Justin Schroeder Oct 22 07

I suppose you have a point. And I think most Nebraskan's SHOULD be looking to get Pelini. I've heard alot of talk about brining back "glory days" players to coach. This is just really stupid. Just cause you are a good player has NOTHING to do with being a good coach. Even if you are a coach now (Turner Gill) that still doesn't qualify you to be a good coach. Turner Gill is pulling out an embarrassing loosing season right now. Some may say it is just because of the talent on the team, but he will be dealing with the same situation here at nebraska, and while there may be more lure to play for the huskers right now, that is slowly diminishing. It will be up the new head coach to rebuild the dynasty from scratch, and it needs to be someone who has built one in the past. Pelini has (every team he has been a DC for has had a #1 ranked defense at least 1 year), Gill hasn't.

My vote is on Pelini and anything that will get him to come to nebraska

Husker Mike Oct 22 07

While I love Turner Gill and wish him the best, I'm skeptical he's the right guy to lead Nebraska in 2008. It looks like he's doing a great job at Buffalo, but he's just gotten started. We can't replace our Howard Schnellenberger with our homegrown John Blake.

No, we need to find our Bob Stoops. Is that Bo Pelini? Maybe. He's got the same defensive pedigree and he comes from the same hometown. But maybe there's something better. We shouldn't rush to our past to find our next head coach, though we definitely should seriously consider those people.

Sooner Brian Oct 22 07

OU Student from South Dakota and a long lived Die Hard fan of both programs.
I hope every year for a Big12 meetup. Watching the Huskers glory days fade away has sucked. If you read some of Wikipedia's commentary on Callahan you'll see none of this is really new to him. 2003 Raiders team.
"the 2003 Raiders had a losing record. After his team got off to a 2-5 start, many of his players, in particular Charles Woodson, publicly demonized the coach, even suggesting that Callahan was deliberately trying to sabotage the season. Apparently, his accusations of strife and mutiny within the clubhouse were corroborated by others, including veteran receiver Tim Brown. Callahan defenders have described such players as being selfish, washed-up prima donnas. Callahan, his supporters claim, had recognized that the team was aging and needed younger talent. To get it, he would have to cut existing salaries, an assertion that did not sit well with many of the team's veterans. After a lackluster 4-12 season, Callahan was relieved of his coaching duties at Oakland with a record of 17-18 in two years."
Hopefully Nebraska can find their "Stoops too."
Glory days will be here again. - Good article.

John Schmidt Oct 22 07

What about Crig Bohl of NDSU,former Coach at Nebraska and Lincoln native.He beat Minnesota and the plays looked so much like Dr. Osborne's.

doombob Oct 22 07

Any truth to the fact that Watson called plays on the drives that scored in the first half, but Callahan took over in the second half? I thought Callahan was supposed to be looking over Cosgrove's shoulder to make sure he didn't do anything stupid. Does allahan want to get fired? The players don't think anything's wrong right now and that'a reflection of what Callahan is telling them. It's ridiculous. I just want a coach that takes responsibility when things go wrong, but accepts none of the credits when things go right. Humility and strength are the marks of a great coach.

Scott Oct 22 07

I know the players don't feel like they win by losing. I'm not really going to place the blame on anyone but the coaches need to start holding themselves accountable. They are like robots when it comes to the media and I'm tired of listening to the BS coming from their mouths. "One assignment here, a good tackle here, one missed block, blah, blah, blah." The defense has been the most inconsistent and I don't think Cosgrove has ever coached a Top 50 defense, but I might be wrong.

Pedersen tried and I think he had good intentions but sometimes good intentions don't always produce results. Callahan needs to keep the NFL type stuff in the NFL and not in the college game. And don't ever bring your best friend in and the Defensive Coordinator.

Dwayne Oct 22 07

Doom,
I wouldn't be surprised if that rumor is true. Callahan lost me after the OSU game. Playing Keller in the second half and not getting a backup in there is ridiculous. His plan to burn Niles Paul redshirt and not get him into the mix at this point is unjustifiable. I have yet to see Niles on any any offensive sets. Does anyone have any info on that? At this point, Callahan hasn't shown me that he can adjust and people that mention genius and guru in the same sentence as Callahan have no clue. It is understandable to me when in our old offense we would try and pound the ball even when we weren't gaining any yards, but the wco is supposed to be balanced from what I understand and we can't even get two freaking yards when we need them. Our offensive line is one of the biggest in the conference. Two yards. Two yards should not pose a problem to a line that is that big. Can anyone say technique? Like I have said before, I feel really bad for the players. And don't even get me started on the defense.

