I've head a lot of things from Snake Oil Salesman to Riley's fall-guy and everything in between.
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
Honest thoughts on Diaco?
- Thread starter boiledmeconium
- Start date
Nebraska went from #33 in total defense in 2016 under Banker, to #116 in 2017 under Diaco. So I wouldn't say he was Riley's fall guy as much as the guy that took him down.
If you like a scheme that asks your outside linebacker to make a choice between being in two places at the same time 5+ yards apart doing two completely different things on the same play, and no matter what choice the linebacker makes the QB can just exploit the one not chosen, he's your guy.
I don't remember what Purdue has been running for a defense. IF it was a 3-4 you might be alright initially. It's hard to know what the hell was going on with Diaco at NU because the situation was so dysfunctional. He inherited a team who had never played in a 3-4 and a staff who had never coached it. On top of that his mentor and a guy who was helping install it at NU died. The STRAIN was unbearable. Diaco sure seemed like a train wreck at NU but I'm not sure his tenure here would be a fair synopsis of his ability to be a DC.
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Dude is crazy as heck and a media soundbite machine, but I wish him no ill will. Has been successful at other stops and was put into a tough situation here. Hope he does a great job 11 games of every season for you. 
He came in with a lot of excitement and fanfare. Folks were glad that Riley ditched his closest confidant and hired this former head coach that once did great at Notre Dame.
Our first game we almost lost to Arkansas State, who ran the same exact flats pass play nearly 75% of the game that we couldn't figure out how to stop. We stopped them at the goal line as time was expiring and pulled it out. Diaco didn't do a postgame presser when everyone was wondering what was up with the defense..
Second game we gave up 42 points in the first half to Oregon. They actually didn't score in the second half and we made it a game... but still 42 points in a half and we lost.'
Third game we lost to Northern Illinois. Wasn't really the defense's fault but when we needed a stop, they went right down and scored and beat us.
Mid-season we won a few games against bad teams... everything looked to be doing a bit better. We beat Rutgers, Illinois, played Wisky close, beat Purdue, ect. Then we lost a dumb game to Northwestern that we should have won and Diaco really threw the defensive players under the bus.
After the NW game and Diaco's comments, the defense pretty much completely gave up. A really bad minnesota offense scored 56 points on us.. then didn't score the rest of the season.
He was not a popular guy with the Lincoln media or with other assistants.
Our first game we almost lost to Arkansas State, who ran the same exact flats pass play nearly 75% of the game that we couldn't figure out how to stop. We stopped them at the goal line as time was expiring and pulled it out. Diaco didn't do a postgame presser when everyone was wondering what was up with the defense..
Second game we gave up 42 points in the first half to Oregon. They actually didn't score in the second half and we made it a game... but still 42 points in a half and we lost.'
Third game we lost to Northern Illinois. Wasn't really the defense's fault but when we needed a stop, they went right down and scored and beat us.
Mid-season we won a few games against bad teams... everything looked to be doing a bit better. We beat Rutgers, Illinois, played Wisky close, beat Purdue, ect. Then we lost a dumb game to Northwestern that we should have won and Diaco really threw the defensive players under the bus.
After the NW game and Diaco's comments, the defense pretty much completely gave up. A really bad minnesota offense scored 56 points on us.. then didn't score the rest of the season.
He was not a popular guy with the Lincoln media or with other assistants.
Id also like to add that the culture here wasnt probably what it needed to be to expect it to succeed in 1 year. See Scott Frost's first 2 years here..
Let's just say the defense did not improve. At all. It regressed exponentially. I think this post below from dinglefritz is my stance on the situation as well. There were a lot of people that with their hands on the steering wheel when Diaco was here, but he did nothing to help the situation. Our defense went from poor to some of the worst defense I've ever seen Nebraska play. He went to Oklahoma directly following his departure from NU, then got let go after 1 season there, too. I'm not really sure what Brohm was looking at with this hire.
This sums it up very well.Dude is crazy as heck and a media soundbite machine, but I wish him no ill will. Has been successful at other stops and was put into a tough situation here. Hope he does a great job 11 games of every season for you.
I'm not commenting on his coaching abilities, I'm admittedly biased based on his short tenure in Lincoln, but the guy has held a bunch of jobs with different schools - his average tenure is between 1-3 years - over the course of the last 20+ years. I would say he's going to do a touch and go at Purdue whether he's successful or not. Best of luck to the Boilers regardless.
Glad he isn't here because that means we still have smiling mike and a 500 record with little hope of improvement.
My thoughts on Diaco are that any defensive system will work if you recruit the right players to it (see Diaco's 2012 ND defense). But if you stick 4-3 DL and LBs into a 3-4, your defense will probably under perform regardless of talent (see NU, 2017).
And Diaco is an intense and odd (in the truest sense of the word) man.
And Diaco is an intense and odd (in the truest sense of the word) man.
I think he is an average DC. Looking at his time at Notre Dame is where he did best, he turned out top 25 defenses. But you also got to consider that is with Notre Dame talent, which continually has top 10 classes. So IMO that is slightly under-performing.
His time at UConn is a mystery. He had one bad year (87th), one good year (16th) and one average year (65th).
Then he did awful at Nebraska and Oklahoma. (116th and 101st scoring defenses, respectively)
Then he did good at La Tech. But keep in mind they played the easiest schedule in the country last year, so those numbers might be a little skewed.
I think he's going to struggle at Purdue because of the talent gap and his players having to adjust to his system (like what happened at Nebraska). Idk if that will matter when you play us though, the last 2 years you guys have had bad defenses and still beat us. So we'll see I guess!
His time at UConn is a mystery. He had one bad year (87th), one good year (16th) and one average year (65th).
