Nebraska Offense, HCBP's character, and management issues - a serious discussion

[3yrlurker]

I would like to have a serious discussion about the way Bo handles this team. let me preface this by saying that i absolutely think bo is the right hire for nebraska, and this is in no way an indictment on him. so please take time to understand the point of the thread before trying to slap labels or troll anyone who participates.

here's what we know: a team almost always takes on the character of the coach.
here's what we also know: Bo is a hard worker, and doesn't tolerate sloppy play. He's almost always ready to play, and is quite aggressive.
one more: the defense plays exactly as Bo is.

everything from here on in includes some speculation and musings: So what is wrong with the offense?? why do they sometimes come out explosive, and in 2 seconds just stink up the whole place? (random thought: it's kind of interesting that the same description matches niles paul, an offensive leader, to the t)...if the coaches character is supposed to be shown in the play on the field, then why isn't the offense playing exactly like the character of Bo pelini? is it still under development? or is it taking on the character of others?

if the latter is true, which i think it is, then that's very disturbing. Bo had shawn watson referred to him. i have no problem with the hire, but i must say if the offence isn't exhibiting the character of bo, then it must be exhibiting the character of someone it has been delegated to. this is not an indictment on shawn watson either. i think he's a genius, at the very minimum. but what i'm trying to say is that it may be time for bo to begin to take a different approach on the offensive side.

I think that if we look back on the past 3 years, (some may not agree with this) that every time nebraska has had a great game offensively, that these are games where bo had a direct supervision of the offensive side, rather than a delegatory approach. I think for nebraska to get to the next level, this needs to be more common place. a few examples are the bowl games (bo had enough time to sit with the offensive guys) and mizzou this year, and even to an extent, oklahoma and the b12 game last year.

With all this jargon, all im trying to say is that offensively, bo pelini cannot simply delegate EVERYTHING to shawn watson and ted gilmore. its a recipe for disaster. its almost as if Bo doesn't want to say too much to the offense, except when its not working...but by then, usually its too late. the offense has already entered into their stink mode. this team cannot be truly complete until he as a head coach enforces his character on all sides of the ball, no matter how little he thinks he knows about the side. at the very least, some of the lethargy on offense would not even be present if bo was getting after them in practice as much as he does the defense. what do you guys think?

[NIdahohusker]

Remember how inexperienced this defensive staff is. Sanders was a pro candidate, a coordinator, and the his secondary in 2003 was stellar. But Carl was just a graduate assistant in 2003. Then four years at a non BCS school. Ekeler and Papuchis got their first full time jobs in 2008. On offense tons of experience in various styles of offense. Barney is a former coordinator, Brown brings TO's offense. The KU offense comes to NU in 2008. Watson and his big backs and TE centered offenses, and the lessons leRned from Callahan to Watson and Gilmore. They should not need the help.

Carl now has more coordinator responsibilities. Papuchis is now coaching the whole line . So Bo have more time to spend with the offense. His style is physical. The offensive line and receivers are blocking more physical. He wanted a spread with read option. We have it. He has been recruiting QB's with more running ability. Martinez is certainy an upgrade over Lee in that department.

But Bo is still young and emotional. He is often brilliant, but sometimes gets out coached. Missouri in 2008, SDSU and Texas in 2010. What the defense did against Missouri this year was not a cutsy one week adjustment like in 2008 because they worked on the 3 man front in fall practice. Bo is  learning, and so is his team, how to win when you don't play your best.

[Bummerbry]

Not sure if we can pin this on Bo. His focus is the defense (although Carl is the DC, it is Bo that carries the plays and calls them into his headset to Carl to be signaled in).

One thing you know Bo has learned from TO and that is having as good a continuity in staff as possible. Firing a coach doesn't look good for a program, especially a winning program ranked high in all the rankings. Recruits can and are lost in that process for various reasons (may want to play for the fired coach, other schools will use it against a program, etc.). Now the same can probably be said when keeping a coach. But unless you have this massive outcry against a coach or are losing it just isn't something I think you will see Bo do.

