Our Head Coach

[Hunter94]

yes, looks like we all (for the most part) agree, cally is getting there.......seeing results and his relationship with fans, players and the tradition become refined...

i think we can all be a little more patient with the team and the results this year...I still expect some growing pains and a few disappointments along the way, but he has definitely "turned the corner".......fun times ahead!

 

 

hunter

[pigsonthewing]

but what does that have to do with a coach saying as of right now he would love to finish his career at nebraska?

After this, Im done with this topic (even though there is plenty to rebutt):

 

It shows that he had no problem telling a blatant untruth publicly. It calls his honesty and integrity into question.

 

Who knows if he's telling the truth?

lol wow you got a lot out of this gesturegate stuff. you must have missed the part when he explained what he meant by the gesture. There was this phrase "let he who is without sin..." lol name one college football coach who is squeeky clean.

 

you must really hate our coach and it must just eat away at you that he is starting to succeed. i hope you brought a lot of change to the wishing well because i think callahan is going to be around for a while.

[HSKRNOKC]

I have watched Calli slowly piece by piece put this team back together. It was NOT GOOD when he arrived.

 

We are in for a lot of great things ahead with BC at the helm. Anyone who cant see this is in denial, period.

[DJR313]

I have watched Calli slowly piece by piece put this team back together. It was NOT GOOD when he arrived.

 

We are in for a lot of great things ahead with BC at the helm. Anyone who cant see this is in denial, period.

After the turn around after the Kansas debacle, I tend to agree with you here. I agree with BigWillie as well. And Hoya, are you sure that 99.9% are happy with Callahan? I like the guy and think he can do well here, but I still am being cautiously optimistic rather than letting blind faith lead me like when I was a kid with TO being here. What I like most about Callahan is his work ethic and his integrity.

[Red Snow Sword: Husker Sentinel]

I don't think I'd call ff's thinking "out of the box" - it's pretty consistently contrary to what everyone else is trying to say, so that's not really so original to me

 

 

I do get the feeling that BC is a little more NFL inclined, but I think that .... that aspect of his personality is more relevant now because he is new to the college game, after years in the NFL. I wouldn't be surprised if he did leave someday. I hope it's not too soon, though. I also would not be surprised if he did end up retireing at Nebraska and hang up his clipboard. I am not certain, though, which he is more likely to do. I suppose that is variable according to his experienves here.

 

 

Whatever the case, I think he has tremendous motivation to do well at Nebraska.

 

 

Personally, I like BC. I like his expressions, and I like his way. I feel much better with him at the helm, as opposed to other people. I think that whatever the case is... it's an exciting time to be a Husker fan. Definitiely a historical moment.

 

 

Most of all, I'm looking forward to next year.

 

BC is responsible for that.

[skersfan]

I like him and have since the first day. Fire, determination, protecting and looking out for his kids. Vocal, it still is a free country. I could care less if he is considered PC. Give me a leader with concern for his men. BC fits those traits. I believe he will be here for a long time. It is too bad some do not see him for what he is. I see a newer version of BD. More refined but the fire is there. It is just what this program needed. Not only a total change in offense but a change in attitude. Long live the BC!!!!!

[Redman]

Honestly, Throughout his first year and most of his second, I had a lot of skepticism about BC. The 5-6 season was difficult. The difficulties with the offense throughout the first part of the season was difficult to endure as well. The Missouri and Kansas debacles were, well, just that. Throughout the second season though, there were small sucesses leading up to some great ones. I am now finding myself intrigued by what will come next year. Here are some of my pluses and questions that I have found with BC.......

 

Pluses-Recruiting (It seems many are watching NU on who to recruit)

-Team Unity (Haven't seen such team unity since TO)

-Motivation (These guys want to win and won't give up)

-Beginning to reach out to schools in Nebraska

-Impact over Seniority (Solich is definately gone)

-Emotion (Good to see a coach get emotional, shows he really wants to win)

 

Questions

-Game strategy (getting better, but still question)

-Longevity:NU or NFL

-Big XII Championship

-Compete for a NC (Don't see it yet but, way to early to tell, that is why I still question)

-Emotion (Good and bad moments)

 

Just my take....

[kc_husker]

You know, it's sad that on every board you cannot get into a discussion without a troll who blatantly baits people into arguments. Why the mods leave him around, I do not understand. If he actually provided something to the board, rather than the constant aggravation of everyone, I might understand.

 

In any case, I highly doubt BC is going anywhere. The pro game is too much of a crapshoot and I doubt he goes thru the revolving door yet again. For all he did with the likes of Rich Gannon, Charlie Garner, Tyrone Wheatley, etc., and to be given the door one season after going to the Super Bowl? You know that BC was highly tweaked over the lack of respect shown and I cannot blame him.

 

Once he rights the ship completely at Nebraska, he will achieve a status he will NEVER get in the NFL. As long as Cally wins, the money, fame and respect will follow him throughout the state of Nebraska.

 

To put it this way...

