You really don't think he tanked with the Raiders?
Gruden took them to the playoffs 2 years in a row (the first since 1992) and only lost to the Patriots in overtime (on the road, no less) to miss the Super Bowl.
Then, in steps Callahan. This is a guy who went to the Super Bowl the next year with Gruden's system and got beat like a redheaded stepchild by that very same Gruden - then fell to 4-12 the next year when he tried to use his own system - the worst fall for a Super Bowl team in NFL history. Was publically criticized, not by the typical loudmouths, the Sharpes and Sapps of the world, but Wooden, Brown and...Gannon??? Normally low-key guys.
Please understand my perspective here - after suffering through the Willingham era where a high-minded coach comes in with a questionable coaching record and a desire to install the spiffy-sexy Wine & Cheese Offense (which causes a collective jaw drop since we all envision Montana marching up and down the field and think 'Wowzers! That's gonna be soooo cooool!") and then subsequently makes a mess on the football feld, things in Lincoln are taking on a familiar unplesant tinge.
Seeing NU's first losing season since the leather helmet days and horrfic losses as well as a complete lack of competitiveness - I would hate to think of NU suffering the same fate as ND. At least when ND looked shoddy I could point to NU to defend midwest football here in Pac-10 country.
Did I expect too much from BC in his first year? Maybe...expectations for coaches are crazy these days. Am I giving him the benefit of the doubt since he had to deal with Al Davis in Oakland for his seemingly shoddy personality? Yeah...I am, for the time being at least - although that he's had a track record for bad PR moves is undeniable to even the most staunch supporter.
I would rather see the "wait and see" approach than a complete buy-in by the Husker Nation here. Already the same things are being said..."It takes more than 2 years to install the WCO"..."He needs to recrut *his* kind of players", etc. These will, I fear, move quickly into excuses from explanations.
Past experiences tell me it's a setup for a fall - but I'm hoping things will be different this time. I agree with both DJR and HANC that next year is the measuring stick - but I'm keeping my hopes to a minimum here.
One other item of note conerning the desertions - these kids are leaving *after* BC's first season - not after Solich's last. I don't think that's a normal approach for coaching change losses, do you?
The comments made by the departing players suggests to me BC is having a hard time readjusting to the maturity level of the college player, and that's just something a coach has to do.
Does that mean pander to the primadonna or slacker? Hell no! I've sat kids and had 2 removed from my teams when I coached my daughter's youth soccer club for not caring or bad attitudes, so I can totally understand a coach doing that when necessary - even for 12 year-olds.
And for the record, that was Willingham's problem at ND - his "discipline" was really very soft - of the huggy-feely Left Coast variety. He could get away with it just by virtue of his own personal dignity and his ability to comand respect, but that's not something the average coach should try a home. I would hire Ty in a heartbeat as an inner-city counselor for troubled youth or something, but never as a coach for a major football program - awesome man, sucky coach.
And, in stark contrast, Callahan *might* turn out to not even have Ty's strengths - college coaches don't just have to win football games like in the NFL, they have to win football games *and* teach the kids something along the way.
I've said before that winning cures everything. And I'll grant that the players leaving could be whiners. But I don't care if we go undefeated next season - if the disgruntled player bit continues and it becomes obvious he's disrespecting the players (good or bad), he's got to go.
IRISH!
