Cally on hot seat

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Eric the Red

Team HuskerBoard
Cally on hot seat

What coach is on the biggest hot seat? I know you're going to say Bobby Bowden, but he's not going anywhere. So you have to pick someone else. - Anonymous

A general assumption by a Seminole fan? I think in this mailbag space I've said this before, but three or four years ago I was wrong about Joe Paterno when Penn State was struggling to say that he owed it to the school to have enough sense that when the program was slipping to make sure things were done in a proper way in terms of handing down the program rather than being stubborn and hard-headed about it. I think there are very few people who are awarded the luxury to dictate when they leave. Paterno, Fisher DeBerry at Air Force and Bobby Bowden at Florida State are some of the few.

And it goes beyond what they've given to the university. This may anger some academics but the reality is their brand as a university was built from the football team. That's clearly the case at Penn State and you could never ever place value on what he's done there. He's worked so hard to create a culture and he deserves the right to try and continue that culture.

We've seen other schools, who I won't name, who had a culture, who had a history that was seemingly thrown away by individuals who either didn't understand how difficult it is to build that brand or were too selfish in their own accord.

But to answer the question I think Bill Callahan is on the hot seat at Nebraska. They haven't beat anyone of substance. His record in three years is just not good. They've become a bad road team and lost to unranked teams. Callahan needs to produce a big year. He needs to win the Big 12 North. I think a step backward could be the end of his regime.

Last year was a bit of a bounce back year for Texas A&M, but I think Aggie fans want to get back to more of an elite status so Dennis Franchione has to be on it.

I think it's a big year for Mike Stoops in Arizona. I think it's an important year for Kirk Ferentz in Iowa. I'm not saying he's going to be fired, but I think it's reasonable to say he's on the hot seat. And when you say hot seat you could say Randy Shannon in Miami is on the hot seat, but he's not going to be fired. Greg Robinson at Syracuse is on it as well. It all depends on what you're definition of hot seat is.

You fire coaches who have "slipped" like at Syracuse, Texas A&M and Nebraska and these schools have to ask themselves "Are we better off today than when we got rid of those people?" When trying to take a step forward you can sometimes take a step back. I think there are some A&M fans who would enjoy the days of R.C. Slocum.

Lloyd Carr did have a bounce back year in a sense that it wasn't an Alamo Bowl year for Michigan, but he's been having difficult times against big time schools, in big time games and I think he's on a bit of a hot seat. It'll be an interesting year for Dan Hawkins in Colorado. But I don't see anyone in imminent danger of being fired if they lose some early games. But if Callahan and Nebraska, playing at home, lose to USC, 50-7, that changes the complexion of the seat.

Of course UCLA fans think Karl Dorrell is on the hot seat and they're looney. They will be fighting with USC for the Pac-10 so I don't think he'll be on the hot seat.

And I would always include myself. I'm always on the hot seat to lose my job.

 
In my opinion Coach Callahan is in no way on the hot seat. No way. Not yet.

I, as a huge Husker fan, don't see it. Not yet, not now, no way. What about the win over Michigan in the Alamo Bowl not so long ago. Everyone dismisses that win. Not fair to Coach Callahan and the team. We were underdogs in that game. We won! Come on. This is only year 3 completed, year 4 to start. I have the faith. A lot of faith. I feel and see the difference in the team on the field. I see them competing in every game. I see talent now. I see the 'want to' now. I see emotion from our coach now. I see energy. I'm a believer in Coach Callahan.

You all should be too.

Go Big Red!

 
I'm with Coach Cally as well. The recruiting has been going very well and the team is progressing with his system. I really do want to see a couple signature wins for us this year...we will have loads of opportunities @Wake, USC, @Texas, potential Big 12 Championship, face another strong bowl team after win over Michigan but loss to Auburn. That Auburn loss still sort of burns me as that would have been a very good win for the team and Cally doubters.

 
i hadn't thought about a big loss really hurting until i read that take. yeah, we lost to usc, texas, and auburn, but really should have won 2 and at least were in the game in the third. that's what i've been thinking. what happens, really, if we get blown out?

 
I don't think that Callahan is even close to being on the hot seat. There has been steady improvement every year that he has coached. His recruiting continues to be exceptional. Heck, Callahan is not the only coach to get slammed for not winning the "big" games. Look at Mack Brown (until 2006 at least). Even Osbourne wasn't immune from receiving the same criticism. However, I think that this is the year that Callahan's vision for winning a championship starts looking like a reality. In 2007-2008, I would expect that "process" will be defined as Callahan fielding one of the top tier teams in the country - Either by winning the B12 or winning a BCS bowl game. Otherwise, I think that NEXT year we can talk about Callahan being on the hot seat.

 
hot seat? no, not yet. recruiting alone is far better than we had with Solich, far, far better. he hasn't had the 5-7 years it takes to really build a program. this guy ( the writer) is well off the mark, cally will be fine and given an extentsion at the end of this year as well.

he may lose 3 or 4 games this year again, but the direction of the program is fine.

 
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Not to defend or excuse any coach, but unfortunately parity is really starting to play into college football. Regardless of big teams getting huge recruiting classes year-in and year-out, this parity is making it harder and harder to develop perfect seasons. And as NU is well aware these days, there isn't a road date that is ever a 'gimme'. It does make college football fun (unless it is at NU's expense), but this isn't going to change anytime soon.

 
I've seen progress every year with BC and the team. We may not be to the level that some want us to be but we are moving in that direction. I don't think BC will be on the hot seat until we take a step backwards which he has not done yet.

 
No way is he on the hot seat. Check back after he has had a QB running his offense for a couple of years with all the good recruits he has been bringing in. You can't count the Zac Taylor years, to much building his team and teaching his wco. Next year he has to break in a new QB, so after the 2009 season you may have a topic. I like the future of Big Red football with Callahan leading it.

GBR!!!

 
This will be Callahan's first year of essentially ALL his own recruits. So this year will be a measuring stick to many, and with a very difficult schedule at that.

 
I don't think Callahan will get fired with Stevy P as the ad, if Pederson's contract runs out, the new guy might not feel Callahan has done enough. Callahan doing good=Steve Pederson's job

 
I cant see it being a hot seat yet. Yeah, we didnt beat the big boys last year, but we, as Mawell Smart would say, "Missed it by that much". We didnt get our butts handed to us like was prone to be the case in the last few years of Solich's era, and our first year with Callahan.

A guy who won his division and played in a Jan bowl game isnt someon eon the Hot seat. Starting year 4 and the record getting better every year, and the team being more competitive vs the powers that be shows progress. It isnt like what happened at Pitt, A&M, or syracuse.

 
I think we're seeing the beginnings of N building a pipeline to the NFL for players and good recruiting by the staff. I believe that that direction will continue and will lead to N being competitive with the elite teams. Within the next couple years I expect we'll be in the top ten on (I hope) a consistant basis.

 
Here's all I had to say

We went from getting beat by 60 points by a ranked team and losing to a division 1-AA team, to beating 2 teams in the top 25 and almost 3 (Iowa State, Michigan, Texas Tech) the next year, to beating 2 (or 3?) teams in the top 25, and losing 3 games to top 10 teams by a total of 19 points...

Seems like if we improve the same amount going into 2007, we will end the season with a BCS-bowl berth and a Big XII Championship, not too much of a hot seat position

 
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