Husker Coaching Carousel and Early Signing Period: Coach Riley “it’s a waste of time”

Every season across the realm of college football, coaches get fired, retire, or leave to take on a new job at a different school. This is the way it is. There is nothing really holding a coach to stay at a particular school, except for loyalty (and a contract). But contracts can be bought out, terminated with buyouts, etc., so if a school wants a particular coach bad enough, they will pay whatever they need to pay when trying to lure him from another school. Huskers are not immune to the effects that occur when a coach unexpectedly leaves.

Huskers had a huge coaching turnover after Bo Pelini was fired. Mike Riley was hired to come in and pick up all the pieces. All of Pelini’s staff is gone now coaching at different schools or still looking. For a short period of time under Coach Riley, one of Pelini’s coaches, Charlton Warren remained as a defensive backs coach. This made many fans, players, and recruits happy; at least until he left Nebraska to go to North Carolina.

Dec 26, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels wide receiver Kendrick Singleton (81) receives congratulations from quarterback Mitch Trubisky (10) and wide receiver Damien Washington (35) after scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in the 2014 Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field. Rutgers won 40-21. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Charlton Warren surprised everyone when accepting a job to coach for the Tar Heels. This was virtually a lateral coaching  move that takes him much closer to his Georgia roots. Was this a smart move? He took a job for a coach who is on the Coaches Hot List (ironically, Mike Riley is on it) and I have read that if UNC does not win at least 7-8 games this next season, Larry Fedora and his coaching staff may be all out of jobs. Time will tell.

Warren was listed as Nebraska’s best recruiter for the 2014-2015 recruiting cycle and was listed as a Big Ten Top  recruiter. He was responsible for bringing in at least 7 of the Huskers commitments this go-around. Can you imagine how the kids that were currently playing under Warren felt? Or how the recruits and family members of the three early enrollees at defensive backs felt after Warren sat in their living rooms telling parents how he was going to be watching out for their kids and now he’s gone?

What about the kids, what rights do they have in all of this?  Should they be able to get out of their letter of intent commitment and transfer to a different school when they lose a position coach, or a head coach? Some would argue that they should be able to get out of their commitment, while others feel the kid made a commitment to play for the University in exchange for a free education. There are more questions than solutions and I feel it will continue on like this until the NCAA does something about it.

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Would an early signing day help?  If you remember, Bo Pelini was a big proponent of having no national signing day.  But does this really help out the recruits or is it more designed to help the schools? About 75% of division one coaches are in support of an early signing day for recruits, some time in late December. An early signing day is said to alleviate the stress on recruits who know where they want to play and are ready to sign on the dotted line, thus preventing other schools from calling on the recruits, perhaps giving them some normalcy one again. But really, an early signing day helps the schools out from having someone else come in and steal away a prize recruit. The Huskers know all too well what it is like to have recruits stolen at the last minute or taking recruits from another school.

Dec 5, 2014; Lincoln, NE, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Mike Riley talks during his press conference at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

Mike Riley is not a proponent of an early signing day period, he calls it, “a waste of time,” and feels that it won’t make much of a difference signing 6 weeks early. Riley was a member of a subcommittee that examined the issue of an early signing day and felt that this would only cause more kids to take early visits during their high school season upsetting many of the high school coaches.  I find myself in agreement with the current Husker coach on this issue, but one thing we need to really examine is what is fair to the kids in all of this. Jump in and let us know what you think. Go Big Red!!!