Knowing what you know now…

[Ext. 55]

Callahan would eat in the NIL portal era. Would hope that he’d use the Harbaugh model for pro style offense, but people do not give him enough credit for the run game he rolled out while here.

Rhule still my choice.

*Whisper* if I wasn't trying to stimulate the conversation and push buttons, I would have picked Rhule too. Best culture setter and most professional in a long time. I think he's still finding his way in this new world of NIL and paying players and finding the right assistants, but he's got it.

 

[Ext. 55]

And still not ONE vote for Barney? Are there any true Husker fans even out there!?!?

 

[Sous Chef]

He hit huge on Suh. Zack Bowman was a very good JUCO pick up. Had maybe 4 other guys that played at or above expectations from the '05 class, and several significant underachievers. The vast majority of the noteworthy guys were on defense... if anything, the defensive staff was doing the better work there (I think Blake was the driving force for a lot of it). '06-'07 classes were not even close in reality to their rankings.

Offense was empty calories who massively padded stats because Callahan left starters in & kept throwing during garbage time.

He got some talent here, but not nearly as much as people like to think, & never had an offense that could do anything against decent teams.

OL stuff was great (particularly pass-pro), I just think almost everything else about his reputation is a mirage.

No one is arguing that Callahan was great. We were given a list of ugly chicks and his thighs are the sknniest.

 

[jaihawk]

The other question I would have with Callahan is would he evolve offensively? They ran a very late 90's style NFL offense and it was a tough watch sometimes. I remember going to watch them beat K State in Manhattan and it was such a slog to get through. Very old school west coast type stuff.

I will say that I miss that little middle screen they ran to Cory Ross a ton of times. I feel like EJ could be successful with that play a few times a game. Feels like we haven't seen it since BC left.

 

[king_kong_]

The Callahan revisionism is the dumbest thing I read on Nebraska message boards.

-He was such a great HC that he went 5-7 in year 4.

careful...

 

[Ext. 55]

No one is arguing that Callahan was great. We were given a list of ugly chicks and his thighs are the sknniest.

 

[Mavsker]

Yeah, I actually am. The 9 wins each year scarred by horrific blowouts that negate much of the winning vibe.

Fair point...but the other coaches that gave us 6 & 7 win seasons also gave us horrific blowouts, so I'd still take the 9-10 win seasons.

The temper tantrums, toxicity, unprofessional and honestly pretty embarrassing approach at times...and on and on. It was so bad, we had to go with the extreme opposite and Mark earned us Mike Riley for crying out loud.

Honestly couldn't care less. I read this as "He was mean to the refs/yelled at his quarterback". His players loved him. He's a football coach, not a priest. To me, getting blown out by Minnesota and winning 7 games with good PR is more embarrassing than getting blown out by Ohio State and winning 9 with bad PR.

 

[JankTheTank]

I'm going with Rhule. The vibe of the program in this very moment sucks, but it's also a volatile part of the season. A win against Cockeye (granted I don't see that happening with my current outlook, but you never know) and some of this sting is removed.

However, time has definitely sanded down the rotted edges the program featured under the other coaches. And the current state of CFB would have exacerbated those deficiencies. Pelini would have floundered in this day and age of NIL and transfer portal. Remember how he and Barney Cotton treated Bubba Starling when he and his family gave them their final answer? Would he adjust his scheme? Would Riley have the backbone to have a vision for the program or would he simply be a facilitator of others' motives and approach?

I will say this about Rhule, he actually looks at how to fix deficiencies after each season instead of assuming next year is the year his method will work. He's tweaked his approach in areas multiple times here already. We've seen him go from dual threat Sims, to a more pro style passer approach (Raiola / McCord), back to thinking dual threat is likely the way to go, along with making coordinator changes along the way.

I think his biggest issue is whatever vision board he lays out for a program tends to miss its mark early on, but gets refined from there. I'm kind of putting the team at 8-5 for the full season this year with a hopefull bowl game win, but expect Rhule to make changes after this season in some regards.

Rhule is setting himself up for Year Four to be a "prove it" year after three years of slow growth. If the NIL money he wanted is now there though, it's time he shows he know what sort of product he wants to put on the field after three years of tinkering and with the money now to afford it.

