The Rest of College Football

[Wild Hoss]

I don?t believe its as simple as recruiting talent.

Bo doesn?t have NU performing as well as it should be in that area, but its only one part of the problem. Evaluation of that talent is important as well, and he?s not doing very well in that regard. Tied to that is development, and that area is suffering also.

We aren?t getting the talent we should be, and we aren?t getting the max performance- which can be reasonably expected- out of what talent we do have. Our roster is replete with 3rd and 4th year players that don?t play, or simply have a low ceiling. Defensive End for example; we have eight on scholarship right now, which is absurd in its own right, but worse is the fact we don?t have a single one we know is any good. RB, OL, LB, and secondary are in similar shape, to varying degrees. Among those position groups are a good number of highly-rated recruits.

Ent probably won?t agree, but IMO there are a number of staffs out there who would be doing better with what we have than the Pelini Regime is. There are a lot who would do better, and bring in superior material as well. IDK what the program?s ceiling would be with a better staff, but I believe it would be high enough to keep us all happy.

This staff just will not get out of its own way, and that is probably the single-most frustrating aspect of the while thing.

[lineygoblue]

Well, we've had experience with that too. The last couple years of Lloyd's tenure were teams that woefully under performed.

Rich Rodriguez tried to turn Michigan football into a CUSA team ...

[entropy]

Your trajectory seems to be the #3/#4 team in a weak B10, is that not good enough?

need to be #1 sometimes.. 3rd all the time won't work... but it is unreasonable to think there won't be some thirds

[iam416]

I think Pelini is an average CFB Head Coach. That description includes a number of tasks other than Xs and Os. Recruiting. Talent assessment and development. Building alumni goodwill. And so on. It doesn't seem to me like Pelini is anything other than "meh" as a "Face of the Program" guy for a place like UNL.

After realignment -- at least this round -- there is no excuse for Pelini and UNL to not routinely play in the CCG. There is no program in their new division that should be better than them, and only Wisconsin should even be comparable.

As far as recruiting goes, I think he's average at best. I look at someone like Mark Stoops and Vince Marrow and think UNL could do that. They could target a state like Ohio and snatch a ton of really good players that they wouldn't even have to fight OSU or M for. They'd only have to beat, well, Kentucky and MSU and Purdue, etc. And I bring up Kentucky to show that it can be done on a relatively short turnaround. I understand that UNL had to shift recruiting geographies a bit, but that can be done with a good staff. UK didn't do shit in Ohio for as long as I can remember.

The bottom line, though, is that Pelini is going to get out-recruited big-time by OSU and M and, IMO, he doesn't have other skills to bridge that gap. I think they need someone else. I'm not sure who they can get, but Pelini ain't the answer. IMO, the best he has in him is maybe an upset of OSU or M in the B10 CCG. As an OSU fan, I don't consider UNL as much of a threat to UFM hegemony.

Speaking of which, ESPN did a thing on the top 5 FUTURE programs (3 year projections). Alabama, OSU, LSU, Florida and M were the top 5, in order.

[entropy]

and UNL was not on the list..

btw.. as for the list..

SEC 7 - $2.25 billion, ESPN, 15 years through 2023-24
B12 5 - $2.6 billion, ESPN/FOX, 13 years through 2024-25
ACC 4 - $3.6 billion, ESPN, 15 years through 2026-27
P12 4 - $3 billion, ESPN/FOX, 12 years through 2023-24
B1G 2 - $1 billion, ESPN, 10 years through 2016-17
BE 2 - $126 million, ESPN, seven years for basketball (2013-2020); six years for football (2014-2020)
ND 1 - ???

[entropy]

talent.. UNL hasn't targeted ohio?

[iam416]

If they have, then they're not doing a particularly good job of it. It sort of annoys me, too, that other B10 schools aren't getting the best of Ohio that OSU is waffling on or otherwise not interested in. There are gads of really good players that can make a difference. Michigan State, e.g., has lived off them -- Ringer, Worthy, Adams, Bell to name probably 4 of their best players over the 5-7 years.

