1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - Expectations of a program: December 2, 11:00am

Episode Date: December 2, 2025

Discussion about expectations as an entire program, no matter the sport.How leadership builds a foundation of a program.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Tuesday morning in the city. 25 degrees at 11.04. Oh, street's clear. Traffic is good. Sun's out. Snow is melting. Still black ice. Be careful out there, people.

Watch some people do the black ice breakdancing moves. It wasn't pretty. Take care of yourselves. and then take care of the others around the way. 4024-6-4-5-6-8-5 is the Sarder Heyman text line. Want to be a part of what we're doing? You can hit us up. Let's put a lift up.

And we'll include you in the conversation. Simple biz. All of the live video streams, Facebook, YouTube X, L.O. Channel 961. If you want to be a part of this thing, you can see what's happening. Pretty good stuff a long way before we dive into the stories that are. Bach, kind, sir, please pay the bills, pay the bills. Yeah, this hour is here sponsored by Hamilton Telecommunications, bringing you the latest quality technology and communication services since 1901. Whether it's residential or business, Hamilton has the answers.

Visit Hamilton.com for more info today. Thank you, kind, sir. Buck, how are you? Oh, not too bad. Okay, not too bad we can do, right? Yeah. I don't like this note myself. I mean, I'm okay with it before Christmas, but...

Yeah, it affects, right? Right? Like, it certainly changes, it changes how you dress, it changes how you operate, how you move. Yeah. Yeah. Even short walks are... It's the line from Frow Blucher from Young Frankenstein.

Stay close to the kind ofs. The stairways can be treacherous. and I feel that way about the streets. The streets of Lincoln can be treacherous. I asked the question on social media because I really, you know, I'm trying to get to the, to a place of comfort in these conversations that we have about what's going on in Husker athletics and the sports in general. And AD and Nick were talking about, you know,

the difference in the program that you know you've gone from you know five wins to six wins to seven wins right uh in the past few years um first of all bach do you count the bowl game win as a win uh i used to i used to be upset when people didn't um but the bull games have changed quite a bit as we're seeing again john butler you know the full the full team's not necessarily going to be there. So, yeah, but I think that it's much better to start kind of thinking through the terms of regular season wins. I think that's more, I mean, that's when the decisions are made.

That's when the firings, the hirings, all that sort of stuff is happening. So, ish, kind of. Well, because here's what happens. A lot of the conversations should be, this person should be fired, this person should be fired. Okay, the problem is that we're not in the rooms knowing what. what the job descriptions are for each job, right? Yeah. So if we said, we want, you start at the head coach, right?

You could start with the athletic director if you want, right? Because the athletic director is doing business. It's the business and then the management of said business. But the head coach of a program is the leader of that particular program and responsible for the direction, location, elevation of said program then in that conversation you have to one determine where you were was not sufficient not satisfactory not good enough right so four years ago what was Nebraska's record in 2021 the best three and nine team of all time right uh 20 22 uh would have been four and eight right

Right? Right. So the numbers, right, that you're saying that three and four wins not sufficient, not satisfactory, not exactly the statement of who Nebraska athletics should be. And we also have to admit that the expectations of said job description isn't the same. in every athletic program. That success, put it in air quotes about success. For Nebraska volleyball is different than success

for Nebraska basketball, which is different than success for Nebraska baseball, which is different than, et cetera, et cetera, Nebraska football. Fair? Absolutely. Okay.

So if success can be defined in a way about Nebraska volleyball, should that be the same standard for Nebraska football? Same boss, same program, same standard, yes or no? I mean, ideally you'd like to get to the Nebraska volleyball standard, but I think you have to take into account where, again, with each individual program, where the program's been, what advantages, what resources does it have,

what's the roster look like now, So it would be hard to expect. And I mean, the national, Nebraska volleyball is undefeated. The expectation is not a final four. It's a national championship. It would be hard to put those same expectations on, like you're saying,

the basketball and Nebraska football. Why would it be hard? Because they did not come off a season where they were in the final four. Do they have? They did not come off an all-time great coach coming in, one of the best coaches in college, in college volleyball now coming in as well.

So the standard is and the standard then. It's a suggestion. It's not a standard. It's a Nebraska volleyball standard. But Nebraska volleyball is a part of Nebraska athletics. Well, I mean, if you're going to go around fire and everybody, that's not number one by the end of the year. You're going to have a hard time.

I didn't say fire. I didn't say fire. Here's my thing. What if the athletic department is setting a standard for head coaches, let's say for the next. head coach that's going to be hired, right? Or the last one. What would the expect, what could they reasonably demand or not even reasonably demand? What should the demand be? As a Husker fan who is going to pay top dollar

for, for, to support the program, why would you not be able to hope for want championships? Why would you not want that? I mean, that's going to be everybody's baseline goal. I mean, you don't go to any game thinking you're going to lose or expecting to lose. So there's a way for you to win? Sure. Right? There's a way for the rest.

