Coach Riley at Big Red Today Breakfast
- Thread starter nebcountry
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I really hope you were being sarcastic with the above. If not, this is one of the stupidest things I have read on the board in a while considering that NU just had 2 lowly 3 star players drafted in the 3rd round. I am excited about the potential of the guys that we currently have to play on
Honestly I am more concerned with Safety. Banker is a real trooper but I don't know if he can coach a position anymore.
I am glad to see someone else who shares my concern that Banker is coaching the safeties. I guess I just need to trust Riley and accept that Banker must be a pretty good coach. I would hate to think Riley is pulling a Callahan here and merely sticking by an old friend. I doubt that is the case. This is Riley's last hurrah as a coach. He really wants to succeed and do something special. So he must see something in Banker a lot of us don't. Geez... I can't wait for the season to start
I'll take a guess and say that Banker is trying to fix last years issues, at least temporarily. Remember last year Stewart was the defensive backs coach, this year, he is only coaching the cornerbacks. I can't speculate why, and it may not be anything negative, but there is certainly more focus there from a coaching standpoint, so things should improve. We also have some excellent younger talent back there and could be a win/win move by Banker to help get more guys up to speed quicker.
The response to your anecdotal evidence is so obvious that I'm not going to waste anybody's time typing out a response. Suffice it to say I was not being sarcastic. Nevertheless, I am also rooting for our players to succeed.
Or maybe he just wanted to finish his career with his buddies instead of hiring new coaches at OSU
Except that to think that you have to keep relying on that played-out and now clearly defunct premise that Mike Riley is here to collect a check and not to win. Where is Clevinger these days anyway?
I think Riley is here to win and will try his best to do so - except he is going to sink or swim with the assistants who have been with him for years and are his friends - how is that so difficult to understand
I do not think this is true. If someone isn't pulling their weight, I believe MR will find someone better (see Hughes, Hank).
I wont rehash it but lets hope you are right - I do not agree with you but I do hope you are correct here
It wouldn't matter anyway.
New assistants take some time to break in. If Riley were to hire, oh I don't know, Deion Sanders to run the secondary because they are atrocious again this year, Deion Sanders is not going to have a quality of secondary that we want for probably two season.
If Riley is in position where he has to fire a number of his staff, he's basically going to be in position with the fan base to where, the selection of the new staff won't matter, he'll be fired long before they ever reach their full potential (one might call this the Solich effect).
We have folks that think Riley could be fired this year if he doesn't shine enough (enough is kind of a sticking point, some folks think it might be as many as 7 or 8 games isn't good enough). This makes the talk of how well Parrella could be in the future, for example, relatively moot if that does indeed happen.
I do not think Solich was cut out to be P5 coach imo - but there are plenty of coordinators who make an imediate difference, Aranda , Durkin, Frost and Lincoln Riley to name a few
Solich was a coordinator in title only ... he didn't design the offense, he wasn't responsible for the primary offensive game plan nor did he call the plays. We handed over the most successful program in the modern era who had just come off winning 3 NCs in 4 years to the running backs coach.
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That's pretty much how I see it as well. I'm guessing 8 or 9 wins this year. Coming off a losing season last year, I can envision the "spin", rewarding mediocrity as success and giving him a big extension. At that point it will be a done deal, and we'll playing the hand we're dealt.
I want to see us get good again. Coaching is a big part of that equation, recruiting is a big part of that equation.
Hank Hughes was not a long time Riley friend. There was no bond of loyalty there built up over years and years of working together. So that is not a good example of whether or not Riley would be able to fire Banker.
But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Might be a big, big turnaround on defense this year. Who knows? I still say our defensive line is unproven and the secondary talent not as great as advertised. If teams can actually run against us this year as well as torch us through the air like last year, we are in a world of hurt. But I am drinking the Koolaide as I always do at this time of year. I still say we go 9-3 or 10-2 and recruiting mojo kicks into high gear.
But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Might be a big, big turnaround on defense this year. Who knows? I still say our defensive line is unproven and the secondary talent not as great as advertised. If teams can actually run against us this year as well as torch us through the air like last year, we are in a world of hurt. But I am drinking the Koolaide as I always do at this time of year. I still say we go 9-3 or 10-2 and recruiting mojo kicks into high gear.
The quality of Solich's coaching wasn't meant to be an issue. It was just meant to point out that if we start going to switching coaches in years 2 and 3, we probably won't have them around long enough to see their full potential. Part is because the backlash over keeping Pelini around too long will make sure of that as well (pendulums tend to swing etc).
And I'm just talking about the staff generally, not necessarily only coordinators.
Per the names given, I like Frost, but I'm not sure he's an immediate impact guy. Oregon of all places was a place he had yet to really reel in and develop his own QB (they have lived off transfers the last couple years). He stole a HS QB recruit from us, but also left before he could develop him. I'm not sure if he's an immediate impact guy or not, there's nothing in his resume to support that he is as a coordinator. But overall he was a good coordinator.
It's not hard to understand. What I am objecting to is the sentiment of one who thinks Riley hired them because they are his "friends" and "buddies" and not because he thought them capable and qualified. That is the defunct premise, because I see no evidence to suggest the guy doesn't care about winning first and foremost. And it's clearly to beg the question in this instance if, as I thought you were, using as evidence that he doesn't care about winning the hiring of his friends and buddies. That is the Clevinger fallacy: positing as the explanation of some undesirable state of affairs an ulterior motive that is impossible to disprove.
All that I am suggesting is that, instead of relying on objectionable premises to motivate one's pessimism about the future of the program, one instead simply express doubt. One could do that by, e.g., questioning Riley's judgment or assessment of Banker's acumen, rather than taking it as evidence of ulterior motives.
The first statement I quoted definitely sounded like the latter, this second one more like the former. If this is your view, I don't have any issue with it.
There is literally zero chance in the world that Riley believes Banker is the best DC in football. So let's move to the next step...does Riley really believe that Banker is the #1 DC that Nebraska could lure under any circumstance? Again, very doubtful and almost embarrassing if true.
Realistically, Riley believes strongly that familiarity and continuity within a coaching staff leads to success. He likely knows all of Bankers strengths and weaknesses by now, and has weighed the pluses vs the minuses. It's definitely not the way I would have gone, but it HAS worked here before.
I don't see this at all. He knows he has a golden goose & is doing everything in his power to succeed.
It is 100% sure he feels Banker is the best person to be his DC and help build the program he wants to lead.
I think he's doing everything he has always thought you should do to succeed… He's been very successful in his entire career I don't think he's changing anything now.
I never said Riley thought Banker was "the best DC in football." I said "capable" and "qualified." That's a far way off from Narduzzi. We also don't need to get into whether he was the best DC to hire "under any circumstance," as he clearly thought Banker was the best DC to hire under those particular circumstances.
I'm not trying to make Banker out to be any more than what he has been thus far - underwhelming. All I am disagreeing with are sentiments to the effect that this staff doesn't want to win and aren't trying to do everything they can to win.
I agree completely with your second paragraph.