It still amazes me how many on this site call Callahan a good Coach or recruiter "in every way"
...Probably because it's certainly not very obvious at all from his track record. (Results aren't speaking for themselves).
I mean..What makes a good recruiter?
The same qualities that make a good used car salesman?
I thought we already established the fact that the reason his recruiting numbers were up so high, wasn't necessarily because of 4* or 5* athletes..but rather because he over-recruited..sometimes more than 35 athletes each season.
I'd prefer someone that only promises an education..and an opportunity to play..Maybe a promise to Mom to always try to keep him out of trouble...not guaranteeing starting jobs or a "fer-shure" ticket to the NFL.
And how was he a good coach?
He certainly didn't mold his Offense to fit his players..He couldn't even make halftime adjustments to save his life.
Is it because his Offense was different to us? Or too "complicated for any of us to understand"? He certainly didn't invent the WCO.
Part of being a great Coach, is the ability to change..to accept the fact that you can always improve your process..He just seemed too stubborn to ever do that.
And Big Willie..nice to see you back..Would you also blame his assistants for us not scrimmaging in pads much?..like they do in Callahan's NFL?
Pretty much. You have to be a used car salesmen. The sleaziest usually win out. Thus why Les Miles, Charlie Weis, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer win so many recruiting battles. Is it a bad trait to have when it comes to recruiting - no, IMO. You gotta do what you gotta do. Otherwise you are cheating yourself out of talent and you have a rabid fan base crawling up your butt.
You cannot deny Callahan as a quality offensive mind though. You can go back to look at all his statistics in his time here to see that.
And no, his biggest problem wasn't that he didn't scrimmage in pads. Although it did breed some sissies, his biggest problem was that he was simply too loyal. Callahan actually had a chance to stay our coach for at least one more season if he had a coaching overhaul and he refused because he wanted to be loyal to his friends. In the end, it cost him his job.
BigWillie,
Cosgrove isn't that terrible of a coach either, tbh. He was in 2007, which is obvious, but in his 3rd year here (2006) Nebraska led the nation in sacks. He had something going for him for awhile until things melted down.
Also, and this isn't really directed at you BigWillie but just in general, even though Callahan may have been a good coach who produced "consistent offense", he is still the head coach. This means he is still responsible for the team as a whole and how they perform week in and week out. Callahan went 0-24 in games they were down at halftime in. Pelini is 2-2 in his first year, which says a lot.
Cosgrove wasn't horrible scheme wise. His base scheme worked as long as you had disciplined, hard nosed players willing to stick their nose in to take on blocks so that someone else could make the play. However, he had players like Bo Ruud and Corey McKeon who refused to do this. Couple that with guys like Octavien, Asante, Thenarse, 'Dre Jones, among others who honestly had little grasp of the system and you had a disaster. Instead of adjusting, he stuck by it.
His defense worked when he had animals like Ola, Cryer, Carriker and Moore eating up blocks everywhere, as his scheme enjoys, but once they were gone, he tanked.
Cos was only good while he had players that fit his scheme. As far as teaching them to fit his scheme or having assistants to teach his players to fit his scheme, he was horrid. Same goes for even attempting to adjust.
And not really. Pelini has the same mindset as Callahan did. Pelini has no say so in the offense. Callahan had no say so in his defense. Pelini spends the majority of his time working with the defense. Callahan spent the majority of his time with the offense.
The difference in these two situations is that Watson is an offensive genius and Cosgrove was just a clown.
Could you imagine Cosgrove changing his defense the way Watson has changed this offense? I mean, how many teams do you see that essentially run the WCO out of the gun? That is what Watson has installed here.
Sometimes I wonder if Cosgrove could lead our team through tackling drills, much less run a defense.
BigWillie,
Cosgrove isn't that terrible of a coach either, tbh. He was in 2007, which is obvious, but in his 3rd year here (2006) Nebraska led the nation in sacks. He had something going for him for awhile until things melted down.
Coincidentally, that was when John Blake was here. Once Blake left, so did the effectiveness of the DL.
Remember, the former DC's "philosophy" for the DL was merely gap control. The former DC didn't want the DL to pressure the QB, didn't want sacks, etc.. The previous staff thought sacks and pressuring the QB were over-rated remember?
John Blake was overrated. He got lucky having talents like Carriker, Moore, Turner, etc., on his line while he was here. He left as they was leaving.
But he basically mailed in his final season here which is why he was gone before the bowl game.
And remember Carriker's comments when Buddy Wyatt came aboard? I'm not going to quote him, but Carriker stated he had learned more in just a few weeks under Wyatt than he had in his entire time at Nebraska.
Blake was a great recruiter, when motivated. Offered little else though.
