Pelini's New "Old School" Ways
by Bombilla on Feb 26, 2008 3:53 PM CST
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PrintTom Osbourne is to Bo Pelini as Darrell Royal is to Mack Brown.
Okay.
So, I'm catching up on my reading, and I come across this article in the New York Times. It's about Pelini getting back to the "old" Nebraska, the team that won 3 (two outright, one shared) national championships: 1994, 1995, and 1997 (hmmm...I wonder who spoiled 1996?). Osbourne is working with Pelini to bring the "heart" back into Nebraska football, and apparently the heart of Nebraska football is carried by the walk-ons.
"I’ve heard Coach Osborne talk about some of the players who came around here from different areas across the nation and who were huge talents," Pelini said. "When you surround them with kids who grew up living or dying whether Nebraska won or lost, those talented guys become much more committed to the program. The more towns that are represented, the more ownership people have in our program."
And...
Heads nodded enthusiastically when Pelini announced that the Huskers signed 30 walk-ons, mostly from Nebraska, and that these kids who grew up "bleeding red" would once more be a prominent part of the program
.
30 Walk-Ons?? Sheeeesh...that's a lot of free mac & cheese in the athlete's cafeteria.
Anyway, it got me to thinking: I wonder how many native-Nebraskan All-Americans played for Jesus Osbourne during the national championship years (four years, 1993 through 1997). Answer: 1.
Here you go (and don't worry, I'll list the Texas players at the end):
- Trev Alberts, 1993 (Cedar Falls, IA)
- Brenden Stai, 1994 (Phoenix, AZ)
- Ed Stewart, 1994 (Chicago, IL)
- Zach Wiegert, 1994 (Fremont, NE)
- Tommie Frazier, 1995 (Bradenton, FL)
- Aaron Graham, 1995 (Denton, TX)
- Jared Tomich, 1995-96 (St. John, IN)
- Aaron Taylor, 1996-97 (Wichita Falls, TX)
- Grant Wistrom, 1996-97 (Joplin, MO)
- Jason Peter, 1997 (Locust, NJ)
Now, let me list the Longhorn All-Americans that were (to the best of my knowledge) Mack Brown recruits in his first four-years as head coach (he got the job in 1997, first class in 1998 would be juniors/seniors in 2001 - so I'm listing players from 2001 to 2005). Number of non-native Texans? Answer: 0. It's a great list (complete with clicky goodness):
- Quentin Jammer, 2001 (Angleton, TX)
- Cory Redding, 2001-02 (Houston, TX)
- Nathan Vasher, 2001, 2003 (Wichita Falls, TX)
- Rod Babers, 2002 (Houston, TX)
- Derrick Dockery, 2002 (Dallas County, TX)
- Derrick Johnson, 2003-04 (Waco, TX)
- Roy Williams, 2003 (Odessa, TX)
- Tillman Holloway, 2003 (Houston, TX)
- Cedric Benson, 2004 (Midland, TX)
- Aaron Harris, 2005 (Mesquite, TX)
- Michael Huff, 2005 (Irving, TX)
- Jonathan Scott, 2005 (Dallas, TX)
- Rodrique Wright, 2005 (Houston, TX)
- Will Allen, 2005 (Houston, TX)
- Justin Blalock, 2005 (Dallas, TX)
- ...and, the king: Vince Young, 2005 (Houston, TX)
So...what's the point? The point is that I'm glad we don't live in Nebraska where the only talent in the state is only good enough to walk-on, and not be offered a scholarship.
Hook 'em, y'all!
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I wasn't....
......impressed with Pelini's defense back in 2003 when he brought his defense into DKR-Memorial. It appeared we could have run 3 RBs through some of those holes we created in Pelini's front-7. I had anticipated a big game that Saturday and man was I disappointed. We blew them out, with C.Benson running roughshod over the Huskers! I'm far from convinced they will improve under Pelini's form of leadership.
but..
could it get much worse? I think they have a great schedule to build up some confidence before their conference play begins. Virginia Tech might be a challenge though
Good points raised..
but I think its difficult to discount to passion of walk-on Nebraska players in particular. I spent a year at NU on a scholarship (before I came to terms with myself) and while I was never converted to Husker Nation, I gained a deep respect for the institution and more specifically its football fans. I dont think there is any other school and more importantly any statemore embedded in its football program than Nebraska. This has very important implications for its walk-ons who are not only players but very, very passionate fans who play with the intensity only Muschamp has seem to display here for the past two years.
Hell, I was in a creative writing class in 2003 and someone wrote a piece on Jammal Lord leading the Huskers to the national championship.
