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At what point does Nebraska panic?

Clarity

Will Bryant
Staff member
They fire Solich before the season is over, and promote Pelini to interim head coach. Bo is then offered the DC position at Oklahoma, and some folks in the Big XII now claim he's been offered OSU's DC spot as well. I tend to believe the latter is merely unfounded rumor, but it is what it is. Regardless, Nebraska now been rejected by a few different coaches. With each rejection, it becomes more apparent to Bo that not only is he not their first choice (he is for most of the players though), but he's also not their second, their third, their fourth -- where might he be on the list? And when they finally get down to him, will he still want the job?

I've seen some bungled coaching searches before, and this has all the makings of being a classic one. Right now I wouldn't laugh if someone told me the Huskers were going to enter the Spring without a real head coach. I definitely wouldn't laugh if I was a Husker fan.

I've had my gripes about Geiger in the past, but every time something like this comes up elsewhere, I appreciate him for guys like Tressel and Obie that much more.
 
Reflects insidious decline of major program

It's probably the nature of college football that the fortunes of success and failure ebb and flow among the truly major powers. It is more probably so that it takes a while for the ebb part to dawn on those very close to the program. It took a little while for tOSU to figure it out about the Cooper administration (not to knock him so much, I liked him by and large, but problems with disclipline and academics obviously began to creep in.)
My guess is that a very gradual ebb set in at Nebraska when Solich took over from Osborne, but there were some successes, which maybe masked the trend. No doubt the dismissal of Solich could have been timed better and the administration is no doubt mortified that high profile coaches are not jumping at the opportunity. They may have to set their targets a little lower than they planned, as they realize that Neb. may not be the plum they thought it was.
I for one have always been amazed that a team like Nebraska could recruit effectively given its geographic location, far removed from most population centers. It is a credit to Tom O. that they got to the point they could do so...took him a while, as I recall. Maybe prospective coaches sense that it may return to being rather more difficult to return to that recruiting success. I don't know, but it seem clear that the indecision now may likely affect their current recruiting.

Go Bucks!
 
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I for one liked Trev's comment about having to go to the second tier choices, like OSU and others had to do to get a coach. What a moron. If Nebraska can win a NC in two years like Tressel did then I will take back any negatives I have said about Trev.

I think Nutt's rejection of even talking to them spoke volumes about what the rest of the coaches around the nation know about the Husker program. You just aren't seeing coaches clamoring to go there at this point. Where are the Glen Masons of Nebraska????

Pelini to OSU, maybe, I would say OU is more likely....
 
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I though I heard Nutt doing an interviw last night (ESPN radio before Sugar bowl) has it sounded like he was very close to going to Nebraska. Now that could have been "Coach Speak" but he said he went to talk to his family thinking he'd probably go to Nebraska. But the "family" issues turned it in favor of staying and seeing it through at Arkansas. Anyway I'm almost positive he DID talk to the Nebraska AD who flew in to meet with him (yes, his arms were tired, ba dum bum ching!)

Nebraska should be in a cold sweat right about now.
 
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I know some people had Nutt on the list for OSU when we dumped Cooper, but I just don't see him as a hiring upgrade for a program like Nebraska.

Out of curiosity with all of the minority hiring issues in the NFL and the Black Coaches Association movement in the NCAA arena, has anybody heard of any minority candidates being considered?
 
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I think C-Dog brought up a good point about Pelini being passed over so far. WTF is up with that thought process? The players love him and he's a killer DC. Even players on the offense love the guy. I just don't see why he wasn't on at least their short-list.

If I were him, I'd be pretty pissed right now, and would take the OSU DC job, if offered, just out of spite (and also being able to go back to my alma mater).
 
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The sad thing is that they don't understand why they
keep getting turned down. They fire a head coach that
was a traditional 4 Star QB short of having a very, very
good team with a 9-3 record! That school's admin. is
drinking the same water Chicago Bear's GM is drinking.
It's called "Clueless". :biggrin:
 
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Add Mike Zimmer of the Cowboys to the list of people Nebraska has tried (or is trying) to court.

Seriously, with each name, Bo has to realize the job just plain isn't his. He should take the OU DC job while it's out there. That's a true stepping stone to a major I-A HC job if he performs well.


RAMdrvr1 said:
The sad thing is that they don't understand why they
keep getting turned down. They fire a head coach that
was a traditional 4 Star QB short of having a very, very
good team with a 9-3 record! That school's admin. is
drinking the same water Chicago Bear's GM is drinking.
It's called "Clueless". :biggrin:
 
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I was listening to a talk radio station last week.... may have been the Dan Patrick show. They said that Pelini got into it with the refs during the bowl game over a call and got flagged near the end. I didn't watch the game so I don't know what happened. I guess this may have ticked off the AD and put Pelini at the bottom of the list. Pelini has all the tools they just don't want to take a chance on him.

Is this the same AD who hired Solich? If so, he may be trying to get a big name to save his job.
 
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Mike Zimmer is out. They're sniffing Bill Callahan's leg now.

And on a related note, I got a fax from the Nebraska AD's office.

Seems they'd like me to post a note here on the board, calling for open auditions for the head coaching seat. No prior experience needed, just need to be willing and able to turn them back into the dominant force they were under Tom Osborne. If interested, contact Steve Pederson in the Husker's AD's office. You'll get right through to him, I understand he's just sitting at his desk staring at a silent phone.

---

I actually like the Huskers as a team. This whole scenario is unfortunate, but may be a clear indication of their future. Texas soaks up talent in that state as well or better than we do in Ohio. Nebraska isn't a big talent pool in of itself, and with the rising profiles of mid-tier Big XII teams like Kansas State, their access to blue chippers is an ever-shrinking window.
 
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They are way past the point of panic. If you want to fire someone, you had better have an idea of how you are going to replace him. I think a lot of people look at why Solich was fired and just cannot figure out how they can do so much better of a job that they will be secure.

The low point of this whole mess was the airplane sitting at the airport waiting for Coach Nutt to come to Nebraska to "talk." I would have to imagine the Cornhusker boards are the only ones sadder than the Bucknuts board.
 
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