Pederson in huge arguement w/ Assisstants

[Eric the Red]

This is going to be hust enough to make you vomit. God damn Pederson needs to hire Pelini as soon as possible and get people hired so this sh#t can end all ready. How the hell is this going to look with all those recruits around there reading the paper today...f'ing' A

 

A pissed off

Eric "the red"

 

Coaching turmoil goes back to July

BY STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star Nebraska athletic director Steve Pederson fired head football coach Frank Solich on Nov. 29 because Pederson thought the program wasn't headed in the right direction.

 

As it turns out, Pederson and Solich were on different paths long before that, at least when it came to negotiating deals for NU's assistant coaches.

 

 

A contract dispute involving Solich's assistants got so heated in July that a few of the coaches refused to report to work one day as preseason camp neared.

 

The mood in the South Stadium coaches' offices was "horrible," said one of the assistants, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

 

"We felt betrayed," the coach said. "There was a grim feeling that Pederson had a plan to fire the whole staff. You don't bring in a whole staff and change the whole structure of how contracts had been previously done here."

 

Husker secondary coach Marvin Sanders acknowledged there was tension.

 

"There were issues we had to work out," Sanders said. "I don't know how much it affected us, but I know it was of significant concern."

 

Solich admired the way his staff handled the situation.

 

"I'm very proud of how those guys, under the circumstances, stayed together and coached the way they did," Solich said.

 

He said there were two primary sticking points in the contract rift: the fate of the assistants if Solich were to retire or take another job, and how long they would be paid if he were fired.

 

In June, Pederson proposed a written contract for the assistants. It said that if Solich were to resign or retire, the assistants' pay would cease at that time. Under Pederson's proposed deal, if Solich were to stop being head coach for any reason other than resignation or retirement, the assistants would be paid through January of 2005.

 

Sanders said those provisions were different from the oral agreement he had with Solich when Sanders was hired last January.

 

Solich offered the assistants contracts through June of 2005. Contracts for NU assistant coaches have commonly expired in June.

 

The assistant coach who declined to be identified said Pederson's proposal so angered the assistants that they sought legal counsel.

 

Solich said the assistants were upset about the possibility of having their contracts terminated as early as Jan. 31, 2004.

 

Pederson said he had no idea why the coaches thought that.

 

"Absolutely untrue," Pederson said.

 

Pederson believed Solich had a clear understanding of what he could present the new assistants during the hiring process.

 

"That never changed," Pederson said. "I told Frank he was authorized to offer them a two-year, straight-term contract."

 

The new assistants were hired in January and signed their contracts in August.

 

After the assistants raised their concerns about the contracts in the summer, Pederson agreed to the terms initially sought by Solich. The contracts the assistants ultimately signed stipulated that if Solich were to leave for any reason, the assistants would be paid through June 2005, instead of January 2005, as had been proposed by Pederson.

 

The five-month adjustment was worth a total of about $385,000 to eight of NU's nine assistants. Defensive coordinator Bo Pelini is working under different contract terms. His contract expires Jan. 31, 2006.

 

After Solich was fired Nov. 29, Pederson appointed Pelini as interim head coach, and the rest of the assistants were retained to help prepare Nebraska for its game against Michigan State in the Dec. 29 Alamo Bowl.

 

Pederson said Saturday he was unaware that assistants had stayed out of the office because of the contract matter.

 

"(Solich) told me that some of them were unhappy with the contract," Pederson said.

 

UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman confirmed Saturday that Pederson wanted the assistants' contracts voided if Solich were to resign or retire, but not if he were fired. Perlman said Solich orally promised his assistants 21/2-year contracts (through June 2005) without Perlman's or Pederson's permission.

 

"Frank was not authorized to give them that," Perlman said. "I didn't authorize that. Solich cleared nothing with me."

 

Perlman said that was part of the controversy among the coaches last summer.

 

The chancellor said Pederson eventually agreed to the 21/2-year deals sought by Solich only because the athletic director "was trying to be honorable and fair, and may have acceded to their requests."

 

Pederson said he agreed to change the contract terms, then told Solich he wanted to meet with the nine assistants himself.

 

"The assistants came down to a meeting, I explained to them that we were going to make the changes, and we either delivered the contract to them that day or the day after, I don't recall," Pederson said.

 

After that point, Pederson said, the assistants' contract situation wasn't an issue.

 

Solich's daughter, Cindy Dalton, said Pederson "left a nasty note under Dad's office door" in response to the contract squabble.

 

When asked whether he recalled such a note, Pederson said, "Any personnel-kind of written communication would be confidential."

 

Perlman said he didn't think Pederson's push for altered contracts for the assistants hinted at Solich's -- and/or the assistants -- eventual ouster.

 

"I don't think that's the proper way to look at it," said Perlman, who added that it makes sense for assistants' contracts to be tied to the head coach.

 

"You know very well that if the head coach leaves, assistant coaches are usually next to go."

 

Sanders said his concern was that his initial deal with Solich -- agreed upon orally -- was different from the contract that Pederson initially proposed.

 

"You just want what you agreed upon when you were hired, and eventually we got it worked out," Sanders said.

 

Reached Saturday, four other Nebraska assistants declined to comment.

 

"That was all private, in-house stuff," said offensive coordinator Barney Cotton.

 

Perlman said he doesn't understand why the assistants were worried about the contract provision tying them to Solich.

 

"If the assistant coaches were spending a lot of time worrying about that provision, then that's too bad," Perlman said. "They should've been spending their time more wisely."

 

Steven M. Sipple can be reached at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com. Staff writers Matthew Hansen and Todd Henrichs contributed to this story.

[Blackshirt]

What a flipping mess. Man, Byrne looks like a deity compared to this guy. Clean it up Steve-o!!!!