Osborne vs. Callahan

Show me the 3 out of 4. They have one in honesty and the NCAA may take it away for cheating. Currently Oklahoma and Auburn are on the hot seat. We may see all of them fall for what they have been pulling.

I will take a clean program anyday and keep the coach that keeps it that way.

We got beat 28-10 by what some say is a NC team. Think back to the great 10-3 team and what were the scores that we lost by, and who they were.

If you can not see this program is improving, your blind.

The reason they are in the hunt is due to recruiting. Our past coach never knew what that was. When you take five years off from looking for National level talent the sky falls quickly. That is where we were at. We still do not have the talent of any top 10 program. When you start to understand that you will understand why it takes time. Stoops won one NC with talent assembled by Blake. He hasn't done as great as was expected since that win.

As stated we will not see some one go 3 out of 4 again. There are 3 Crystal balls in our locker, SC has one. No where near what we accomplished. I doubt SC gets through the season undefeated this year. I think we have a better chance of ending up 13 and 1 than they do of 14 and 0.

Any program that demands a NC and will fire the coach because of his failure to bring it in X given years, will not be a power for long

When our AD fired the previous coach is was because of failure to do what he was told to do. Most people get fired for it. Recruit, recruit, recruit. Nah I'd rather not. There's the door.

 
We got beat 28-10 by what some say is a NC team. Think back to the great 10-3 team and what were the scores that we lost by, and who they were.
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All I can say is the season isn't over yet. I was hoping for better, but now I don't expect as much. I can see us losing to Texas and the B12 game, but that doesn't mean we won't drop another game or 2 on the road. BC's road record isn't spectacular. My hope is we go 10-3 with a Bowl game to follow and hopefully a win or at least a good performance like we showed against Michigan.

 
First off let me say I think Osborne was a great coach and a class guy but let's step back for a moment and think about this.
Osborne inherits a National Championship caliber team and takes 20 years to win the National Champoinship, yes I know 83.  He regular was whipped by Oklahoma, Colorado improved and started winning, and seemed to always be "outcoached" in a bowl game.  I'd say go look at some of the bowl performances over the year.  Until he started winning the titles I think most of Husker Nation could have been on the sideline to call the plays as we all knew what was coming.  Our Blackshirts really only applied to our front 7 as our defensive backfield was routinely thrashed by the passing game.  I know I remember a few calls for Osborne to get the boot throughout his tenure also.

In 04' Callahan took over a team that was going to the level of Missouri in my opinion.  He's had calls for his head, criticized he's passing to much, criticizes he's running to much, criticized for being predictable, not being able to gameplan, not being able to adjust during the game.  These are all honestly things I've heard about Osborne during his years!  There is no question we are a better than than we were in any year from 1998-2003  (yes I know 2001 was a National Title shot but take away Crouch and we were crap).  Things are going the right direction and I actually have faith in Callahan.

I will say the loss last night was dissappointing but I must be in the minority in thinking we had the right game plan but did not execute.  We make mistakes!  I don't care what the gameplan was our boys needed to be flawless, and they weren't and I still love them.  For those of you saying Callahan played not to lose I think that's horsesh**.  He put togethor a gameplan to try and keep their offense off the field and give our VERY thin defense a chance to rest and not be in a track race that we were going to lose. 

Step back and think of the mistakes we made and then the mistakes they did not make!  They had "0" turnovers which we needed!

Okay I'm stepping down :boxosoap   and Go Big Red!
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Good post, although I strongly disagree with the highlighted portion. In 1999 we finished the season ranked #2 & #3 in the nation. If not for a case of fumble-itis in Texas, we probably would've won a Nat'l title.

We're nowhere near that level now.

 
He wasn't out Coached. He was out run in those Bowl games. Nebraska didn't have any speed on Defense. Lots of size though. We were in a Conf that played smash mouth football. The Husker D was geared to stuff the middle.

How many of the losses were to the National Champions?

Nebraska wasn't going and playing the 3rd place Big 10 Team. They were usualy matched against the number one or two ranked Team in the Country.

They always had a ranked team on the schedule before the Big 8 games started up. Some years 2 when they went to the Kick off Classic and faced Penn State and West Virginia. Both games they won.

Oklahoma State use to have ranked Teams back than. Kansas and K-State step up at one point and were ranked. Colorado became a ranked Team.

