Time to eat a little crow

[Dead Dog Alley]

17 hours ago, hhcdimes said:

 

The issue is that Miles is in a much better position to move after this year. If the AD is just going to extend him a year at a time until he has another bad year, why not move on when your demand is back up? If you're an assistant here are you waiting around for that to happen?

 

If he's not the guy then having him grab a different job is a cost effective way to get rid of him....but it sort of points towards us not actually having anyone lined up

 

The only chance he's forced out this year is if we only make the NIT and then there's a player exodus including Palmer and Copeland, and even then it's not probable.

 

If the core of the team comes back Miles should be in a much better position to move on next year.  Right now he's still a guy with just four winning seasons in eleven years of being a major college coach, without an NCAA tournament win.  So I'd say that next year would be the time to decide whether you want to pay up to keep him, or really pay up for somebody else.

 

 

 

 

[BigTate]

This isn't Kansas or Duke. We can't just throw our uniform at who ever we want when it comes to recruiting and expect them to come to Nebraska to play basketball. I think Tim Miles deserves a contract extension of at least 3 more years. This is the best team we have had since the Danny Nee days. Sure it took a while for Miles to put it together but we are not going to get a Bill Self or Coach K to come here. The recruiting is on an upward trajectory and if we make the tournament that should continue. We got T Allen to pick us over Kansas and I think Nana is going to surprise some folks as well. I am looking forward to the next few seasons and I think we need to let Tim Miles have a few more years minimum. This is Nebraska and it takes time to build  a program that really has no basketball history to speak of. Lets get behind our team and get to the NCAA tournament this year and build for the future of Nebraska Basketball!!! GBR!!

[hhcmatt]

16 hours ago, Dead Dog Alley said:

 

The only chance he's forced out this year is if we only make the NIT and then there's a player exodus including Palmer and Copeland, and even then it's not probable.

 

If the core of the team comes back Miles should be in a much better position to move on next year.  Right now he's still a guy with just four winning seasons in eleven years of being a major college coach, without an NCAA tournament win.  So I'd say that next year would be the time to decide whether you want to pay up to keep him, or really pay up for somebody else.

 

Let me be more direct/explicit with where i'm going. While Moos has come out and said that he doesn't talk contracts until the end of the year, he's currently evaulating and probably will have decided by the end of the season approximately what he will do.  That's the obvious part.  The part I'm talking about is that Miles has an agent so while Tim isn't directly talking to anyone about any other jobs, his agent sure could be.

 

Miles has spent most of his career going somewhere, building the program, winning, and moving on.  The year(s) he spent under Eichorst twisting in the wind probably gave him a different perspective.  He's a guy with a proven track record of taking dead programs and building them up, including here regardless of whether or not people think he's failed because of his W-L record. (upped attendance, prestige, recruiting, etc)  Thus him maybe finishing in the season in the NIT might not mean that Pitt or Minnesota come knocking on the door but it could mean that UTEP, Colorado St or even Boston College or Penn State could. 

 

At the end of the year if it's decided that we're not for sure whether we want to keep Miles around here longer this could happen:

 

Moos: we're going to extend you one year

Miles: I need more

Moos: That's the best we can do

Miles: Goodbye

 

My point isn't that we can't find anyone better to replace Miles or even anyone as good; my point/concern is with a new AD who is focused on football and setting up the department how prepared are we to go out and find the next guy who will run the program for 4+ years if Miles bolts?

[Cookie Miller Wasn't Dirty]

1 hour ago, hhcdimes said:

 

Let me be more direct/explicit with where i'm going. While Moos has come out and said that he doesn't talk contracts until the end of the year, he's currently evaulating and probably will have decided by the end of the season approximately what he will do.  That's the obvious part.  The part I'm talking about is that Miles has an agent so while Tim isn't directly talking to anyone about any other jobs, his agent sure could be.

 

Miles has spent most of his career going somewhere, building the program, winning, and moving on.  The year(s) he spent under Eichorst twisting in the wind probably gave him a different perspective.  He's a guy with a proven track record of taking dead programs and building them up, including here regardless of whether or not people think he's failed because of his W-L record. (upped attendance, prestige, recruiting, etc)  Thus him maybe finishing in the season in the NIT might not mean that Pitt or Minnesota come knocking on the door but it could mean that UTEP, Colorado St or even Boston College or Penn State could. 

