It's a good point, Butch. I can't speak with as much authority on what seem to be the motivations for the LJS or OWH, but I've seen enough out of Sean et al. over the years to offer some thoughts on what they're doing. Some of these will be more germane to the B1G scheduling kerfuffle than others, but I figured I'd just spew some logorrhea on the general trend of sites like HOL to turn into North Stadium mouthpieces and/or comment on things that have already transpired:
1) The approach and tactics seem to vary, at least somewhat, by AD regime and coaching staff. Most of us veteran Scrollers can recall in 2013 that Callahan began to become openly critical of the Pelini staff. He even went so far as to write an article anticipating his firing that was ultimately premature. The general understanding is that he either actually was or perceived himself to get burned by doing so. With someone like Pelini, taking a shot and missing had potentially dire consequences. There are also infamous stories about Pelini and his boys responding harshly to leaks, whether legitimate or not. While he was probably correct to be angry, he went ballistic on the press when Sean Fisher's injury was reported before he could contact the family. There's also the amazing Cornhusker Hotel basement story. These instances are legion, but this post is already too long.
With Riley and Eichorst, there was probably a bit more risk tolerance for critical pieces, but the hype train picked up steam steadily into 2017 until it very quickly derailed. Before then, there was literally no appetite for them among the readership, as everyone was convincing themselves we were back. The time lapse between "Tanner Lee and Calibraska are going to run circles around the B1G!" and "Let's fire everyone and do whatever it takes for Frost!" was literally only a few weeks. Pretty incredible. Still, once that shift began, it's not like the HOL boys were pulling a Baghdad Bob. They saw the writing on the wall.
The point of waxing nostalgic like that was partially just to relive some fun bullshit, but also because I get the impression Frost has more of a Pelini attitude about perceived media injustices, including leaks, than Riley did. What's more, I think he's signaled to the local boys that he feels that way. With how much rope Frost has with the AD and many fans, that's going to make Sean and crew very hesitant to do anything that isn't North Stadium-approved.
2) Recruiting sites like HOL and Husker247 (feels weird not typing TOS, might just revert to it anyway) are even more beholden to the goodwill of the staff than local writers who really only cover the current team. It's clear that both of those sites have sources not only with the on-field coaches but, just as importantly, the recruiting staff. Piss any of those guys off, or piss off their bosses who know there's some interaction going on, and you might find your site on the outside looking in.
This would be doubly devastating for HOL, because the 247 network is so much stronger nationally than Rivals now (and usually, but definitely not always, has stronger and more active regional analysts). Think about how embarrassing it must be for the Rivals guys to have Fong's predictions constantly brought over with either joy or misery but no one giving a fuck about what Farrell and Gorney think, when they even take the time to get off their fat asses and promulgate their opinions.
The main things keeping HOL competitive with TOS are RSS (despite some grumblings, it's an infinitely better board than TOS's), the staff and media resources that HOL can commit to coverage (generally more impressive than TOS, in my opinion), and Dean's North Stadium connections. Clouse is no more connected than Schaefer. So there's no unique advantage on getting North Stadium's take. 247 is usually, but not always, breaking prediction news because guys like Fong have so many connections that they hear about it from a coaching staff that's been told 'no' or 'yes' and then let everyone else know. The point is: Lose the parity HOL currently has with North Stadium and perhaps the overall quality disparity becomes so large that people don't think RSS and hot videos of Bellevue West boys are enough to justify two memberships.
3) More generally, I think Dean and Nate have eased off on trying to break stuff that is still fluid due to having circumstances change and the predictions or stories blow up in their faces. I remember well how all-in Nate went on the success of the 2017 recruiting class with guys like Darnay Holmes and Jamire Calvin. He probably had good information, but things changed and it blew up in his face. RSS went hard on him for a long time for that. I don't think he ever forgot it.
