Whether or not Bo Pelini needed to go as the University of Nebraska’s head football coach is still up for debate. However, who his successor will be is not. That is former Oregon State head coach Mike Riley, as was announced Thursday, Dec. 4.

Understandably, Nebraska fans wanted a big name coach: Jim Tressel, Jim Harbaugh and David Shaw were all names that were thrown out by Nebraska fans during the six-day coaching search. So, when fans heard the news, they were shocked.

I was one of those shocked fans. I was also concerned. Why would the university fire a consistent nine-win coach for a coach who averaged 6.64 wins per season at Oregon State? Actually, I was sitting in Biology and I was actually mad about the hire.

Other Huskers faithful were also upset about the hire, as well. They wanted one of those big name coaches. They wanted the coach to create national waves. And they were actually upset that we got a lowly coach from Oregon State.

Then I actually had time to think about it. Mike Riley is exactly what Nebraska Cornhuskers fans need. Actually, it’s what they deserve.

I have always respected Bo Pelini. He ran a clean program: he graduated his athletes. But Pelini always seemed like he was trying to make it him versus the world. (Maybe he should have focused on him versus Wisconsin, but I’m getting off track)

This mentality was what split the fan-base into so called Bo-lievers and Bo-leavers. This also may have contributed to that now infamous press conference (you know, the one with the farm animals and their feces reference) and the audio recording where he basically called the best fans in football out for a blowout.

These outbursts are why a new coach was absolutely necessary and why Mike Riley was the perfect hire to rebuild relationships in the post-Pelini era of Nebraska football. Riley is almost regarded as a saint to media members. He is known as one of the nicest men in college football, and, oh yeah, he can coach football.

Yes, Riley doesn’t have the 77 percent winning percentage that Pelini boasted, nor did he win nine games per year. But comparing these two stats is like comparing Kentucky and Creighton basketball. No matter how good of a coach Creighton has, they will always struggle to compete against Kentucky.

This is not saying that Kentucky would always beat Creighton; sometimes the underdog wins games. But usually, the team with more resources wins.

Well now the underdog has the resources that he didn’t at his former school; in 2011, Oregon State spent $298,631 on recruiting while Nebraska spent $478,554 according to ESPN.

Even without the money and facilities, both USC and Alabama thought highly enough of Riley to offer him their head football coaching job. Riley also had a stint as head coach of the San Diego Chargers, and as assistant head coach of the New Orleans Saints.

But these qualifications are not the reason that Nebraska fans deserve Mike Riley. The reason they deserve him is because he allowed media and fans at every practice while at Oregon State. It’s been a long time since fans could go watch their Cornhuskers on the practice field.

This may not seem like a lot (maybe it hardly seems like a reason at all), but this shows what Mike Riley does for the fans. The fans deserve a coach that respects them enough to not have an audio recording of him laced with profanity. They deserve a coach them respects them enough to let them watch practice. They deserve a coach that is respectful to the media.

Mike Riley has the daunting task of living up to a coach who won nine games per season. However, he has the less daunting task of having a better relationship with fans. Mike Riley is well equipped to coach the University of Nebraska. The fans just need to give him a chance.