Nebraska doesn't have the proximity advantage, but I think they should be able to overcome that with tradition and good recruiting. My sense of it is that they don't do a particularly good job laying the groundwork throughout Ohio. Dantonio's staff, as a comparison, works their ass off in Ohio and ends up typically getting some players that end up being solid or better.

[entropy]

btw..

"Sometimes I read on those Husker message boards that Bo Pelini doesn't recruit well and this and that," said Richard Darlington, Zack's father and also his head coach at Apopka (Fla.) High School.

"Let me tell you about Bo: He tells the truth," the elder Darlington said. "He's straight-up with people. I respect that. Most schools are a bunch of B.S. I don't want a bunch of bells and whistles and promises. That's not what it's about; it's about being real."

[iam416]

Darlington is an important recruit for UNL.

I don't know how Pelini recruits. I do believe, firmly, that recruits that sign with a school are piss poor people to listen to about the coach they just signed with. Most recruits doing interviews like that sign with the staff that is "honest", "feels like family" and "feels comfortable with." It's white noise. Recruiting is about relationships and who you feel comfortable with (amongst the upper echelon of schools). Nearly every recruit commits because of a great relationship with a coach and staff. The others are paid massive amounts of money.

I can, however, objectively judge Pelini. His recruiting is so-so.

[entropy]

I think some recruits like the flash and glam... USC had that going.. I think some schools treat the kids like rock stars to get them there..

I really do believe a large portion of these kids get little or no guidance and can be swayed..

[Wild Hoss]

I'm not sure who they can get, but Pelini ain't the answer.

Chris Peterson (Boise State) is my dream candidate. He?s proven he can win at a geographically disadvantaged school, maximize his talent, and is a hell of a ?Gameday Coach?. Boise always seems to be solid and well-coached in all three phases of the game, which is indicative of a coach who realizes the importance of detail. He?s got the name recognition to sell recruits right out of the gate.

We have the right AD in place to get it done, but the political window has to open first. Given the weakness of our conference slate for the foreseeable future, IDK when that?s going to occur.

[Wild Hoss]

Recruiting is about relationships and who you feel comfortable with (amongst the upper echelon of schools). Nearly every recruit commits because of a great relationship with a coach and staff.

Recruiting is about organization and effort. Both are questionable for us.

[iam416]

Recruiting is about organization and effort. Both are questionable for us.

Yes, from the program's end. I was speaking about it from a recruit's perspective.

[WM Wolverine]

You're always going to be at a disadvantage due to location, even your surrounding states are quite weak. That leaves you recruiting kids 300+ miles away. You're going to either have to battle elite programs for recruits (not sustainable till you improve your brand/prestige), find recruits that others overlooked and/or get the best of the leftovers.

Battling elite programs for recruits on their home turf is something that you can't sustain doing over-and-over, the home teams usually win out in recruiting, sometimes that home team is just a 3 hour car ride away, state away. You'll have to build up your national brand (2-3 more 10+ win season would help) to have a fair fight. That leaves you needing a coach that is better at identifying talent than his competition. Wisky has done quite well with mostly 3-stars and have won 3 straight B10 titles, of course they always have 4 wins OOC and seem to always have a favorable B10 slate as well but they do really good at identifying recruits others don't value and developing them into quality B10 football players...

There are lots of quality leftovers, recruits that M didn't want due to academics, recruits that had some off-the-field issues, etc. MSU/Dantonio has relied on these types for years and been successful because of it.

[Wild Hoss]

Like I said earlier, none of that is new. If talent is all that was required Texas would have a dozen NCs, and that'd be half of what they felt they deserved.

Its an important part of the equation, but still only part; we've historically done well in overcoming that aspect. We need to get back to the formula that accomplished that.