I think you've got to be somewhat realistic. I mean, I get what you're saying. There's an idealistic, but then I think there's a realistic. The idealistic is where all things are built. That's how standards are built. baseline is the bare minimum is the bare minimum that if you're going to here's what i would hope that that for as much as husker nation proclaims itself as the best fan base and therefore supplying every bit of resource and support that they can't that they've showed up 90,000 strong

since 1961, right, that the fans work at a high standard to try to maintain that standard. And if the athletic department can look at volleyball, wrestling, bowling, and say, go win titles, if he can say to Nebraska baseball, hey, go win big 10 titles, if it can say to softball, go get the best player of the country, then why can't say that about Nebraska football. It's the same person. It's literally the same athletic director.

It's the same athletic program. They have all the same resources. The tuition's the same for every student athlete. Right? In every department. Duke basketball is different than Duke football. Kansas basketball is different than Kansas football. But why?

Because of, again, the work that's been done by the predecessor. The people that have put it in place, shaped it to where its spot is in that individual sport. You mean the standard set? To a degree. I mean, I don't know. I don't know. I guess. Do you think Coach Sushchevsky would have would have coached a football program that got its head kicked in every year and not changed anything?

No, but I don't think. Bob Knight, do you think Bob Knight would have won more games at Indiana for football than than anybody else in that's face, correct? I don't know how he translates to a football coach. I do, from a leadership standpoint, yeah, he would translate. It's a different ball game, but sure. No, Bach, it, literally leadership is leadership. That's the part people miss. The game itself, the X and O's has nothing to do with the Jimmy's and Jones. Nothing. The things that A.L. Nebraska athletes. athletics, in the space where the illnesses exist, it is often leadership that is

responsible for it and can fix it. And it doesn't matter what sport it is, that if you tell me that you need, you can find 105 football players, 105 to play at the top level among. Amongst football giants who are going to face Ohio State, Oregon, Indiana, Michigan, USC every year, or most years. Then to say that you can't find 10 basketball players to play at that level, using the same location geographically, same location, same standard, same resources, they eat at the same meal table, right? They put the same nutrition, same weight systems, same recovery, same living situation, circumstance, same financial support. Is any of that incorrect? That's all correct.

Okay. So. I mean, to a degree. I mean, NIL is certainly different in these conversations these days. That's a symptom to a whole other thing. That is a leadership issue. because four years ago, someone would say if you thought that Nebraska volleyball would be getting

the financial support that it is currently getting that you were crazy, that you'd bumped your head. Why? Because I've been saying all along, you cannot grow fruit from seeds, not planted. You have to give resource to Nebraska volleyball for it to be the version that it currently is. You have to actually put into Nebraska wrestling

to get the results that you're getting or the results that you want. You can't grow what you haven't planned it. And if you don't feed it, it certainly doesn't grow. We could go through. Let me ask the question, bot.

Uh, 93-7th ticket in 2019. Existed, correct? Mm-hmm. Does it currently, work at the same standard that it worked, that now that it worked in then? No. Are the same number of resources and exposure given to it?

No. Is there more time spent into it? No. So ultimately, we as adults can all adjust to what we are willing to accept rather than what is given to us that I can say to bond you know what I want you to have more and then I have to give you the freedom to want more because not everybody wants more right

and not everybody wants to work for more but if Nebraska athletics at the top of the pyramid says here is the standard for coaching right here's the standard for coaching to be a head coach at a at any program if we're Nebraska athletics do you think the rules of engagement should be the same for football basketball volleyball softball wrestling should they be the same the standard yeah again I don't necessarily think so I mean I think there's a lot of where where your program's been where

your talent is, what's returning. I mean, that sort of stuff has to factor. And even from year to year, I guess, would be within those programs. I think the standard or the expectation or the, you know, what, what the, what the team is expected to do. Expectation changes a little bit. And, and I'm, let me be clear. I don't have the answer. I'm seeking, I'm asking questions to get to the answer, right? That I'm trying to figure. out that before we send the mob to demand firings, we have to define what success is. And then we have to define, is it Nebraska athlete, is it, is it Husker success across the board? Is it specific to the sport?

Is it specific to the year? Because remember, there's the athletic program, there's the program, whatever sport it is. and then it is the team, that individual year's team, right? The accumulation, the team is the accumulation of the program and the athletic department. Fair? Is that kind of? Yeah. Right.

So then I'm trying to figure out if we said that we have as fans, there's an expectation of the coaching staff at Nebraska, football, for football, right? What would those expectations be? Because I've said along, we haven't determined what priority one is. Because at the end of the year, it always comes down to wins and losses. But the reality is, if it wasn't that in July, when you go to camp, it can't be in January. You can't change, you can't have the goalpost moving. The standard has to exist.

The foundation is built on it. And that's identity, culture, all those things, right? So Texan, help me out here. I'm trying to understand that if you, so Butler gets fired. Why? Bach, why was he fired? Why do you think he was fired? I mean, obviously there was problems within the defense,

the rushing defense being leaky was probably a big. But I mean, I think a big part of this, in my opinion, is that it just didn't seem to be a fit within the coaching staff. if you go up and down the offense and defensive numbers, the offense didn't have necessarily much better of a year. So what was the problem? I think that there, I think that those rules, the evaluator. Just put the pin there, right?