 

At the end of the year if it's decided that we're not for sure whether we want to keep Miles around here longer this could happen:

 

Moos: we're going to extend you one year

Miles: I need more

Moos: That's the best we can do

Miles: Goodbye

 

My point isn't that we can't find anyone better to replace Miles or even anyone as good; my point/concern is with a new AD who is focused on football and setting up the department how prepared are we to go out and find the next guy who will run the program for 4+ years if Miles bolts?

 

I could see the above scenario going down, and aside from flushing next year's promising season down the drain, I wouldn't be terribly disappointed if it did. But I'm clearly not as high on Miles as you are.

 

It's hard to argue that he upped attendance... it was obviously better when the team was better (late 2014, early 2015, and now). But was attendance really all that good the last two seasons? My guess is not, and any improvements from the Sadler days are due to the arena being new and centrally located. My point is that of course the attendance is better when the team is on the bubble. Winning injects life into the program. The question is, could another coach win as much or more than Miles? I think so.

 

I agree that the recruiting has been a big step up, especially from the transfer market. But it's not hard to outdo Doc in that regard. Are we really recruiting at as high of a level as we could be?

[hhcmatt]

14 minutes ago, Cookie Miller Wasn't Dirty said:

 

I could see the above scenario going down, and aside from flushing next year's promising season down the drain, I wouldn't be terribly disappointed if it did. But I'm clearly not as high on Miles as you are.

 

It's hard to argue that he upped attendance... it was obviously better when the team was better (late 2014, early 2015, and now). But was attendance really all that good the last two seasons? My guess is not, and any improvements from the Sadler days are due to the arena being new and centrally located. My point is that of course the attendance is better when the team is on the bubble. Winning injects life into the program. The question is, could another coach win as much or more than Miles? I think so.

 

I agree that the recruiting has been a big step up, especially from the transfer market. But it's not hard to outdo Doc in that regard. Are we really recruiting at as high of a level as we could be?

 

You are mistaking my reasons for why someone else would hire Miles for why we might keep Miles. I'd give our new arena a lot of credit for increased attendance; I doubt Miles agent would. 

 

If you think we're going to either fire Miles or extend him 2+ years, this doesn't matter. If we're going to do nothing or extend him a year?  What does he do in response? I"m trying to point out that I don't think the answer is necessarily "He will stay because this is the best he can do".

[hskr4life]

6 minutes ago, Cookie Miller Wasn't Dirty said:

 

I could see the above scenario going down, and aside from flushing next year's promising season down the drain, I wouldn't be terribly disappointed if it did. But I'm clearly not as high on Miles as you are.

 

It's hard to argue that he upped attendance... it was obviously better when the team was better (late 2014, early 2015, and now). But was attendance really all that good the last two seasons? My guess is not, and any improvements from the Sadler days are due to the arena being new and centrally located. My point is that of course the attendance is better when the team is on the bubble. Winning injects life into the program. The question is, could another coach win as much or more than Miles? I think so.

 

I agree that the recruiting has been a big step up, especially from the transfer market. But it's not hard to outdo Doc in that regard. Are we really recruiting at as high of a level as we could be?

 

I 100% believe attendance had been up the past 2-3 years.  We pack the place just about every game.  Even when the record shows more losses than wins, we pack the place.  Now whether that has more to do with what surrounds the arena than the coach is up for debate, but just debating whether we fill the arena or not almost always leans toward fill.  Now by fill I also don’t mean every single seat full for every single game.  I mean no crowds under the 8-10K range for 90+% if our games.

 

As to your second point, say James and Issac say their coming back.  You would be ok with taking a gamble at possibly the best looking team we’ve had in years and probably the best chance we’ve had in years at getting that first dancing win for a coach we don’t even know?  For a coach that may... or MAY NOT take us to greener pastures?  

 

Why tru try to fix something that isn’t broken?  Sure our TV is black and white and has bunny ears.  Sure it isn’t a 42 in flat screen.  But why risk going back the days of a radio for 4 more years when you know you’ll have a TV for at least 1 and probably more years?

