Did Bill Callahan sabotage the 2004 season?

Dan_F_30 · December 9, 2008

OMG, some people loved to rip on Cally when he was here and wanted him gone, now they can't stop ripping on him when they got their way! It's just ridiculous that his name should even come up at all anymore....

DJR313 · December 9, 2008

If Callahan is guilty of anything it is trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, which is now referred to as R-Rodding. If you knew how insanely competitive him or any other coach is, then this question would not be posed. Like skersfan said, lets let some of these wounds heal and move on. The Callahan experiment didn't work, but he wasn't trying to sabotage the team. The Raiders are a friggin mess and I think what happened after 2003 should solidify the fact that what happened was no fault of Callahan's(or the entire blame shouldn't be laid on him). When the spoiled babies have dad tell them no, they just go ask grandpa and he lets them do whatever they want. Why are they going to listen to what dad has to say?

CENTEXHUSKER · December 9, 2008

BC did not have to sabotage anything. Joe Dailey was already doing it for him.

Winner

admo · December 9, 2008

Hey where's the youtube video of Sabotage (Beasties)? Hack?

I love that sh#t.

Callahan just wasnt a good head football coach. That's all I can add.

Vince from ShamWOW · December 10, 2008

BC did not have to sabotage anything. Joe Dailey was already doing it for him.

However Billy's play calling in the second half of the Southern Miss loss in 04 does make a person wonder.

shyndy · December 10, 2008

As I have thought back many times about the 2004 season, I have asked myself, in seriousness, did Callahan sabotage the season?

First, what would have been his motive?

To show that there was inferior talent and that there would be "a lot" of rebuilding needed, buying himself several years and setting himself up to be a hero at the same time.

Remember, the very same was accused of him at Oakland by a number of players. Check out this statement from Wilkipedia:

"Despite the success of his 2002 team, the 2003 Raiders had a losing record. After his team got off to a 2-5 start, many of his players, in particular Charles Woodson, publicly demonized the coach, even suggesting that Callahan was deliberately trying to sabotage the season. Apparently, his accusations of strife and mutiny within the clubhouse were corroborated by others, including veteran receiver Tim Brown. Callahan, his supporters claim, had recognized that the team was aging and needed younger talent. To get it, he would have to cut existing salaries, an assertion that did not sit well with many of the team's veterans."

Think back about some of those games in 2004. There were a lot of times when running the football would have kept us in games, but instead Cally would chunk the ball. See Texas Tech, 70-10 as an example.

At the time, we all in the stands, Tech and NU fans alike, were asking "what is this guy doing?" At the time, I thought "he's just trying to install his offense." But as time as gone on, I really wonder if he was deliberately sabotaging the season for the aforementioned motive.

Am I way out of line here?

Maybe we're just paranoid, but I can see this. The thing I've always wondered is what would have that 04 season been like if we had retained our coaches? We had a lot of returning starters. And yeah daily wasn't a great qb but if he hadn't been forced to play a certain way he easily could have been more productive. i remember one of his few good plays where he took off running and dove into the endzone, and Callahan came out screaming at him. I mean you can say rebuilding year all you want, but that year we were in a scarily close game against MAINE. if he did, then i guess last year was some sort of football karma, although it was just double bad for all of us.

rawhide · December 10, 2008

moving

lilred · December 10, 2008

The guy is gone, it is over, who cares what has happened. Time to get on with life, move and embrace what we have now. Quit living in the past.

This crap gets old and has for a long time.

Thinking of the past is not the same as living in the past.

NUpolo8 · December 10, 2008

Man who the hell cares?

BigWillie · December 10, 2008

BC did not have to sabotage anything. Joe Dailey was already doing it for him.

However Billy's play calling in the second half of the Southern Miss loss in 04 does make a person wonder.

Not as much as Joe running OOB on 4th down inside the 10 at the end of the game.

Okay, you made me bring that up again and it still ticks me off remembering that play. Biggest POS move I have ever seen by a Husker player.

Bri · September 26, 2023

For the Fans that think for a Second that Callahan is Legit , it is only due to your Obscured Idea & Viewpoint of the actual events transpiring. CALLAHAN 100% Sabotaged Nebraska but additionally The 2002-2003 Raiders. I am not just assuming this accusations but rather know if I needed to could prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Callahan was corrupted by his Self Proclaimed Friend from Way Back South Side Chicago Native Anthony D. Panico, the Chicago Mafia's go to guy for SPORT Betting Matters. That Name may sound familiar being Bill Callahan's First Scholarship Signer, Weeks after Being Fired At Oakland & Days after Rehire at Nebraska, ,,, Santino Panico, Son of Chicago Mob Outfit Sport Fixing Extraordinaire. Do your homework & Google Anthony D. PANICO OF Libertyville, IL & you will see part of the evidence yourself. Just follow the smoke, Callahan thinks Nebraska is a bunch of Dumb Hicks & that he is too smart for dummies to do anything. He'd brag about how stupid the FBI & IRS is & that by the time they see the big picture he will be Untouchable, Celebrating there Huge Scores that have set them both up & there kids for a long time.