Grant Oct 22 07

I don't think anyone is "winning" under the current circumstances. It's a bad deal all around. Fans calling for heads to roll, coaches not wanting to talk at all (which incites the fan base more), players walking around campus trying to blend in or hide for fear of being ridiculed, etc. No one, coaches included, want to see the program the way it is right now. I'm glad it's TO and not myself making these decisions. There are consequences to whatever is decided and none of us have crystal ball.

No one is intending to play or coach bad, yet they are made to feel so by the fan base and media. Good or bad, these coaches do want to succeed and work toward that goal. Are they the ones to turn it around?...I doubt it, but until a changes is made I hope the fans and media put a stop to the personal assaults (verbal). It's just not needed, and helps nothing.

I doubt there will be a miracle in the next 4 weeks. We will not go 4-0. When a team's moral is low, confidence low, no apparent leadership in the locker room...things only sprial downward. It's a psyche that starts and is extremely difficult to turn around. One thing goes bad on the field, and then they expect more to follow, instead of a correction or a chance to make up for it. A mentality of "don't screw it up" becomes prevalent instead of a "let's go get it" mentality. I feel for the seniors. This is not the experience they were looking for when they signed to Nebraska.

Dwayne Oct 22 07

One last thing. I watched the KU-CU game and that game reminded me so much of the way NU used to play, especially on defense. Nothing was pretty with KU, but they kept grinding in that game and their defense was pretty salty. I have always felt that KU was well coached and one thing you didn't see with them was many stupid penalties and mental errors. They, up to this point, look very well disciplined. I don't see them beating Missouri but it wouldn't surprise me if they kept it close and win that game.

James Moore Oct 22 07

No we're not "winning" by losing. Rivals.com is reporting that Gabbert was in attendance at the Missouri/Texas Tech game. What I'm concerned, among other things, is that we could be seeing a round of de-commitments from our incoming recruiting class. The losing doesn't help but the uncertainty that will be looming immediately following the season's end will be harder to overcome than losing. I hope that we are able to get somebody that will be able instill disciplined, assignment-football on the defensive end. The talent is there, on both sides of the ball. If anyone truly believes that we have the worst collection of talent in the conference then they're insane. Scheme & technique adjustments are mandatory for the defense, but I can assume that this is an opinion that goes without say. I'm mystified by the continual effort (I'm certain now at this point that this is asked by the coaches of the front 7) to scrape & not keep lanes instead. For example, our LB corps were pre-season cantidates for all-conference awards & as redshirt seniors suddendly they can't maintain gap control? Not the players fault but bad scheme implementation by defensive coaches. We've seen McKeon, Rudd & Octavien play well as a unit before. Prior to this season Husker fans & football minds in the Big 12 would attest to it. We know this season is not representative of what they were capable of. Bo Pelini would be wonderful to have back in the fold. Personally I think that Rutgers Greg Schiano would be the perfect fit for us.

Dwayne Oct 22 07

James,
I agree with every point you just made.

cvldfg Oct 22 07

Schiano is waiting for the Penn St. job. Are we able to talk to Bo Pellini now, or do we have to wait? Does anyone know?

ze bop Oct 22 07

BO P could be a Stoops type guy for Big Red as far as I can tell. Not quite sure what sort of O design his team would run or that Husker Fan would prefer, but there's constant rumblings for 'smash mouth' this and 'smash mouth' that.

Well, no one seems to acknowledge Calli's O has alot of smash mouth in it--what is Castille doing out there(?)-- plus an extremely sophisticated passing scheme that actually gets executed from time to time.

I'm not down with all this finesse spread thingy, although it's occassionally kinda fun to watch--one has little choice since everyone's doing some form of it.

So what kind of offense does anybody want, pray tell? And don't say the triple option....

Scott Oct 22 07

I'm not worried about losing Gabbert or any of the other recruits. No disrespect to them but if they don't want to come here that's fine. We don't need a Top 25 recruiting class to get this ship turned around. They have their opinions about who is good and who isn't. We want players that will fit in here and WANT to play here. Let me repeat that. We want players that WANT to be here. Those are the guys that will bleed red and leave it all on the line on Saturday. The Wistroms, the Peter brothers, those guys left it all on the field. Those are the guys that had the passion and fire this team is lacking.

