Hardly...but I'm willing to wait for things to get back on track.
Combined, we are a total of 14 seconds away from being 6-0, 5-1, or at the very least 4-2. You can lay it onto poor play calling, clock management, luck of the draw, injuries, lack of depth at key positions, or what have you. There's a few other things to take into consideration, though. Bo and his wonderful staff left the cupboard pretty bare for recruits/recruiting when they left. There's a good chance that had Bo not been canned, our record might not be any better than it is today. Tommy Armstrong is not exactly a model QB for Riley's offense, though he's shown improvement, he still has a tendency to throw from awkward positions. His mechanics and muscle memory need to improve. Injuries have had a powerful impact on the team as well.
Daughter #2 was home for the weekend, and according to her, the scuttlebutt in the locker room is players are complaining about practicing "too hard". With arguably the best strength & conditioning facilities in the nation, plus a beast of a new S&C coach, I'm wondering if some of the players are lacking the commitment required to be the best...and the majority of those complaining, if that's the case, would be Bo's boys. That leads me to believe that maybe Bo was being "one of the guys" and allowing S&C to slack off somewhat. I know that this team is in no way, shape, or form comparable to the studs of our 94 and 95 teams as far as strength and conditioning goes....and that is unacceptable. Part of the blame for that has to fall at Bo's feet.
Fair weather fans and their ignorant, hateful posts on social media aren't helping matters either. I would hope the boys would either stay off social media as much as possible, or at least ignore the hateful, hurtful comments.
Is Mike Riley the answer? I don't know. Win/loss record aside, I'm seeing some things I like. I like that we've not been blown out in any loss. Letting a team hang 50 to 70 points on you is devastating mentally. I like the fact that when we've found ourselves behind that we don't give up and fold like a cheap suit, Pelini style...we keep plugging away and do what we need to do, until the last few seconds, anyway. I like the fact we can adapt and make the changes needed to stay competitive during a game, unlike Bo coached teams. I like that there's not video every week on all the sports shows of the latest fit of Nebraska's Head Coach. I like the fact that Riley accepts the blame for what doesn't work rather than throw people under the bus, like you know who.
So if Riley isn't the guy, I think he'll be instrumental in shaping things for whoever the guy turns out to be. I'm more than willing to give him a fair shot and see what he can do. And don't forget, it wasn't very long ago that Bama tried to get him, so they must have seen something in him as well.