[Husker] TO's "learning curve"

[richards todd]

TO's learning curve was actualized when he got speedy
players, especially on defense.

Todd in Tennessee
--- Andrew Smith <arossman at earthlink.net> wrote:

> I'm slightly bothered by the frequent suggestion
> that TO had to "learn 
> and adjust" before winning a NC.  While I'm certain
> he continued to 
> learned and make adjustments throughout his career,
> the 'learn and 
> adjust' comment usually seems to suggest some
> significant coaching break 
> through from an old approach to a new one was needed
> before TO was a 
> great coach.  Looking at his career, that makes no
> sense to me and 
> GREATLY underestimates his success before he won a
> NC.
> 
> One thing many forget is that TO was Devaney's
> offensive coordinator and 
> by most accounts was the person who changed NU's
> full house backfield to 
> the I-formation (and what some describe as more of a
> pro "spread" 
> passing offense).  So before TO was even a head
> coach, he had 'learned 
> and adjusted' enough to help lead NU to back-to-back
> NCs.
> 
> In his first 5 years as head coach he never finished
> out of the top-10 
> and a few times was 1 win away from playing for the
> NC:
> 
>     In '72, #5 NU lost to #4 OU (a heartbreaker,
> 17-14); NU then crushed
>     #12 ND 40-6 in the Orange Bowl
>     In '73, NU played 7 top-20 (at game time) teams,
> beating 5 of them,
>     including a 19-3 bowl win over #8 Texas.
>     In '74, #6 NU lost to #1 OU
>     In '75, #2 NU lost to #7 OU (in Norman), the
> only year from '72-76
>     'OU was not ranked above NU going into the game
> 
> I'm not sure what learning and adjusting was needed.
>  Learning how to 
> beat OU, you say?  So few did that during that
> period (when OU was led 
> by one of the great college coaches - Barry
> Switzer), that I don't 
> believe it was due to any significant lack of
> learning or adjusting.
> 
> Looking further along in TO's career, his worst
> years - the ONLY ones 
> where Nebraska finished below #11 (ave. of both
> polls) were '89-'92.  I 
> guess it took him 17 years to unlearn and unadjust
> some important things 
> :-).
> 
> People forget that there is usually some luck
> involved in winning, or 
> even simply playing for, the NC.  For example:
> * In '82, Joe Paterno won the NC with a 1-loss team
> and only "beat" NU 
> due to a terrible officiating call.
> * On the other hand, Paterno has had 4 undefeated
> teams that did not win 
> a share of the NC or even a chance to play for it.
> * In '81, NU plays Clemson for the NC (since #2 and
> #3 lose their bowl 
> games) despite having 2 losses.
> * But NU's bad luck that year (on top of the bad
> luck of losing their 
> star sophomore QB, Turner Gill, to injury), and
> every one else's is that 
> Clemson builds a stellar team using serious
> recruiting violations.
> * Change a single play each of the years '82, '83
> (and perhaps '81 and 
> '94), and '97, and TO wins 3 NCs in th early '80s
> but only 1 in the '90s.
> 
> I, and everyone else on this list could go on and on
> with examples where 
> there was some fortune was needed for a team to win
> the NC and examples 
> where some misfortune prevented a team from playing
> for or winning the NC.
> 
> My point is that TO was a great head coach his first
> year on the job!
> 
> Go Big Red!
> Andy
> 
> _______________________________________________
> husker site list
> husker at tssi.com
> http://romaine.tssi.com/mailman/listinfo/husker
> 



       
____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a better Globetrotter. Get better travel answers from someone who knows. Yahoo! Answers - Check it out.
http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/?link=list&sid=396545469