[Husker] RE: Pelini comments

[Jeff Volk]

Scott wrote:

>>If this isn't obvious to folks reading it that the talent is not where Pelini would like, I don't know what is. Even though he >>claims that isn't an excuse in the article (of course he isn't going to say that anyway) it seems fairly obvious to me that >>"what your personnel does best" (paraphrased) is about as clear as it gets.

I don't know that is what the article says at all. You infer a lot into the quote that you paraphrase. I read that section of the article to say that the offensive and defensive schemes need to be designed to better fit the personnel that we do have and not an indictment of the overall talent level. It's the square peg - round hole conundrum - you simply can't try to be a power running team if you don't have the players to support that. You can't be a drop back passing team when your QB is best suited to shotgun and rolling pockets. That doesn't necessarily mean that the talent is bad, it just means that you have to adjust the scheme to match the strengths of your talents.

He is further quoted in the article, "There's enough talent here to play better than Saturday and compete." I think that is pretty direct and leaves little room for inference or hidden meaning.

Overall I think Coach pretty accurately addresses the three key things that the Huskers have shown thus far:

1. Coach INFERS that the talent isn't the best fit for some of the things that they want to do and that is a part of the problem.
2. Coach states that scheme has been a part of the problem.
3. Coach states that consistency and smart play is a part of the problem.

I think all of us would agree that even in our 3-0 start that all of these factors were pretty evident. It is also pretty evident that all 3 of these factors are very much tied together. The coaches need to develop better schemes to take advantage of the talent that we do have, which hopefully will increase consistency and reduce errors. It is a very simple, yet extremely complex, formula for success.

Is the talent on campus great? Probably not, but compared to what benchmark? Bo will definitely need time to bring talent to campus that fits what he wants to be style of play, both on offense and defense, ultimately to be. In the interim he will have to probably take some smaller steps. If there is one thing that Coach can learn from Callahan it's that you can't force scheme on players who athletically aren't equipped to execute it.

Let's see how the rest of the season plays out. After this weekend we will likely (almost certainly) be 3 and 3 and headed into a portion of the schedule that should provide some wins. I still see 8-4 o4 7-5 out of this team - especially when looking at how the North outside of Mizzou (and to some extent KU) has played. In the end, the success of this season won't be measured in wins and losses, but more by effort, improvement (both by coaches & players) and attitude.

Just my take.

Have a great day and GO BIG RED!!

Jeff