Did Pederson Deserve the Ax?
7 comments so far
October 15, 2007 by
Unlike the firing of Frank Solich, the termination of Steve Pederson seems to be drawing mostly raves from Husker fans. It’s not universal. Prominent booster Dan Cook was outspokenly upset about the change and it’s certain he’s not alone. Much like Solich it’s hard to question his hiring in the first place.
The Right Hire
Tom Osborne was Bob Devaney’s hand-picked successor and Solich was Osborne’s. Certainly, that’s a choice that Dr. Tom deserved to make and you’d trust him to make. It’s hard to disagree that under Solich the program gravitated to mediocrity. Tom Osborne’s final four teams went 47-2 (a 95.9% winning percentage). Over Frank Solich’s first 49 games Nebraska went 42-7 (a 85.7% winning percentage). Over his next (and final) 28 games, Solich went 16-12 (a 57.1% winning percentage). If you recall that Joe Dailey was set to replace Jammal Lord, it’s not hard to believe 2004 would not have been much more promising than it was under Callahan. So firing Solich after six seasons made some sense.
Pederson not only had success in stints as a recruiting coordinator at Nebraska in the 1980’s and as the associate athletic director for football operations from 1994 to 1996. He also hired six coaches that earned Big East coach of the year at Pitt and got the team new basketball facilities, new athletic and sports complexes for football, and the right to play at Heinz field. The football team got back on track in going to bowl games and the basketball team made the Sweet 16 twice. It’s hard to imagine a better resume for an incoming athletic director. On top of that, he came recommended by Tom Osborne.
The Results
If we judge Pederson on the lack of progress in win-loss records for football and basketball since his arrival in late 2002, then a case can be made for firing him on that basis alone, but not a slam dunk case. Pederson moved the facilities forward and kept the financial ship on track. The Huskers made the Big 12 championship game in football for the first time this decade during his watch.
But along the way, he lost the support of the Husker faithful. Pederson seemed only concerned about the future, while Nebraska fans seem more than content to live in the past.
The Decision
Harvey Perlman’s comments were cryptic enough that it’s hard to detect whether you’d agree with him or not if you knew everything that he did about Pederson. Here’s a quote that’s particularly ominous, “You have to retain a certain degree of credibility in order to make the decisions that have to be made on an everyday basis and I was fearful with respect to a number of constituents of the athletic department that Steve was no longer in that position”.
Two words jump out of that quote, “credibility” and “fearful”. It’s easy to take at face value that Pederson lacked credibility. The number of fans that disliked or distrusted him were legions. If credibility truly matters, then the termination makes sense. But the word “fearful” makes you question whether this is something that Perlman really knew or whether he was simply listening to a few “squeaky wheels”. If this decision was based on fear, it’s a hard one to support. Fear (an emotion) shouldn’t be a factor. Perlman also was quoted as saying, “My instinct tells me that Steve was not the person to move the program forward.” Something as big as a $2.2 million buyout or an athletic department with a $70 million annual budget, should probably be governed by more than one man’s “instinct”. Was this just the quickest way for Perlman to quiet the naysayers?
The Aftermath
Much like the firing of Solich, we won’t get to find out what things would have been like if Pederson had remained. Maybe Solich and Pelini would have made Nebraska a BCS team again. Or maybe, Barney Cotton and his knack for getting head coaches fired would have undone Husker football. Maybe Pederson would have lead Nebraska back to the top ten in football and the NCAA tournament in basketball year after year if given just a few more years. Or maybe the basketball program would have kept spinning its wheels and the football team would have continued to set records of futility.
In any case, the infrastructure of Husker athletics has been greatly improved. The facilities are once again among the best in the country. For that, Husker fans owe Pederson a debt of gratitude. If the Huskers ultimately find a championship football coach who may not run the option, we can credit Pederson with “cutting the cord” on our past. Alabama’s spent most of the last 25 years trying to maintain links to Bear Bryant and for the most part it hasn’t worked.
Perlman’s decision will ultimately be judged on the performance of Pederson’s successor. There’s someone out there who would be the right hire and probably plenty of bad choices as well. Now Perlman’s got to find that person and hopefully he’s neither fearful nor relying solely on instinct when the choice is made.
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JPH Oct 15 07
My AD preference would be for Dave Rimington. Why?
