year, 10-3 the next. Again, that's with mostly George O'Leary recruits who were in that program.

I get why Harsin took the Auburn job, and he probably wasn't even their third choice, but he did a good job at Boise State and is probably a better fit at Nebraska than he is at Auburn. He's going to be judged by this Auburn gig, fairly or unfairly, but Nebraska can and have done a lot worse. I just don't see Harsin surviving this season at Auburn regardless of how many games he wins.

Dude sounds like a winner, think he'd come to ND?

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

This is a blueblood resume -- or at the very least more than a program that had a brief moment in the sun.

View attachment 3051371

INTERVIEWER: So your resume stops before Clinton got Impeached.
RESUME APPLICANT: "Yeah, I took some time off, joined the Big Ten and become a stay at home also ran. But Bo Pelini did okay."

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Dude sounds like a winner, think he'd come to ND?

Speaking of resumes. JFC.

 

[ulukinatme]

I think for many, recency bias clouds the picture. But if I go historically, my blue bloods are..
Tier 1
ND
Ohio State
Michigan
Texas
USC
Alabama
Oklahoma
Nebraska

Tier 2:
Tennessee
Penn State
UGA
LSU
UF
Miami
FSU

I wouldn't even include FSU. They have pretty much no history until Bowden made them relevant in the late 80s.

 

[allenm5333]

If they can ignore the record, Leopold (spelling?) from Kansas

 

[Whiskeyjack]

This is a blueblood resume -- or at the very least more than a program that had a brief moment in the sun.

I think for many, recency bias clouds the picture. But if I go historically, my blue bloods are..
Tier 1
ND
Ohio State
Michigan
Texas
USC
Alabama
Oklahoma
Nebraska

Tier 2:
Tennessee
Penn State
UGA
LSU
UF
Miami
FSU

I'll concede the point. I don't think they belong in Tier-1, which means they'll likely have a harder time bouncing back from their present nadir than a team like Texas. But their tradition still puts most of the FBS to shame, so the right hire could work magic for them.