Why is Nebraska consistently out performing us? Do they have better facilities? A better recruiting area? More scholarships? More money? Larger fan base?
National Duals Qualifications announced
- Thread starter ScarletGrapfan
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Better seafood. It would be interesting to see an analysis that compares those and other attributes of wrestling programs/schools. Do you know the answers to those questions?
Nebraska wrestling has a brand. They’ve been a top program for like 80 years
Rutgers has never truly been a top program and has only become respectable the last 10-15 years or so. I don’t think people understand how much ground Rutgers has to cover. The fact that they are where they currently are is a testament to how hard Goodale has worked and it’s wild how many people want to ditch him after what he’s built.
We peaked in 2019 and even you must admit the last 6 years have been very little progress..
So the only thing Nebraska has over RU is the brand?? I’m guessing this is the same logic for why we can’t catch all the other mid-upper tier programs? Goodale keeps saying the goal is to eventually be a trophy team— you better let him know we gotta wait another 80 more years or so to wait our turn and build branding.
Nebraska is better at recruiting, coaching, and developing their guys. This isn't rocket science. Manning > Goodale. This is not a dis of Goodie. It is an acknowledgement of Manning's elte status. Next question.
NU has some of the best facilities in the country. From the wrestling room to the rehab stuff, private weight room and their own recoup and medical areas.
The NU recruiting area for D-1 wrestling basically sucks. NU has to recruit nationally to field a good team.
NU has been fully funded forever and also has a good NIL program now too.
The fan base is likely smaller than that of RU.
Their bigger brand in turn leads to better coaching applicants, better resident athletes, better recruiting, bigger donors, more money, and typically better facilities and more fans though Rutgers is fine in those departments.
It’s not so much passively sitting back and just waiting as much as it is Rutgers is trying to make up for a ton of lost time. Teams like Penn State, OK State, Iowa, Nebraska got a huge head start on the sport.
Better coaching, better RAs, etc. lead to a better brand. Penn State made an enormous jump when Cael arrived. Same is proving true at Okie ST.
If you lived in Nebraska what else do you have to occupy your time but Nebraska football, basketball, wrestling, girls volleyball, etc! No real professional sports for the entertainment dollar.
This is another disadvantage for Rutgers that people often overlook. The northeast typically doesn’t care about college athletics because of the amount of pro sports in the area. New Jersey alone has what, 9 pro teams in NYC area, and another 4 in the Philly area?
No this guy sounds dumber the Crackers, but he loves the word simping.
36th out of 66?
But Rutgers has a Top 5 to 10 attendance each year. So even with all those other opportunities, it's still one of the most popular places for watching NCAA wrestling.
I think if Goodale doesn’t save the program, we’d be down to 65 programs
Agreed on the fanbase. It’s still a wrestling hot bed, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to find a big donor or get university backing for things like scholarships, enough money for elite resident athletes, etc.
A “Brand” and image can change quite fast depending on who’s the head coach. Look what Cael was able to transform PSU into and even Hahn at SDSU..
Agree he probably saved the program. If they don't come up with some big donors were cooked though. Rev sharing is going to go to football and basketball so I doubt much will make it to wrestling and other olympic sports.
Sure, but who is that coach and why would they choose Rutgers? It’s simply not happening. All the names that have been thrown around the last few years sound great but for one reason or another they’re not interested in coaching or not interested in coaching here.
Not sure if that's accurate. Maybe their not interested in being an Associate Head coach at Rutgers. If the Rutgers head coaching job was up, there would be a long list of highly qualified applicants. IMO
Probably more accurate than not, it's a rare admission by SCNJ of Rutgers' lack of prestige in wrestling. Rutgers does desperately need a much more illustrious face for the program, together with a well-accomplished staff. However, just a highly qualified candidate will not make a major difference unless accompanied by other changes. Replacing Goodale alone will not do the trick. It can't be done on the cheap, as Rutgers usually does. And for the record, I have only called for replacing Goodale since the loss of Donny, Seabass, and Buxton, since that represented a rare opportunity to redefine the program significantly. I also predicted it wouldn't be done, and it hasn't. More likely than not, we will be seeing the same performance level each season over the next five or ten years. After that, Bill and I may not be watching anymore. Well, maybe Bill will.
