The Apologea of Mike Riley

A Coherent Argument for the Continuance of the Mike Riley Era

In ancient Greece, an apologea was not an apology issued by an offender of another’s sensibilities as a means of amends, as we define the root word in our contemporary society. Rather, an apologea was a defense of another against the charges levied by a prosecuting body. Specifically, Plato issued an (ill-fated) apologea on behalf of his friend, the great teacher Socrates, on charges of impiety* against Greek sensibilities of their time. Today, I would like to offer up my own apologea for the current coaching staff, hopefully with a more successful outcome.

*impiety: lack of reverence

Despite my angst immediately after the Wisconsin game last Saturday night, I am still in support of Mike Riley’s continued leadership at the helm of Nebraska football. Husker Nation’s own charges of the Riley staff’s supposed impiety to our tradition of excellence is illogical when you consider what he inherited. It is fair to state that few if any expected that Nebraska would require a total retooling of the program on November 30, 2014, the day Bo Pelini was fired. However, it is quite evident that there are talent deficiencies, stemming from roster mismanagement which continues to plague our beloved program. One of the strongest indicators of this can be found by looking at Nebraska’s starting 22. Eleven of the twenty-two starters either did not hold another Power 5 offer other than Nebraska or entered the program as a walk-on. This is not to suggest that all of these players do not possess the ability to develop into good players (namely, Michael Decker, Mick Stoltenberg, Luke Gifford, and Chris Weber). Rather, when half of your starting line-up does not hold any other Power 5 offer, it limits Nebraska’s ceiling when facing programs with either better development (Wisconsin) or talent (Ohio State). While developmental inefficiencies need to be addressed, another key component of Nebraska’s rebuild is recruiting, and not just to beat Wisconsin, but to elevate Nebraska to a level commensurate with Ohio State or Penn State.