New book chronicles fall of NU football

[vdandy]

This includes accounts of Coach Callahan calling TO some profane names

 

What do you guys think of this story?

 

Here's the intro:

 

A book written by a University of Nebraska-Lincoln student charges that the recent decline in the success of Nebraska football can be attributed to the abandonment of cultural values that once gave the program strength.

 

The book, "The Nebraska Way," was written by Jonathan Crowl, a senior English major, and it devotes substantial discussion to the past half century of Nebraska's storied football program.

 

But several chapters contain accounts of animosity, frustration and alienation within the Athletic Department during the tenures of former athletic director Steve Pederson and NU Coach Bill Callahan.

 

The book also includes an account of profane criticism from Callahan toward former football coach Tom Osborne, who was described as "trying to run things from Washington" during his tenure in Congress.

 

********************

 

If anything, it will sure as hell make his job as a reporter more difficult.

[HUSKER 37]

I guess innitial impressions sometimes ARE accurate.

 

=========================================

 

New book chronicles fall of NU football

Johnny Perez and Luke Nichols

Issue date: 10/18/07 Section: News

 

Editor's Note: Jonathan Crowl is a sports reporter for the Daily Nebraskan. His responsibilities include coverage of the Nebraska football team. All of the reporting and writing for his book, "The Nebraska Way," was done independent of his role as a Daily Nebraskan reporter. He provided a copy of the book to the Daily Nebraskan in advance of its publication.

 

A book written by a University of Nebraska-Lincoln student charges that the recent decline in the success of Nebraska football can be attributed to the abandonment of cultural values that once gave the program strength.

 

The book, "The Nebraska Way," was written by Jonathan Crowl, a senior English major, and it devotes substantial discussion to the past half century of Nebraska's storied football program.

 

But several chapters contain accounts of animosity, frustration and alienation within the Athletic Department during the tenures of former athletic director Steve Pederson and NU Coach Bill Callahan.

 

The book also includes an account of profane criticism from Callahan toward former football coach Tom Osborne, who was described as "trying to run things from Washington" during his tenure in Congress.

 

Osborne was named NU's interim athletic director after Pederson was fired this week.

 

Using several sources, Crowl also discusses the firing of former football coach Frank Solich, the hiring of Callahan, changes to the team's walk-on program and changes in the management style of the team and the Athletic Department.

 

The book should be available in some bookstores by early November and will be published by the independent publisher iUniverse Inc.

 

Its foreword was written by former head football trainer Doak Ostergard, who Crowl relied on heavily as a source.

 

Ostergard joined the Athletic Department in 1984 and was fired abruptly in February 2007.

 

Ostergard said the main purpose of the book was to educate people on the qualities of the football program and speak on the way "business has been done recently."

 

"We need to try and define what that Nebraska way really was," Ostergard said in an interview with the Daily Nebraskan. "From the outside, people can't understand it, and from the inside, people can't explain it."

 

Crowl's book seeks to identify how a sparsely populated, flat state in the middle of the country can generate a powerful football program, Ostergard said.

 

"Some people have taken the approach that, well, the football team has shaped the character of the state," Ostergard said. "But I think in the book here it's the other way around. I think the program was shaped by the culture of the state.

"That's why people are so passionate about it - no matter where you are in the state, that was something you could identify with."

 

Ostergard told Crowl he was originally impressed with Callahan's attempts to learn the culture of Nebraska football when he was first hired, but several incidents forced his opinion to deteriorate.

 

Some of Crowl's accounts - mostly from Ostergard - indicate that Callahan became disconnected with the state, its traditions and the history of its football program.

In one instance, Ostergard recalled a meeting with Callahan where the coach voiced his frustration over an article printed in a local newspaper.

 

"F-ing people need to get a life," Ostergard quoted Callahan as saying in the book.

 

In the book, Ostergard continues to quote Callahan:

 

"Why don't they go read a book or get lost in the Sandhills? I'm going to get me a real newspaper. I'm going to read The New York Times."

 

Callahan also grew impatient with former coach Osborne, Ostergard told Crowl.

 

After a phone conversation with the former coach, who was serving in Washington as a congressman, Ostergard said Callahan referred to Osborne as "a crusty old f-."

 

NU's Sports Information Office said Callahan was not available to return calls seeking comment about the book's content Wednesday because of numerous staff meetings that were scheduled.

 

During a short press conference following Wednesday's team practice, Callahan said his administration had maintained commitment to Nebraska's traditions.

 

"We've done a lot of positive things that added to the traditions of what Nebraska's all about," Callahan said. "We do understand Big Red football."

 

"It really comes down to one thing, and that's winning," Callahan added.

 

Crowl also wrote about the decline in the Athletic Department's relationship with the public.

 

When Pederson took over, he began to close himself off from people he didn't want to talk to, while tightening media and stadium access, Crowl said in an interview.

 

"I mean, security down there is on steroids compared to what it used to be," he said.

 

The new atmosphere was noticed by former players as well, including Mike Minter, a former NU and NFL player who Crowl quoted in the book.

 

"It was starting to be a compound, as opposed to the stadium," Minter told the Daily Nebraskan. "It felt like a family atmosphere, (but) it started to feel more like a corporate atmosphere in the past five years.

 

"Now it's like Fort Knox."

 

A former employee Crowl quotes anonymously in the book said the environment inspired two running jokes among the department's staff: "Everything's great," and "Let me see what Steve thinks."

 

Crowl also discusses changes made in the team's walk-on policy.

 

During Osborne's tenure, Crowl said, anywhere from one-half to one-third of the Cornhuskers' travel squad would be composed of walk-ons.