Hold that thought because there's a different standard for offense, defense, and special teams. Within the same program that the expectation for one group is not the same as all groups. Is that fair? I mean, I think you could look at a different. Nebraska obviously doesn't have much of a strength on one side of the ball, the other. Certainly at Iowa, the defense is probably held to a higher standard than what the passing offense is, right? Which is why people make fun of Iowa. Right.

Like, we should all want to figure out the highest level that we can work at and achieve that. As a matter of fact, we should shoot beyond, as Don Quineas, shoot for the sun. you fail, you're still amongst the stars, right? What are we settling for? And why? What is the problem with Nebraska football? To put it down to one single thing would be pretty tough. Right, so, so let's, right?

Because I think a thing, right? I think a thing that we could, we could get to some agreement on is, what the standard should be for Nebraska football. Because if we said in July, Nebraska's going to be 7 and 5 and go to one of two bowls, and it's not the Pennstrike Bowl, there is a portion of the Husker population that would have thrown confetti, especially this year, a year ago, July, two years ago, July. If two years ago, July, we say, you know what, you're going to be 7 and 5, you're going to go to either Vegas or Nashville

and you're going to have a quarterback or some note. A lot of fans at that point would have said, bravo, let's do that, right? Because you hadn't done that for a run. So now what is the standard? The goalpost at some point, the goalposts have to be planted and that has to be the North.

Like there needs to be a North Star. Unfortunately, Nebraska is a perfect program as to why that can be dangerous because that was the feeling post Tom Osborne obviously Solidge had his run played in the national championship two years later fired after a nine win season same thing happened but can we say that that was the wrong thing to do can we say firing somebody after a national he wasn't hitting the Tom Osborne standard if we're going to keep the standard at you've got to be competing for championships well he was competing for championships was not so he's out well again the status of the program

and the standard has to be set. So if you say competing for, did you win the conference championship that year? Were you playing in a bowl of some note? Was there additional revenue being brought to the program? What is the thing that everybody wants a Husker football head coach to shoot for and achieve? Because if you don't know what that is and you don't agree to it, it never becomes possible. And it's very hard to judge.

it's very hard to go oh he's doing a good job well what were the rules what were the rules what were the standards like what if you're going to run a mile you know that you have to run a mile and success can be based on time it can be based based on place it could but it could simply be based on the fact that you finish the mile what's the goal what's the standard what are we shooting for well i think this Nebraska, again, I don't think you could set a, like a single, like, you know, put it in the dirt type of thing. But I think people want to see progress, right? And I think the way that the season played out, there are numbers, certainly one more win, that you can look at and say that's progress. But then, you know, there's also the way the season

ended. I mean, certainly can blowout, you know, more blowouts than the previous year. There are other numbers that you can use and say that there wasn't a whole lot of progress. So did, like, again, what, what's at the top of the pyramid is wins, is, is money, is reputation, is it integrity? What is it that overrides everything else to determine whether you've had a successful year? Because I, here's my thing. I led with, I would like to know what the definition of success is, specifically for Nebraska football compared to Nebraska athletics, because if football is the North Star and the grand

mover of all things in the athletic department, that's the standard. And if you allow it in football, you then have to allow it in every other sport, which I don't think Husker fans would be cool with, quite frankly. Like the thing that's accepted in Husker basketball would not be accepted in any other sport. Fair? Yeah, most other. Right. So here's my thing.

In my head, I'm trying to identify for my own sanity. I want to know what the standard is because there's no point of me getting upset over 75 if 75 doesn't matter. If seven wins doesn't matter, if winning one more game than last year isn't enough, right? Because that's improvement. That's progress, right? Because seven wins is better than six wins, which is better than four wins, which is better than three and nine. Like, we have to keep saying that. So, but we can't change the rule because of convenience.

Because a rule of convenience is not a rule. It's the suggestion. If there's an exception to the rule, there's no exception. I mean, there's no rule. So what is, so for if, and because here's the other. other thing, Bach. You make a coaching decision was made yesterday. You now have to fill that position. What are you trying to do in filling that position? What is the thing at the top of the list that has to be done for the person that is hired? Because if you don't know what

that is, it's really hard to hire the right person. It's really hard. It's really hard. I can't say, hey, Bach, I need a co-host for Bach. So do I go get somebody that doesn't know Bach or do I get somebody that can work with Bach? I should probably get somebody that can work with Bach because the likelihood of their success depends on. If we don't know what we're hiring for, we cannot be successful at it. And I just think we're at a point, Bach, where a coaching

another coaching decision will be made, and we don't know why. We don't know why it happened. We don't know what the hope is. We don't know what's required from it. We don't know. I'm trying to find it out. He's Bach. I'm DP Moore and when we come back.