Nebraska Cornhuskers Football

Huskers vs Rutgers

We wait all year for Husker football

You only get 12 Games a Year

Enjoy

Steven M. Sipple: Amid tumult, Riley's crew gets chance to show if culture is indeed strong

Shatel: Mike Riley’s jackpot is saved job if he hits the right number for Huskers

Husker Thursday-Shawn Eichorst is Out!

5 possible candidates for Nebraska's next athletic director

Chatelain:Hiring Shawn Eichorst goes down as one of Harvey Perlman's worst decisions

Nebraska reaches out to former Husker star Dave Rimington as possible interim A.D. candidate

The Washington Post weighs in on the state of the program.

#DearAndy: Will Nebraska Fire Mike Riley if he Wins Five Games or Less?

Q&A: NU walk-on Wyatt Mazour on being a Husker, his Nebraska experience and more

Mind Numbing Tuesdays

Shatel: The only answer to Husker woes lies 
in the hearts and minds of the players

Drops hinder Nebraska offense

Huskers Open Big Ten Play with Rutgers

Busy season is the best season for the Farniok brothers

Huskers consider simpler game plan, providing fallback options to start conference play

The only answer to Husker woes lies 
in the hearts and minds of the players

Third try not a charm?Huskers' third-down conversion rate ranks near bottom

The $5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy is Back

Coaches On the Hot Seat and their AD/s

Steven M. Sipple: NU leadership left to mull future of preeminent 'front-porch' program

Mad Chatter: A Husker coaching job gone wrong; comparing Riley to third-year peers; Texas puts up a fight

Shatel: Danger zone as Husker football program and A.D. Shawn Eichorst prepare for toughest opponent yet — apathy

Barfknecht: A.D. Shawn Eichorst, with fate tied to Mike Riley, is at center of Husker football mess

Misery Index Week 3: Trying times in Nebraska amid cloudy future

Tommie Frazier: Firing Nebraska coach Mike Riley ‘isn’t the answer’

You need to be a member of Huskerspot3 to add comments!

Join Huskerspot3

Email me when people reply –

Replies

  • 34260520?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024

    Nebraska coach Mike Riley watches the action against Northern Illinois in the fourth quarter Saturday at Memorial Stadium

    Steven M. Sipple: Amid tumult, Riley's crew gets chance to show if culture is indeed .

    Results over rhetoric.

    That's the theme going forward in Nebraska athletics. At least that was my takeaway Thursday from NU president Hank Bounds and chancellor Ronnie Green's news conference.

    I hope my read is right. Because the idea of results over rhetoric strips away a lot of B.S., a lot of philosophizing, a lot of explaining away shortcomings, a lot of focus on things that don't matter all that much.

    By the way, I'm not going to keep hammering away at former Nebraska athletic director Shawn Eichorst, who was fired Thursday. He was always professional in our dealings. He has plenty of positive qualities. But his tendency to lean hard on rhetoric -- and explain away undesired results -- tended to wear me out.

    Flash back to December, when he used our interview two days before the Music City Bowl to express concern about the Nebraska roster's lack of overall talent. What a confidence boost for the team.

    His comments matter little now. With Eichorst out of the picture, third-year Husker coach Mike Riley likely has to produce convincing results the rest of the season -- including Saturday against Rutgers (1-2) -- in order to retain his job.

    Riley is an old-school coach. He understands on-field results are what matter most.

    Meanwhile, Eichorst is unemployed because Nebraska's athletic department wasn't getting the results across the board that his bosses desired.

    In our interview in June 2016, Eichorst tried to mitigate Nebraska's ninth-place standing in the Journal Star's annual tally of average finish in Big Ten competition across all sports (NU was ninth again this year).

    "There's room for improvement -- similar to last year's conversation," Eichorst said.

    The conversations were unfortunate considering the generous amount of resources, passion and energy that Nebraska pours into its athletic program. But in these type of interviews, Eichorst always was prepared. He would point to his student-athletes' academic performances and progress in life skills and community service, and many folks would yawn.

