Good article coming out of St. Louis

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

Considering this article came out of Missouri, it's a really good article!

 

STLtoday.com

 

 

By Vahe Gregorian

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

10/03/2008

 

LINCOLN, NEB.

 

Growing up in Oregon and Colorado, Matt Slauson felt what many at a distance might about the juggernaut that was Nebraska football.

 

"I was never a fan of Nebraska, just because they were so damned good all the time," he said. "They just beat everyone, and I wanted them to lose so bad because I was tired of seeing them all the way at the top every year."

 

His perspective changed when Nebraska recruited him to play on its offensive line.

 

"I'm going to play for one of the most dominant schools in the country," he remembered thinking.

 

Such was the plan, anyway.

 

For the first three years of his career, however, Slauson was part of Nebraska's worst four-year stretch since it endured six consecutive losing seasons from 1956 to 1961.

 

Then from 1962 to 2003, under Bob Devaney, Tom Osborne and Frank Solich, Nebraska went 414-88-5 and won five national championships.

 

But after Solich was dismissed with a 58-19 record and then-athletics director Steve Pederson's assessment that the program was "gravitating towards mediocrity," it proceeded to plummet in that direction.

 

The Cornhuskers were 27-22 in four seasons under Bill Callahan, whose record was diminished further by either his lack of understanding of the culture or a refusal to cater to it.

 

He neglected the virtually sacred walk-on program that over the years tethered the school to nearly every small town in the state. He insulated himself from fans, made smart-aleck remarks about Nebraska lore and allowed Nebraska's defensive tradition to rot.

 

"It didn't feel like it was the same place," Slauson said, adding, "It felt like something was gone."

 

CULTURE SHOCK

 

As it sought to move forward, Nebraska first turned back the clock and hired the legendary Osborne as athletics director last October.

 

Few, if any, have a more keen sense of what the job requires than Osborne, who went 255-49-3 and won three national titles in 25 seasons before essentially turning the program over to Solich after the 1997 season.

 

But he knew the situation would be complicated for Solich, whose departure ended a span of 43 seasons of what Osborne called "no major disruptions in the program" — including continuity in staff, football philosophy and recruiting.

 

"Comparisons are really unrealistic," Osborne said Thursday, noting his teams had lost just three games in his last five seasons but adding, "I think if I'd stayed there another 15 years, I probably wouldn't have had another five years like that. The odds are against it.

 

"Still, that's what fans come to expect. Anything less comes to be seen as something that's substandard."

 

That's true almost anywhere today, but perhaps it's particularly acute at Nebraska, which will have an NCAA-record 294th consecutive sellout crowd Saturday to greet No. 4 Missouri (4-0). The Huskers are 3-1.

 

Almost nowhere else is one football program as entwined with the identity of a state — going back more than a century, when Nebraska football established itself as a power that would remain intact with the exception of a two-decade span beginning in 1941.

 

"Certainly, part of it is the early success," Osborne said. "And it's partly because football is sort of a Spartan game that maybe strikes a note or chord with people of a frontier, rural-agrarian mentality.

 

"The other thing is the walk-on program. That served to unite the whole state. Almost every little town has had one or two or three players. Some of them were not terribly prominent, some of them were. But as a result, there is a very strong identification with every community in the state of Nebraska.

 

"As a result, it's been pretty deeply ingrained in the culture of the state. It's kind of a lightning rod, which is good and bad. ... (but) the people of Nebraska identify with the game."

 

PELINI'S POSITION

 

So Nebraska turned to someone its people could identify with when it hired Bo Pelini last December after firing Callahan.

 

Pelini, 40, had made a vivid impression as defensive coordinator at Nebraska in Solich's final season, and some had hoped he would be hired after serving as interim coach in an Alamo Bowl victory after Solich was fired.

 

But Pelini's profile was enhanced by his exploits the next four seasons, during which he served as co-defensive coordinator at Oklahoma before spending the last three orchestrating top three defenses for Louisiana State — last season's national champion.

 

Pelini, the youngest of eight children, grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, where the Stoops brood was among his family's closest friends. Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops is among the best in the business, and Pelini has prospered from many such relationships.

 

"In life, who you become kind of is what you've been exposed to," he said. "And I don't think that's any different in our profession."