As to why the offense is the way it is? I wish I could put my finger on it. I think there are multiple reasons though. Watson is predictable at a minimum. Still in the midst of a fairly new offense. At times it is fun to watch and others it is putrid. I can only think to chalk it up to errors in execution. Losing Martinez and then Lee threw a wrench into the rhythm the offense was trying to get in IMO. Having to play call for Green and Burkhead (ISU) and then to keep Martinez from further injury (Kansas) I am sure are part of the more recent issues. But the offense has looked really bad one week and then amazing the next. I wouldn't be surprised if they put up 40+ on A&M. But again, that is the issue. All this up and down play. Maybe the coaches need to be asked directly about it but you know a straight answer isn't on the other end so why bother.

As to Bo's coaching style, etc. I love it. I love how he coaches. I love how he reacts to problems during games (in terms of officials, mistakes by players, whatever). If he is yelling at his own brother just as loud as he is the officials then we all should know, this is Bo. This is who he is and he isn't going to change just so those watching or on the outside looking in think he should. And I tend to believe the other coaches and players would not want him to. You either get Bo Pelini or something else (a toned down Bo Pelini). I think we will always have a better chance to win games with the real Bo than fake Bo, if you know what I mean.

Just my opinions.

[helenahusker]

Good judgment says a coach should get 4 years, maybe 5, before he can be judged on his program.  The logic behind it is reasonable, especially given the recruiting cycles.  I would give Bo another year, or two, before judging the offense.  The transition from the Solich QB all run no pass game, to the Callahan QB no run only pass game, to Bo's true duel threat vision - QB run and throw equally adeptly - will take some time.   

[Hort]

Can we get Bo some red or white sweatshirts rather than tan?

[Omaha_Phil]

Can we get Bo some red or white sweatshirts rather than tan?

I thought it was gray and I like his look; his look fits exactly his personality/style. 

[NearBigRedOfTheDesert]

Everything goes in cycles.  Will be interesting to see how good the defense is once the current Juniors and Seniors are gone (Crick, Dennard, Prince, Gomes, Hagg, Thenarse, Cassidy, David, and Pierre).  Will be interesting to see how much better the offense is in two years when the upper classmen include Taylor, Rex, Quincy, Sirles, Rodriguez, Qvale, Cotton, and Reed.

I am not saying there’s no young depth on Defense or that  there’s no good upperclassmen on Offense right now.  Just that things go in cycles.  Last year, there were gigantic quality differences between offense and defense.  There’s been a significant reduction in that gap this year.

Why aren’t they more consistent?  The keys to the car are in the hands of a redshirt freshman and the initial emphasis on improving the team in the first three years of the Pelini era has been on defense (as it had to be).  Bo came in with a plan for Defense and Wats has been adapting to what Bo wants – his learning curve was steeper.

Next year’s move to the Big 10 will probably impact defensive strategy more than offensive strategy – the running offense featuring the zone read is more suited to cold weather football while the Peso is more suited to playing passing offenses.  Did I mention I think everything goes in cycles?

[Red Said Ted]

It could be that you're putting too much stock into the notion about a team taking on the personality of the HC.  That has some merit, but I think it can be overly emphasized.  Take Texas and Florida for example.  Last year, they have great success under their head coaches.  This year, they have flat sucked at times, Texas especially.  Same head coach from last year to this year.  Why the change?  Personnel, especially a new QB.  I think we tend to undervalue the importance of personnel at the college level.  But, IMO you have to have the right players in the right system to succeed.  It has been said that it's not about the Xs and the Os but it is all about the Jimmys and the Joes.  I don't completely agree with that, but I do believe it holds some water.  Just look at our own team this year.  T-Magic goes down and we struggle big time.  Not many have mentioned it but against ISU, if Phonzo plays that game we probably win by two TDs in regulation.  Two ISU TD reception were caught by receivers who would normally have been covered by Phonzo.  With him in there, ISU probably doesn't make those grabs. 