 

After Callahan took the program's reins, he adjusted the walk-on program in an effort to reduce the roster's size, Crowl wrote.

 

Said Minter: "A lot of kids waited to walk on, then three years into the program they become a starter - your team is really made on your role players, not your superstars."[/b]

 

Callahan said he was a "firm believer in the walk-on program" after Wednesday's practice.

 

The book, which also speculates on why Ostergard was fired and quotes several other former players, ends with a letter written by Ben Kingston, a fullback from the class of 1999, sent to Pederson on Feb. 19, 2007.

 

One statement in the letter reads, "I can honestly say, based on my conversations with the former players, coaches, etc., that we now feel that the 'Nebraska' we knew, the character that made this family great, has been lost … at least for now."

[huskernumerouno]

A crusty old F..., That should help him in his evaluations. Although I doubt T.O. would let that be a factor in any decions

[hack]

Its foreword was written by former head football trainer Doak Ostergard, who Crowl relied on heavily as a source.

 

not like ostergard has an ax to grind or anything.

[HUSKER 37]

A crusty old F..., That should help him in his evaluations. Although I doubt T.O. would let that be a factor in any decisions

Unless, of course, it's later determined that he does not blow crusty wind.

[HUSKER 37]

Its foreword was written by former head football trainer Doak Ostergard, who Crowl relied on heavily as a source.

 

not like ostergard has an ax to grind or anything.

 

Tell me everything that's happened up to this point ... first the earth cooled, then came the dinosaurs but they got too big and fat, died and turned into oil. Then along came the Arabs driving mercedes.

First Jive Dude Subtitle: GOLLY, THAT WHITE FELLOW SHOULD STAY AWAY FROM MY WIFE OR I WILL PUNCH HIM. Second Jive Dude Subtitle: YES, HE IS WRONG FOR DOING THAT. First Jive Dude Subtitle: I KNEW A MAN IN A SIMILAR PREDICAMENT, AND HE ENDED UP BEING SORRY. Second Jive Dude Subtitle: DON'T BE NAIVE ARTHUR. EACH OF US FACES A CLEAR MORAL CHOICE. First Jive Dude Subtitle: EARLY TO BED, EARLY TO RISE,... First Jive Dude+Second Jive Dude Subtitle: MAKES A MAN HEALTHY, WEALTHY AND WISE. (smack hands together) First Jive Dude Subtitle: HOW TRUE! First Jive Dude+Second Jive Dude Subtitle: GOLLY!(SHIIIIIIIIT)

..

[California Husker]

A crusty old F..., That should help him in his evaluations. Although I doubt T.O. would let that be a factor in any decions

I've had the pleasure of meeting Tom Osborne on two occasions. As I recall, standing there talking to him, "crusty old fart" was NOT what I was thinking. My opinion of Dr. Tom was that he was quiet yet he exudes strength and inspires confidence. I have never met a classier person in my life. And I think that if Bill Callahan (whom I have supported since he got here) doesn't have more respect for one of the giants of Nebraska football, then it may indeed be time for him to move on. Since he likes the New York Times so much, maybe he can go to New York where the sports fans are so much more reasonable than they are in Nebraska.

[alairguard]

A crusty old F..., That should help him in his evaluations. Although I doubt T.O. would let that be a factor in any decions

It's got to be burning his britches to have TO as his new boss.

[lkplayer]

I actually have a very, very close source to this....

 

This article is downgrading the significance of Doak's influence and accomplishments. He was one of the few older coaches who survived as long as he did.

 

It's gonna hit the fan when it comes out, for real. There are countless stories that show the true character of this now-crumbling regime, and a wonderful description of the old to "new" horrible process.

 

My roommate is a former player, and I know many, many players.... there is no personal player-coach relationship with this staff. It's all business, all cut-throat, all BS. When last season ended, another player told me that this season would either be national championship contention or it would fall completely apart, all because of the lack of friendship/role model between player and coach.

 

Like I said, this book would've gotten Callahan and Peterson fired by itself (and I think that was the reason for writing it... don't get it twisted either... Doak ghostwrote it). It's that revealing.

[alairguard]

Here is the site to the store selling the book, good prices, may have to pick one up on payday!

 

http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_de...n=0-595-47313-X

[DJR313]

Interesting, written by a disgruntled former employee. Who knows what's true and what's not, but that is questionable right off the bat. I read Diary of a Husker, so maybe I'll pick this up to get a different perspective.

[FriscoTXHusker]

This includes accounts of Coach Callahan calling TO some profane names

 

What do you guys think of this story?

 

Here's the intro:

 

A book written by a University of Nebraska-Lincoln student charges that the recent decline in the success of Nebraska football can be attributed to the abandonment of cultural values that once gave the program strength.

 

 

 

Recently, I heard a caller claim that the problem was that when TO was coach the team used to pray together. Under BC the team no longer prays together.

 

My take -- Warning following.

 

The problem with the Huskers is that God is angry at the Huskers. We need to throw BC overboard, much like in the Bible where they threw Jona overboard to save the ship from the storm. We need to send BC back to California and toss him into the surf.

[Eric the Red]

Whether it's true or not, this isn't going to help Callahan.

[FriscoTXHusker]

Whether it's true or not, this isn't going to help Callahan.

 

Yeah, folks may be too eager to demonize the man because they're ticked about the state of the team and the program. It's difficult to distinguish fact from fiction lately.

[1Huskernation]

Just ordered a copy....takes 3-4 days to print, and then a couple days to ship.

I also have Diary of a Husker. Will be an interesting read, I think.