As an NIU, MAC conference, grad, my initial response is FUCK THEM!, but the Huskies have done well in recent years. However, I’m still a grad from the land-grant/educator school that I attended because the M:F ratio was supposed to be !:2 (demographics a couple years old, but could be worked with).
WTF happened?
Why wouldn’t they fire the football coach instead?
Probably because the AD fired the consistently 9-3 coach that basically only lost to top ranked teams, and replaced him with the 16-13 coach they have now. You replace the AD that made the bad hire, and then the next AD gets to hire the new head coach.
Husker fan here.
The basic story, in the from 1969-2000 (yes 30 straight years), Nebraska never lost more than 3 games a year, winning 9 or more. We’d always be in the national title conversation, have All-Americans, and Heisman candidates. We wouldn’t go unbeaten, but when we did lose, it was usually to highly ranked teams at their home fields (like Miami or FSU in the Orange Bowl). We’d complain “Osborne could never win the big one” after losing 17-7 to #1 Oklahoma. Then Osborne finishes his career by going 60-3 in the last 5 years, including 3 national titles. That’s what I grew up with, as did most Husker fans who’ve sold out EVERY game since 1962.
We want that back.
Are we too spoiled? Spoiled from what? We haven’t had a conference title since 2000, never mind top ten rankings or Heisman candidates. We have tremendous facilities, a national brand, high budget, full of tradition and a dedicated fan base. Yes, recruiting to Lincoln is hard, but that’s nothing new… besides we have the highest recruiting budget in the Big Ten.
Has college football changed? Sure, TV money has helped all programs get facilities and exposure. Oregon, Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech were nothing before the 90s. TCU and Baylor were complaining they were snubbed from playoffs a few years ago.
Are Husker fans living in the past? Sure, even traditional powerhouses like Tennessee, Texas, and UCLA are struggling. Clemson and Alabama had recent rough patches until they found the right coach. If Penn State can be #4 six years after losing Paterno during a devastating scandal, why can’t we?
First step is to fire the AD who hired Riley, so we can get a new AD to find Riley’s replacement.
The AD actually had just extended the coach’s contract another year (so it would now run through the 2020 season).
The school could have chosen to fire the coach, but 1.) I don’t think they had any suitable replacements lined up, and 2.) firing coach Mike Riley would have cost the school roughly $7 million. There is a buyout clause in his contract, which would require the school to pay him $170,000 per month for the remainder of the contract (~41 months). Firing the AD makes a lot more financial sense.