I would like to express my feelings for much of the past five days through the music of Waylon Jennings (and lyrics of Billy Joe Shaver)...
Omaha you've been weighing heavy on my mind.
Guess I really never left at all.
I'm turning all those roads I walked around the other way.
Coming back to you, Omaha.
Swap Omaha for Lincoln and you've pretty much summed up what's happening for a number of coaches and players right now (and doesn't it kick the hell out of that Counting Crows song?). After four seasons of turmoil and swallowed pride the notion itself is almost too much to comprehend.
Hence, a meeting of the minds...a Big Red Roundtable:
The 2007 season finished with a disappointing 5-7 record. Very few people expected this. What went wrong?
Well, you know, we don't have the answer to that. We're just going to get back to work this off-season and get ready for San Jose State. They're a good football te...wait...that's over now.
Forgive me.
Everyone seems to point to the quartering USC performed on the defense and I think that's a pretty good starting point. As for why that game sent the entire season spiralling out of control, your guess is as good as mine.
But I also think that the excitement surrounding Sam Keller seemed to cloud the fact that he was essentially a first year quarterback in this system. Seeing what Joe Ganz did after Keller's injury only confirmed the popular notion that Callahan's version of the WCO isn't a system you perfect in a year. (Especially a year of scout team work.)
Combine the two and you've got pretty big deficiencies on both sides of the ball.
Bo Pelini takes over as head coach. Good move or bad?
Good. As best I can tell the feeling all around is one of renewed enthusiasm. Nebraska fans no longer feel as though their program has been hijacked. We're not hostages anymore.
Too dire? Probably but most sports talk is too dire.
Nebraska fans were divided after the last coaching change. Do you see fans finally uniting?
For the time being, yes, but at any sign of adversity people are bound to differ on the correct course of action. Right now it truly feels like a great reunion tour is about to get rolling, but the scary notion is what if it doesn't work? What if Nebraska goes back to the "Nebraska way" and, for whatever reason, it isn't enough?
Then we'll truly be at a crossroads. Right now it feels like we're fixing past mistakes, the cosmic reset button has been pressed and we're probably doing what we should've done four years ago.
But four years from now what if we find out you truly can't go home again. That's the only thing that gives me pause.
How would you like to see Bo Pelini fill out his coaching staff? Anybody or anything in particular you're looking to see?
Well, since Coach O is apparently out--and that was really just for my own individual entertainment--I can't really say I have a particular hankering for one guy over the other.
It seems as though Watson will still be around and given the keys to the offense which is good on two fronts: 1) it provides some sense of continuity and familiarity, and 2) he seems to be on the fast track to a head coaching job of his own soon enough. You want to keep those guys around.
What do you think the expectations are for Bo Pelini? Do you think he needs to win x amount or do x by a certain date?
If some people were willing to give Callahan another year after the one just passed, I have to think that Bo's on a pretty long leash. Simply restoring that Blackshirt swagger will buy the guy a lot of time because it wasn't just that Nebraska was losing under Billy C. it was how they were losing. Once Cornhusker fans can recognize their team again and fully stand behind what they're preaching and doing, I think the majority are willing to deal with some losses.
That said, the expectation is still to win. Many commenters I've seen think that Big 12 North is within reach next year and I'm inclined to agree, but simply getting back to a style of play dominated by work ethic will probably be enough for at least three years.
I think the turning point will eventually be the Big Game performance. For a brief period simply getting to big games and playing well will be enough, but by year three or four the questions will start to pop up, can Pelini win the big one?
That's the question that followed Osborne for almost his entire career but the difference now is entire careers are often only three or four years long.
Fellow Knights:
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