Tom Shatel: Memo to Steve: You're the one who started fire
BY TOM SHATEL
WORLD-HERALD COUMNIST
What do you think, should Steve Pederson give the pre-game pep talk today?
Nebraska and Kansas State will play a little football game today, a game nobody will watch or listen to or care about outside our little red and purple corner of the world.
But make no mistake. This is a big game.
Big for Kansas State, which is trying to avoid back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since coach Bill Snyder arrived in Manhattan, in 1989-90. That's a long time ago.
Bigger for NU's Bill Callahan, whose long-term tenure here and ability to recruit to here are in desperate need of a bowl trip this year. Yes, Shreveport counts.
Bigger still for Pederson, the Nebraska athletic director and man of the hour. Why?
Well, for starters, there's the e-mail.
Pederson sent an e-mail out to season ticket holders on Thursday afternoon. It wasn't a how-you-doin' note. It read more like a desperate plea. Pederson is not asking for your money. He's asking for your patience. He's asking for calm in the storm.
At this point, Pederson reminds us of a young Kevin Bacon, the ROTC cadet in the old movie "Animal House." At the end of the movie, Bacon stands in the middle of a riot screaming, "Please remain calm!!!" before being stampeded by the crowd.
The Pederson e-mail is interesting on a few different levels:
• He's calling for a timeout from this week's clamor to pay tribute to 22 seniors. Nothing wrong with that. Good call.
• Pederson asks NU fans to recall the good, old days of Nebraska national championships, after basically dismantling all but everything that built those championships.
• He asks for a positive atmosphere today in the name of recruiting, in effect using the recruits who will be at today's game to shield himself and the coaching staff from booing or negativity.
• He quotes a line in the Nebraska fight song about "sticking together in all kinds of weather."
Hmm. I don't think he'll get Frank Solich to sing that line.
Pederson should just get to the bottom line: W's. It's all about the W's. Right or wrong, Pederson has made Nebraska football all about the W's for a lot of Husker fans.
Bottom line: Pederson needs a dub-ya in the biggest way today.
A second straight losing season - and pardon us if we count a loss at Colorado in two weeks - would be the first for NU since 1960-61, the final two years of the Bill Jennings era and the last days of darkness before Bob Devaney turned on the lights.
Forget history. Two straight bowl seasons at home would turn the heat way up on Callahan and Pederson. It would also make it harder to dig deep into the wallet. And if there's anything Pederson needs more than patience and understanding, it's donor bucks.
Why? Because NU's athletic director's job requires three things: 1) Take care of football; 2) Raise money and 3) Take care of football.
Callahan will get his third year. But a loss today will cut his wiggle room to the size of a sardine can. The coach will have to produce, in a big way, in year three if there's no bowl this season. And next season's 12-game schedule, even with the three non-conference rummies Pederson has yet to find to offset the trip to USC, looks like an obstacle course.
Still, Callahan comes back. It's ridiculous at this point to even ask him about job security in year two. Then again, we haven't seen today's game yet.
If anything, another 5-6, including a five-game collapse, would probably have the wolves calling for a pound of flesh from the coaching staff. Which is also unheard of in year two of a project.
This whole thing is unheard of.
If this coaching staff is being smothered by pressure, it's because of the atmosphere created by the athletic director. If there is impatience, Pederson set the standard by firing a 9-3 coach.
In other words, the man who started the fire now wants people to help him extinguish it. Interesting angle.
The irony today is the opponent. Two years ago, K-State broke a long losing streak in Lincoln and it set in motion the end of the Solich era. Two years later, Lord knows what the Wildcats could set into motion with another win.
Big day. Big game. Pederson/Callahan need some room and some time to work with. A win today provides that. Otherwise, you never know if a local TV goof will be knocking on Pederson's door, asking, "If you were the chancellor, would you . . . "
How does that fight song go again?
From: http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=38&u_sid=2064349
BY TOM SHATEL
WORLD-HERALD COUMNIST
What do you think, should Steve Pederson give the pre-game pep talk today?
Nebraska and Kansas State will play a little football game today, a game nobody will watch or listen to or care about outside our little red and purple corner of the world.
But make no mistake. This is a big game.
Big for Kansas State, which is trying to avoid back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since coach Bill Snyder arrived in Manhattan, in 1989-90. That's a long time ago.
Bigger for NU's Bill Callahan, whose long-term tenure here and ability to recruit to here are in desperate need of a bowl trip this year. Yes, Shreveport counts.
Bigger still for Pederson, the Nebraska athletic director and man of the hour. Why?
Well, for starters, there's the e-mail.
Pederson sent an e-mail out to season ticket holders on Thursday afternoon. It wasn't a how-you-doin' note. It read more like a desperate plea. Pederson is not asking for your money. He's asking for your patience. He's asking for calm in the storm.
At this point, Pederson reminds us of a young Kevin Bacon, the ROTC cadet in the old movie "Animal House." At the end of the movie, Bacon stands in the middle of a riot screaming, "Please remain calm!!!" before being stampeded by the crowd.
The Pederson e-mail is interesting on a few different levels:
• He's calling for a timeout from this week's clamor to pay tribute to 22 seniors. Nothing wrong with that. Good call.
• Pederson asks NU fans to recall the good, old days of Nebraska national championships, after basically dismantling all but everything that built those championships.
• He asks for a positive atmosphere today in the name of recruiting, in effect using the recruits who will be at today's game to shield himself and the coaching staff from booing or negativity.
• He quotes a line in the Nebraska fight song about "sticking together in all kinds of weather."
Hmm. I don't think he'll get Frank Solich to sing that line.
Pederson should just get to the bottom line: W's. It's all about the W's. Right or wrong, Pederson has made Nebraska football all about the W's for a lot of Husker fans.
Bottom line: Pederson needs a dub-ya in the biggest way today.
A second straight losing season - and pardon us if we count a loss at Colorado in two weeks - would be the first for NU since 1960-61, the final two years of the Bill Jennings era and the last days of darkness before Bob Devaney turned on the lights.
Forget history. Two straight bowl seasons at home would turn the heat way up on Callahan and Pederson. It would also make it harder to dig deep into the wallet. And if there's anything Pederson needs more than patience and understanding, it's donor bucks.
Why? Because NU's athletic director's job requires three things: 1) Take care of football; 2) Raise money and 3) Take care of football.
Callahan will get his third year. But a loss today will cut his wiggle room to the size of a sardine can. The coach will have to produce, in a big way, in year three if there's no bowl this season. And next season's 12-game schedule, even with the three non-conference rummies Pederson has yet to find to offset the trip to USC, looks like an obstacle course.
Still, Callahan comes back. It's ridiculous at this point to even ask him about job security in year two. Then again, we haven't seen today's game yet.
If anything, another 5-6, including a five-game collapse, would probably have the wolves calling for a pound of flesh from the coaching staff. Which is also unheard of in year two of a project.
This whole thing is unheard of.
If this coaching staff is being smothered by pressure, it's because of the atmosphere created by the athletic director. If there is impatience, Pederson set the standard by firing a 9-3 coach.
In other words, the man who started the fire now wants people to help him extinguish it. Interesting angle.
The irony today is the opponent. Two years ago, K-State broke a long losing streak in Lincoln and it set in motion the end of the Solich era. Two years later, Lord knows what the Wildcats could set into motion with another win.
Big day. Big game. Pederson/Callahan need some room and some time to work with. A win today provides that. Otherwise, you never know if a local TV goof will be knocking on Pederson's door, asking, "If you were the chancellor, would you . . . "
How does that fight song go again?
From: http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=38&u_sid=2064349
Last edited by a moderator: