Keep Callahan; revamp the staff.

[Captain K]

if if's and but's were candy and nut's everyday would be christmas

but good post I'll give you respect for that, though I disagree with you

Sorry secretasianman, your post is its own worst enemy. How many times did you say, if he does this and if he does that. You are saying, of course he has stunk it up so far ,but what if? We haven't seen him change a thing since he's been here. Now we are supposed to believe he will make all the changes that are necessary to be successful. I am not saying it isn't possible he will reflect back on what he has done in the past and make some changes, but what if we retain him and see the same stuff next year. How big of a fool does TO look like then? BC has to go into TO's office on his hands and knees crying that, I never should have done this and I never should have done that, from now on I will start coaching like this is a college football team and not expecting everyone to perform just because they want to make a pro roster someday, to possibly keep his job. But, we all know that a tiger doesn't change his stripes, BC had his chance and has shown us he does not have the ability to make Husker fans or TO happy. Bye Bye Bill!

 

[FWHusker]

The reason I chose to defend him is because I feel that his mistakes are correctable.

I disagree. In order for mistakes to be correctable, he has to realize that he has made mistakes. But, he feels he has "done an excellent job in all areas."

You cannot force him to make changes. He has to WANT to make the changes.

IMHO - If he went to TO and said "Look, I know I made a lot of mistakes this year. I think we need to make these changes......" I think TO might keep him around.

But, does anyone see that happening??

 

[HSKRNOKC]

I disagree. In order for mistakes to be correctable, he has to realize that he has made mistakes. But, he feels he has "done an excellent job in all areas."
You cannot force him to make changes. He has to WANT to make the changes.

You have nailed it. EXACTLY!

 

[mwj98]

Keep the Offensive Coordinator Shawn Watson. He understands the offense. Get a new coach who understands our culture and what it means to play defense. Callahan and Pedersen changed the culture. Tried to make it business and NFL like. That's where they failed. If you tweak with the system a little. You can still keep the offense, tighten the d, fill coaching positions with folks who understand Nebraska football, and the rest is history. I am tell you this....

We will win no less than 9 games next year. This team needs an attitude adjustment.

 

[arkansashusker]

In Tom Osborne's books, he talks about how society today is too quick to judge, expects instant results, demands perfection and lacks forgiveness. I think that it is important to remember those things as we look at Bill Callahan.

I feel that Callahan should revamp his staff and be given another 1-2 years. The stark defect of this year's team has been the defense--plays, effort and schemes. Imagine this season if we had a better defense. When your defense gives up points, and the offense has to play from behind, it limits your playbook and changes the gameplan, and the mindset of the players. It's not easy to be under that pressure and have a successful offense. With a better defense, I think 3 of the losses could have been wins.

I think about the Solich era, and how under Craig Bohl, the defense was mediocre, but with Pelini, they shined. Solich was not a motivator, but Pelini fired up that defense. In one year, that defense was transformed!! Perhaps Callahan should be afforded that opportunity. A revamped defensive staff could work wonders. Coaches always seem to hire who they know, and he probably thought that his selections were good coaches that could do well here. Do we fire a guy for an oversight, or mistake that can be corrected? Most people hated Charlie McBride until the mid 90s. Heck, alot of people hated Osborne for that matter until the mid 90s.

Osborne's offense had evolved throughout his coaching career. Callahan should be given that same opportunity. With Ganz controlling the offense, we're seeing that perhaps a mobile QB, rather than the "pocket NFL QB" is a better fit for this scheme. Maybe Callahan will target mobile QB's for the future.

It's true that he hasn't made the best playcalling decisions, but it's so easy to be the Monday morning QB. If most of his trick plays had worked, he'd be called an genius! Maybe he isn't the best playcaller, but you have to remember, it's easy to criticize after the fact. Just as Solich was given an opportunity to have an offensive coordinator, perhaps Callahan would benefit from utilizing Watson more, or with new ideas from a new offensive coach-- maybe Callahan and staff could develop an even more dynamic offense and better play selection. Simple things like more two-back sets, or utilizing the mobile QB could really intensify the running game. This offense can work well, and this staff has recruited playmakers on offense.

Now, the gray area. I think that we look at Callahan's actions and statements and try to over-analyze everything towards what he "really meant" or what he's really saying. The guy just simply can't win around here. He accredits some of Joe Ganz's success to being a product of the system-- and everybody calls Callahan an arrogant s.o.b. for taking the credit. Well, last I checked, Ganz didn't teach himself everything that he showed the last 2 Saturdays.

Callahan is never given the benefit of the doubt in the "gray areas"-- like walking off the field at KU and "snubbing Osborne"-- he honestly may not have seen Osborne, yet a news station makes it "breaking news". The erasing of tradition like walk-ons, and the pictures of the All-Americans, ex players being allowed to visit-- cannot be entirely attributed to Callahan. It's probably all Pedersen, yet Callahan doesn't catch a break in that regard. The way Callahan runs his program was definitely guided by Pedersen. With Osborne in charge, maybe he can help Callahan understand the tradition better and reintroduce it. If Pedersen wanted it erased, why do we expect Callahan to uphold it?