[Cookie Miller Wasn't Dirty]

3 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

 

I 100% believe attendance had been up the past 2-3 years.  We pack the place just about every game.  Even when the record shows more losses than wins, we pack the place.  Now whether that has more to do with what surrounds the arena than the coach is up for debate, but just debating whether we fill the arena or not almost always leans toward fill.  Now by fill I also don’t mean every single seat full for every single game.  I mean no crowds under the 8-10K range for 90+% if our games.

 

As to your second point, say James and Issac say their coming back.  You would be ok with taking a gamble at possibly the best looking team we’ve had in years and probably the best chance we’ve had in years at getting that first dancing win for a coach we don’t even know?  For a coach that may... or MAY NOT take us to greener pastures?  

 

Why tru try to fix something that isn’t broken?  Sure our TV is black and white and has bunny ears.  Sure it isn’t a 42 in flat screen.  But why risk going back the days of a radio for 4 more years when you know you’ll have a TV for at least 1 and probably more years?

 

Regarding attendance, I think the only reason it would have been up for the last two seasons would be the arena. No doubt in my mind on that.

 

I should have been more clear. I DEFINITELY want Miles back next season because if all goes well, I wouldn't be shocked to see us get a 5 seed in the NCAAs. I was just saying it wouldn't be the end of the world for me if he left. I'd be distraught about the missed opportunity for next year (assuming Palmer and Cope would leave, which I certainly think they would if Miles were gone).

 

As for the long-term health of the program, I'm skeptical about Miles' reliance on the transfer market and I think we have the ability to do better than him. But yes, if Palmer and Copeland are coming back then I definitely want Miles back next year. But if they declare for the draft, I'd probably prefer Miles leave as well, which at this point would only happen on his own accord.

[Norm Peterson]

Some of you guys who are still "on the fence" with Miles, or are certain we could easily hire someone else to do better, must be pretty young.

 

I'm not.

 

I ain't gonna live forever.  I want to see this NCAA tournament winless drought end.  I'd like to see it go down this year and, if we make the tournament, I think it will.  I think we're good enough to win at least a first-round game.  Our resume might prevent us from proving we could do it, but just get this team in the tournament and I think they'll show they're a match-up nightmare for the Dance.

 

If you read my posts over time, which some people probably do and a lot probably don't, you'll note that I'm usually an optimist, but a guarded optimist, really.  You haven't heard me pronounce every team over the last dozen or so years (since I found this site) to be the best team in a generation.  I've basically said that for the first time, though, about this squad.  And it clearly is. 

 

But a generation is a loooooooooong time. 

 

By the mid-90s walk-out time, I'd felt Danny Nee had run his course here.  When he thought he was going to get the Rutgers job and announced that he basically never felt like he wanted to be here, he lost the fanbase.  When they finally fired him, I was extremely hopeful.  But, as some have pointed out recently, from about the very first game under Collier (or, really, even over the summer when we saw the recruits he was bringing in) it was like, oooh boy, what have we gotten ourselves into?

 

Collier was here six years before he took another job.  Wasn't fired; would have been here a 7th had Butler not offered him the AD position.  Doc was here six years.  Miles has now been here six years.  And if you don't think Miles is the right guy or are on the fence about him, how many more coaches-times-six-years are you willing to wait to find that right guy?  How confident are you that we just need to open up the check book to bring in that coach who will put this program on the proverbial map?  How certain are you that it's just that simple?

 

It's been 18 seasons since Danny Nee was fired.  In that 18 years, we've been .500 or better in conference play just twice: once under Doc Sadler; and in Tim Miles' second season.

 

We're about to go over .500 in conference play for just the third time in 18 years.  Two of those three under Tim Miles.  And people are on the fence.

 

We're within striking distance of making the NCAA tournament field for just the second time in 20 years.  Both would be under Tim Miles.  And people are on the fence.

 

If you motherfuckers can't live with a couple of down seasons every now and then while a guy tries to build a program, and demand we fire the coach every six years, I am going to be dead before we win an NCAA tourney game.

 

And if that happens, I'm going to be really pissed.  And I will haunt this board with error messages and banner ads for "Bluejay Pest Control" for all eternity.  Got it?

[Swan88]

And everyone knows from the last coaching change that, according to the bulk of our fan base, we should have "opened the checkbook" and hired John Groce instead of Tim Miles!  Whatever.

