VanderVoot: Husker fans should look to PJ Fleck as standard for rebuild

per VanderVoot:

PJ Fleck the Nebraska football measuring stick?

While UCF might not be a fair comparison, all is not lost. It might just take one more year than people expected. When looking at what Minnesota head coach PJ Fleck has done, Nebraska football might have a mirror it can look into. Like Frost, Fleck came to the Big Ten after a successful run in a mid-major conference.

Like Frost, he had a bad first season at his new school.

In some regards, it was a worse season than Frost had with Nebraska football. PJ Fleck took over a 9-4 Minnesota team and went 5-7 in his first year. His second year, modest improvements were made, and his team went 7-6. The key here is it's not as though the Golden Gophers were a sudden juggernaut.

A Nebraska football team that finished 4-8 was able to dominate Fleck's team. While the Huskers have struggled especially of late, they are just a few plays away from posting six or seven wins so far. While it's possible they could end up 4-8 or 5-7 again, they're closer to Fleck's second season than they might look at first.

In 2019, Fleck's third season in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, is 9-0 and just upset fourth-ranked Penn State. While that turnaround seems less dramatic after going 7-6, there's very little doubt he could have missed a bowl game for the second straight year last year if things had gone just a bit differently.

With Scott Frost's third Nebraska football season lacing it up in 2020, and a still relatively friendly schedule, it wouldn't be a shock to see a Fleck-like turnaround. If it doesn't happen, then it might be time to worry.

https://us.blastingnews.com/opinion...-fleck-as-standard-for-rebuild-003014532.html

Go Gophers!!

Minnesota is now the measuring stick for Nebraska.

No, you're not dreaming, Gopher fans. This is happening, right now.

Here's my question.

Can Husker fans handle a coach who brings his own brand?

Some of our fans could not but it wasn't a big deal as folks are happy to embrace wins in the face of decades of mixed results (or way worse) ... half the battle in Neb is that it's all about that great Husker tradition and how great they are and these kids ... I wonder if they really feel connected to that when they go out and struggle and Fost calls them out on it.

PJ embrasses the failure(s) and built his own Fleck-isms and such that do just fine along Ski-U-Ma ... but aren't so steeped in this strange contrast of Husker 90's lore and expectations from it....

Maybe Neb needs someone new to say "this isn't those teams, we're not going to talk about it, we're a new team with new guys here to do something new"?

Yes, he is correct that it typically takes a few years for the new system to build and that Nebraska fans are totally unrealistic.

But he sure doesn’t know much about the U. He doesn’t mention that the wins started after changing the DC. The author states like it was just a matter of luck. And one of those was against a hated rival to win back the Axe.

Also, PJ’s program had a feeling of progress and hyper positivity, the clown in Nebraska is still calling out his players for not being tough enough and told everyone they would win the B1G his first year.



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RememberMurray said:

Minnesota is now the measuring stick for Nebraska.

No, you're not dreaming, Gopher fans. This is happening, right now.

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THIS was the way it used to be.

What goes around comes around...Minnesota does lead the series 33-25-2.

Nebraska is still living in the past. Until they start a new future and forget about how things were back in 1995-96...they'll never move forward. Heck they even hired a coach from their past. They still wear their 1995 Starter jackets and brag about black shirts. It's actually sad...but honestly it's finally time for them to stop looking down their noses at the likes of Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa and start respecting them. Just because you're Nebraska no longer makes you better. Nebraska has a way to go...Good luck.

Urban Meyer, in his bit with DiNardo, implied that Nebraska is toast because they screwed up their recruiting pipeline in the move to the Big Ten. Some of that take is reactionary but there probably is some truth to it.

from cleveland.com, interviewing 34 writers from around the bigten prior to the season:

BIG TEN WEST
1. Nebraska, 198 points (14 first-place votes)
2. Iowa, 194.5 points (14)
3. Wisconsin, 172.5 points (4)
4. Northwestern, 142.5 points (1)
5. Purdue, 110.5 points
6. Minnesota, 100 points (1)
7. Illinois, 34 points

Here were the most popular Big Ten Championship Game predictions for our voters.
Michigan over Nebraska (8)
Michigan over Iowa (8)
Ohio State over Iowa (6)
Ohio State over Nebraska (4)
Ohio State over Wisconsin (3)
Nebraska over Michigan (2)
Michigan over Wisconsin (1)
Ohio State over Minnesota (1)
Northwestern over Michigan (1)

harley_gopher said:

Nebraska is still living in the past. Until they start a new future and forget about how things were back in 1995-96...they'll never move forward. Heck they even hired a coach from their past. They still wear their 1995 Starter jackets and brag about black shirts. It's actually sad...but honestly it's finally time for them to stop looking down their noses at the likes of Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa and start respecting them. Just because you're Nebraska no longer makes you better. Nebraska has a way to go...Good luck.

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After our recent success, I've relished in the arrogant behavior that fans of these "traditional" powerhouses display. Penn State Alum at worked emphasized how they LOST the game more than WE WON it. I guess we've just been that lucky all season? Wisco fans I know question our lack of quality road wins, still believe they are clearly the favorite in MPLS this year. The superiority complex of these FANS is astounding. Somehow I am grateful that as Gopher fan I never had the luxury of being arrogant and condescending to other fans based on the historical records. How the team is playing this year is all that matters to me.

TurfGopher said:

After our recent success, I've relished in the arrogant behavior that fans of these "traditional" powerhouses display. Penn State Alum at worked emphasized how they LOST the game more than WE WON it. I guess we've just been that lucky all season? Wisco fans I know question our lack of quality road wins, still believe they are clearly the favorite in MPLS this year. The superiority complex of these FANS is astounding. Somehow I am grateful that as Gopher fan I never had the luxury of being arrogant and condescending to other fans based on the historical records. How the team is playing this year is all that matters to me.

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That's where I'm at.

Failure is Growth.

with all of Nebraska's failures in 2019. they might win a College Football Playoff National Championship in a couple years

Nebraska fans need to embrace that their team is not very good and move to the stage of these are things we need to see improve over the next year. "We suck, let's get better at this and this." One thing that pops out to me is their lack of a true BT running back. Another is their lack of defensive quickness and speed. Like MN is the 70s and 80s they have to come to realise there just isn't enough speed in NB to build a team around local guys for half the team.

TurfGopher said:

After our recent success, I've relished in the arrogant behavior that fans of these "traditional" powerhouses display. Penn State Alum at worked emphasized how they LOST the game more than WE WON it. I guess we've just been that lucky all season? Wisco fans I know question our lack of quality road wins, still believe they are clearly the favorite in MPLS this year. The superiority complex of these FANS is astounding. Somehow I am grateful that as Gopher fan I never had the luxury of being arrogant and condescending to other fans based on the historical records. How the team is playing this year is all that matters to me.

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WI is complaining about our road wins? They have only won 2 of their last 7 B1G road games. And one was barely beating Purdue in OT.

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