Nebraska 2018 Season Thread

[ELA]

Actually he didn't.
Ohio ran the option under the previous regime. They hired an option coach in Solich. But both Ohio and Solich wanted to get away from the option.

Check his first Ohio team's stats and get back to me on whether he ran the option when he first got to Ohio.

[MrNubbz]

People on this board are not giving Chip Kelly the respect he deserves. He's the best offensive mind in college football.

Chipster was the HC for what 3 seasons I think.That's not a sign of prolonged progress.And USC was under sanctions at the time so there's that.Kelly was pretty good simply not all that.Remember Mike Martz IMO their careers took the same trajectory.Everybody fawned over Martz forgetting Vermeil was a fine coach in his own right.Same-same,Belotti BTW was facing off vs Pete Carroll coached teams

[bayareabadger]

Belloti had a nice program. It was NOT a powerhouse. They weren't winning 11-12 games every single year and making National Title game appearances until.....Chip Kelly became the head coach. Bellotti had 4 ten or more win seasons in 14 years. Two of those years his OC was Chip Kelly. Chip Kelly had at least 11 wins every single year he was at Oregon- and the guy who was his OC rode out those cottails for a couple more years until the ship fell apart because Chip's guys weren't there anymore and Chip wasn't running the show. Basically a Larry Coker type situation where a guy is handed the keys to the Ferrari and he keeps it going for a couple years and then it falls apart.

Chip Kelly's offense turned what was a top 15-20 program- basically a Wisconsin- into a real-life power on the level of a USC, Alabama, or Ohio State.

People on this board are not giving Chip Kelly the respect he deserves. He's the best offensive mind in college football.

Much of this is true, but you wrote "basically from the ground up." And being Wisconsin is probably not the ground in any logical context. (Chip was also only there for one of Bellotti's 10-win seasons)

Chip brought an 80-85th percentile program to the 95th percentile. That's notable and valuable. More valuable than getting a program from 65th-70th to the mid-to-high 80s. But that latter challenge is what Nebraska is right now. 
Kelly had some things going for him at Oregon. He did not have to build much of the infrastructure, because the last guy gave it to him. He was a disinterested recruiter, but had the power of Nike helping that out. Maybe he's like Saban or Meyer, where the second act at a big program mimics the first, but I'll admit I'm skeptical (also that he wouldn't choose a better situation). 
I might agree he's a great offensive mind. The best? I dunno. He's five years removed from his last college season. Huge portions of what made his teams unusual are now ubiquitous. Maybe he's got something new up his sleeve, or maybe he comes in running a lot of things other folks run really well (which would probably be fine, but not 11 wins a year).

[MrNubbz]

Good post BAB,Kelly was good but as you point out didn't start from nuthin'

[Brutus Buckeye]

Check his first Ohio team's stats and get back to me on whether he ran the option when he first got to Ohio.

I don't doubt that they ran the ball a lot. He wouldn't have had a passing QB on the roster yet. The stats don't tell you what formation they ran out of. 
Here's the highlights from his first game; an upset over defending Big East Champ Pitt. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjVISVWk2PA
Not too many Offensive highlights, but it looks like they mostly ran the ball out of the i formation. 

There were some option-esque plays where he would fake it to the FB, then pitch it to the HB. But the QB wasn't even pretending like he was gonna keep the ball and run it himself. 

[847badgerfan]

Home run hires are great until they don't work out.

I recall RichRod being a home run hire. I recall Lane Kiffin being a home run hire. I recall Will Muschamp being a home run hire. I recall Charlie Weis being a home run hire. I recall Charlie Strong being a home run hire.

The list is a long one.

Chip Kelly is not a fit for Nebraska. He just isn't. He needs to be at a place where he can bend the rules a little, have a ton of money to recruit and have a fertile base to recruit from. There will be openings in the PAC-12 and SEC that would suit him much better. Think UCLA and aTm, for starters.

Scott Frost would be a fit, but the fan base (boosters) would need to allow him to take his lumps and build the program in the Nebraska image. That is ground up at this point in time.

