[Husker] separation

[weldoc at juno.com]

<While the star ratings might be arbitrary, most of those athletes are
still going to be the guys you want to get...What I fear most is this
idea that we bring back Husker everybody and try to re-create the past
with the idea that we can go back and everything will be wonderful....
well, except fan expectations will be so high that there's no chance of
long-term success. -- Jon Johnston>
_____________________

I applaud the return to sanity and ignoring the "star-hype" that so much
of the sports press hangs on. 

It's one of the little differences that separates NU and UT. If the
star-hype worked out as often as it should, UT would have a ton more
National Championship momentoes in its football trophy case.
_______________________________________________________

Also:
<Had Frank stayed,  the team's talent going downhill, if SP hadn't fired
him, we would have fired both the athletic director and head coach (this
isn't about  whether or not the guy would have been successful, it's
about a point of view), which is where we'll be if Tom's experiment
doesn't work out. -- Jon Johnston>
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I think the MUCH BIGGER "experiment" was throwing complete caution to
wind, hiring an NFL coach with little college experience, then throwing
away traditional proven recruiting methods and finally, going with a
largely-untested WCO attack in a school not well-suited for it.

I think the big point you missed was that so many of us feel that if the
2003 pre-BC coaching staff had been let alone, enough improvement would
have resulted in 2004 that your hypothetical would have never occurred.
>From 1998-2003we had been getting by on talent recruited by tired,
mentally-worn out old guys (Darlington, Tenopir, etc.) who weren't
relating as well to the much-younger players they were working with. [The
Urban Meyer "family approach" seems to be a whole lot more effective.]
I'm not taking anything away from these tremendous, hardworking, loyal NU
coaches. But they were just worn out !

In 2003 we were treated with some new faces, most with NU backgrounds.
Unfortunately, that "experiment" was cut short.  :-(

Guess we will finally get a chance to see how 2004 WOULD have worked out
in 2008. Should be tremendously exciting ! I can't wait !!

Bill Laughlin