1. It's not Osborne's style to let coaches go...he kept many for too long trying to mentor, tutor, and teach those coaches. Not saying that's not admireable, but imagine what he'll do with the current staff.
2. If he was able to cut ties with the current staff, he'd likely look to bring back Turner Gill, which I think would be a poor hire. I love his loyalty, but come on, we already saw the Frank Solich expirement.
3. Both could raise money with the best of them, but having Rimington would have many years to develop the needed long-term relationships with donors that the program needs.
4. Rimington would certainly bring Osborne back into the program and involve him unlike his current role in the program.
Certianly, I think Osborne would be the medicine the program needs as interim AD, but with probably only 3-5 years, I think the advantages of a hire like Rimington outweigh bringing Osborne back.
Just my two cents...I'm wouldn't be mad with either.
Ignignokt Oct 15 07
I'm not sure the fans will have much to say about who becomes the AD after the interim placeholder (presumably TO). We can name former Husker players and coaches all we want, but it's just as likely the next AD will have no previous Husker ties. This is fine with me; I want the best we can get regardless of previous affiliations. Pearlman has said he will conduct a national search for the next AD. I can name, at most, the ADs at four other schools, and they're all pretty well set where they are. We can speculate all we want, but my guess is the next AD will be someone we've never heard of before.
And for those insisting on NU ties, just remember no one had more Husker ties than Steve Pederson. Dude even got the Dr. Tom seal-of-approval.
doombob Oct 16 07
Let us not forget that Perlman discusses major personnel changes with Dr. Tom (according to numerous news sources yesterday). I would wager a guess that this firing received the TO seal of approval, and that whoever the next permanent AD is, will also receive the TO seal of approval.
R. JOHNSON Oct 16 07
Go with Pelini! I am a Die Hard Sooner Fan, but I cannot take the Huskers going thru this. Bill was a bad choice from the start! I miss the Black Shirt "D" AND THE GRAND TRADITION OF NEBRASKA FOOTBALL!
GOOD LUCK!
ze Oct 16 07
Well, as usual, we're left to speculate. Perlman's comments at the press conference didn't add up to me.
First, he gives Pedey a contract extension just recently which apparently wasn't based on much departmental feedback--2 e-mails--and now says that although the sorry state of the fb team didn't have much to do with his decision, he said that because of the sorry state of the football team, other people in the athletic dpt. felt more recently inclined to speak up about Pedey's 'bad managerial style', which HP was heretofore supposedly unaware of.
The specifics of this 'style' are not delineated, but one is left to conclude that he had become an arrogant control freak or something. Callahan seems to have got along with Pedey just fine, but maybe that's just like attracting like.
Perlman also suggests that Pedey had been losing credibility amongst his peers--other ADs?--or something, but no specifics are given; sounds like a hunch.
Here's what I think: Perlman started receiving heat from those above him--regents, et. al.--rdgd the fb team such that he felt that if he didn't start cleaning house his own skin was on the line. So, you start with the AD and then move on later to the fb coaches.
What does the AD have to do with the fb team's perfomance on the field anyway?! O.k., he hired Calli, but I don't think that was such a bad move at the time--he was trying to emulate USC style fb.
I think Pedey's firing had EVERTHING to do with football!
The most obvious firing should have involved Coz, but like I said, there's an entire house cleaning in the works.
If I was Pedey, I'd take the 2 mil and move to the Carribean or something--'hasta luego, hombres'!
doombob Oct 16 07
I guess I was more prescient than I thought. TO will definitely put the seal of approval on the next AD if the next AD is TO.
If You Want To Unify Nebraska Oct 17 07
If you want to unify the state then we need to know more what happened in the first place. Pete was hired by HP within two weeks of SP saying he had concerns about Solich and would fix it. Now HP gives Pete a raise and then fires him. Pete was employed as an axe-man but ended up being a poison pill. Outside (Non-NU)boosters were involved in some of the guiding of the process. It looks like Harvey was told
what to do by NU boosters and he did it. And it looks like Pete knew it was coming - some of his steps were being taken in the hopes of gaining immunity or warding off sacrificial lamb status. Like a good AD he did not protest
when the axe fell. Finally TO has brought the credibility of Colin Powell (remember the UN powerpoint on WMD's) to the situation but that may not be enough. There is still splainin to do! Good luck and onward