Does Nebraska take a look at Woods?

No one hates Nebraska more than the guy typing this, but the notion that the HC job at Nebraska is a shit job is ludicrous. Yes they have sucked for half a generation, but they still have resources, facilities, the most loyal fanbase on the planet, and a lot of (dusty) trophies in the case. The right guy can absolutely win there. From a structural standpoint, there is nothing that Iowa has that Nebraska does not. Both advantages and challenges. The right guy can win at Nebraska. They have just chosen the wrong guy twice in a row.
 
NorthKCHawk said:
No one hates Nebraska more than the guy typing this, but the notion that the HC job at Nebraska is a shit job is ludicrous. Yes they have sucked for half a generation, but they still have resources, facilities, the most loyal fanbase on the planet, and a lot of (dusty) trophies in the case. The right guy can absolutely win there. From a structural standpoint, there is nothing that Iowa has that Nebraska does not. Both advantages and challenges. The right guy can win at Nebraska. They have just chosen the wrong guy twice in a row.
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I absolutely disagree. Nebraska's high water mark as of today is the exact same as Iowa's or Wisconsin's but they're too stupid to realize it. Nebraska is a small state and their ability to stock away 50 extra kids on the team and auto admit guys of questionable character from California are over. They gigafucked their program by firing Pelini. Their goal needs to be to develop a perennial 9-3 or 10-2 level program and then pray that when they get bounces and the right skill player walks through the door they have a miracle season.

Their fanbase thinks the program is royalty but it isn't. Bince the 1997 season that saw the Michigan-Nebraska co-title (but let's not lose sight of the fact that Michigan was way better that year), there is only one team in the north that can hang with the national elite and that team is situated in Columbus, Ohio.

If Woods came to me and asked "hey, I have offers from Wisconsin, North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Nebraska and they all are offering the same pay, what should I do?" I think it would be hard to even put Nebraska third on that list. The recruiting territory is shit. The facilities have largely leveled out due to massive TV money and an arms race by the schools. But most importantly the fan expectations are completely out of control. Harbaugh inherited a decent Michigan program and it took him 7 years to beat Ohio and finally waltz into the playoff and get his ass beat by Georgia. The Nebraska rebuild is one that will take half a decade just to get the footing established and another decade to even think about "moving up a level," which IMHO is an impossibility in the modern landscape. Maybe Trev can stave off the fans, but I doubt it. I'm not saying Nebraska is a shit program, but that is definitely a shit job that has the potential to kill a career.

On the flipside, if Woods was somewhere like UNC or Va Tech, he wouldn't get his ass run immediately and one good year would launch him immediately into the discussion for premier college and NFL jobs.
 
I'm still worried Alberts is going to strike out on his bigger names right away and start calling folks he trusts for their opinions, and realize there is a lot of buzz about this Woods guy at Iowa (maybe he has already heard that). Along with Woods, I'd definitely want to talk to Leonhard and Parker. In my opinion, the model for Nebraska is a defensive, physical style. If you can weaken your biggest rivals (assume any of those 3 guys would cherry pick from the staffs), all the better.
 
NorthKCHawk said:
No one hates Nebraska more than the guy typing this, but the notion that the HC job at Nebraska is a shit job is ludicrous. Yes they have sucked for half a generation, but they still have resources, facilities, the most loyal fanbase on the planet, and a lot of (dusty) trophies in the case. The right guy can absolutely win there. From a structural standpoint, there is nothing that Iowa has that Nebraska does not. Both advantages and challenges. The right guy can win at Nebraska. They have just chosen the wrong guy twice in a row.
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I disagree, the fan base is big part of the problem. They still think they are the football program of the 90s that beat up on the Big 12 and were in position to win NC's. They've fired some pretty good coaches trying to find the next Tom Osborne. It's now looked at as a job where coaches go to die (as a head football coach). The fishbowl that KF operates in is mild compared to the one at Nebraska.
 
okeefe4prez said:
The real problem is it seems nearly impossible to dig out of the cellar in the modern era. It will be possible with NIL cash, but even then it ain't gonna be easy. Michigan had a good year last year, but it took forever, and when the chips were down they found out quickly that they were nowhere near as good as football royalty in the South.

Tennessee has disappeared. Texas has disappeared. Florida State has disappeared. Tennessee and Texas have major advantages over Nebraska and can't get out of the rut. It is WAY easier to go down than up. And with Nebraska's current state, they have to realize that if they somehow do land a miracle hire, years after any level of success are going to be met with massive speculation like we had to deal with Ferentz back around 2004 because it just isn't a "final destination" caliber program for a top level coach anymore.
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It's too new to say that. Nebraska has deep pockets. FSU got hit with the rise of 2nd level teams in FL. Texas, the rise of Baylor/Houston/TCU

Matt Campbell likely has a decision to make.
 