    Those folks understood that Eichorst wouldn't enthusiastically emphasize academics and life skills if Nebraska were winning big in football and men's basketball.

    The basketball program, however, has experienced three straight seasons of late swoons, including 13 losses in the last 16 games last season. Sixth-year head coach Tim Miles will coach for his job this coming season, likely needing a dramatic turnaround from last season's 12-19 finish to save it.

    That's right, results over rhetoric.

    Many Husker fans generally are fed up. They want results. They wonder what in the world is going on with many of their teams, especially the high-profile ones.

    All the while, the Nebraska athletic department wows everyone with a formidable public relations/marketing machine, especially on social media.

    Yes, the Huskers have the whole social-media thing down pat. Even coaches get into the act. For instance, NU fans and local media praised Husker receivers coach Keith Williams for winning a Twitter war with Ohio State receivers coach Zach Smith. Did it really matter last November in Ohio Stadium?

    Results over rhetoric.

    We heard a lot of rhetoric from the Nebraska football camp during the offseason saying the program's culture has grown stronger in Riley's third season in charge. Yes, that sort of discussion is predictable in many offseasons. But if the program indeed has a genuinely strong culture, you'll see it against Rutgers (2:30 p.m., BTN).

    You'll see Husker defenders swarming to the ball.

    You'll see Mike Cavanaugh's offensive line firing hard off the ball. 

    If you bleed Nebraska red, you know a loss to Rutgers would push Nebraska's program several steps backward and result in, let's face it, national embarrassment.

    On the bright side, Riley's crew has a good chance this week and next -- a Friday night game at Illinois -- to stabilize itself before back-to-back home games against Wisconsin and Ohio State. 

    Nebraska, even at 1-2, still can achieve favorable results this season, although 6-6 (5-4 Big Ten) seems like the ceiling.

    Riley still can earn his way to another season. It's hard not to hope for good things for him. He's a good man. And let's be clear: He never makes excuses.

    Green and Bounds surely appreciate that aspect of the coach.

  • It would appear that the NU strategy is now that which the fans clamor for.  Fire your way back into national prominence.

  • Woohoo, hope renewed! Riley is next in the chop block.
  • 34260518?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024Nebraska coach Mike Riley has reason to be worried. He and the staff are trying to find ways to turn things around.

    Shatel: The only answer to Husker woes lies 
in the hearts and minds of the...

    I love the X and O fans. I respect their eye for the game. I can’t do that. But I learned long ago that football isn’t about the chalkboard.

    It’s about getting dirt shoved in your face.

    Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I knew an eighth-grade kid who played football. He thought he loved the game. Thought he could play a little.

    Then one day at Ervin Junior High in Kansas City, Missouri, this kid goes up to block a linebacker at practice. The linebacker puts his helmet in my — um, the kid’s — chest and lifted him up and planted him into the ground.

    The kid didn’t get mad. In fact, he went back to the huddle thinking, “Maybe I’m not cut out for this after all.”

    And so after the season I went off to find a basketball ...

    I found myself thinking about that story while listening to Mike Riley on Monday. In the wake of the loss to Northern Illinois, all the angles have seemingly been hit.

    Shake up the lineup? Yes, but only because of injuries. Riley take over play-calling? Not going to happen. Practice more first team vs. first team? Riley said he’s done that more this season than ever.

    Oops.

    I’m always wary of trudging into X and O waters, lest I drown, but it occurred to me that leaning on the run game might be an answer. The Huskers rushed for 225 yards in the opener and while Tre Bryant looked good and Arkansas State’s run defense is questionable, the offensive line had a push. It’s not been good in pass protection.

    When Bryant gets back, NU has the backs to grind it out — and take the pressure off Tanner Lee’s arm.

    The counter to that is that this week’s opponent, Rutgers, ranks fifth in the Big Ten and 20th nationally in run defense. NU outsized NIU up front and should have been able to run it all day, but that didn’t happen.

    No wonder Riley looked and sounded worried on Monday.

