IS 9-3 OK WITH YOU?
by Jim Rose, 11/27/11
For all those years, Nebraska Football was boringly consistent. Win 9 of 12 games. Play in a bowl game. Finish in the top 15. Recover. See you at the at the Spring game.
Then it all starts over again.
That went on from 1969-2001. Nice stretch. Now, along the way, Coach Devaney’s group from 1970-71 won 32 in a row and a couple of national titles. That wetted appetites around here to the point where we weren’t sure Coach Osborne was up to the job. If you thought that was bad, walk around in Frank Solich’s shoes. He took over in 1998 after Tom’s last five teams went 60-3!
In 90% of the other programs in the USA, Frank would have a statue of him outside the stadium. But his 10-3 team got him fired (OK, SP might have been trigger happy but be honest, you weren’t sold on Frankie after the blowout loss at home to K-State.).
You know where I’m going with this. Bo’s team went 9-3 and a lot of folks around here aren’t too happy. Let’s examine reality.
1. We fell in love Pelini after he guided the improved defense from ’02-’03 and led the team to the Alamo Bowl championship then got run out by Pederson. We didn’t know him that well, but his first impression was killer.
2. Circa Nov. 2007 Tom Osborne went shopping for a coach who was a cultural fit, knew the place, wanted the job, was a defensive specialist, didn’t have an agent and wouldn’t cost a terrorist ransom. He was also the favorite of guys close to Tom. Bo filled the bill on all fronts. Husker Nation was euphoric.
3. Not only did Bo bring a rookie head coach but the staff was interesting. Three offensive holdovers from the Callahan regime who likely would not have been picked by Bo on the open market. Throw in Barney Cotton (A Husker from head to Toe—and again, would Bo have plucked him against anybody else available to coach OL)? He brought in Carl Pelini who’d never been a full time coach/recruiter at a BCS level school and John Papuchis, who was a grad assistant coach in 2007.
None of this is meant to imply that they aren’t good at their jobs. But the moral of the story here is that a big chunk of Bo and his staff is relatively young and inexperienced in game strategy and recruiting. You get good at that through time and games.
Those are all factors that led to puzzling performances against Wisconsin, NW and Michigan. It has also led to a gap in overall talent in key positions such as OL, QB DL and DB. Bo has recruited his kind of guy which is all fine so long as they make plays and win games. At last count, he has three of them: Dennard, David and Burkhead. That’s good for a program that is good with 9-3 but this one isn’t (See Bo’s remarks about “Success here is defined by Championships”) . He may need to do a little more selling to outstanding prospects rather than telling them to sign or pound sand. (Note: He hasn’t actually told anybody to pound sand but Pelini’s style isn’t to stroke 18 year old egos).
My belief is that Bo can make this road softer for himself and make it a lot more enjoyable for everybody if he would adjust his approach to the role of head coach. Not the job. The duties. While his sideline demeanor was vastly improved, his approach with the media was borderline adversarial. He banned reporters from practice and challenged others in news conferences. He stared down fans after losses and declared his lack of care for their concerns. His coaches and players were always available after wins but somehow disappeared after losses. That kind of culture is not user friendly. When times get tough, you want to be surrounded by friendly users, not unfriendly ones.
I truly believe Bo is the man for the job here. I believe he will grow and the program will thrive with him. I was particularly impressed with his remarks AFTER the Penn State game. It shows a depth of character lacking in college sports today.
We all need to remember that the 13-0 mentality that governs expectations around here is nice but unrealistic. Doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be an annual goal. It should remain. It should also accompany the reality that today’s college football environment invites many to have that goal. Many more than at any other time.
