Big Red Board

Hello folks…

Have you been talked off the ledge yet? Of course you have..otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this. Unless you have wireless internet in which case you are reading this which means you’re really not ready to jump!

Remember fans, Comedy is simply tragedy + time.

I don’t mean to be coy. Many of us are not feeling so good today and I don’t wish to minimize your feelings about what happened vs. Ball State. Many of you great fans invest time, energy and money into the success of this program and want badly to become great in football again. I am one of those people. I understand your feelings. I have some of those feelings.

But I’m also optimistic about the program. I’m disappointed but not discouraged. I have faith in the folks in charge. I have faith in Steve Pederson, Tim Cassidy and Bill Callahan. They are leading this effort and are expecting great things from everybody around them. What I do know about them is how dedicated they are to winning a title here. I believe that nothing will stop them in that effort. They will enact whatever changes, alterations, adjustments and shifts necessary to get that goal.

Hang in there.

This game is over. Iowa State is next. Time to move on. But of course, we need some things to change on defense…in a hurry.

We need leadership.

We need somebody to step forward and demand excellence from his teammates. I don’t know who that is? Bo Ruud is not that kind of personality. Corey McKeon has the personality but hasn’t performed. Potter and Suh are too young. Bowman has been injured. Maybe it’s Steve Octavien? Maybe it’s Grixby? But it starts on the practice field.

I would like each Blackshirt jersey taken by the captains Ruud and Bowman and locked up down there until this unit gets the job done. I want all of these guys in red jerseys until the guys start playing in games as the tradition demands. And if and when the Blackshirts return, they will return to 11 folks. That’s it. 11. These shirts should be for the first team defense. They should not be used for political correctness or to massage an ego. If we open a game in the base 4-3-4 that is who will wear the Blackshirts that week in practice.

These jerseys have to start MEANING something truly special to these guys. They have to be sacred. They have to require extraordinary effort to earn and hold onto. They have to be used as symbols of greatness in ability and character. There has to be minimum performance expectations from anybody who wears one.

And the coaches cannot be the proctors of this tradition. This has to come from the players themselves. There has to be a code of conduct monitored solely by the players.

I would like the coaches to re-analyze every element of our base defensive package and simplify it to match the guys on our roster today. What do we do well? What can we do well? Identify that and prepare it for the next game.

Some of our schemes, reads, and groupings for some reason appear beyond some of these guys. Either deep down inside they don’t believe in what we are doing enough to do it well or they don’t get it.

I’ve always thought defense was about disciplined fury. There is a lot of “want to” in good defensive football. At the very, very least we have to have 11 guys willing to jump on a sword on every play. I believe if we get that FIRST, we are on the road to recovery. If that means young guys like Blue, or Thenarse or Lawrence or Stafford getting opportunities, we should support the staff if those personnel moves are made—knowing full well that mistakes will be made by young and inexperienced players.

If we don’t win another game this year but I believe the players did everything they could and gave it everything they had and committed body and soul to his teammates on the field for 60 minutes, I’m a proud Husker.

If this coaching staff has the confidence and faith in each other to critically evaluate every facet of our preparation and the courage to make unpopular but necessary changes, I’m a proud Husker.

But if they do all of the above, we may not LOSE another game this year.

GBR!

Tags: Jim Rose //