If Rutgers wants to spend money there are a handful of coaches that would cost big money but would instantly turn the program back in the right direction. Hahn, Grey, Jaegers, Pendleton or Green are a few. Maybe Cunningham. But if money won't be spent then a top 20-30 is where RU is.
I don’t think there are many coaches on the planet who instantly turn a program into a contender. None of those guys are it, maybe Grey and he’s not leaving Cornell.
Taylor, Snyder, Burroughs, Dake… those are the types of names that turn things around immediately. Not James Green as accomplished as he may be. None of them are coming here.
With what RU currently has going for it do you think Goodale has/can maximize RU’s potential(perennial top 10)??
How many more years of top 20-35/66 before a change is good or should Goodale get a forever pass for “saving the program”?
Which metric are we using for top 10? If we are using top 10 dual team as Goody tends to do. Yes. But that is meaningless when it comes to the metric that matters. Tourney results are what matters. And I don't think the way that our program is designed (lack of true RTC, training partners, depth, hammers that can score and go deep in nationals) we have what it takes to consistently be in the top 10. Unlesss of course considerable changes are made.
Thanks. This is helpful. Nebraska is better positioned than I thought in terms of facilities and resources. As mentioned by some others this is bolstered by a long tradition (100 years) of wrestling at Nebraska. With that said, it's hard to use tradition/brand as justification for Nebraska's current wrestling excellence. They have one of the most accomplished staffs in the country. Here are their accolades.
-Mark Manning; 2x D2 National Champion (3x AA); USA Freestyle Team Member 1986-1989 (Silver at the Pan AM's); Took over a struggling program; finished 30th year 1; 2nd place 2025
-Bryan Snyder: 2x D1 Runner Up (4x AA; 4x Big 10 Champ); 2017 USA Wrestling Freestyle Coach of the Year; PhD
-Tervel Dlagnev: 2x D2 National Champion (4x AA); Freestyle Olympic Bronze Medalist 2012; 5th 2016 Olympics; World Bronze Medalist 2009 & 2014
-James Green: 2x D1 3rd place finisher (4xAA); 2017 Freestyle World Silver, 2015 World Bronze, USA World Team Member 2015-2021
My point is that there is a link between the success of Nebraska's wrestling program and the impressive resumes of their staff. How much this factors in is debatable. The results are not.
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I know Goodale emphasizes duals but when he says “perennial top 10” id have to assume ncaa scoring, this is more evident when he says the goal is to eventually win a team trophy which is currently only available ncaa scoring.
I mean I hope this is the top 10 metric Goodale is using bc this is how wrestling currently evaluates success… if he meant trying to top 10 in dual it shows he’s refusing to adapt..
It’s like trying to play 90s basketball style and refusing to adapt to 3pters and instead saying 3pters are stupid.
James Green would absolutely elevate a program , don’t forget he was the junior world team and OTC development coach for 2 years before he went back to competing. all those kids talked about how much he helped them. He would have no problem bringing in accomplished assistants, it would help with recruiting because being a multi time world medalist and team member for 6 straight years holds a lot of weight with big name recruits , he would most likely recruit NJ better bc kids actually know who is he because he’s still competing, he instantly would give your RTC more credibility. Not saying he’d turn Rutgers into Oklahoma state but I think he could elevate you to a top 10 team ( ncaa scoring and duals)
Fan of wrestling, yes a PSU fan. Rutgers should be a top ten team most yrs with the amount of talent Jersey has and Pa, NY, Maryland next door. Why it isnt may be more than one thing. Hopefully you all figure it out and get the power dynamics of D1 wrestling more on the east coast.
live outside Lock Haven, used to have season tickets many yrs ago. Feel the same way with LH, Clarion, bloom, Buck. Edin. Penn, Maryland ect.. Always hoping they get some all American contenders.