Why I’m excited about the 2008 Huskers

Bo Pelini. For the first time since Osborne, HG believes Nebraska football has a great chance to start making a name for itself on the national football scene.

It’s been a while. I’m starving for a big Huskers “W” that I can be proud of. And let’s be honest, in college football and particularly at a place like Nebraska, wins are correlated with the head coach.

And in coaching, it’s either you got it or you don’t.

As much as Frank Solich’s firing is now viewed as an injustice along the same lines as the lack of response by FEMA during a good job during Hurricane Katrina, he was never given enough time to correct his mistakes and make a recovery. Therefore, the viewpoint around Solich is ‘he doesn’t have it.’

You’re doing a fine job, Pedy.

But let’s look at the case against Solich: coaches with Solich’s resume do not end up, and content at, places like the fine University of Ohio if they aren’t a product of the system. Or lacks charisma or is a great recruiter. Even with the ill-fated DUI. Oh wait, that’s right, he was dated-raped.

Come on, sing it:

“If it wasn’t for date-rape, Solich would never get laid.”

Solich was a fine man (football-wise) and a loyal assistant to the genius of Tom Osborne. He took over a well-oiled machine to some significant wins and continued national prominence.

Although, when we started getting further into his tenure, when ‘his’ players who ‘he’ recruited came in, we didn’t see the same level of talent nor competitiveness.You can blame partial qualifiers and rule changes, but the bottom line is they weren’t attracting top talent and/or not developing talent.

And, you know, the wheels of Nebraska came off long before Callahan arrived. It happened in 2002. That’s when the Huskers looked very beatable, every game.

7-7.

Ouch!

The End of an Era.

(Yes, 2003 we had a little redemption. And yes, Solich should of kept his job. But how we remember and how it actually happened is too different things. A lot of people have wanted to run Solich out of town and we got our wish. And then every available coach said “Eff You” to the Huskers job.)

And the beginning of a new Error

But, then our He arrived on campus on December 4th. And for the first time since Osborne, I think we are going to have a first rate coach. An effective and aggressive defensive coach who will be heavily involved in the defense while giving Shawn Watson wide latitude on play calling and offensive coach.

Also, does anyone reading this post not think that Bo Pelini has great football IQ? What’s football IQ? When to call time-outs, time management, play calling timing, trick plays, focus on special teams, ect.?

I think we should start getting pumped on the Huskers on a very macro way. Let’s not only think about the progress we are going to make this season, let’s also remember that for the first time in a decade, Nebraska is going to a media friendly, charismatic, motivating, and innovative coach.

If Bo Pelini works out, we have him for the long-haul. I think Bo and Nebraska is a great fit. If Bo succeeds and other schools came calling, I think we have because we are, at our best, the coaching job at Nebraska is extremely hard to top.