Fact or Fiction: If Bo stays as D-coordinator in '03 Callahan is still the coach at Nebraska

Lava

Lava

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I've just been thinking about this. Think about what Bo has done with the defense since he returned. Imagine if he had stuck around and got the defense to this level while Callahan was coaching the offense. We all know scoring points was never the problem for us, and our record with a Pelini coached D likely would have been good enough to get us to the win total we all thought we could achieve and would have been more than happy with.

Who knows, crazy as it sounds now we might have all been singing Callahan's praises rather than his tenure being known as the dark age in Nebraska football. Don't get me wrong, I'm positive that it's working out better for the preservation and restoration of the program this way and I couldn't be happier with the job Bo has done but this is just some food for thought.

 
I say fiction.

It was only a matter of time before Steve Pederson was shown the door and the next A.D., whether it was T.O. or not, would want to put in his own man as head coach. I don't think Callahan would have made it more than maybe one more season.

 
Though I'm not afraid to mention Callahan's name like some are, I'm not going to get very deep into this. While a major problem was the defense, others ran deeper and probably would have shown up no matter what. This includes problems with Pederson and the atmosphere he created in the AD (and yes, he did some great things for the university, but also messed some sh#t up) and the fact that Callahan was probably better off coaching in the pros and not college.

 
I think Ira is right - Bo would never have stayed. And on top of that, Callahan wanted Cos, so the odds were nil that it would have happened.

BUT, if it had, it could have been a pretty good deal for us. It's a small sample size, but averaging the three Bo Pelini defenses and the four Bill Callahan offenses, you get a team that scores 28 points a game and gives up 18.

That's winning football.

But, of course, it went far beyond wins/losses with Callahan. He changed the culture too much to stick around. He was never one of us. He was never going to be a permanent part of our landscape.

All things considered, I'm glad there's no way Callahan woulda coulda shoulda stayed.

 
I can't really think of a good answer because every time I think of "Callahan" the name "Pederson" comes up and throws a huge wrench into my gears. :dunno

 
I'll play along... playing the what if's. I would have to say Fact, based on if Pederson wasn't having his mental lapse on the Athletic Dept, Callahan would have stayed, the only reason I say this, is that wasn't Cally like the 4th or 5th option? At the time of the Solich firing I find it hard to believe any college coach would have wanted to come in under those circumstances to take over the football program. Now if Cally kept Bo and actually "coached up" the talent that was recruited, I believe NU would have been a constant winner, not quite NC contenders, but closer than what Year 2 of Bo and Co were dealt with. Not a Cally lover at all, like I said just playing along.... :)

 
Callahan did produce some fine offenses. Still, he did not do much to ingratiate himself to the Nebr populace. IF he had Bo as DC, and IF he won at least 8 or 9 games per year, and IF he had kept some semblance of the walk-on program, and IF he sprinkled a few option sets in his offense, THEN he would still be at UNL. Is that what you wanted to hear?

 
Bob Devaney came to Nebraska from Michigan and Wyoming and changed the culture, and Pelini doesn't really have any Nebraska roots, so you obviously don't need to be from here to be "one of us." But Devaney started a culture of winning and that's the one you can't break. Had Callahan kept winning we probably wouldn't have questioned his methods. But tossing humiliation on top of losing and he became something we couldn't and shouldn't relate to.

Callahan had a thin-skin and was too easily threatened. He drove an NFC Champion into the ground in one season and you always sensed he thought he was slumming at Nebraska. Winning would have prolonged the experiment, but the dude was kind of a d!(k.

 
Lava said:
I've just been thinking about this. Think about what Bo has done with the defense since he returned. Imagine if he had stuck around and got the defense to this level while Callahan was coaching the offense.
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moot of course.

but IMO.

cally running the O, Bo running the D = b12 champs. easily.

top 5 team nationally.

again..

pure fantasy and unprovable either way. :dunno

 
What I think is that had Bo been here, Billberwouldve had a couple or 3 really good years, then taken the next big payday on back into the NFL. Let's face, Billy took the job cuz no one else was interested after what he did to a Super Bowl player.

 
nuance said:
Callahan did produce some fine offenses. Still, he did not do much to ingratiate himself to the Nebr populace. IF he had Bo as DC, and IF he won at least 8 or 9 games per year, and IF he had kept some semblance of the walk-on program, and IF he sprinkled a few option sets in his offense, THEN he would still be at UNL. Is that what you wanted to hear?
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Winning, walk-on program, I hear you.

Sprinkling option sets?

That's what I don't get. Put a product on the field that works. Why are style points ever so dear to Nebraska fans? Why can we never be happy unless our offense has a little bit of "the old days" in it? You all see how well the option is working for us now.

 
Think Bo would have strangled Callahan the first year. Do you think he would have stuck around after the Texas Tech game after seeing his team qb throw 5 int?

 
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