After paying the extra $7.5 mil to fire SF now, I really doubt if it would go over well to replace him w/ Iowa's ST coach.

They have to either have Joseph ( their Levar ) lead them to a decent season so they can keep him, or get another big name.
 
SwirlinLingerie said:
I'm still worried Alberts is going to strike out on his bigger names right away and start calling folks he trusts for their opinions, and realize there is a lot of buzz about this Woods guy at Iowa (maybe he has already heard that). Along with Woods, I'd definitely want to talk to Leonhard and Parker. In my opinion, the model for Nebraska is a defensive, physical style. If you can weaken your biggest rivals (assume any of those 3 guys would cherry pick from the staffs), all the better.
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Woods having a sophmore at West and just getting into his HS career might be enough to make him stay in IC for the time being, this with me just knowing of the family a bit.
 
ssckelley said:
I disagree, the fan base is big part of the problem. They still think they are the football program of the 90s that beat up on the Big 12 and were in position to win NC's. They've fired some pretty good coaches trying to find the next Tom Osborne. It's now looked at as a job where coaches go to die (as a head football coach). The fishbowl that KF operates in is mild compared to the one at Nebraska.
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........also, the only real advantage is they have no other competition in the state as far as D1, P5 for recruiting. They can recruit their state, but lets be honest, there prob are not a lot of high Div 1 players coming out of Nebraska so they have to recruit nationally, so it's not really a point.

People aren't going to flock to go to Lincoln, NE.
 
okeefe4prez said:
I absolutely disagree. Nebraska's high water mark as of today is the exact same as Iowa's or Wisconsin's but they're too stupid to realize it. Nebraska is a small state and their ability to stock away 50 extra kids on the team and auto admit guys of questionable character from California are over. They gigafucked their program by firing Pelini. Their goal needs to be to develop a perennial 9-3 or 10-2 level program and then pray that when they get bounces and the right skill player walks through the door they have a miracle season.

Their fanbase thinks the program is royalty but it isn't. Bince the 1997 season that saw the Michigan-Nebraska co-title (but let's not lose sight of the fact that Michigan was way better that year), there is only one team in the north that can hang with the national elite and that team is situated in Columbus, Ohio.

If Woods came to me and asked "hey, I have offers from Wisconsin, North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Nebraska and they all are offering the same pay, what should I do?" I think it would be hard to even put Nebraska third on that list. The recruiting territory is shit. The facilities have largely leveled out due to massive TV money and an arms race by the schools. But most importantly the fan expectations are completely out of control. Harbaugh inherited a decent Michigan program and it took him 7 years to beat Ohio and finally waltz into the playoff and get his ass beat by Georgia. The Nebraska rebuild is one that will take half a decade just to get the footing established and another decade to even think about "moving up a level," which IMHO is an impossibility in the modern landscape. Maybe Trev can stave off the fans, but I doubt it. I'm not saying Nebraska is a shit program, but that is definitely a shit job that has the potential to kill a career.

On the flipside, if Woods was somewhere like UNC or Va Tech, he wouldn't get his ass run immediately and one good year would launch him immediately into the discussion for premier college and NFL jobs.
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Just read this post for the second time, tried to like it, but I already had.

Nebraska is not a great spot these days. They have got to be bottom among "peer" schools, which is something like a third of the P5.
 
JoeyLabasForPresident said:
Just read this post for the second time, tried to like it, but I already had.

Nebraska is not a great spot these days. They have got to be bottom among "peer" schools, which is something like a third of the P5.
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Not saying it is a great spot, but it is a big ten job with tremendous fan and more importantly administrative support. O'Keefe wrote his post before UCLA and USC caused the latest conference kerfuffle, too. We also don't know if any schools are interested in Woods as a head coach. Woods is from that neck of the woods, which could make him a candidate (although seemingly a long shot even at Nebraska). I can't imagine any scenario where Wisconsin or North Carolina would look at him as a potential candidate right now.
 
SwirlinLingerie said:
Not saying it is a great spot, but it is a big ten job with tremendous fan and more importantly administrative support. O'Keefe wrote his post before UCLA and USC caused the latest conference kerfuffle, too. We also don't know if any schools are interested in Woods as a head coach. Woods is from that neck of the woods, which could make him a candidate (although seemingly a long shot even at Nebraska). I can't imagine any scenario where Wisconsin or North Carolina would look at him as a potential candidate right now.
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I predicted USC/UCLA to the B1G the day of the OU/UT to the SEC news, so it factored into my analysis. I agree with you, though, Woods would not be a tier 2 (e.g. Wisconsin/UNC/VaTech) level candidate unless he had stellar experience as an OC or DC and even then I think he would need some sort of PJ Fleck-esque run at a MAC or Sun Belt school before he got on the radar. The whole thing was a hypo to say effectively "the Nebraska job sucks."