Then he did awful at Nebraska and Oklahoma. (116th and 101st scoring defenses, respectively)
Then he did good at La Tech. But keep in mind they played the easiest schedule in the country last year, so those numbers might be a little skewed.
I think he's going to struggle at Purdue because of the talent gap and his players having to adjust to his system (like what happened at Nebraska). Idk if that will matter when you play us though, the last 2 years you guys have had bad defenses and still beat us. So we'll see I guess!
Here's the real 4-1-1 on diaco:
He's going to do 2 things, build a table and make soup. What you have to be concerned about is whether or not he has the ingredients for the soup, or whether the cabinet even exists that needs to hold the ingredients for him to make the soup. If not, it's going to take a lot of love to make the cabinet that holds the ingredients but even when he has the cabinet it won't be clear whether or not the ingredients are available to stock it. The love will produce the ingredients as long as the cats on the beach dont get to them first, because the oysters that have Pearls are hard to find and the cats sometimes get to them first. But if he's lucky enough to get enough oysters before the cats get to them, you can stock the cabinet and have the ingredients for the soup. Then you'll need the table. He'll start by building the top and the legs and the top again because building a table is hard. It takes hard work and love because the players are the legs and need love because they hold the top up but the top has to hold the ingredients that the cats didnt take when they were fighting for the Pearls on the beach.
And if you think I'm insane, these are all things that Bob Diaco has actually said, I just made it into a conglomeration of weird statements.
He's going to do 2 things, build a table and make soup. What you have to be concerned about is whether or not he has the ingredients for the soup, or whether the cabinet even exists that needs to hold the ingredients for him to make the soup. If not, it's going to take a lot of love to make the cabinet that holds the ingredients but even when he has the cabinet it won't be clear whether or not the ingredients are available to stock it. The love will produce the ingredients as long as the cats on the beach dont get to them first, because the oysters that have Pearls are hard to find and the cats sometimes get to them first. But if he's lucky enough to get enough oysters before the cats get to them, you can stock the cabinet and have the ingredients for the soup. Then you'll need the table. He'll start by building the top and the legs and the top again because building a table is hard. It takes hard work and love because the players are the legs and need love because they hold the top up but the top has to hold the ingredients that the cats didnt take when they were fighting for the Pearls on the beach.
And if you think I'm insane, these are all things that Bob Diaco has actually said, I just made it into a conglomeration of weird statements.
Many husker fans don't like him, mainly because his D sucked his very short time here. However, when looking at his whole body of work throughout his coaching career, he seems to have success. I think the ship was already sinking when he came, and nothing he or anyone could have done to fix it. I bet he succeeds at Purdue.
Lol and they wonder why the players had a hard time understanding what he was asking them to do
The game of football is like a fine meal that we all eat together as brothers. And before you get eat, you have to 'set the table' right? So that's what we're doing, and that's great, except that there was no table when I got here. So you are all ready to eat but there is no table. And that table is preparation, the table is hard work, the table is the love that we feel for one and other, but there is no table so what are you going to do, not eat? No, you have to eat, so we are building that table, one leg at a time and maybe its wobbly at first, right? But that doesn't mean that you throw it away. No, you work to level the table using love, and working hard and soon you have a table on which you can eat okay? Then, you can set the table and cook the meal and whatever until you get to eat. So we're hungry, right? Kevin Ollie has hungry Huskies and so do we, so we're hungry and we want to eat, so we're building that table, with love and support, one leg at a time. Oh and there's a football because that's the game we play, that's what its all about right? And its gold because gold is the most precious medal and football is precious to us and we're precious together, so yeah that's what we're doing we're building a table of love, support, and golden footballs. What could be better than that?
That is an actual quote.
That is an actual quote.
Haikus with bob diaco:
Linemen whered they go?
Double teams they cannot beat.
Rush three no pressure
Linebackers frolic
They wait and Chase and follow
The running back scores
Secondary wait!
Five yard cushion is a must
1st and goal touchdown
Building a table
Must start with the legs and top
The quarterback scores
There is no reason
No reasonable reason
They can win the game
We are now on track
To be best in the nation
Stop the run next year?
It's about players
And players playing the plays
But not just the plays
It all makes you think
The monster under your bed
Why's he hiding there
Next year the first time
Experience a middle
October Tuesday
Mike Rileys ice cream
Extra sprinkles for the team
We can't stop the screen
Don't tackle the back
Til the endzone he has found
The table is built
Linemen whered they go?
Double teams they cannot beat.
Rush three no pressure
Linebackers frolic
They wait and Chase and follow
The running back scores
Secondary wait!
Five yard cushion is a must
1st and goal touchdown
Building a table
Must start with the legs and top
The quarterback scores
There is no reason
No reasonable reason
They can win the game
We are now on track
To be best in the nation
Stop the run next year?
It's about players
And players playing the plays
But not just the plays
It all makes you think
The monster under your bed
Why's he hiding there
Next year the first time
Experience a middle
October Tuesday
Mike Rileys ice cream
Extra sprinkles for the team
We can't stop the screen
Don't tackle the back
Til the endzone he has found
The table is built
It would have been like you're trying to play chess and we made you run 10 miles before sitting down and then somebody gut punches you as you're trying to make your moves. That was like every day we trained. We trained them just short of a nervous system breakdown and then put them through equations, basically.
- actual Bob Diaco quote
- actual Bob Diaco quote
guy is borderline cookoo if you ask me.. lacks social skills and awareness, but has a good heart.
He was big on physical conditioning. Then someone, possibly the AD, remembered that our student athletes were abused by such efforts.
file this under "be careful for what you wish for" Husker fans......Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.