 

Pelini also played at Ohio State, giving him a unique vantage point on four of the nation's most-decorated programs and an appreciation of Nebraska's distinctions.

 

"It's 1.7 million people, and it's the No. 1 show in the state. People are just so passionate about it," said Pelini, who also spent nine years coaching in the NFL at three different stops. "Not that they're not passionate about it all those other places, too. ... But there are other things there. Here, people are 100 percent into the Big Red."

 

Thus aware, he has made a point of being accessible in public and traveling to western Nebraska to greet fans, as well as resuscitating the walk-on program.

 

As former NU receiver and ardent Callahan critic Matt Davison put it, "He understands that fans are the foundation of this whole thing at Nebraska."

 

Pelini says he'd be crazy not to draw on the tradition, and that includes Osborne himself. They typically speak in person at least once a week, and Pelini says he leans on him frequently. He also knows it might not have been so comfortable if he had been Osborne's immediate successor.

 

"Look at Frank. It's just hard to follow that," Pelini said. "And ultimately, Coach Callahan, too. He came into a fire pit."

 

Even now, Osborne agonizes over the line between being supportive and micro-managing. He acknowledged that this week they did discuss Pelini's costly unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in Nebraska's 35-30 loss to Virginia Tech, but he added, "Every coach has to coach their personality. ... Bo Pelini has to be Bo Pelini. He is an emotional coach, and to some degree that's part of his strength. I probably was a more cerebral, reserved coach, to the great consternation of many."

 

RESTORE DIGNITY

 

Pelini's task isn't to be another Osborne. It's much simpler for now: to restore dignity to a program unaccustomed to the embarrassments it has suffered the past few years.

 

Indicative both of progress and how much damage had been done, Nebraska players and fans were encouraged by the loss to Tech because the Huskers came back from a 28-10 deficit to cut it to 28-23 in the fourth quarter.

 

"Even though we lost, it doesn't feel like last year," Slauson said, adding, "One thing after another happened, but nobody got on each other, nobody's pointing fingers and calling out names ... That is a huge turning point for this team."

 

Ultimately, though, it is at best a start on the road back.

 

"We're getting better," Pelini said, "but we've got to put the foot on the gas pedal and go."

 

Just how far and how fast in an era dominated by parity is unclear.

 

"Who knows? The verdict is still out on Nebraska," Osborne said. "So far, I've seen some significant improvement from a year ago ... and I would say we're not devoid of talent here. ...

 

"(But) I don't think that it's very realistic to expect that all of a sudden Nebraska is going to go undefeated and win a national championship.

 

"Who knows? Something like that could happen real quick. But it takes awhile."

 

Which makes Slauson wistful for the days he resented Nebraska.

 

"Even though I'm going to be gone after this year," he said, "there's nothing more important to me than knowing Nebraska is back on track."

 

vgregorian@post-dispatch.com

[BigRedfxtoy]

Good read. I don't normally read any posts this long but this one got my attention. Slauson came from Sweet Home Oregon. (I believe) and that is a very small (used to be) logging town. There is not much there and has a very back woods feeling. You would never guess anyone from a place like that would go to play for Nebraska. I'm glad he moved before he was inflicted with the "Oregonized crime called Eductaion here".

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

Long articles like this usually lose my attention half way thru but this one was interesting to read.

[Forever A Tiger]

For those of you unfamiliar with Vahe Gregorian he's an outstanding writer who at one time was the Mizzou beat writer though he's been doing features for several years including covering the Olympics.

 

There are a considerable number of Mizzou fans (at least those that post on the internet) who still hold a grudge against him because he wrote the basketball articles on the Ricky Clemmons situation. Like many fans everywhere they wanted to blame the media instead of those who actually did something wrong.

 

He is a hell of a writer and has won numerous awards.

[HuskerTrucker]

Very good read...I don't like the long articles either, but this was definitely worth the time to read it.

[zE bOp]

Why did a St. Louis writer write such a long article about NE fb history for Mizzou fans the day before the game?

Well, I guess I assume most cfb fans know that stuff about NE, especially in MO.

Good article though.

[zE bOp]

Why did a St. Louis writer write such a long article about NE fb history for Mizzou fans the day before the game?

Well, I guess I assume most cfb fans know that stuff about NE, especially in MO.

Good article though.