But here's my assessment of Tim Miles's fatal error at the end of his highly-successful year-two at Nebraska: he let Craig Smith leave for a head coaching gig elsewhere.

It's not that Craig Smith was so great (although he's turning out to be a good head coach) as much as it was the break-up of a duo that had been together--and succeeded together--over several decades.  A good analogy is Scott Frost bringing his entire staff--who collectively achieved their prior successes--with him to Nebraska.  That's what Tim Miles did, only to have a major success factor depart.  Tim Miles had mostly-recovered by last year, until a major-player departure and a major-player injury put the season in the tank.  But it looks like he's back in the groove with the current staff and team.  Let's keep it going!

[Red Rum]

Thank you @Norm Peterson I am upset I'm only allowed to up vote that once. 

[Nebrasketball1979]

13 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

Some of you guys who are still "on the fence" with Miles, or are certain we could easily hire someone else to do better, must be pretty young.

 

I'm not.

 

I ain't gonna live forever.  I want to see this NCAA tournament winless drought end.  I'd like to see it go down this year and, if we make the tournament, I think it will.  I think we're good enough to win at least a first-round game.  Our resume might prevent us from proving we could do it, but just get this team in the tournament and I think they'll show they're a match-up nightmare for the Dance.

 

If you read my posts over time, which some people probably do and a lot probably don't, you'll note that I'm usually an optimist, but a guarded optimist, really.  You haven't heard me pronounce every team over the last dozen or so years (since I found this site) to be the best team in a generation.  I've basically said that for the first time, though, about this squad.  And it clearly is. 

 

But a generation is a loooooooooong time. 

 

By the mid-90s walk-out time, I'd felt Danny Nee had run his course here.  When he thought he was going to get the Rutgers job and announced that he basically never felt like he wanted to be here, he lost the fanbase.  When they finally fired him, I was extremely hopeful.  But, as some have pointed out recently, from about the very first game under Collier (or, really, even over the summer when we saw the recruits he was bringing in) it was like, oooh boy, what have we gotten ourselves into?

 

Collier was here six years before he took another job.  Wasn't fired; would have been here a 7th had Butler not offered him the AD position.  Doc was here six years.  Miles has now been here six years.  And if you don't think Miles is the right guy or are on the fence about him, how many more coaches-times-six-years are you willing to wait to find that right guy?  How confident are you that we just need to open up the check book to bring in that coach who will put this program on the proverbial map?  How certain are you that it's just that simple?

 

It's been 18 seasons since Danny Nee was fired.  In that 18 years, we've been .500 or better in conference play just twice: once under Doc Sadler; and in Tim Miles' second season.

 

We're about to go over .500 in conference play for just the third time in 18 years.  Two of those three under Tim Miles.  And people are on the fence.

 

We're within striking distance of making the NCAA tournament field for just the second time in 20 years.  Both would be under Tim Miles.  And people are on the fence.

 

If you motherfuckers can't live with a couple of down seasons every now and then while a guy tries to build a program, and demand we fire the coach every six years, I am going to be dead before we win an NCAA tourney game.

 

And if that happens, I'm going to be really pissed.  And I will haunt this board with error messages and banner ads for "Bluejay Pest Control" for all eternity.  Got it?

 

I am very new to this site but this is, without a doubt, the best thing I have read on a message board.  If I could rec this a million times, I would!  I also agree wholeheartedly as I vividly remember the end of the Nee years and then the following years of basketball purgatory.  I never liked Collier, loved Sadler the man - not the coach, and now really, really hope we give Miles time to continue to build this thing.  It's no accident the roster is as talented as it is - Miles did not luck into this.  And I'll continue to argue that transfers are the way of the world now in college basketball - again I'll cite that they are up 54% over the last six seasons.  Give Miles credit for exploiting this market and picking out quality talent, even when they don't always stay as long as we want.  He's also had an influx of talent from the traditional recruiting path (Roby, Watson, Tshimanga, etc). Very well said Norm and I hope to god we don't go through another six year coaching cycle because I won't be too far behind you in haunting this message board from the grave 

[Cookie Miller Wasn't Dirty]

1 hour ago, Norm Peterson said:

If you motherfuckers can't live with a couple of down seasons every now and then while a guy tries to build a program, and demand we fire the coach every six years, I am going to be dead before we win an NCAA tourney game.

