Rhule won't make the same roster mistakes for 2024.

[Tsakoi]

When Rhule was hired he went on a charm offensive. It was the right move. He offered a bunch of Nebraska HS kids to send a message that Nebraska valued them and it endeared him to Nebraska HS coaches. He did mostly the same with Texas athletes and coaches. He was playing catch up and didn't have time to be choosy because all of this was happening at breakneck speed. His "To do" list was a mile long and there weren't enough hours in the day.

Add the fact that at that point he didn't know much about his current roster. Sure he watched film, but he hadn't been around the guys to really know them. Also, he was pretty new to the whole transfer portal era and the NIL environment.

So we saw him make some moves like re-recruiting Betts and IGC. Those didn't work out for different reasons. He also re-recruited Jimari Butler, which paid off big. He chose to take the offense in a different direction than what Casey Thompson was going to be capable of doing (different skill set and unavailable for spring due to injury) So he went all in on Sims. (Catastrophic)

He also brought in transfers like Collier, Sherman and Borders.....but then found out after practicing in the spring and summer (and early games) that Tommi Hill, Hugehog, Javin Wright, Bullock and Butler were better than them anyway. Still other guys he spent time on like GilVape or Hood ended up just being a total waste of time. For every hurdle he was able to clear he still tripped over a few.

So the point I'm trying to make is now Rhule has his feet under him. He has the lay of the land. He has a year under his belt and a much better idea of what he has on the roster and what he doesn't. IMO he is going to do much better at shaping the roster for 2024. The hurdles will still be there but this time he will have had a chance to prepare for each one.

Last point: The roster rat race starts Friday night regardless of our bowl eligibility. With how things are set up now, these meaningless bowls for 6-6 teams are actually a bit of a drag on 2024 roster reformation. Sure it's good for your young players to get some more practice and possibly a rewarding trip/game/experience, but it will keep our staff from going full throttle on roster reformation.

 

[Carm]

portal opens 12/4, signing day is 12/20. Season exit interviews will need to take place the week after Thanksgiving.

You're right, the only good thing with the bowls is the additional practices, a little fun, and the chance to give some young players more PT. Otherwise the games themselves are worthless.

 

[skersker]

Could not disagree more on the bowl game being worthless. The game itself is experience for a very inexperienced team.

 

[Carm]

There will likely only be 15-20 scholarship players by next 8/1 who were scholarship players under Frost. The rosterchangeover will be pretty complete.

 

[Alcaus]

I agree with your sentiment on Rhule but the downplaying of making a bowl doesn't make sense to me.

We've been on a bowl drought, worst in P5 and we need all the practice time we can get.

If we asked Rhule what he would prefer: bowl practice or an extra month to manage the roster I think he'd take the bowl. Mostly because I don't think he views bowl season as an excuse to not begin aggressively managing the roster in the first place.

 

[Gman1228]

Agreed with most of what you said besides for the bowl game. We have got to take the next step. It absolutely sets us back a year if we fail to get over the hump this year. It dampens everyone’s spirit and it ramps up the persistent pressure this program has been under for a decade now.

At some point we have to rip the fucking monkey of our backs!

 

[Baron Winnebago]

I agree with your sentiment on Rhule but the downplaying of making a bowl doesn't make sense to me.

We've been on a bowl drought, worst in P5 and we need all the practice time we can get.

If we asked Rhule what he would prefer: bowl practice or an extra month to manage the roster I think he'd take the bowl. Mostly because I don't think he views bowl season as an excuse to not begin aggressively managing the roster in the first place.

Yeah. Any "we don't need no stinkin bowl" talk is a rationalization of the absolute failure that is finishing 0-4

 

[Tsakoi]

I agree with your sentiment on Rhule but the downplaying of making a bowl doesn't make sense to me.

We've been on a bowl drought, worst in P5 and we need all the practice time we can get.

If we asked Rhule what he would prefer: bowl practice or an extra month to manage the roster I think he'd take the bowl. Mostly because I don't think he views bowl season as an excuse to not begin aggressively managing the roster in the first place.

For the record, I want to make a bowl. Every year. I'm just saying that it doesn't come without cost, since during that time is when rosters are now being reshaped.

 

[LoudHogRider]

Y'all are thinking WAYYYY to short term on this one. Bowl game or no, I really feel like it would be in the best LONG TERM interests of our hut hut team if they get busy breeding with the volleyball team this long, cold offseason.

 

[Carm]

For the record, I want to make a bowl. Every year. I'm just saying that it doesn't come without cost, since during that time is when rosters are now being reshaped.

Absolutely.

It would be interesting to see who sits out a bowl game. I would guess Newsome, Robinson, and Scott for sure as they are likely expecting to get drafted even if it is late. Could be others who might be considering going UDFA and want to avoid injury - Benhart, Nouili, Reimer or Brown, for example.

We'd probably learn a little about who might not stay for a 6th year of NIL.

