[NU Sports] Football experiment

Thu Dec 2 18:52:52 CST 2004

What you had in Nebraska was a situation similar to Delaware in that everyone in
the state ran the same offense that the "major" college ran and kids who weren't
offered scholarships would just show up in Lincoln and walk-on.

Now High School coaches are also trying to win, and they work out their offenses
to match personnel, instead of just running the same old playbook every year.

UN-L is also trying to regain their dominance in a conference [Big 12] that now
has several good teams.

Like the Big 10, which used to be the "Big 2 and little 8," the Big 12 now has 6
or more teams that are capable of making a run at the title. Any conference
where the coach could almost be fired for malfeasance, yet wind up the Coach of
the Year and playing in the title game, has turned the corner in balance, even
if the two top teams aren't happy anymore.

Some schools, like dOSU still have their pick of prospects, and can even fill in
with Walk-ons, but the days of finding a Heisman Candidate RB Walk-on are fast
fading.

Go Cats

rsl 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Roy S. Lamberton - Senior Associate
Computer Applications & Support Associates
and Publisher of Purple Reign, 
The Scout.com Northwestern University Site
(http://www.purplewildcats.com)
AIM Handle: CoachRoy74

=========================================
No Society has ever Taxed or Litigated
itself to prosperity...Think about it.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com 
> [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On Behalf Of Jeff Beamsley
> Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2004 6:02 PM
> To: nwu-sports at romaine.tssi.com
> Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Football experiment
> 
> 
> The other NU is an interesting case, but the difference in admissions 
> standards probably introduces enough variability that when they do 
> return to national prominence any comparison to our NU will be called 
> into question. 
> 
> There are others on this list who know a whole lot more about Husker 
> football than I do, but I don't think that Solich was going to be the 
> long-term guy.  Looking at the sorts of high-powered offenses that 
> Nebraska has to play every year, I don't know if the 
> option-based attack 
> that had served them so well for so many years was going to 
> continue to 
> effective in the future.  Though it took some courage, they chose to 
> blow it all up and start over rather than make incremental 
> changes.  So 
> it isn't surprising that they struggled this year with kids 
> who didn't 
> fit the new system. 
> 
> The other issue is that they are looking to recruit the top 
> athletes in 
> the country.  Those kids have a lot of choices.  They are all 
> thinking 
> about playing on Sundays.  Particularly the skill position kids want 
> programs that will showcase their talent and best prepare 
> them for the 
> transition to the NFL.  What better choice than to bring in 
> an NFL coach 
> with the expectation of running an NFL farm team.  So I'm not at all 
> surprised that Callahan has a great recruiting class.  All of 
> those kids 
> are going to get a chance to play early.  They are going to NFL prep 
> school, and they will be the first graduating class in a new 
> chapter of 
> NU history. 
> 
> Whether or not this is good in the larger context of college 
> football is 
> another discussion. But I have no doubt that Callahan will have a 
> competitive team on the field sooner rather than later.
> 
> Jeff
> 
> 
> Tom Maycock wrote:
> 
> >>We now have a real world opportunity to test the "cost" of 
> firing at a
> >>couple of institutions (ND and Stanford) that have high academic 
> >>standards (yes ND has become a lottery school).  So let's see what 
> >>happens. 
> >>    
> >>
> >
> >Academics aside, there's actually a similar test case 
> already under way
> >at Nebraska. The program had declined under Solich, but had rebounded
> >significantly last year with a new set of assistant coaches. But,
> >citing declining recruiting results, the AD determined the turnaround
> >in '03 wasn't enough to justify keeping him, and he was 
> shown the door
> >after a 9-3 season. I'm sure you recall the criticism that followed.
> >
> >The short term results were even uglier than most expected--first
> >losing season in approximately forever (longer than I've been alive).
> >The offense was the expected square-peg/round-hole affair all season,
> >but the defense also took a surprising nosedive. Questions 
> arose about
> >whether the current defensive players had "bought into" the 
> new system
> >and staff, etc.
> >
> >I don't think there's much question in Husker land that 
> Solich and his
> >staff would have produced a better record in 2004. The 
> question is, of
> >course, whether the misery of the transition will be worth it. Early
> >reports have the Husker recruiting class ranked #1 in the country. 
> >
> >Tom
> >
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> >
> >
> >  
> >
> 
> 
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