 

And if that happens, I'm going to be really pissed.  And I will haunt this board with error messages and banner ads for "Bluejay Pest Control" for all eternity.  Got it?

 

So you're okay with the up seasons being:

- 11 seed in 2014

- Completely blowing away an opportunity at a good season in 2015

- Being on the bubble in 2018

 

Yes, the history of Nebrasketball is pathetic. I know I've had to endure a smaller chunk of it than you have. But when the Chicago Bulls visit your campus to get ideas for their facilities... it's hard to determine if the recruiting success is due to that or due to Miles. We haven't had the opportunity to see what someone else can do with what we now have, and the longer we wait the more stale these facilities become.

 

Again, I'm not advocating for firing him right now. I'm as desperate for a tourney win as the next guy, and this year and next year seem to be our best chances we've had since 1991. I'm just saying, should we really accept two bubbly seasons in six years to be that successful? And to me it seems pretty clear that those two teams were carried by the talent and not the coaching. I know he's the reason the talent got here, but man it's frustrating watching that team in Omaha play beautiful offensive basketball year-in, year-out when Tim's teams resort to isolation. The only reason it's working this year is because we have four legitimate playmakers to bail out Tim's sad excuse for offensive sets.

Edited February 2, 2018 by Cookie Miller Wasn't Dirty

[twinswingohuskers]

Norm,

  I agree with you almost all the time,(which is scary) but I too would like to see a win in the tourney.  I also have watched NU basketball since Moe and I will agree that this is the best we 

have seen. Nee seemed to always have some drama going on when he was coach.  The rest have been very average at best.   I would like to see Moos extend Mile's contract to help with

2019 and beyond recruiting.   I haven't always been happy with Mile's but he is way ahead of the others we have had, especially in recruiting.

[hskr4life]

30 minutes ago, Cookie Miller Wasn't Dirty said:

 

So let me get this straight... you're okay with the up seasons being:

- 11 seed in 2014

- Completely blowing away an opportunity at a good season in 2015

- Being on the bubble in 2018

 

Yes, the history of Nebrasketball is pathetic. I know I've had to endure a smaller chunk of it than you have. But when the Chicago Bulls visit your campus to get ideas for their facilities... it's hard to determine if the recruiting success is due to that or due to Miles. We haven't had the opportunity to see what someone else can do with what we now have, and the longer we wait the more stale these facilities become.

 

Again, I'm not advocating for firing him right now. I'm as desperate for a tourney win as the next guy, and this year and next year seem to be our best chances we've had since 1991. I'm just saying, should we really accept two bubbly seasons in six years to be that successful? And to me it seems pretty clear that those two teams were carried by the talent and not the coaching. I know he's the reason the talent got here, but man it's frustrating watching that team in Omaha play beautiful offensive basketball year-in, year-out when Tim's teams resort to isolation. The only reason it's working this year is because we have four legitimate playmakers to bail out Tim's sad excuse for offensive sets.

 

In reference to bolder part 1... yes when you look at the last 20 years, two bubbly seasons in six years is successful.  

 

In reference to bolded point 2... that tells me a lot about bolded point 1 and other posts in general.  

[Cookie Miller Wasn't Dirty]

4 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

 

In reference to bolder part 1... yes when you look at the last 20 years, two bubbly seasons in six years is successful.  

 

In reference to bolded point 2... that tells me a lot about bolded point 1 and other posts in general.  

 

When you compare it to the history of our program, yeah it's good. I just think we can be a program that consistently gets to the dance. Not saying Tim Miles won't get us to that point, but I'm not betting on it. Nor am I giving up on him, though.

 

I have no idea what you mean regarding point 2. I'm not a Creighton fan if that's what you're implying.

[hhcmatt]

I wouldn't look at  @Norm Peterson post as him stating we couldn't hire a coach who would be more successful; we seem much more serious about winning and paying up to do so in terms of faciliites and coaches.  I'd look at it in more of a cautionary 'be careful for what you wish for because you just might get it for 6 more years' warning.

[brfrad]

Miles' most successful years have came when his teams committed to the defensive end.  I would rather be Virginia, who will win games scoring in the lower 50's.  I could care less how we win them.  Just get the win.  

