Callahan accepts Nebraska Job

[Peruna_Ate_My_Rolex]

All I can say is wow. Talk about an interesting hire.

OMAHA, Neb. -- Former Oakland Raiders' coach Bill Callahan accepted the Nebraska football job Thursday after interviewing with the school, ESPN.com's John Clayton reported.
Callahan's agent, Gary O'Hagan, said the coach told him earlier Thursday that he likes Lincoln and was interested in the job.
Callahan met with Nebraska athletic director Steve Pederson in the afternoon. Callahan told the Lincoln Journal Star that he planned to be in town for the day.
Nebraska associate athletic director Mark Boehm said earlier Thursday the search for a new Nebraska football coach would be over soon.
Boehm filled in for Pederson at the Nebraska Special Olympics Breakfast of Champions on Thursday in Omaha. He said Pederson missed the event because his interview with Callahan was not completed Wednesday night.
"I tell you this, this will come to a close shortly," Boehm told The Associated Press.
Pederson has acknowledged interviewing Arkansas coach Houston Nutt and Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer.
Zimmer turned down an offer from Nebraska on Monday to remain in the pros, Dallas coach Bill Parcells said. Last week, Nutt rejected Nebraska's $2 million offer.
Pederson also expressed interest in Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Al Saunders, but Saunders wanted to continue his career in the NFL and withdrew from consideration.
Callahan's flight was late getting to Lincoln on Wednesday, which required the interview be continued Thursday, Boehm said.
Callahan's meeting with Nebraska officials comes only a week after he was fired by the Raiders following a 4-12 season.
The Huskers have been looking for a coach since Frank Solich was fired Nov. 29 -- a day after leading the Huskers to a 9-3 regular season.
Callahan, who led the Raiders to the Super Bowl two years ago, was fired by Oakland shortly after quarterback Rich Gannon criticized Callahan and offensive coordinator Marc Trestman for a bad offensive system.
Callahan would be a perfect fit for Nebraska, O'Hagan, said Tuesday night.
Interviews reportedly were held Wednesday with interim Nebraska coach and defensive coordinator Bo Pelini, quarterbacks coach Turner Gill, and other candidates.

<small>[ 01-08-2004, 07:25 PM: Message edited by: Peruna_Ate_My_Rolex ]</small>

[DallasDiehard]

Three reactions to this spring to mind:

1. You're Turner Gill. You were a star player at Nebraska. You've coached there for years, and have been groomed and proclaimed by no less an icon than Tom Osbourne as a "perfect future Nebraska coach." You've turned down offers to coach elsewhere. And they hire Callahan to work his program-crumbling magic instead of turning to you, one of the Husker Nation's favorite sons. Needless to say, you're furious. This is a slap in your face.

2. You're a wealthy Nebraska alumnus. You've been rejected by every coach this side of Don Shula. You've got the idea in your head that as a Nebraska alum, you have some god-given birthright to see the Huskers among the top spots in the national polls (kind of sounds like Texas fans, but I digress.) You've squirmed as the new AD, this Pederson clown, has flirted with coaches from Steve Spurrier to .... Houston Freakin' Nutt? You've been waiting for Pederson to bail himself out with a huge signing. And you get the man who beached the Raiders' Super Bowl ship in a single season.

3. You're a top recruit who lives somewhere in the Big 12 region. While Nebraska has been begging someone to take over as the new coach, other schools have had an actual plan and have been recruiting. You know who your top choices are for schools, but you have kept the Huskers in the back of your mind, because, well .... it IS Nebraska. You get the call:
"Hi, Johnny -- It's Coach Callahan. I'm the new coach at Nebraska. I wanted to talk to you about coming to play for the Cornhuskers."
"Um .... hi, Coach."
"Johnny, I don't know if you're familiar with me -- I used to coach in the NFL, you know."
"Uh .... yeah, I saw the Super Bowl. The Bucs sure were good that day, huh? I mean, congratulations on getting to the Super Bowl."
"Thanks, Johnny. Yeah, I had a great run in Oakland. Unless you count this year, of course."
"Well, I was going to ask about this year, Coach. What happened?"
"That wasn't my fault, Johnny. Jerry Rice, Tim Brown, Rich Gannon -- they just don't have it any more."
"They all lost it in one year, Coach?"
"Yeah, they did. Not my fault they got old overnight. Besides, my best linebacker went nuts, broke my tight end's face and then knocked himself silly with those concussions. Must have been the 'roids."
"Mmm hmm ...."
"You don't do steroids, do you Johnny? I don't want steroid guys on my team. Unless we're winning, of course. Then it's OK that Dana Stubblefield, Barrett Robbins and those other two were taking those 'designer' steroids. Winning makes rules obsolete, Johnny. I teach winning."
"How many games did the Raiders win this year, Coach?"
" .... That's not the point, Johnny."
"Well, it kind of IS the point, Coach. You're telling me that you teach winners, and that as long as you win, everything's cool. But the year after the team you inherited went to the Super Bowl, you slipped to 4-12? Coach, that's not a winning record."
" .... Johnny, are you familiar with the tradition at Nebraska?"
"Yeah, Coach, I am. I'm familiar with the fact that Tom Osbourne nearly got run out of town when fans thought he couldn't compete with the Florida schools for national championships. I'm familiar with the criminal records of a whole lot of players up there. I'm familiar with the school that has such great tradition fired a coach who'd won nine games this year as a member of the Big 12. And I'm familiar with the fact that Nebraska develops college players a whole lot better than it does NFL players."
"So, you want to come play for Nebraska then!"
"No, Coach, I want to play in the NFL, if I'm good enough. In the meantime, I want to play for a winner. Good luck, Coach. I'm going to USC/Oklahoma/LSU."