UNITY council anyone????

donfl Oct 22 07

Scott I agree with you whole heartedly, These guys you refer to about bleeding red were not from the Husker state but learned quickly what the tradition was. I only mention this to emphasize that it did not take Bo long to learn how to do the same thing. RE: his vitriolic attack on Bill Snyder that was taken out of context by the media. He truly cared for his players and was saying to BS (read into that what you want) paybacks are hell. GBR fire BC hire BP.

Bill in Iowa Oct 23 07

Before we hire the next coach I think its good to keep in mind what went wrong with hiring C. In my mind, pro football league mentality did not translate to the college level. Practicing without hitting, very complex schemes, and lack of emotional appeal. I just don't think C knows how to coach and motivate college athletes.

We know Bo P does! We know he can recruit! We know his style is aggressive. We know the kids love him! We know the fans love him (for the most part). We know his defenses for NU and LSU are consistently highly ranked. What else is there to know? Does he want the job? Does TO want him to have the job? And who will be his offensive coordinator and assistants?

I am a big fan of Bo P, but I certainly agree we need to look at other coaches with PROVEN track records too (sorry Turner G...I would love to see you on the sideline again, but not as head coach...not yet anyway).

Recruits? We may lose Gabbert if the next coach doesn't run the type of Offense he is looking for...but if we hire Bo P...I think we will keep most of our Defensive player prospects. It's important the decision is made early enough to allow the recuits time to get to know the new staff and make a decision. They will have to have faith the new hire will make a difference in the win/loss column, they will have to want to play under their new positions coach's personality and schemes. Ultimately, this isn't about this years recruits...its about the next decade of Husker football.

Shane Oct 23 07

Everyone seems to be on the Bo P train, and I wanted to voice some dissent. There is a reason Bo is still looking for a head coaching job. I'm not sure what that reason is, but I think that our memories and thoughts about him are a bit brighter due to NU's current dim performance.

doombob Oct 23 07

The reason that Pelini wasn't hired as head coach anywhere by now is that fans and ADs could see he was still learning a few things. He is inventive with schemes. He hides blitzes and zone really well. He teaches his players how to make decisions on the field. He also really, really wants to be a head coach somewhere. The guy is a one-man PR machine for himself which turns off some schools' directors. He seems to think he can make himself a legend one day, but will anyone just give him the chance? He's got a subtle flashiness which could lead to some bad calls, but when executed correctly make his team look so good. Some people want a guy who won't make bad calls, but those people rarely make good calls either. You've got to risk something to win games.

clikonhusker Oct 23 07

I've looked at the most successful coaches in the NFL and the college ranks and most of the current ones seem to be former Defensive Coordinators.

NFL) 1) Bill Belichick
2) Tony Dungee
3) Lovie Smith
4) Mike Tomlin

College
1) Mike Stoops
2) Pete Carol
3) Jim Leavitt

I am sure there is more out there but these are guys that come to my mind. All these guys were Defensive coordinators at one point in time and all seem to have been ones that turned programs around. This is why I feel Bo Pelini should be Nebraska's next coach!

bo plenty Oct 23 07

Does anyone out there know the origin of the "hillbilly" references tied to Callahan?

Bill in Iowa Oct 23 07

I can't give you an origin...but if I remember correctly it was C's first game against Oklahoma at Oklahoma.

Clikon - interesting observation. I believe teams win with defense...not that the teams you mentioned have bad offenses...except for Lovie and the Bears (sorry Bear's fans, but you have to admit your offense is average at best). However, that is the point...you can win a lot of games with a great defense and an average offense.

Daniel Andrews Oct 23 07

Run Watson out of town with Callahan. As head coach of SIU a DIAA school in the mid 90's. Mr. Watson did nothing, he recruited kids from the St. Louis area that couldn't play and took no pride in the institution they were playing for. He would be a terrible head coach. Watson devastated SIU football which is now one of the best DIAA teams out there. You have to blend the high quality recruits from Texas, Florida, and California with those from Nebraska and surrounding states. The walk-on program needs to be upgraded, not down graded like Callahan did. Watson downgraded and diminished SIU's walk on program.