From Stewart Mandel's weekly mailbag:
Hey Stewart. It seems that Nebraska is going to be looking for a new coach very soon. How attractive is the Nebraska job to people now? I know it's not great, but how bad can it be? I know Matt Campbell isn't coming here, but would a Gary Patterson pick up the phone? Dave Aranda? Hell, even Lance Leipold? Beyond the Big 12, I'm sure Luke #2ndChoice won't pick us, but would a Jim Leonhard or Justin Wilcox consider us? -- Ari S. (Lincoln, NE)
Mandel: Ari, I know that was a rough loss the other day, but why such a defeatist attitude? The Nebraska job may not be what it was in 1995, but c'mon man. You're a Big Ten school with ample resources and a rabid fan base that's sold out every football game since 1962!* (* Not sure this week's should really count?) Scott Frost makes $5 million a year, and with the expected windfall from the Big Ten's next TV contract in a couple of years, Nebraska can probably afford to pay the next guy even more. People (including most of those you just mentioned) are going to want that job.
The mistake I made in believing Frost would win big there: I thought his Oregon-style offense would give the Huskers an advantage in the mostly stodgy Big Ten West. But you need speed at the skill positions to make it work, and he's mostly struck out trying to get those guys to come to the Heartland. (Wan'Dale Robinson was a notable exception, but he transferred.) If Frost could have a mulligan, I bet he would have taken the Florida job instead. He could walk down the street and run into 10 of those guys.
So I've changed my tune. Nebraska needs to find its own Kirk Ferentz, Matt Campbell or Pat Fitzgerald. Someone who knows how to build a culture and find guys who fit it, evaluate, develop and be consistent. Style and star rankings need not matter. Campbell would be the absolute home run. Two months ago, I would have completely dismissed that possibility, but with the Big 12 now in limbo, might he be more tempted than before by a stable Big Ten program? If nothing else, I have an easier time picturing Campbell in Lincoln than in Los Angeles.
If that's unrealistic, though, there will be other options. New AD Turd Alberts needs to avoid getting caught up in trying to hire a big name or someone with connections to Nebraska and concentrate on fit and vision. Leonhard strikes me as a great fit, but obviously he's completely unproven as a head coach. Leipold is a proven program builder, but would he bolt from Kansas after one season? I'd even look at the FCS level, much like Kansas State did when it hired Chris Klieman. Southern Illinois' Nick Hill made Bruce Feldman's list of 43 coaches to watch this coming carousel.
Whoever the coach, Nebraska is not going to return to its 1990s-era dominance. But that's not the goal. Its model should be Wisconsin. That program has a distinct identity and has been winning at a high level for 30 years, and yet that school has no inherent advantages over Nebraska. It's got no natural recruiting footprint either. Same goes for basically the entire Big Ten West. Nebraska should be regularly winning Big Ten West titles, not losing back-to-back years to Illinois.