[49r]

3 minutes ago, hhcdimes said:

I wouldn't look at  @Norm Peterson post as him stating we couldn't hire a coach who would be more successful; we seem much more serious about winning and paying up to do so in terms of faciliites and coaches.  I'd look at it in more of a cautionary 'be careful for what you wish for because you just might get it for 6 more years' warning.

 

Agree, but one thing to keep in mind is if a change is necessary this year, is the program is light years ahead of where it was after the Nee, Collier and Sadler regimes.  Which is why despite the fact that I am with @Norm Peterson on this one 100%, I'm also not going to be to worried if a change is indeed made.

[Cookie Miller Wasn't Dirty]

17 minutes ago, hhcdimes said:

I wouldn't look at  @Norm Peterson post as him stating we couldn't hire a coach who would be more successful; we seem much more serious about winning and paying up to do so in terms of faciliites and coaches.  I'd look at it in more of a cautionary 'be careful for what you wish for because you just might get it for 6 more years' warning.

 

I get where he's coming from, I really do. But that was the same sentiment with Bo. "Be careful what you wish for, 9 wins every year is nothing to scoff at!" I'm willing to take the risk of losing out on average in an attempt to maximize our potential. I'd rather take some swings and misses before connecting instead of just accepting average. The way it went down for football is a perfect illustration of this. We canned Bo, ended up with someone worse, then hit the home run on the next try.

 

Again, not advocating for firing Miles right now. Just speaking about the "be careful what you wish for" sentiment in general. That's a fear-driven attitude. Fortunately, our AD isn't motivated by fear.

Edited February 2, 2018 by Cookie Miller Wasn't Dirty

[HuskerFever]

1 hour ago, Norm Peterson said:

If you motherfuckers can't live with a couple of down seasons every now and then while a guy tries to build a program, and demand we fire the coach every six years, I am going to be dead before we win an NCAA tourney game.

 

And if that happens, I'm going to be really pissed.  And I will haunt this board with error messages and banner ads for "Bluejay Pest Control" for all eternity.  Got it?

 

[Nebrasketball1979]

9 minutes ago, Cookie Miller Wasn't Dirty said:

 

I get where he's coming from, I really do. But that was the same sentiment with Bo. "Be careful what you wish for, 9 wins every year is nothing to scoff at!" I'm willing to take the risk of losing out on average in an attempt to maximize our potential. I'd rather take some swings and misses before connecting instead of just accepting average. The way it went down for football is a perfect illustration of this. We canned Bo, ended up with someone worse, then hit the home run on the next try.

 

Again, not advocating for firing Miles right now. Just speaking about the "be careful what you wish for" sentiment in general. That's a fear-driven attitude. Fortunately, our AD isn't motivated by fear.

Ha - I can't disagree with the general concept but keep in mind that Nebrasketball has struck out over and over and over again.  We've struck out so much, we've had perfect games thrown against this program with 27 strikeouts.  So I, myself, am not confident we can get another extra base hit, let alone a homerun hire.  To keep the baseball analogy, I think Miles has been a "double" type hire with the potential to be a homerun with a little more time.  I just like how the program is trending but can understand while others may not be as optimistic.

[BigTate]

1 hour ago, Norm Peterson said:

Some of you guys who are still "on the fence" with Miles, or are certain we could easily hire someone else to do better, must be pretty young.

 

I'm not.

 

I ain't gonna live forever.  I want to see this NCAA tournament winless drought end.  I'd like to see it go down this year and, if we make the tournament, I think it will.  I think we're good enough to win at least a first-round game.  Our resume might prevent us from proving we could do it, but just get this team in the tournament and I think they'll show they're a match-up nightmare for the Dance.

 

If you read my posts over time, which some people probably do and a lot probably don't, you'll note that I'm usually an optimist, but a guarded optimist, really.  You haven't heard me pronounce every team over the last dozen or so years (since I found this site) to be the best team in a generation.  I've basically said that for the first time, though, about this squad.  And it clearly is. 

 

But a generation is a loooooooooong time. 

 

By the mid-90s walk-out time, I'd felt Danny Nee had run his course here.  When he thought he was going to get the Rutgers job and announced that he basically never felt like he wanted to be here, he lost the fanbase.  When they finally fired him, I was extremely hopeful.  But, as some have pointed out recently, from about the very first game under Collier (or, really, even over the summer when we saw the recruits he was bringing in) it was like, oooh boy, what have we gotten ourselves into?

