Was Otzelberger (not Hoiberg) the real orchestrator of the revival of the program.

[Cy4All]

I know we're only in the middle of year two of the Otzelberger era. With where this team is now and the results of last year. Then looking at the next two incoming classes this program has turned around in a hurry.

I was thinking about the last big turn around this program had and how similar it was. Strong seasons built on misfits in the transfer portal leading to better recruiting and development of four year players.

After seeing how Nebraska has struggled overall and how Otz has seemingly succeeded to this point I am wondering if this was Hoibergs vision executed by TJ. Or TJs plan implemented by Hoiberg? Did TJ just replicate what worked before?

 

[ghyland7]

Fred was the perfect guy for the job at the time.

He jumped in early on transfers and treated it more like an nba roster build.

He also was incredible at Xs/Os on the offensive side, at least.

Coaches are successful because of the staff they choose to have around them.. Otz was a huge part of Fred's success, but Fred was great for the time. Otz is successful in no small part with the help of Green.

Fred was hired to excite the fanbase with the hometown kid. Otz was hired to rebuild with toughness and solid recruiting.

 

[Williowa]

What has TJ done that Fred or Steve didn't do?

So far not much.

Who's program is he rebuilding? Eustachy?

With the new recruits coming in we might just be looking at something so new to us that you can't call it a rebuild. Just has to play out like we think it will

 

[Final42b]

TJ has always been the glue. Just look what happened to Prohm when TJ left…

 

[twincyties]

the original question asked here is certainly an interesting one. last season-and-a-half makes you wonder.

Agree with point above that a good program is much more than just the head coach. So TJ has help just like Fred did.

its well documented that Fred hated recruiting although it sounds like he was much more active with it early on (For example with Niang). After Morris and Thomas his recruiting was atrocious. Left Prohm what was arguably our most talented team but a bare cupboard at freshman/sophmore level. Fred was working the transfer market before that was really a thing.

Whether or not that was him or TJ I have no idea. What I find really fascinating is how much their styles of play seem to contrast with each other. Will be interesting to see if the defensive identity persists because that’s TJ’s philosophy or if its Been him adapting to the teams that’s he’s been able to put together in short order (probably a little bit of both).

If TJ can continue to recruit HS at his level we should be a much more consistent program. Players like Bilew are super exciting, but 1-and-done has its downsides until we can get a few years of solid classes strung together in a row. So long as we maintain some success and TJ is recognized as the outstanding coach he is, we should be able to keep getting transfers when we need them to fill in gaps.

 

[HFCS]

It's quite possible but it's not going to be something wildly drastic as Lickliter/Brad Stevens. Fred has his strengths.

 

[ClonesTwenty1]

TJ has always been the glue. Just look what happened to Prohm when TJ left…

TJ is a top tier recruiter obviously. Just look at the names he’s got over the years. I think TJ continues to improve all the time as a coach. Bringing in Kyle Green was a big time move.



I will also point out, no one is going to be successful at Nebraska basketball. Not even Coach K could save that disaster.

 

[VeloClone]

No.

 

[Cyclonepride]

TJ is a top tier recruiter obviously. Just look at the names he’s got over the years. I think TJ continues to improve all the time as a coach. Bringing in Kyle Green was a big time move.



I will also point out, no one is going to be successful at Nebraska basketball. Not even Coach K could save that disaster.

Bringing up Kyle Green in this thread hits close to the mark, because no head coach deserves all the credit for the team's success, and I think TJ would tell you that too. Good assistants are critical.

 

[Dr.bannedman]

TJ is a top tier recruiter obviously. Just look at the names he’s got over the years. I think TJ continues to improve all the time as a coach. Bringing in Kyle Green was a big time move.



I will also point out, no one is going to be successful at Nebraska basketball. Not even Coach K could save that disaster.

i'd bet TJ would be having more success at UNL than Fred has.

 

[ISUKyro]

I firmly believe there is a special place for particular coaches to be.

CFH - special place was clearly ISU..
TJ - same.

If not, TJ should have done better at Las Vegas. Point is, some places are just a better fit.

