Things are not going very well for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. They lost their sixth game of the season at Minnesota on Saturday, and with the loss, Huskers head coach Mike Riley’s seat has gotten even hotter. Adding more fuel to the fire: What he had to say in his Monday presser, when he said his program hasn’t had all that many issues ... “besides the games.”
Mike Riley says Nebraska has had very few issues ‘besides the games’
Oh no, he pulled a Butch Jones.
Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images
“This place has maintained their passion for their teams and Huskers football for a long time, and I’m certain that they will continue to do that, and they should,” Riley said. “I love this team, I love their approach every week. We have had very few issues, except for the games, and I appreciate that, the work that they try to do and get ready, and same with the coaches. And I’m positive that the fans will forever love their team.”
Look, I get what the coach is trying to say here — that despite his team not winning a lot, he still loves the energy and preparation his team puts in each week.
Doing all those things are great, but if you don’t win games, there’s no reason for a school to keep you around.
The other thing about this is that this statement is reminiscent to a quote now-fired Tennessee head coach Butch Jones had after the Vols’ loss to South Carolina last month:
“I thought we did all the things it takes to play winning football except one element, and that’s score touchdowns,” Jones said on the Monday after the game.
That was added to the list of Butchisms, including “champions of life,” “five-star hearts,” and “leadership rep.” I think we can all agree Riley deserves the Champions of Life Belt after what he said on Monday.
Nebraska’s last two games are against Penn State and Iowa, so four wins may be all the Huskers get this season.
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