 

Collier was here six years before he took another job.  Wasn't fired; would have been here a 7th had Butler not offered him the AD position.  Doc was here six years.  Miles has now been here six years.  And if you don't think Miles is the right guy or are on the fence about him, how many more coaches-times-six-years are you willing to wait to find that right guy?  How confident are you that we just need to open up the check book to bring in that coach who will put this program on the proverbial map?  How certain are you that it's just that simple?

 

It's been 18 seasons since Danny Nee was fired.  In that 18 years, we've been .500 or better in conference play just twice: once under Doc Sadler; and in Tim Miles' second season.

 

We're about to go over .500 in conference play for just the third time in 18 years.  Two of those three under Tim Miles.  And people are on the fence.

 

We're within striking distance of making the NCAA tournament field for just the second time in 20 years.  Both would be under Tim Miles.  And people are on the fence.

 

If you motherfuckers can't live with a couple of down seasons every now and then while a guy tries to build a program, and demand we fire the coach every six years, I am going to be dead before we win an NCAA tourney game.

 

And if that happens, I'm going to be really pissed.  And I will haunt this board with error messages and banner ads for "Bluejay Pest Control" for all eternity.  Got it?

Thank You Norm for so eloquently saying exactly what I am feeling!!! 

 

[Cookie Miller Wasn't Dirty]

6 minutes ago, Nebrasketball1979 said:

Ha - I can't disagree with the general concept but keep in mind that Nebrasketball has struck out over and over and over again.  We've struck out so much, we've had perfect games thrown against this program with 27 strikeouts.  So I, myself, am not confident we can get another extra base hit, let alone a homerun hire.  To keep the baseball analogy, I think Miles has been a "double" type hire with the potential to be a homerun with a little more time.  I just like how the program is trending but can understand while others may not be as optimistic.

 

We struck out on two consecutive hires in Collier and Doc. The fact that they were the coaches for a combined 12 years might make it seem like an eternity, but missing on two coaches is no reason to accept average. And I know we were terrible before Nee, but no high school kid was even alive back then. That's irrelevant to the future success of the program.

 

I don't think an extra base hit is all that far-fetched considering the facilities we now have and the fanbase that has proven to be one of the most impressive home-court advantages in the country. I know it's scary to think about going through another 15 years of tournament-less basketball, but I really think people are underestimating the allure of this job.

[HB]

Classic Norm post, complete with an MF bomb!  

 

As long as we're generalizing (young people), there is another group that tends to apply to these arguments--those who think we can hire anyone out there as long as we're willing to pay them enough.   This group assumes anyone can be bought.   In reality, none of the big, I've proven this for years, can't miss names are coming here for any amount of money.  They already make so much more than they and their descendants could ever spend, they're not going to take a job that is still thought to be a career-killer at a place that is hard as hell to recruit to.    So those who are saying "I don't want to fire Miles unless we get Bill Self, Izzo, Coach K, Altman, etc." should just conclude "don't fire Miles".     Anyone we get will be a lateral or step up guy, which will have the usual risk.  And I get how some are willing to take that chance,  in case we strike oil, and others are reluctant and worried that we get someone who won't be able to recruit as well as Miles.    I have vacillated some myself.   

[Nebrasketball1979]

2 minutes ago, Cookie Miller Wasn't Dirty said:

 

We struck out on two consecutive hires in Collier and Doc. The fact that they were the coaches for a combined 12 years might make it seem like an eternity, but missing on two coaches is no reason to accept average. And I know we were terrible before Nee, but no high school kid was even alive back then. That's irrelevant to the future success of the program.

 

I don't think an extra base hit is all that far-fetched considering the facilities we now have and the fanbase that has proven to be one of the most impressive home-court advantages in the country. I know it's scary to think about going through another 15 years of tournament-less basketball, but I really think people are underestimating the allure of this job.

 

To be fair, Nebraska basketball has been around since the early 1900's so I think the conversation extends a little farther back than Collier and Sadler  .  Also, we haven't won a regular season conference title since 1950 - Wikipedia told me this so it must be true but I'm not old enough to vouch for the accuracy!