Sit back and enjoy the ride.

 

[Pope]

I love how TJ essentially has an offensive coordinator and a defensive coordinator on his staff and he has the wisdom and the security to allow them to do the talking during many of the timeouts. He's really pushing all the right buttons.

 

[madguy30]

I firmly believe there is a special place for particular coaches to be.

CFH - special place was clearly ISU..
TJ - same.

If not, TJ should have done better at Las Vegas. Point is, some places are just a better fit.

Sit back and enjoy the ride.

I put an astrisk on his time at UNLV since the second season was the full weird Covid year and even Coach K struggled.

TJ won at SDSU and he's winning at ISU so far with a very good plan on how to do it.

Hopefully this season continues the success.

 

[BCClone]

I put an astrisk on his time at UNLV since the second season was the full weird Covid year and even Coach K struggled.

TJ won at SDSU and he's winning at ISU so far with a very good plan on how to do it.

Hopefully this season continues the success.

It was probably better for TJ to have a 2-22 situation to come into rather than a 15-17 type team. When the team was that bad, you don’t get flack if you run off players, change things entirely; basically no sacred cows. He put together a team/system that was hard to beat if you saw them once so really built for tournaments.

 

[2forISU]

I know we're only in the middle of year two of the Otzelberger era. With where this team is now and the results of last year. Then looking at the next two incoming classes this program has turned around in a hurry.

I was thinking about the last big turn around this program had and how similar it was. Strong seasons built on misfits in the transfer portal leading to better recruiting and development of four year players.

After seeing how Nebraska has struggled overall and how Otz has seemingly succeeded to this point I am wondering if this was Hoibergs vision executed by TJ. Or TJs plan implemented by Hoiberg? Did TJ just replicate what worked before?

Matt A was pivotal piece with transfers

 

[AuH2O]

Obviously TJ was a huge help, but I think it’s more that Fred had success that he largely created and hasn’t replicated. Obviously being the first to really embrace the sit out transfers as a way to get old isn’t unique anymore.

I also think there’s a factor of Fred being much more willing at the time to recruit and do all the parts of the job he hated at a high level. It’s a lot easier to suck it up when his ultimate goal of an NBA job looked to be in reach.

Now that he’s on the other side and that NBA HC dream is probably dead, I’m guessing he’s settled in to being hands off with all that stuff. Throw in the heart scare, and I think you have a recipe for a coach that knows what he’s doing but isn’t going to bust his ass and kill himself to do it anymore.

For those reasons I thought Fred would be decent at Nebraska, but never thought he’d have crazy success. You’ve got to be off the charts driven to succeed, and I figured it would be tough for him to ramp back up to the level necessary.

 

[Matthew-10]

Portal or not, TJ has built the best rated teams ISU has probably ever seen. He knows what he lacks and surrounds himself with great assistants. Even Fred had a old mentor type coach at the beginning. TJ has matured and I think a better all-around coach than Fred. This may change - Prohm surprised me.

 

[VeloClone]

As far as Fred and recruiting I'm just going to say, just because a coach hates an aspect of a job doesn't mean he doesn't give his all in that part of the job. And I can understand how he would say he hated recruiting when he had a couple big recruits he made relationships with and got commitments from only to have bag men swoop in at the 11th hour and pull them away. That would make me hate recruiting too.

And as far as saying the results say he wasn't recruiting, it is tough to recruit effectively when the kids turn on the TV, turn on the radio or talk to other head coaches and they all say that Fred not only won't be there for all 4 of your years at the school but probably won't be there by the time you show up on campus even. That is a serious handicap.

 

[madguy30]

It was probably better for TJ to have a 2-22 situation to come into rather than a 15-17 type team. When the team was that bad, you don’t get flack if you run off players, change things entirely; basically no sacred cows. He put together a team/system that was hard to beat if you saw them once so really built for tournaments.

Yeah and it was good for Fred to have 4 seasons of 15-17 type years to walk into to inject some energy back into the program.

 

[Lineup]

Frwed only liked money, he anted to go to Nebr. from the start