Look at the last few coaches. The place has become an absolute graveyard. It's a total career killer.

Solich: Ohio (the MAC one not the B1G one)
Callahan: Tapped old boy network for journeyman jobs in the NFL, fell into interim HC one year
Pelini: Youngstown State and a short stint as DC at LSU, hasn't worked in 2 years
Riley: Went to shit tier start up leagues, no substantive job
Frost: Likely unemployable, will have to take some crap job to fulfill his duty to mitigate losses but I'll be shocked if this guy ever gets a HC job of importance ever again

I mean a guy like Sumlin can get fired from A&M and still wind up in the P5. Muschamp got bounced out of Florida, got a SEC DC job, then the SC job. Les Miles got bonged from LSU and still landed at Kansas (until he got run there). There are plenty of jobs with high expectations where if you fail your career won't be over. But the data points are clear that Nebraska ain't in that boat.
 
Woods isn't getting a HC offer outside the program until he's been a coordinator.

Perhaps he makes the Barry Alvaerz lateral move. Barry, seeing his DC path at Iowa blocked by Bill Brashier, made the lateral move to Notre Dame.

Had he stayed at Iowa it may have been another decade before he got his head coaching shot.

BTW, if Nebraska was smart that would have had their eye on Barry the moment it was evident Osborne would be strpping down soon. Barry, of course, played at Nebraska and his wife grew up in Lincoln. That job would have Barry's attention (may have had Bobby Stoops' as well) But they had already hand picked Frank Solich.
 
okeefe4prez said:
I predicted USC/UCLA to the B1G the day of the OU/UT to the SEC news, so it factored into my analysis. I agree with you, though, Woods would not be a tier 2 (e.g. Wisconsin/UNC/VaTech) level candidate unless he had stellar experience as an OC or DC and even then I think he would need some sort of PJ Fleck-esque run at a MAC or Sun Belt school before he got on the radar. The whole thing was a hypo to say effectively "the Nebraska job sucks."

Look at the last few coaches. The place has become an absolute graveyard. It's a total career killer.

Solich: Ohio (the MAC one not the B1G one)
Callahan: Tapped old boy network for journeyman jobs in the NFL, fell into interim HC one year
Pelini: Youngstown State and a short stint as DC at LSU, hasn't worked in 2 years
Riley: Went to shit tier start up leagues, no substantive job
Frost: Likely unemployable, will have to take some crap job to fulfill his duty to mitigate losses but I'll be shocked if this guy ever gets a HC job of importance ever again

I mean a guy like Sumlin can get fired from A&M and still wind up in the P5. Muschamp got bounced out of Florida, got a SEC DC job, then the SC job. Les Miles got bonged from LSU and still landed at Kansas (until he got run there). There are plenty of jobs with high expectations where if you fail your career won't be over. But the data points are clear that Nebraska ain't in that boat.
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I think we're saying the same thing. That Nebraska will likely have difficulty attracting the kind of candidate it thinks it can. And to me, that makes it more plausible (even if still unlikely) that Alberts will have to dig a lot deeper than he thought, and maybe he keeps hearing amazing things about this Woods guy, who just happens to be from that neck of the woods and has been successfully recruiting kids to Iowa for quite a while now. Maybe he only first reaches out because he thinks this is a guy who could be an OC/DC at Nebraska. And after a couple of conversations Alberts realizes he might have lightening in a bottle here.

And like you say, Woods isn't getting a shot at another Big Ten caliber job anytime soon. So why wouldn't he listen? Not saying any of this is likely yet...just speculating and spit-ballin'.
 
No NE will be making a bigger splash then that. Woods would be a solid hire if not a great one if they would but they won't. They'll be shooting for Meyer, Campbell, Stoops amongst other established HCs/former ones in Meyers case. I doubt Campbell takes it if offered though. I mean he's turned down other better offers then that. Why would he have been holding out to try and rebuild that dumpster fire?

They'll throw out every name in D1 just about for it within reason. But Alberts is a bit of a wildcard. Hard telling what he'll do.
 
Woods won't even get the chance to go to Nebraska. Say what you will about where they have been in the last decade since they let Pelini go, but they have big pocket boosters and the new TV money to spend. They will get a big-name coach. The Nebraska fanbase would love Matt Campbell because he has a great name right now. It might not be the case after the season but for the time being, he is getting a lot of love for the position he has put Iowa State in over the last few years.
 
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