Spurrier of the Big XII North
In Football, talent matters. If you don't believe that, ask yourself if you believe Barry Switzer is smarter than Tom Osborne. Or if Dennis Erickson is brighter than Jimmy Johnson. Or if Frank Solich forgot what he knew about coaching between 2001 and 2002 (when NU's winning percentage headed south at the same time all the players recruited by Dr. Tom graduated).
Because talent matters, we don't really know how good the current Nebraska coaching staff is. We know that in 2004 they couldn't win without an accurate QB, a game-breaking WR, a strong OL, or a pass rush. In 2005, as some of those ingredients were added, we saw Nebraska come within a LeKevin Smith fumble of winning the Big XII North.
In 2006, the Huskers will take the field with more experience and talent under Bill Callahan than Nebraska's had in years. This is the year we begin to see what we have in Callahan. My prediction? Bill Callahan's teams will look a lot like Steve Spurrier's teams at Florida did. Nebraska fans might consider that a good news/bad news situation. Florida was a perennial conference contender in the Southeastern Conference and even broke through to win a national championship. That's the good news.
The bad news? Spurrier got embarrassed by Nebraska in an almost unprecedented way in his first national championship game appearance. Florida also never put together a perfect season under Spurrier. They always lost at least one game.
But let me back up and tell you why Bill Callahan reminds me so much of Spurrier:
- A bias for offense - He leaves the defense and special teams largely to his assistants and obsesses on offense. Sure, he has an offensive coordinator, but Bill Callahan calls the plays. Also, a majority of the 85 scholarships for the 2006 team are being used on offensive players.
- A bias for the pass - Spurrier likes to "pitch it around". So does coach Callahan. Sure, the stats say the west coast offense has been fairly balanced but that's also counting 56 sacks as rushing attempts. If you don't think Bill likes to pass, re-watch some of Joe Dailey's games. No matter the score, the situation, or how poor Joe was throwing the ball, the passing plays were called again and again. This leads to #3...
- A confidence bordering on arrogance - Bill's comment prior to the 2004 season, "We take what we want" doesn't sound too different from Spurrier taunts like when he referred to FSU as "Free Shoes University". Sure overconfidence can be a bad thing, but you also can't win without confidence either.
Like Spurrier or hate him, one thing you can say about him and his teams. They were never boring. Bill hasn't been either. And since we watch these games for entertainment - that's only good news.
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