I’ve said it since day one – Matt Rhule is the right man for Nebraska. If you’ve followed Nebraska football at all, whether it’s been for five years, ten, twenty, or fifty, how can you not think that. What his predecessors (Riley and Frost) did pales in comparison. Rhule has Nebraska headed in the right direction. Have I always been happy with what I’ve seen. I have not. At times I’ve been Rhule’s biggest critic. But you’ve never heard me say, “He’s got to go.”
The problem is. Things aren’t happening fast enough for the “get rich quick” fan base of Nebraska. They are like little kids in an ice cream parlor, pointing toward the brightly colored Curt Cignetti ice cream and saying, “I want that.” And with nobody to give it to them, they ball their fists, stomp their feet and march in circles as they pitifully wail.
Brats.
Another part of the problem is Nebraska’s rich winning history. You see it all the time, people talking about poor little Johnny, who is twenty years old now, never seeing Husker football win or be dominant. No wonder he isn’t the rabid fan they are. All he’s done is look at old photographs and hear talk of better days. And with that, Mom and Dad, Granny and Gramps, looking at poor Johnny sulking in the corner, get together, grab their billfolds and say, “How much does it cost?”
Well, that isn’t the way it works. You can throw all the money you want at it, but you can’t buy success. Not the kind you want anyway. And don’t ask me, “what about Cignetti?” What Indiana did was strike the lottery. It happens to one in ten million.
Everybody wants Rhule to have the same success Osborne had and they have compared the two every step of the way. This is something else I’ve said since day one. Rhule isn’t Osborne.
Let me start by asking this. Who is closer to being Ohio State’s Ryan Day? Rhule or Osborne? If you’re honest, you answered Osborne. Yes, Doctor Tom was born with a silver spoon in his mouth while Rhule was forced to eat with his fingers when he became a Cornhusker.
I’m not saying Osborne had it easy. But he did inherit back-to-back National Champions and the bigger part of a winning staff to start his run at Nebraska. Rhule inherited nothing and was forced to start from scratch. Were there mistakes along the way. Absolutely. Do you think if Osborne had inherited the same situation there wouldn’t have been any mistakes? And don’t think this fan base doesn’t eat up coaches. Even Osborne will tell you he considered leaving a couple of times. Lincoln can be great, but it isn’t always Shangri-la.
Rhule is starting his eleventh season, having coached 128 college games in three different places. Osborne was starting his eleventh season in 1983, all at Nebraska. It would be another 11 seasons before he won his first National Championship (1994). Is there anyone out there willing to give Rhule eleven more seasons with the promise of winning the National Championship if they do? I didn’t think so. We want it – NOW.
Everything Nebraska is experiencing and has experienced over the last ten years is their own doing. Spoiled ‘I want it now’ fans cried, Frank was no Dr. Tom, and they didn’t like Bo the hothead. They both had to go. Forcing administration to make a couple idiotic decisions that killed what Nebraska was and has made it almost impossible to revive. I don’t care what you say, firing Frank Solich and Bo Pelini was two of the most moronic moves fans could have wished for and administration making.
Solich was 58-19 with a .759 winning percentage. He took his team to the National Championship game and was named Big Twelve Coach of the Year twice. Pelini was 67-27 with a .713 winning percentage. He competed in conference championships in four of his seven seasons. Leading Nebraska through the transition to the Big Ten and never winning less than nine games in the process. Two coaches who went 125-46 were traded in for three coaches that went 62-71. Brillant!
So, let’s get together and fire another coach who is 19-19 after three seasons taken us to back-to-back bowl games, recruited out his butt, has us on the right trajectory, and start over – again.
You might want to rethink your brilliant thinking Husker Fans.
GO BIG RED!! SIMPLE, FAST, VIOLENT!!
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