I mean, does anyone even remember Jammal Lord?
Interesting Comments
However...I don't think there's a single serious BONer on here that discounts the passion of Nebraskans for Husker football. Still, though... walk-ons don't win games (sorry 54b). Talent wins the games, and passion alone ain't gonna attract the kind of talent it's going to take to compete with perennial powers like USC, LSU, Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio State, and Florida.
Don't get me wrong, here. I really really like the Huskers. In fact, every time we (the Horns) beat them (usually in the waining minutes of the 4th quarter) I kinda feel sorry for them. Beating a Husker team headed by Solich or Callahan just doesn't do it for me. Beating Osbourne's Huskers in 1996 is still one of the most phenomenal Longhorn moments ever.
So, I guess my point is there's PLENTY of passion for football in Texas. It's just we have to share the passion with A&M, Tech, Baylor (dunno why), SMU, TCU, etc. How many Nebraska A&M's and Nebraska Tech's or State's dilute the "passion pool"?
Let's face it, Nebraska hasn't had a quality player since Tommie Frazier. Nebraska won't get another quality player until they start becoming a top 10 team again. Yeah, walk-ons are passionate, but Pelini's gotta beat the big boys away from home before kids are gonna think about heading to Lincoln.
We
had talent last year (although you wouldn't have known it by looking at the team). How many games did we win?
On a yearly basis, Texas has more talent than 95% of the teams in Div IA. How many national titles do you have in the last 10 years? I'm not saying that to discount your program, but those with the most talent aren't always the best teams. Hell, USC would win every year, wouldn't they? They would, and if you don't believe that, just ask them. :)
What the walk-ons do is drive the bottom tier of the players up, which makes everyone else better. Maybe it doesn't work everywhere, but it's a core part of Nebraska's being.
We'll see what happens.
Corn Nation - Graduating more of our players than you are!
by cornnation @ Burnt Orange Nation on Feb 27, 2008 2:19 PM CST up reply actions
A&M
actually put 11 normal people on the field one year on a kick off to prove just how awesome the 12th man idea is, but instead the other team ran it back for a touchdown. I'm pretty sure all 11 got hurt, and some of their friends and family members at home too.
I think in Nebraska's case taking so many walk-ons is a pretty interesting idea. Plus, every team you beat you can mock mercilessly for "losing to a bunch of walk-ons," and every team that beats you can just say "it doesn't count because we are using mostly walk-ons."
High Comedy
I would pay good money to see video of 11 average Aggie schmucks getting destroyed during a real CFB kick off.
I would then pay extra to see the Aggie nation crushed, driven before me, and hear the lamentations of their women (and/or sheep).
Dude...just dude...
Oh, and then there's this one...
Granted
It's very difficult to win an MNC. However, the hardest part is to get your program into the top 10 and then into the top-5 where you can start thinking about not only playing perfect but hoping others flub-up! You have to worry about so many variables that are out of your team's control that remaining perfect, disciplined, and injury-free can only get you so far (ask Hawaii).
I love the Huskers - I really, really do! In fact, I bet that a good percentage of BONers root for the Cornhuskers any time y'all aren't playing Texas.
The shitty thing for y'all is that it's going to be extremely difficult to build your program into something that will finally begin striking the fear of god into other teams. I'm sure you'll admit that the Blackshirts are hibernating. I think college football NEEDS a strong Nebraska, and I'm totally pulling for y'all. The Longhorns have always been treated with respect when traveling to Lincoln, and this is exactly the reason why I smacked a student in the back of the head last season when he started talking shit to your team at the end of the game.
Having a squad of Rudy's is inspirational. But then again, so are good looking cheerleaders!
thank you
Well... 'hibernating' may be a good word. I have refrained from using the word 'Blackshirts' until they look like a defense again.
Hell, right now, I'm not worried about striking fear into people. I'm just worried about our ability to tackle in the open field!!!!
Extremely difficult? I guess.... I can't admit that. There are too many red-colored things in my house that cloud my vision. :)
Corn Nation - Graduating more of our players than you are!
by cornnation @ Burnt Orange Nation on Feb 27, 2008 8:35 PM CST up reply actions
re: Corn Fans
I've said it before (but too lazy to search for links), and you are dead-on. There are some great stories out there about the mutual respect that Husker fans have shown Longhorn fans over the past 12 years. It's just classy to have a group like that in the conference.
Yup
Huskers are one of my fav teams. Ever since Osborne decided to go for two instead of the tie I've respected the Huskers.
Hook 'em and Go Big Red!
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