 

Cally could walk into an old folks home in Tenbucktoo, Nebraska and every patron would want to shake his hand, take pictures and talk to him.

 

Go to Oakland and they would be telling him they don't enjoy the game of foosball.

 

I truely believe Cally has found his last stop (granted he wins) in his coaching career.

Thank you Big Willie nice post.

Dont feed the trolls

If these coaches wanted to go to the NFL why didnt coach coz go then?

[StuckinChicago]

On recruiting.... Rankings dont mean nearly as much as people think. Before someone jumps up on their soapbox and say, well thats what you complained about when Solich was here, there is a difference. It was obvious from watching the huskers after they got all Solich recruits on the field, that the talent was not there to be where we needed to be. On the other hand, Callahan has shown that he is pretty good at finding talent that is not necessarily highly heralded, aka Zac Taylor, Cody Glenn, Barry Turner... None of these guys were four star prospects on rivals. Now you still need some of the big guns, because there aren't that many diamonds in the rough, but I for one am confident in this coaching staff's ability to evauate talent.... There is a reason that everytime we get a recruit that rivals doesnt know about, they get a tape and all of a sudden that player shoots up the rankings.

[OhioHuskerFan]

I've been cautiously optimistic about BC since the beginning. I agree he didn't understand what Husker football was all about when he arrived. And he's starting to get it. But if you didn't grow up a Husker you don't understand it, so I don't hold that against him.

 

I think he CAN BE a great college HC, and I think it's possible he could retire as the Big Red HC, but a comment to the media about wanting to end your career at NU, has to be taken for what it is, a well intended comment that may change as time passes. Billie is still a relatively young man. Thoughts of retirement are kind of premature. Plus coaches make comments like that all the time.

 

My only real arguement with BC is, I think his approach to year 1 essentially threw out the entire record book except the one thing he didn't control; consecutive sellouts. I thought he could have worked more with the talent he did have and adopted the "System" to the players a little more and kept things intact. I think most fans would have been satisfied with 7-4 and a minor bowl win in year one.

 

The recruiting is fine. You can't expect a top ten class every year at NU. We don't have the access to 5 talent like Texas, USC, FSU... have. What Osborne did so well was getting enough talent, supplementing it with the right mix of CornBred boys. But most importantly, he coached up the players he had. Many of the players that came through during the Ozzy era over achieved.

 

I don't know if BC can contend for a NC or not. But I think it will depend mostly on adopting the TO approach; winning over the in-state HS coaches, getting the best talent they can and raising the level of play of the players they have. We have to have the same type of effort and preparation we did against sCUm and Mich every week. Can't have the KU and TT clunkers.

[huskered17]

Some very good points brought up on coach Callahan. I also think it took him a little while to figure out Husker tradition and how much it means to Husker Nation. We all seem to think that everyone out side of the program should know what its all about, I am as guilty as the next fan. It was probably a shock to coach Callahan that first year. He is getting it now thou.{lol} I know that a lot of my friends back in Lincoln surprised me by saying that they were sitting on the fence waiting to see how he would do or just didn't want to even give him a chance, and there are still a few who still our not sure. I wanted him to succeed from the first time he walked on the field. What ever it takes to keep the Huskers up there with the big boys. Yeah a lot of us were upset by the firing of F.Solich not because we thought he was going to get us to another N/C game but because he was family. Thats old news now and what evers good for the University of Nebraska is what I want no matter whos coaching the football program. I hope Callahan stays till he retires and if he does that, then that means that he had a great career there.

 

 

GBR!!!

[formerfan]

care to share some of callahan's insincere quotes?

"What throat slash?? That was not a throat slash"

He later explained that at the time he did that, he was making a reference like he does sometimes with his kids, saying "I've had it up to here." He said he didn't make an intentional throat slash gesture and when the tape was reviewed that was the explanation he gave. He said this on Big Red Report w/Jim Rose.

 

Back to the topic: Are you happy with this coaching staff? I'm glad that 99% of the fan base is. And if not, please give a reason why not?

I guess I need to recant my "done with this topic" statement (my apologies), as I feel you were directly asking a question of me. Im not sure about 99.9% of people being satisfied with the staff (I guess maybe 99.9% of fans on the internet are ), but I feel that more people have become accepting of him in the last year, due to NU getting a few more wins and an increasing comfort level.

 

I guess the best way to answer would be to discuss topics brought up by a couple of other posters:

 

On recruiting.... Rankings dont mean nearly as much as people think.

Not that I disagree, but I I remember how last year people were pretty exuberant about NU having the 5th best rated class by Rivals and this year it seems a little less than important since NU will be lucky to finish in the top 20.

 

I know that talent is a big issue to many, but after watching the Alamo Bowl, IF Wichigan actually is one of the top 10 most talented teams (according to so-called recruiting gurus), then NU is not far off, and we were sold a line. With the exception of UMs pass rush vs NUs pass blockers, and possibly Breaston, UM was not a more talented football team then NU. While NU certainly isnt at par with Texas or USC, NUs problems the past couple of years are not from being outmanned. Even OU (which is supposedly a very talented team) didnt blow NU off the field from an athletic standpoint.