[MrNubbz]

Kelly may be interesting in Westwood.So would the Pirate I always like him

[847badgerfan]

Kelly may be interesting in Westwood.So would the Pirate I always like him

If nothing else, the USC fan base would go ape shit.

[ELA]

Eh, I'm not sure about Weis.  I think people were pretty pissed about that hire.  Then he got off to such a good start, they thought maybe they had landed their home run Plan C, like OSU with Tressell.  Not so much.

Sort of like Brady Hoke with Michigan.  Blah...oh, wait, maybe we've got something...never mind.

The helmet schools should be able to make a "home run" hire every single time.  Whether it works out or not remains to be seen.  But if you can't land your guy I question your helmet status.  The fact that Nebraska hired Riley cemented them in that "almost but not quite" tier for me just outside my 7 true helmets.  I can't imagine he'd even be on Michigan or Ohio State or Notre Dame or Texas' list.

[Brutus Buckeye]

Solich's vision for the Ohio offense upon accepting the Ohio job:

http://www.ohiobobcats.com/sports/fball/spec-rel/121604aaa.html

(Solich on what type of offense he will bring in) I've given that some thought and have really done a great deal of traveling this off-year. It was really a year that I actually appreciate having the opportunity to do what I did. I didn't really enjoy the manner in which I got the opportunity to do what I did but traveling around the country as I did to three different pro organizations. I spent considerable time at the Chiefs, spent time with the Vikings in their camp and spent time with the Indianapolis Colts. They were three organizations that I identified as excellent organizations and wanted to learn from. I went around to several colleges and did more than show up and shake hands. I spent time studying their programs. I studied the University of Oklahoma's program, was there for a week, sat in on all their meetings. Coach (Bob) Stoops and his staff were outstanding in allowing me to do that. I was well received around the country by coaches and I very much appreciate that. So I had a chance to really study their program. I was also there in spring ball, stayed for their game against Oregon and also was at the Texas-Oklahoma game. I was at USC twice this past spring and spent time with them and their staff and I thought that was very, very valuable to me. I was up at Wisconsin on three different occasions to spend time with them and their staff. I was down at the University of Miami and spent time with them this past spring. I was at Texas and spent a week there with Coach Mack (Brown). He and his staff were very gracious in spending time with me so I've done an awful lot of studying of different programs and what they're all about.

I've got more pass patterns drawn up than you can imagine. I really went to programs that I thought were developing the ability to both run the ball and throw the ball. I want to be a balanced football team. It's pretty easy to stand up here and say it. I do not want to give up on the option. I do want to run at least a down-the-line option because there are times when you can just take advantage of defenses with that. There are times when you just have an outnumbered situation and you can audible and get to it. But I want a quarterback who has the ability to throw. I would like a quarterback who has some movement so we can design an offense that's going to be based around that quarterback and us having an opportunity to throw as well as run the football. But I do want everybody to understand that I think you still need to have the ability to run the football.

If you look at teams like Oklahoma and if you look at teams like USC, they take great advantage of personnel that they have at very key positions. Look at Reggie Bush; he can line up at tailback or he can line up at wide receiver. They make plays with their quarterback. They make plays with their tailback. They make plays with their receivers. What we'd like to do is recruit those kind of athletes in here who are going to be playmakers at those positions and then we'll be able to have the kind of offense that we want.