Bo and the staff are bringing in the high quality players we'll need to get better as a team, but it's going to take some time to get these kids here and then get them developed.  Each year I think we see a little improvement and I expect that trend to continue as we have been able to recruit a high level of talent of late.  I'd say we've done especially well at upgrading the offensive line talent, but we're not going to fully see that pay off on the field for another one to three years. 

[a Hsker]

Nebraska's offense: pretty good this year. Forecasting I'd say it'll be better in the coming years.

Bo: Doing pretty well for a newbie young man. I'm impressed and happy to give him more time as I watch many good and not too many bad games. His character seems more than OK to me. In a perfect world, he should have the moral and legal mandate to brutally beat the refs as they screw and cheat him on a nearly weekly basis, for example.

Management issues: back to Bo, I think. Seems NU is running pretty well under young Bo. Consider our QB's in this year of the big QB debate. What do they think? Seems they think Bo and staff are pretty OK.

OP says the team takes on the character of its coach. I say usually, no it does not. Coaches are middle or old age men. Trained. Very serious. Teams are young adults (kids, some of them). If our team took on Bo's character we'd be 10-0 right now and in 2 years prior, we'd have won 5 more games. Think about TO and contrast him to the playing days of Frazier et al. That team was so in your face and arrogant (but not extremely overt about it like say Miami had been) but TO was and has never been like that. Seems that worked out well.

Worried about Bo? Don't be. Just sit back and watch. He's gonna tear it up.....for a loooong time.

Folks...this is not a PC or PR contest Bo is in. This is a real game of real men with definite scoring metrics. Chill on the soft scoring and focus more on numbers as there are plenty of numbers in Bo's world that provide good insight.

[Shockrfan]

part of the offense's jekyll and hyde personality may stem from the fact that this is the first year where the philosophy has stayed the same for the whole year. on top of that in season change the philosophy seems to have also changed in the off season. how well does ocsw know the type of offense nu is running now? i doubt he knows all the ins and outs, so he has his own learning curve going on. the offensive side of the ball saw several guys working together for the first time whereas the defensive side saw all the coaches having some sort of relationship with the head man. the offense should catch up as the players and coaches mature in the offense.

[RED ED]

also remember wee had a change in offensive style as well. from west cost short ball controll routes to a running spread offense.

[sugalean]

9-1...  Apparent North Division Champions...I'll take it. Worry about the other stuff later after the season is over. Only focus now is on winning this conference before we go. And it doesn't have to be perfect.

I Didn't anticipate a undefeated record and the results have been better than I thought. New QB and new approach on offense has had its up and downs... that should of been expected. Defense without All American tackle, 2 great safeties and one of the best inside LBs in the conf. has done a great job.  They took a decent team, turned it around to its better than decent in 3 yrs. Recruiting is going better than I thought it would go. Sure this team makes mistakes, but what team doesn't. The thing is they have always bounced back this yr. The whole thing could of went into the tank after Texas but it made them stronger to me. They can't say that in Austin as that team continues to plunge with all that talent. Players have stood up when called upon. Every week the fans have something petty to complain about. These guys don't care...they keep plugging along giving us their best. I'm truly enjoying the effort and results.

Bo's character is fine. Sure he is rough around the edges but that's my type of coach. Don't need a baby sitter or public speaker for a coach. Management issues have been fine too. 9-1 in the Big XII says these issues must not be all that big. Players are graduating. Starting to go to the pros again. The former players are coming back and saying it feels like NU again. We haven't had big issues with players off the field. The team has that we are family look about them again. The new AD is taking us to new exciting era in a prestigious conference where we as fans get rid of that pay for view garbage. The glass isn't half full... its running over.

And we are going to get better.

Issues?... I just don't see any that are a big concern.