 

[Red Finger]

For the record, I want to make a bowl. Every year. I'm just saying that it doesn't come without cost, since during that time is when rosters are now being reshaped.

Being able to say you made a bowl year one is great for recruiting. Big scheme is it a YUGE deal? Probably not. But would it help? Absolutely. So I’d say there’s also a cost for not making a bowl.

 

[Gman1228]

Absolutely.

It would be interesting to see who sits out a bowl game. I would guess Newsome, Robinson, and Scott for sure as they are likely expecting to get drafted even if it is late. Could be others who might be considering going UDFA and want to avoid injury - Benhart, Nouili, Reimer or Brown, for example.

We'd probably learn a little about who might not stay for a 6th year of NIL.

I would be shocked if we had anyone sit out a bowl game. Late round picks don’t sit out bowl games.

 

[Carm]

I would be shocked if we had anyone sit out a bowl game. Late round picks don’t sit out bowl games.

you're probably right. I'll write my bad take off to being bowl-less for 7 years.

 

[huskerj12]

Yeah similarly to everyone else I totally agree with all of that except the bowl part. Making a bowl game has outsized meaning for Nebraska right now. Whether you want to call it program morale, the curse, The Simulation ™️ , a dark cloud over the program, whatever it is, the positives of making a bowl are absolutely huge and outweigh the positives of a couple extra weeks of roster management.

For other teams, that might not be the case. But for NU, when you compare the joy and momentum of making a bowl in year 1 to the miserable slog of yet another long cold depressing winter (and another cynical spring and summer), it's just such a huge difference. Our program needs some nourishment, our fans need some hope, the players need to feel success, the goddamn little kids around the state need to have something to cling onto to become future fans!

That being said, if we lose this week, I'll try to convince myself that the extra weeks of roster management are a good thing. Haha

 

[doublewing]

Yeah similarly to everyone else I totally agree with all of that except the bowl part. Making a bowl game has outsized meaning for Nebraska right now. Whether you want to call it program morale, the curse, The Simulation ™️ , a dark cloud over the program, whatever it is, the positives of making a bowl are absolutely huge and outweigh the positives of a couple extra weeks of roster management.

For other teams, that might not be the case. But for NU, when you compare the joy and momentum of making a bowl in year 1 to the miserable slog of yet another long cold depressing winter (and another cynical spring and summer), it's just such a huge difference. Our program needs some nourishment, our fans need some hope, the players need to feel success, the goddamn little kids around the state need to have something to cling onto to become future fans!

That being said, if we lose this week, I'll try to convince myself that the extra weeks of roster management are a good thing. Haha

Yes, the difference in losing on Friday vs winning is not just important for getting to a bowl game, but the morale boost to the program would be huge. Compare that to losing where the program took a nose dive in multiple winnable games.

People talk about too many bowls or meaningless bowls but compared to our situation since 2017, getting to one would mean a hell of a lot.

Additionally, beating Cockeye on Black Friday then watching them get stomped in the B10 championship game would be glorious. It would be like Colorado 2005.

 

[Huskers4420]

Like many have said, bowl game isn't meaningless just because of our recent drought. But agree with most everything else.

My biggest concern is getting the QB right. This staff thought Sims was an NFL-caliber QB this offseason. How is that possible to be that wrong?

All I know is they better get it right this time. A lot of games could've been won in what is debatably the easiest schedule this program has ever came across if we had the right QB from the jump. The DONU fans will not be as forgiving with another swing and a miss at QB.

 

[Huskers0119]

Yes, the difference in losing on Friday vs winning is not just important for getting to a bowl game, but the morale boost to the program would be huge. Compare that to losing where the program took a nose dive in multiple winnable games.

People talk about too many bowls or meaningless bowls but compared to our situation since 2017, getting to one would mean a hell of a lot.

Additionally, beating Cockeye on Black Friday then watching them get stomped in the B10 championship game would be glorious. It would be like Colorado 2005.

I agree heavily with this but to add on, for me personally the problem with missing a bowl game at this juncture means that Nebraska lost 4 very very winnable games in a row to keep them from getting over the hump. If you would have asked me before the season I would have said that 5-7 is acceptable but now, whether its fair to Rhule or not, going from 5-3 to 5-7 and the toughest of those last 4 games being Cockeye at home would be demoralizing.

 

[Chi7397]

It’s still really funny that SF let the team vote and decline a bowl in the COVId year.

Obviously that was a ridiculous year and bad team anyway, but all this bowl drought talk wouldn’t matter if we’d not suddenly embraced democracy for reasons I still don’t understand.

 

[Ext. 55]

Fuck Cockeye. Win. Go to bowl. Do roster management too. Get great recruiting class. Butt fuck the B1G next year and go 10-2.

There, I said it.

 

[Herbie]

The misses hurt in a bad way on offense. But they were risk he had to take.
Honestly it’s probably better the team doesn’t beat Cockeye. Extra practice is cool and all, but resources are probably better used going in full speed once the portal opens