[ELA]

Solich's vision for the Ohio offense upon accepting the Ohio job:

http://www.ohiobobcats.com/sports/fball/spec-rel/121604aaa.html

(Solich on what type of offense he will bring in) I've given that some thought and have really done a great deal of traveling this off-year. It was really a year that I actually appreciate having the opportunity to do what I did. I didn't really enjoy the manner in which I got the opportunity to do what I did but traveling around the country as I did to three different pro organizations. I spent considerable time at the Chiefs, spent time with the Vikings in their camp and spent time with the Indianapolis Colts. They were three organizations that I identified as excellent organizations and wanted to learn from. I went around to several colleges and did more than show up and shake hands. I spent time studying their programs. I studied the University of Oklahoma's program, was there for a week, sat in on all their meetings. Coach (Bob) Stoops and his staff were outstanding in allowing me to do that. I was well received around the country by coaches and I very much appreciate that. So I had a chance to really study their program. I was also there in spring ball, stayed for their game against Oregon and also was at the Texas-Oklahoma game. I was at USC twice this past spring and spent time with them and their staff and I thought that was very, very valuable to me. I was up at Wisconsin on three different occasions to spend time with them and their staff. I was down at the University of Miami and spent time with them this past spring. I was at Texas and spent a week there with Coach Mack (Brown). He and his staff were very gracious in spending time with me so I've done an awful lot of studying of different programs and what they're all about.

I've got more pass patterns drawn up than you can imagine. I really went to programs that I thought were developing the ability to both run the ball and throw the ball. I want to be a balanced football team. It's pretty easy to stand up here and say it. I do not want to give up on the option. I do want to run at least a down-the-line option because there are times when you can just take advantage of defenses with that. There are times when you just have an outnumbered situation and you can audible and get to it. But I want a quarterback who has the ability to throw. I would like a quarterback who has some movement so we can design an offense that's going to be based around that quarterback and us having an opportunity to throw as well as run the football. But I do want everybody to understand that I think you still need to have the ability to run the football.

If you look at teams like Oklahoma and if you look at teams like USC, they take great advantage of personnel that they have at very key positions. Look at Reggie Bush; he can line up at tailback or he can line up at wide receiver. They make plays with their quarterback. They make plays with their tailback. They make plays with their receivers. What we'd like to do is recruit those kind of athletes in here who are going to be playmakers at those positions and then we'll be able to have the kind of offense that we want.

Yeah, he says he's not getting away from the option, but he needs to throw the ball more.  Again, not that this was ever the point of bringing up Solich, but this is from a 2012 article where Solich himself says he decided to move away from the option following a 201 New Orleans Bowl loss to Troy.

Frank Solich’s faith in the option offense had been forged and confirmed over an almost three-decade association with Nebraska. Solich played fullback there under Bob Devaney. He coached under Tom Osborne, winning three national championships with the same reliable, grinding attack. When he replaced Osborne, the option helped him win 49 games in his first five seasons, more than either Devaney or Osborne over a similar stretch.
In 2003, after his sixth season, one in which Nebraska went 9-3 in the regular season, he was fired, marking perhaps the first time his faith in the option was shaken. Still, two seasons later, he introduced the option to Ohio University, where the Bobcats were often ignored, a stigma perhaps worse than mediocrity.

[MrNubbz]

If nothing else, the USC fan base would go ape shit.

Before or after hang gliding/surfing and in between hits

[Brutus Buckeye]

Yeah, he says he's not getting away from the option, but he needs to throw the ball more.  Again, not that this was ever the point of bringing up Solich, but this is from a 2012 article where Solich himself says he decided to move away from the option following a 201 New Orleans Bowl loss to Troy.

Frank Solich’s faith in the option offense had been forged and confirmed over an almost three-decade association with Nebraska. Solich played fullback there under Bob Devaney. He coached under Tom Osborne, winning three national championships with the same reliable, grinding attack. When he replaced Osborne, the option helped him win 49 games in his first five seasons, more than either Devaney or Osborne over a similar stretch.
In 2003, after his sixth season, one in which Nebraska went 9-3 in the regular season, he was fired, marking perhaps the first time his faith in the option was shaken. Still, two seasons later, he introduced the option to Ohio University, where the Bobcats were often ignored, a stigma perhaps worse than mediocrity.

Huh?
It says he introduced the option to Ohio. That's just patently false.
In reality, Ohio had always run the option up until the day that they hired Solich. 

[MarqHusker]

Square Peg round hole




Good column by Lee Barfknecht in the OWH about his view on why Eichorst is no longer AD.