    It’s times like these — tough times — when a program needs to fall back on its football soul, if you will. Who are you? What have you been taught? What are you all about?

    Over the last 15 years, Nebraska has been through too many ways of coaching and practice and football to know. There’s a line in a Talking Heads song that says, “I’ve changed my hairstyle so many times now, I don’t know what I look like.”

    Let’s pause and recognize a Talking Heads reference in a sports column.

    Identity can be scheme but it’s more way of life. Way of football. The late, great Husker running backs coach, Mike Corgan, used to have a saying: “Football is a nasty game for nasty boys.”

    Iowa throws the ball around a bit and still rolls out a nasty offensive line. It’s scheme, but it’s more about culture.

    I listened to former Husker Jason Peter on “The Bottom Line” on Monday. You gotta love Jason’s fountain of passion for Big Red. Jason is wired different. That’s what made him great.

    But his approach isn’t for everybody, especially in 2017, when young athletes come off select teams and play a lot of games and seem to shrug off losing and will flat-out leave if things go bad. That’s a generalization. But it’s also true of this generation.

    The point is, there’s no hiding or running from football. Eventually, the sport is going to find out if you’re good enough, if you’re meant to be in the arena.

    And that’s what I think about now with Nebraska football. The Big Ten starts this week and there’s a schedule full of “manhood” games coming up. The league is all about lining up and beating the guy in front of you. What a sport.

    A lot of us are trying to find out what Riley needs to do now, what he should change, etc. He didn’t offer any answers. There aren’t any. You can’t suddenly change a culture. You can’t suddenly get nasty if you haven’t been growing it.

    The only answer lies within the hearts and minds of the Nebraska players. It’s up to them to plant their feet. There’s enough talent on this team. How bad do they want to put that helmet in the other guy’s chest and send him all the way to basketball practice?

  • I am waiting for Nebraska to be in the Bottom 10 on espn.com.  If they make it there any bets on who they play in the pfgotw (Pillow Fight Game of the Week).

  • It may take 4-5 years but tell that to Penn State.  They were damn near given the death penalty and they bounced back in three years.  And why would we hire a 62 year old coach with the expectation it will take 5 years to win?  Sorry but coaching takes energy and the guy isn't getting any younger.  At the time I was hoping for a young guy out of the MAC or one other mid-major conferences.  I thought targeting the guy at Navy would have made sense.  He does nothing but win, has the intensity, the record, the leadership, and the backing of his players.  So far we have not heard that Riley is losing his players but his reputation for being nice might be working against him.  I am a retired Naval Officer and had the reputation for being a "nice guy".  I used to warn my sailors to not mistake being "nice" for lack of resolve.  With lack of resolve comes lack of holding players accountable.  You can get too close and forget the players are a means to an end.  That is the harsh reality of the business of  college athletics.  Win or move out of the way.  Show progress or step aside.  Riley must hold players accountable and it starts with his quarterback.  Tanner Lee must know why he was brought to Nebraska.  It wasn't so he can increase his skills for the NFL.  His dad apparently was instrumental in getting the NCAA to add eligibility after an injury and when that happens I get a little worried we have another Taylor Martinez on our hands.  While Taylor was fun to watch I always had the idea he was never a husker at heart.  He was a NFL candidate and used Nebraska to showcase his skills.  All orchestrated by his dad.  Tanner Lee doesn't seem to know what it means to be a husker and after watching the first three games I am not sure I am not living in the past myself.  I want the players to want to restore the Husker glory of old.  I am starting to get the feeling the players want one thing, the fans another.  Fans as old as I am know the feeling of finishing New Years day as National Champions.  Players give the National Championship lip service but do they really want to do what it takes to make it happen?  Do they or the coaches know what it takes?  I am starting to question if Shawn Eichhorst looked at Mike Riley with those criteria in mind.  

    • Thanks for you response Randy.

      Tango Yankee for serving.

      I don't know bottom line until we get some decent line play no matter who you put back there, there is going to be a problem.

  • 34260481?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024

This reply was deleted.