The Revolving Door Starts Swinging
15 comments so far
November 6, 2007 by
It's that time of year again... The Holidays? Nope. It's firing and resignation season. Sarcasm aside, In the last 24 hours there have been two job changes that affect NU football, directly or indirectly. Jim Rose has stepped down as the "voice of the Huskers", citing personal reasons. And, according to ESPN, Texas A&M is attempting to buy coach Dennis Franchione out of his contract. Both changes could start the wheels of change in motion at NU, too.
Rose No Longer Blooms at NU
Pardon that horrible play on words. It couldn't be helped. Seriously, Jim Rose ends at 5 year stint as the voice of the Huskers. He replaced the unpopular Warren Swain in 2002. Some feel like they saw this coming when Pederson was removed as Athletic Director. I'm not so sure he was fired, though I have almost no good information to back that up. The appropriately vague "personal reasons" was his reason for stepping down. I wish Mr. Rose good luck.
Was Jim Rose good at play-by-play? In my opinion, no. He spent way too much time in the broadcast doing his own color commentary, rather than describing a play in the necessary detail. Maybe that is because he was shackled to Adrian Fiala in the booth. Oh well, to be fair, play-by-play never Rose's "thing" really. He is a good advocate for NU football, a very good radio host, and a surprisingly insightful blogger. (check it out on the Big Red Board).
Who is on tap to replace Rose? Obviously, Gary Sharpe would be able to ride out the reminder of the season, as he stepped in last week against KU. I'm not sure who the long term answer would be. But, I think Kevin Kugler would be an excellent choice, and he should keep his phone on. But, it could be hard to lure him away from the Westwood One national radio gig he has right now.
So Long Coach Fran
Franchione's dismissal from A&M is not surprising, considering the size of his contract, the expectations in College Station, and his recent "insider newsletter" scandal. And, NU is affected by his leaving.
Obviously, coaching change within the Big 12 affects the nature of the conference and the opponent. ESPN's story and a few others have mentioned A&M's interest in Tommy Tubberville, who currently coaches at Auburn. Sorry, but I think that is insane. I would be shocked to see Tubberville leave a school where he has had very good - and recent - success for A&M. Calling it a lateral move would be generous to the Aggies. I think the condition of their current program puts A&M squarely in the "Bo Pelini Derby" with NU and others.
Many NU fans believe that this early dismissal of Franchione puts A&M and Bill Byrne in the first position to approach Bo Pelini, and should force more urgency from Tom Osborne to dismiss Bill Callahan.
We'll have to see how that plays out. Would Pelini take any calls with this much season left and LSU in line for a national title shot? It would be a bit of a nightmare for many NU fans and Pelini backers to have a coach with that talent and mentality aligned with a Big 12 school and with A&M's resources and recruiting base.
Regardless, Franchione's dismissal starts the 2007/2008 coaching carosel ride in earnest. Everybody get buckled in, it is going to be quite a ride.
» Enjoy this article?
Send it to your friend or subscribe to our free newsletter!
Related Stories: Off the Field
Post a comment
Tyler Nov 06 07
I too very much enjoy Kevin Kugler, but agree with you that being on big games with Terry Bowden every weekend is too much for him to leave. He already is King in NU with his other shows. If he could just get a replacement for Mikel Servir (on Unsportsmanlike Conduct). Man I loathe that guy.
On Pelini, I hope he holds out until the bowl season. That is the reputable thing to do. If we got Pelini somehow before TAMU, that would be great, but I don't want to hire someone who would let his focus be distracted when his current team/employer is on the verge of a great season.
It's kind of like stealing a girl who is in a relationship with someone else. You're glad when you land her, but do you ever really trust her "I've never done that before" or "this time was different" line. If we got Pelini now, I'd have those thoughts in the back of my head.
Tony Nov 06 07
Thank god Rose is gone, I hope Kuglar gets the gig. You don't know how many baseball games I had to listen to with that guy at the helm, many more than just 12 games a year. Kuglar like you said recently, could be the voice of the huskers for 30 years, if everyone is smart.
Jeff Nov 06 07
It was Greg Sharpe, not Gary Sharpe.
X-Husker Nov 06 07
Anyone in their right mind would NOT take the Husker job....you'ld have 1.7 million bosses!!!
Life is toooo short for that kind of stress...Heck, I'd take over a high school swim team before I'd do NU football, and I don't even swim!!
Darren Nov 06 07
Thanks for the correction, Jeff.
My bad on the name. Sorry, readers.
Darren Nov 06 07
Good point about other sports, Tony. I think making Kugler the voice of many Husker sports - and not just football - might be the way to get him to move away from Westwood One.
And, I think Kugler is in his 30s. So, yes, a 25 or 30 year run would not be out of the question. Heck, I would just like 5-10 years of broadcast consistency.
OU7times Nov 06 07
Darren, what do you think the chances of Rose leaving, having to do with his apologizing on air for the Nebraska Football product, a few games ago? Curious?? I did not know that people were not in favor of J. Rose as voice of the huskers.
X-Husker Nov 06 07
To OU7times:
The Nebraksa fan's heads were messed with when they heard the apology by Rose. They don't do well with facts and truths about their "big red" ( or little pink )
Huskers are in denial...still living in the mid 90's...I'm moving out of this State ASAP as the economy will suck for the next 5+ years while they continue to cry about a game......
GO K-STATE!!!! Whip'em up and rub them out...like all over the field.
I have from a very good source that though all the tickets are sold, expect about a 65% crowd to show up....no one wants to identify with a loser 6 times over!!!!
OU7times Nov 06 07
WOW!
OU7times Nov 06 07
Renny, can you invite X-Husker to move next door to you and maybe you can rub off on him? Heh, heh.
doombob Nov 06 07
Nothing like constructive criticism... I imagine that you guys here at BRN can geo-locate IP addresses, right? If that's from Nebraska, I'll eat my Herbie Husker Hat. By the way, I'm sure X-Huskers reliable source is "Mick Richards" over at "huskermarketing.com". Hilarious.
cvldfg Nov 07 07
i am not pressing the panic button, but we need to move on now! if this gets into a bidding war, a better recruiting base, better ammenities, better perks, we may not like the end results.
Dwayne Nov 07 07
cvldg,
I a few weeks ago thought the same. I don't any longer however. When TO mentioned that he would wait until the end of the season, I guess he meant that. If there were any time to let Callahan go, it would've been after the KU game. In saying that, I think that is one thing that TO is trying to instill back into the program. TO may have even been pressured by boosters to get rid of him, but it could just possibly be that he isn't going to let anyone put pressure on what he said earlier. I don't necessarily know if I agree with him, but I do respect that. And that's the one thing he probably feels that this program needs right now. A steady hand and less pressure. The guy is methodical and very much a man of his word. He's not going to make any rush decisions because he is a very patient person. Just relax and see how this plays out and believe none of what you hear and half of what you see.
cvldfg Nov 07 07
I agree with your comments. I glad to have such a class act such as TO back in the mix. I also don't want to go through the same BS we went through last time. Thanks for the words.
ze bop Nov 08 07
I like Kevin Kugler, Mike Servir--NO.