[VarsityShop]

DallasDiehard:

Now that was a pretty good post! :thumbupcool:

Funny too!

Take a bow!

[Southland]

A few years ago a once mighty program that had fallen on hard times was turned down by their top 4 choices. They "settled" on an ex-NFL coach who had a terrible record in that league, and had drawn heavy criticism from his pro players. Their alumni were ticked off, the press murdered them for the poor decision, and all their rivals were laughing at them...

...this year they won the AP National Title.

By all accounts Callahan was a terrific recruiter at Wisconsin. Nebraska will be good, and could dominate the Big XII North for the next decade.

[BigEasyPony]

I think it's a great hire that is a Win-Win. Pederson was jutifiably feeling the heat in his search for a new man and Callahan was get trashed by his former players in the press. Why do you think Gruden wanted out of Oakland? The HC can't win with Big Al looking over his shoulder whispering sweet nothings in his players' ears. Callahan will bring a 21st century offense and a new attitude to that school. Nebraska needed a new charge and Callahan gives them that charge. They obviously were thinking about USC and Pete Carroll when they made this hire.

[Ikus]

Originally posted by Southland:
A few years ago a once mighty program that had fallen on hard times was turned down by their top 4 choices. They "settled" on an ex-NFL coach who had a terrible record in that league, and had drawn heavy criticism from his pro players. Their alumni were ticked off, the press murdered them for the poor decision, and all their rivals were laughing at them...

...this year they won the AP National Title....

That's true, and that's a justifiable comparison. But Pete Carroll didn't take a Super Bowl team and make them a laughingstock in a single year. He also didn't publicly call his team "stupid" like Callahan. If I'm a player, that's one image that would stick with me. No matter how badly his team plays, a coach shouldn't show up his players like that, just like players who get humiliated by a better team shouldn't rip the coaching in the press. It's one of those things that should have been handled behind closed doors, and showed extremely poor judgement on Callahan's part. If he wins, it's because he's inheriting some underrated talent and because he has a chance to surround himself with great assistants.

[OldPony]

It may turn out to be a great hire or a bust. It certainly isn't what Pederson planned when he canned Solich though. The way the hunt was conducted made a proud university look like it had leprosy. Pederson gets a nomination for "Idiot of the Year". 2004 is still wide open for the award though and being an idiot early is sometimes forgotten by the voters.

[EP Pony Fan]

Pederson has made a mockery of a once-great university and football program. Here's hoping Callahan can overcome having the collegiate version of Jerry Jones running the show in Lincoln.

<small>[ 01-10-2004, 11:31 PM: Message edited by: EP Pony Fan ]</small>

[Southland]

[/qb][/QUOTE]That's true, and that's a justifiable comparison. But Pete Carroll didn't take a Super Bowl team and make them a laughingstock in a single year. He also didn't publicly call his team "stupid" like Callahan. If I'm a player, that's one image that would stick with me. No matter how badly his team plays, a coach shouldn't show up his players like that, just like players who get humiliated by a better team shouldn't rip the coaching in the press. It's one of those things that should have been handled behind closed doors, and showed extremely poor judgement on Callahan's part. If he wins, it's because he's inheriting some underrated talent and because he has a chance to surround himself with great assistants. [/QB][/QUOTE]


Dear Jaded Raider fan,
You’re right, it took Carroll a couple of years to "ruin" the Parcells Patriots Super Bowl team...

...as far as inheriting talent; does that mean that Carroll can't take credit for USC's title since Paul Hackett recruited all the seniors, juniors and redshirt sophomores (including Matt Leinart) of this USC team? Of course not.

...also, any program that is successful, is so because it has good assistants, particularly since the assistants do a lot of the initial recruiting.

A 4-win Raider season was imminent with the injuries. Rick Meyer was the starting QB; enough said.

As far as handling things behind closed doors, I agree with you... except this is the Raiders, an organization totally devoid of class. Pretty much par for the course...

And by the way, they were the dumbest team in America. That’s why Dennis Green chose NFL black hole Arizona over the Raiders, and why the Raiders are now in a position of choosing amongst two Cowboy assistants who oversaw one of the worst offenses since the forward pass was introduced.

You're going to bad for a while; get over it.

[Pony Up]

And somehow he convinced Turner Gill to stay. Coach Gill was announced yesterday as Nebraska's new wide receivers coach.
:hmm:

[hpfan]

DALLASDIEHARD My sides are hurting I just laughed soo hard. Thx