The bottom line here is that he's only had 4 years. Until this year, things have been progressing each year. With a better defense, we could have been 8-3 at this point possibly. Because things progressed each year, perhaps the call for change by Callahan himself didn't exist. Maybe now, if given the chance, he'd revamp his staff/schemes and we'd see some change. He probably realizes now that he needs to make changes to succeed. Look at when Osborne started to recruit speed and when they junked the 5-2 for the 4-3-- huge results from those changes. The success of the 90s was from changes on the defensive side of the ball. Why shouldn't Callahan be afforded that opportunity?

Funny how Osborne is revered, yet if you look at his total bowl record, or his total record vs ranked teams-- it would surprise you.

In his book "On Solid Ground", Osborne writes, "what each of us does with a second chance is up to us." I think we need to be more patient and forgiving with Callahan.

 

[Texan in Nebraska]

I'm kind of a "schizo" when it comes to Bill Callahan stayin or goin. Part of me says well lets keep him (of course Defensive changes HAVE to be made) and have some stability rather than a new coach that we'll have to wait another 2 or 3 years for "his" recruits to start showin. But then the other part of me says we need a fresh start, rejuvenation, could yall imagine how excited we'd all be for next season to start with a new coach? especially if its some of the top names that have been thrown around (Pelini,Gill,Johnson etc.) I mean we all anticipate Husker football to start but imagine how excited we'd all be next year with an Osborne hand-picked coach! Part of thinks Callahan can still be a great coach if given a great defense but then the other part of me says hells no this guy has already had 4 years with pretty good defenses (cept for this years of course) and we aint done nothin yet. So I dunno know anymore, the bottom line for me though is you can take the Kansas game and the Kansas State game and those games kinda cancel eachother out, but then you still have the A&M game,Okie Lite game, Missouri game,Ball State game and USC game that were such embarrassments that are very very hard to forgive so I still have to give a slight edge to the "Callahan must go" bandwagon.

 

[VA Husker Fan]

Getting rid of Cosgrove won't solve all of our problems on defense. Callahan's recruiting focus is on offense. He figures the defense can be shored up with JC transfers, which I think has been a pretty big reason why we don't see a lot of spirit on the D. And then he doesn't hesitate to raid the defense for offensive players (e.g., Major Culbert). That's another reason Callahan should not be the head coach.

 

[indianahusker]

One game does not a season make.

What happened to his offense against Mizzou? OSU? aTm?

Keeping Callahan would be a mistake, IMO, but if TO keeps him, so be it.

 

[NPhusker]

Seriously Callahan wants to turn us into the Texas Tech of the North division, that alone should get him fired. He even reffered to Tech in his teleconference, ya T Tech has a great offense ever year, but how many times have they been in the hunt for the NC or even a Big XII title, maybe twice in 10 years. That right there is exactly what i dont want, Tech is probably one of my least favorite teams cause they are soft and dont play D. Not what Nebraska is about!!

 

[REDSTEEL]

Took just one win to make Callahan a great coach again. I bet these same people would be asking for another year for Kevin Cosgrove if his defense somehow held Colorado scoreless.

How many Missouri, USC, Texas A & M or Oklahoma St games does it take to realize Callahans offense does not work against good defenses?

i think the QB does have a lot to do with this.. while sam has the talent and arm.. joe can move around in the pocket and escape defenders.. kansas is probably the best defense aside from USC that we have seen all year.. remember everyone was looking for a SHOOTOUT against mizzou? thats because their defense was every bit as bad as ours.. A&M we did fine in the 1st half.. it was just after half it went bad.. but yet again, not an elite defense.. and what about texas? i would consider them being pretty talented on paper.. and we did just fine against them.. so its not just the fact that the offense doesnt work at all.. it has had its moments.. its not horrible.. just too complicated for a college system, especially in this age where true freshmen are almost expected to come on and have some immediate impact on the field..

Well who has Kansas played that has had a great offense let alone great? The verdict won't be out on Kansas until they play a team that has a better record then 6-4. Everytime I see Texas play their behind by 20 so I guess everyone offense works against them. No one else sees to have a hard time moving the ball against USC just Nebraska.(Yes I know NU score 31 point but most of those points were against backups)

What did the Big 12 quaterback of the year do against Okalahoma and Auburn both team had very good defenses. The answer would be nothing even the Auburn Defensive coach said about the west coast that Auburn plays that it's to easy to defend once the first 15 scripted plays are done.

Nebraska has yet to move the ball with this offense against any top 15 team they have faced.