 

Pluses-Recruiting (It seems many are watching NU on who to recruit)

Even though recruiting has picked up some, Im not sure about his philosophy. I could be wrong, but it seems more like an "offer everyone, see if we get lucky" system.

 

Besides, quite a few of the starters from this year are not billy c's recruits.

 

-Team Unity (Haven't seen such team unity since TO)

2004??

 

Motivation (These guys want to win and won't give up)

I think that the team does. The coaches seem to game plan and call plays that are contrary to this at times. I think that the HC wants to prove that HE is a winner and HIS system is a winner.

 

-Beginning to reach out to schools in Nebraska

 

-Impact over Seniority (Solich is definately gone)

Maybe, but why did some of the highly touted freshman not see the field this year?

 

-Emotion (Good to see a coach get emotional, shows he really wants to win)

Disagree. Normally when they show billy c on TV, he either has his head buried in the playbook, or is spitting.

 

Questions

-Game strategy (getting better, but still question)

HUGE question

 

Im not sold on the offense, it never has worked very well in college and still is very difficult for full-time college students to learn. Even though I have been hearing about how much progress it made during the last 3 games, they only averaged 29 PPG. Thats not going to get NU back to the upper echelon of college football.

 

-Longevity:NU or NFL

-Big XII Championship

-Compete for a NC (Don't see it yet but, way to early to tell, that is why I still question)

-Emotion (Good and bad moments)

[NamelessHusker]

Anyways to get this thread back on topic, i think Callahan's approval rating is much more higher then the President's approval rating. In MY OPINION, he has embarced the Nebraska tradition and is taking small steps towards a brighter future REGARDLESS if some people can see it or not. Those of us that have a positive outlook on life can see those babysteps and that's why we are being patient while being attacked by the pessimist who look for every negative little detail to use as ammo and fail to realize that Coach Callahan is a human being who regardless whether he admits it or not makes mistakes. I deploy the philosophy "forgive, forget, and move on".

[pigsonthewing]

Anyways to get this thread back on topic, i think Callahan's approval rating is much more higher then the President's approval rating. In MY OPINION, he has embarced the Nebraska tradition and is taking small steps towards a brighter future REGARDLESS if some people can see it or not. Those of us that have a positive outlook on life can see those babysteps and that's why we are being patient while being attacked by the pessimist who look for every negative little detail to use as ammo and fail to realize that Coach Callahan is a human being who regardless whether he admits it or not makes mistakes. I deploy the philosophy "forgive, forget, and move on".

 

We have talent on our team just not enough depth. 2004 is long gone and our team was more unified in 2005. And every head coach tries to prove his system works. thats what head coaches do. and former looks at that as a negative thing. and a lot of highly touted freshmen saw the field. and Notre Dame and USC use a WCO and they score lots of points. and if our defense can keep playing good and slow down teams like michigan we wont need to score more than 29 points. the glass is half full.

[Redman]

Anyways to get this thread back on topic,

 

Here is what the intitial post said.

 

Guys, I just wanted to get everyone else's opinion on our HC. I think we made an EXCELLENT choice and it's really starting to show. The players really seem to be in tune w/BC and the entire staff and it appears they'll run through brick walls for them. Our recruiting is awesome and we're getting the players in here that we need to compete w/the big boys. BC also appears able to game plan very well and is adapting to the college game nicely. I know I was ready for heads to roll after the KU game, even somewhat after the thin win against KSU, but looking back at the season and our last 2 games, I'm very excited about the future.

 

How did people get off topic? It asks people's opinion. I, and probably others, took that as meaning "honest opinion". If an individual wanted all positive banter, call the topic "Things you like about Callahan".

 

i think Callahan's approval rating is much more higher then the President's approval rating

 

That is not very difficult to accomplish, and I would hope so.

 

In MY OPINION, he has embarced the Nebraska tradition and is taking small steps towards a brighter future REGARDLESS if some people can see it or not.

 

I somewhat agree. IMO, he still has a lot to accomplish. There is only speculation at this point on how well he might do in the future. I think things are definately looking up, but I could be proved wrong just as easily as those who think we are going in the wrong direction.

 

Those of us that have a positive outlook on life can see those babysteps

 

Some are not "glass half-full" or "glass half-empty" type people. Some simply are drinking out of a different glass. I see positives, but do not disregard the negatives or the unprovens. Disregarding either can be truly harmful.

 

and that's why we are being patient while being attacked by the pessimist who look for every negative little detail to use as ammo and fail to realize that Coach Callahan is a human being who regardless whether he admits it or not makes mistakes.

 

This seems a little donkey and elephant. I think Callahan is sincere, but there is always a level of scrutiny that a head coach needs to serve under. Expectations he needs to achieve. Yes it takes time, but until he does, all viewpoints (good and bad) are completely justified.

 

I deploy the philosophy "forgive, forget, and move on".

 

Except with certain individuals on this board.