Van Horn is one of the best college coaches of the last 30 years. He fell into our lap and then left us...we are a northern school with awful weather for 40% of the year...our regional kids only play baseball from March 15th through August 15th...and then they play other sports. Baseball is a repetition sport and needs full year round attention...florida, cali and the southern states not only have the climate but the player base to build a full baseball roster full of elite talent...Nebraska can no longer do it...
Van Horn left mainly because it was his alma mater calling, giving him a chance to replace his mentor. Otherwise I don't think he would have been in any hurry to leave NU.
But, that was when Nebraska was in an excellent baseball conference. I agree that attracting a great coach and top-level talent is much harder now, but there's still no reason this program can't be better than it is. NU should be at or near the top of its crappy conference every year, and that isn't happening.
