Does the Pelini Era cast the Callahan Era in a different light?

knapplc

knapplc

International Man of Mystery
Bill Callahan left Nebraska in 2007 as the most-disliked coach in the past 50 years. Now that we've lived through the Bo Pelini Era, does your perspective on Callahan change?

He was never right for this job. He needed a job only slightly less desperately than Steve Pederson needed a coach. It was always, at best, an arranged marriage. But many of the criticisms directed at Callahan were repeated, and many overshadowed, by Pelini, a man almost universally hailed as a savior to the program.

Callahan's defenses, under Kevin Cosgrove, were despised. But Pelini's defenses were statistically as bad, or worse.

Callahan made several comments that irked the fans, with"Excellent in all areas" being one of the more memorable, which seems silly in comparison to the tapes we've heard where Bo rips fans & administration.

Callahan was reviled for the infamous throat-slash. But that seems to pale in comparison to the Angry Bo Face.

All things considered, Callahan was never the right guy for Nebraska. But maybe it's time to rethink his legacy here. Especially in comparison to Pelini.

 
Callahan was worse than Pelini, their W-L records speak for themselves. (How the F do you coach Nebraska to 2 losing seasons in 4 years?)

Both tried and failed. Hopefully Riley can get us out of this rut and back to big bowl games and winning conference titles.

 
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I never really minded Callahan that bad, he was kinda a douche but I'd take his douchey personality over Bo. If he had hired a competent defensive coordinator I think he would of lasted a few more years.

 
One does not affect my feelings for the other one. BC was never a good fit for here and he had absolutely no clue how to mold a team around their talents. He also had absolutely no desire to embrace what has made Nebraska a great program. However, I blame that on his boss actually more than him.

Glad both are gone and glad we have the coaching staff we have now.

 
The Callahan era died because of his loyalties to Cosgrove (who I believe is the main cause of the losing seasons) and the toxic environment that Steve Pederson created. What is funny is that the Pelini era died because of his loyalties to his coordinators and the toxic environment that he created. To me, Pelini was the combination of Pederson and Callahan masked by the 9 wins. IMO, the two eras were of similar monsters.

 
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I would take a expletive filled secretly recorded rant by Pelini every Sunday morning after a game than I would watching Callahan coach us to 5-7 seasons.

 
Abdullah the Butcher said:
I never really minded Callahan that bad, he was kinda a douche but I'd take his douchey personality over Bo. If he had hired a competent defensive coordinator I think he would of lasted a few more years.
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Boy whay a goal that would be, last a few more years while giving us the same or worse record we got with Bo!

Callahan didnt care about this place and it showed on the field. Bo did care but was at ends with the administration and in over his head in select areas and it showed on the field.

 
Even as staunch a Pelini guy as I've been until the bitter end, you guys preaching about losing records are missing the point. And let's face it, had Bo been forced to coach a team in one of the top 2 conferences in the country in his last 4 years, it's quite possible, even probably, he'd a had 2, maybe even 3 losing seasons as well.

Now, it didnt happen, so for the sake of this discussion, all I can say is that both failed. Both had to job to do according to the expectations and desires of this program and fanbase, and both failed. But as far as changing my view on the Callahan years, no it doesnt change. I've preached about the lingering effects of that time, and still believe they did linger for a few years, but I never placed the blame on Callahan in a hatred type of manner. He took a job and did it to the best of what he knew. And frankly, while we distinguish experience, Bill was probably less experienced as a college head coach than Bo was. He had only been a head coach in the NFL two whole seasons, and had been out of the college game and atmosphere for years.

 
Interesting question, but no.

To me they will always be kind of opposites. I never really liked Bo and had trouble rooting for him, but he kept winning. I always liked Callahan and I hoped he would be successful, but he couldn't win.

 
If you're gonna be a bad coach, better to have it be revealed quickly. Don't try and turn the fanbase on itself, or the players against the fans, media, administration, former players, and everyone else. Recruit your tail off.

Time heals all wounds, though. It did not take long for 2007 to become just a blip in the radar. And thanks to Coach Riley, the Bo Pelini era is already fast fading to dust.

Mickey, I feel the same way! I really liked Bo initially, but it was really hard to root for him by the end.

 
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Count 'Bility said:
Even as staunch a Pelini guy as I've been until the bitter end, you guys preaching about losing records are missing the point. And let's face it, had Bo been forced to coach a team in one of the top 2 conferences in the country in his last 4 years, it's quite possible, even probably, he'd a had 2, maybe even 3 losing seasons as well.

Now, it didnt happen, so for the sake of this discussion, all I can say is that both failed. Both had to job to do according to the expectations and desires of this program and fanbase, and both failed. But as far as changing my view on the Callahan years, no it doesnt change. I've preached about the lingering effects of that time, and still believe they did linger for a few years, but I never placed the blame on Callahan in a hatred type of manner. He took a job and did it to the best of what he knew. And frankly, while we distinguish experience, Bill was probably less experienced as a college head coach than Bo was. He had only been a head coach in the NFL two whole seasons, and had been out of the college game and atmosphere for years.
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the negative callahan effect lingered throughout bo's best years here? and bo seemed to do worse the further he got from the callahan era? that is curious.

 
sd'sker said:
Count 'Bility said:
Even as staunch a Pelini guy as I've been until the bitter end, you guys preaching about losing records are missing the point. And let's face it, had Bo been forced to coach a team in one of the top 2 conferences in the country in his last 4 years, it's quite possible, even probably, he'd a had 2, maybe even 3 losing seasons as well.

Now, it didnt happen, so for the sake of this discussion, all I can say is that both failed. Both had to job to do according to the expectations and desires of this program and fanbase, and both failed. But as far as changing my view on the Callahan years, no it doesnt change. I've preached about the lingering effects of that time, and still believe they did linger for a few years, but I never placed the blame on Callahan in a hatred type of manner. He took a job and did it to the best of what he knew. And frankly, while we distinguish experience, Bill was probably less experienced as a college head coach than Bo was. He had only been a head coach in the NFL two whole seasons, and had been out of the college game and atmosphere for years.
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the negative callahan effect lingered throughout bo's best years here? and bo seemed to do worse the further he got from the callahan era? that is curious.
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Yeah, despite leaving all the talent behind, i always there were some issues that needed to be fixed and weeded out, like most coaching changes deal with. It's not a Callahan only issue. Just a general observation of a coaching change. Obviously as hte years wore on, it became a Bo issue, not a Callahan issue. Bo had to come in and fix some things that were broken. So does Mike Riley. Callahan came in and completely tore down the culture of Nebraska football. Removed a tenured offensive identity known on a national scale for 40 years. No, this is not a "callahan and Petersen purposely ruined nebraska football" crazy man post. it's just an observation of what Bill did by following a plan he feld was best and made him and his staff most comfortable. But it created a division, did it not? How many poeple you think had immediate and lingering angst towards Callahan while he was here simply because his offense "was not Nebraska football". And having losing seasons twice in 4 years and missing bowl games didnt help with that flip of identity. So by the end of 2007, Nebraska football as a program and fanbase really had no sense of what we were anymore, or where we were headed. And as has been documented there were a few folks who didnt agree with the Bo hire from day one to fix it.

 
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