GBR

[Sam]

       IMO I think the consistancy will get better with time.  Watson and the Offensive coaches have a lot of experience but not a lot together or in the same offense.  Watson does get outcoached a couple times each year.  I think he will improve as the consistancy gets better.
            Actually this is the 3rd starting QB we have had in 3 years running essentially the 3rd style of offense in 3 years.  Is always going to be difficult to find consistancy with that.   I think Cotton is finally getting depth to where he isn't switching lineman from position to position all year long.  Have always been inconsistant up front when he's had to do that. 
        I think they have settled in on the style to be run.  Depth has improved. Recruiting has been great except maybe at WR.
 Consistancy is what we were used to in the 80s and 90s. However that was a 20 year stretch running essentially the same style of offense with essentially limitless able bodies and essentially all the same coaches that had developed a system together.  If a young player had to start which was rare he was usually surrounded by 10 upper classmen  and extreme coaching continuity.  Time and patience are rare commodities these days.  If we find them I think we will be o.k.  I think this is where Bo is seeing the bigger picture.

[3yrlurker]

It could be that you're putting too much stock into the notion about a team taking on the personality of the HC.  That has some merit, but I think it can be overly emphasized.  Take Texas and Florida for example.  Last year, they have great success under their head coaches.  This year, they have flat sucked at times, Texas especially.  Same head coach from last year to this year.  Why the change?  Personnel, especially a new QB.  I think we tend to undervalue the importance of personnel at the college level.  But, IMO you have to have the right players in the right system to succeed.  It has been said that it's not about the Xs and the Os but it is all about the Jimmys and the Joes.  I don't completely agree with that, but I do believe it holds some water.  Just look at our own team this year.  T-Magic goes down and we struggle big time.  Not many have mentioned it but against ISU, if Phonzo plays that game we probably win by two TDs in regulation.  Two ISU TD reception were caught by receivers who would normally have been covered by Phonzo.  With him in there, ISU probably doesn't make those grabs. 

Bo and the staff are bringing in the high quality players we'll need to get better as a team, but it's going to take some time to get these kids here and then get them developed.  Each year I think we see a little improvement and I expect that trend to continue as we have been able to recruit a high level of talent of late.  I'd say we've done especially well at upgrading the offensive line talent, but we're not going to fully see that pay off on the field for another one to three years. 

i've been a little busy with exams and such (i'm abt to graduate)

On the contrary, i think the examples you've mentioned actualy buttress my point...Texas has always underachieved, except years when they have a really dominant player...the attitude of their coach seems to be a "do whatever it takes" or using the fastest way to victory, instead of building up a consistent system. and they have done that with vince young, super duper running backs, and mccoy. now, all of a sudden, they're exposed, because they have no one player to hang everything on. the texas we're seeing this year is still the same: they're simply still looking for the one player they can spam continuously to victory every single time. (last year's were colt and shipley). Florida also, is really taking on the character of the coach, and really, is more apparent than texas. this year they have a coach who was clearly affected from last year's health issues and is clearly taking it easy this year. results? well, florida is "taking it easy" this year...

I am sure the consistency will get better with time, but the concept of leaving the offence in someone else's hands may not be the best...I look at it this way: if a coach delegates one half of his team to someone else who is truly capable of taking care of it, then that person needs to be a head coach somewhere, and it probably won't take long for that to happen anyway. otherwise, the head coach needs to have direct oversight, even if he doesn't make some play calls. if not, he risks having that half look like a completely different team from the other half, simply because the two halves have different people running them.  i believe this is what we are seeing from nebraska.

[Red]

I think Nebraska's offense has a chance to be really good in the coming years with talent they are bringing in and have on the team.  I also tend to believe a team's strength usually reflects the head coaches background.   Our guy was a D guy so we tend to have strong defenses.  OSU has an x QB so they are strong offensively.  It's a generality that seems to hold more true than not.   I would also say that Bo is a pretty good HC already, but his true calling and what he is best is being a Defensive Coordinator.   That's my opinion.   Sometimes he doesnt deal with the non football issues very well.  Like dealing with the press and overzealous fans.   Sometimes giving a political answer is appropriate.  Somethings should left unsaid.   He could get better in time but it's going to be tough for him.   Sometimes I wonder if he will wear on his assistants and we will have turnover.  Time will tell.  Winning solves a lot of things.   All in all he is pretty good at a lot of the important things to winning football games so that's the bottom line.