 

[huskerswrkhavoc]

Seriously Callahan wants to turn us into the Texas Tech of the North division, that alone should get him fired. He even reffered to Tech in his teleconference, ya T Tech has a great offense ever year, but how many times have they been in the hunt for the NC or even a Big XII title, maybe twice in 10 years. That right there is exactly what i dont want, Tech is probably one of my least favorite teams cause they are soft and dont play D. Not what Nebraska is about!!

i agree with you, but if Tech was in the north, i think they would be a much better competitor than they are in the south..

i think the QB does have a lot to do with this.. while sam has the talent and arm.. joe can move around in the pocket and escape defenders.. kansas is probably the best defense aside from USC that we have seen all year.. remember everyone was looking for a SHOOTOUT against mizzou? thats because their defense was every bit as bad as ours.. A&M we did fine in the 1st half.. it was just after half it went bad.. but yet again, not an elite defense.. and what about texas? i would consider them being pretty talented on paper.. and we did just fine against them.. so its not just the fact that the offense doesnt work at all.. it has had its moments.. its not horrible.. just too complicated for a college system, especially in this age where true freshmen are almost expected to come on and have some immediate impact on the field..

Well who has Kansas played that has had a great offense let alone great? The verdict won't be out on Kansas until they play a team that has a better record then 6-4. Everytime I see Texas play their behind by 20 so I guess everyone offense works against them. No one else sees to have a hard time moving the ball against USC just Nebraska.(Yes I know NU score 31 point but most of those points were against backups)

What did the Big 12 quaterback of the year do against Okalahoma and Auburn both team had very good defenses. The answer would be nothing even the Auburn Defensive coach said about the west coast that Auburn plays that it's to easy to defend once the first 15 scripted plays are done.

Nebraska has yet to move the ball with this offense against any top 15 team they have faced.

we moved the ball quite well against kansas.. i think they are top 3 let alone top 15 atm.. so therefore we have moved it, no matter how you feel about them.. texas is top 15 right now.. we seemed to move the ball ok there.. no matter how you feel about that, you stated we have yet to move the ball against any top 15 team.. well, we did against those 2.. and actually, we were ok against (at the time) the #1 team in the nation in the 1st quarter and a half..

 

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

I initially thought this scenario could have been viable when HANC originally posted the idea. Yet at that time I stated that Callahan had done too much to show he is not suited to be the head coach at Nebraska: walk on program, redshirts, not practicing in full pads, eliminating pancake blocks, his NFL mentality, etc...

Now with his press conference yesterday Callahan hawked his resume to puff up his coaching and diminished the record setting performance of Ganz. If Ganz is such a system QB then why didn't Callahan just "plug" him in when Keller was struggling. Why was the playbook shut against Missouri and Oklahoma State? The improvement the last few games has to be Watson's involvement.

I agree the staff must be revamped but one of those not staying should be Callahan. Keep Watson and Busch.

 

[knapplc]

I know I defend Callahan in my post. This isn't a "blind" defense. I see all the reasons why he should be fired, and I agree with alot of them.

I think alot of the comments Callahan has made have been misconstrued and overanalyzed. I truly feel that he has the best interest of the program in mind-- but he has made mistakes.

The reason I chose to defend him is because I feel that his mistakes are correctable. I also think about how Osborne gave players second chances, and set up a system of goals or "steps to attain" to get back to the proper standing-- and I think he might go this route with Callahan.

After the OSU game, I wanted the whole staff gone. But then I thought about Osborne's words, and started to think, "wow.. what if he actually keeps Callahan, that would suck." And after thinking about it over the last few weeks, I tried to construct the best scenario if Callahan stayed.. and that's the point of my post.

It's ok, knapplc likes to belittle the people who don't agree with his opinion or offer an alternate opinion.

Only those who earn it. You'll notice I did not belittle secretasianman in the least. He presented a good, well-thought-out argument. I disagreed and asked him to explain his thinking in light of a couple of points I brought up. The only times I have deigned to speak down to anyone is when they have belittled what Huskerdom is all about in the first place.

It's like when a coach goes into halftime with a team that is underperforming. They should know better, but they don't play like they're capable of playing. What's that coach supposed to do, hold their hands and cuddle with them? Heck no! He's going to break his foot off in their a$$, chew them out, and whip them into shape. And if they still don't respond, he's going to do it again, and again, and again.

Do you think Bob Devany had a box of tissues in his locker room for the guys at halftime?

If I'm wrong, prove that I'm wrong. Don't cry that I'm "belittling" people, show where I've said something wrong or made mistakes.

Husker Nation used to be tough. HUSKER POWER!!! Remember that? Now we've been infiltrated by the hand-holders, and I can't stand it.

I'm fully willing to be friendly, and I'd sit down with you and have a beer, Dan, but while we're talking I'm still going to challenge you on your beliefs, just like you'd challenge me. I can defend mine, believe me.

I don't think it's wrong to expect you (or anyone else) to defend theirs. If it doesn't hold up to scrutiny, that probably means it wasn't much of a belief in the first place.