 

[2010sarenevercomingback]

Cally was coming off of a CCG appearance when TO took his meddling and ultimatums up a notch. Yes, Cosgrove needed to go but Billy C had had enough of the old man and checked out.

WTF are you talking about? Osborne wasn't even AD until halfway through the 2007 season when the wheels were already falling off.

 

[wildcat_husker]

Honestly couldn't care less. I read this as "He was mean to the refs/yelled at his quarterback". His players loved him. To me, getting blown out by Minnesota and winning 7 games with good PR is more embarrassing than getting blown out by Ohio State and winning 9 with bad PR.

My semi hot take is 8-10 wins in the Big 12/Big 10 during Bo’s time would be worth 6-8 wins in the current B1G.

 

[huskerj12]

With a whole lot of hindsight, I can very easily say Bo was my favorite coach of the ones listed. I mean, obviously he won way more than anybody else listed. Those seasons had way more memorable ups and downs and great players than any other listed. I remember specifics about those teams that I could never imagine knowing about most other teams. I have very fond memories, despite the fact that he was certifiably insane.

He would absolutely 100% resign or get fired after like 3 weeks in the current version of college football haha. It would be a total disaster.

 

[Ext. 55]

Fair point...but the other coaches that gave us 6 & 7 win seasons also gave us horrific blowouts, so I'd still take the 9-10 win seasons.


Honestly couldn't care less. I read this as "He was mean to the refs/yelled at his quarterback". His players loved him. He's a football coach, not a priest. To me, getting blown out by Minnesota and winning 7 games with good PR is more embarrassing than getting blown out by Ohio State and winning 9 with bad PR.

I get it. It's a fine balance for me...the Pelini blow-outs were much more memorable for me I guess. And you are right, his players loved him for sure.

 

[ChocaEgg]

WTF are you talking about? Osborne wasn't even AD until halfway through the 2007 season when the wheels were already falling off.

He had been critical of Cally way before that. Cally wanted no part of TO as AD.

 

[Ext. 55]

My semi hot take is 8-10 wins in the Big 12/Big 10 during Bo’s time would be worth 6-8 wins in the current B1G.

Do agree with this. the B1G today is MUCH greater than the 12 of yesterday.

 

[2010sarenevercomingback]

No one is arguing that Callahan was great. We were given a list of ugly chicks and his thighs are the sknniest.

HIS THIGHS ONLY LOOKED SKINNER BECAUSE OF THE BEER GOGGLES AND SPANX OF POOR MEMORIES! THEY ARE FATTER, I TELL YOU! FATTER!

 

[Mavsker]

My semi hot take is 8-10 wins in the Big 12/Big 10 during Bo’s time would be worth 6-8 wins in the current B1G.

It's hard for me to separate how much of this would be due to the "tougher" Big Ten today vs how much we've fallen off.
Under Bo it felt like we were usually a top 25ish team. A top 25 team today in the Big Ten is still winning about 9 games a year. We had top 25 wins. We were competing with (usually not beating) top 10/top 15 teams in Texas and Oklahoma, etc.

So I feel like a big part of the reason we feel the competition is so much tougher today is because we suck a lot more than we used to.

 

[Ext. 55]

@TampaBaySkers ...Mickey Joseph?!? Explain yourself sir!

 

[Alcaus]

People thinking Pelini would be winning 9-10 games a year post 2020 are delusional

 

[SlumpBuster]

Honestly couldn't care less. I read this as "He was mean to the refs/yelled at his quarterback". His players loved him. He's a football coach, not a priest. To me, getting blown out by Minnesota and winning 7 games with good PR is more embarrassing than getting blown out by Ohio State and winning 9 with bad PR.

Rhule would win 9 in the B1G West that Bo faced

 

[DrinkItIn]

People thinking Pelini would be winning 9-10 games a year post 2020 are delusional

There are actually people who still believe that. These are the same folks who swore he’d dominate when he went back to LSU—right up until his very first game, when Mississippi State’s Costello hung an SEC-record 623 yards and five touchdowns on them. That was Mike Leach’s debut, against the defending national champs, and it was a disaster from the jump.