In 94 the Big 8 went 4-0 in Bowl games.

I hope Callahan does have a Career like Osbourne but as of now there is nothing simular. His name to fame at Nebraska is a win over a Michigan Team that was on a rebuilding year.

Callahan has been handled by Teams that Osbourne would have blown out. Osbourne would of beat Kansas and the Main game would have been over in the 2nd Quarter.

Nebraska was not winning the recruiting wars during Osbourne era. He won by developing talent. He relied heavily on the walkon program. I doubt there is a Coach in the history of college football that has turned out as many Walkon All-Americans as Osbourne did. Osbourne had players go from the 3rd string of the Freshman team to become All-American.

 
Again, I have the greatest respect for Osborne and there is absolutely no way you can compare any coach from the 80's-90's to today. Hell, look at Florida St. and Bowden. There is a reason Osborne retired when he did. There are so many changing in recruiting and scholarship guidelines it's not even funny. Not only that but I would venture to say a top #15 team that Osborne beat wouldn't even be ranked in the top #25 today. The competition has evened out considerably, which was one of the goals of the NCAA.

My comparison came in the complaining about Callahan's coaching against USC and Osborne against top ranked teams. So fine Osborne only lost to highly ranked teams, well short of our National Championship teams I would put USC up there and say they would probably smoke most teams Osborne lost to. Although the statement he lost to only highly ranked teams is untrue, ie Iowa State in 92, whenever Colorado first beat us. The competition today is totally different thea then.

If you never ever criticized Osborne, his play calling, his teams, or anything then fine throw all the rocks you want at any coach in the NCAA. If you were ever frustrated or criticized Osborne, don't be throwing rocks just yet. I don't care if you like Callahan as I'm not a huge supporter but we are definately better than the last 4-5 years. We at least have a chance! Hell if we would have played USC in any year previous event the most ardent supporters wouldn't have thought we had a chance, and this board proves we have hope!

:restore

 
What you are saying can apply to just about any Coach. Every Coach gets thrown to the wolves when they lose.

Callahans best Season so far is equal to Solich worse season.

Should we compare Solich with Osbourne?

Callahan has not had a 9+ wins season yet. Osbourne had 25 of them in a row.

Callahan is 50% in getting to Bowl games. Osbourne was 100%, Solich was even 100%

I support Callahan 100% but in no way can I put him on a pedestal with a Hall of Fame Coach. He hasn't done anything to earn that.

 
Not only that but I would venture to say a top #15 team that Osborne beat wouldn't even be ranked in the top #25 today.  The competition has evened out considerably, which was one of the goals of the NCAA. 
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Flawed logic. The top teams then had more talent. With parity now the talent gets spread around to other teams.

 
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That is definitely better than I thought it would be. However, go back and take off 1993-1997. Over the 5 year span, we had the best record of any team ever. Just use the first 20 years of his career. I think the average will dip below 50 percent pretty fast.
His bowl record prior to 1993 was 8-12 in that time frame. Even over his entire career, he had a losing record in bowl games. I'm assuming most if not all of these opponents were ranked.

I'm not saying T.O. was a bad coach. I'm just saying he got outcoached in big games, noteably bowl games which are usually the biggest games of the year. T.O. finally figured it out after several years of losing to quality opponents what he needed. He needed a lot of speed on defense, and he needed a big strong running QB that could pass at least good enough to keep defenses honest. Anyone remember the days of Mickey Joseph, Mike Grant, etc.
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Mickey Joesph Mike Grant- #1 and #2 respectfully.

On the list of Nebraska's worst quaterbacks ever close third going to Joe "I thought he was open." Dailey.... honorable mention Jammal "Man that guy was wide open and he ran! Lord. :yeah

 
Callahans best Season so far is equal to Solich worse season.
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8-4 = 7-7. I don't see it. Callahan beat better teams last year than Solich did in his 7-7 season.
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Exactly. That 02 team couldn't get passed Iowa St or a very inept Ole Miss team, not to mention Colorado or KSU(granted KSU was good then). Callahan beat ISU, CU, KSU and topped Michigan in the bowl game. In all fairness, Solich's worst and Callahan's worst are comprable. 03 and 05 are comprable as well. Where we go from here shows how much of an improvement Callahan is over Solich. I realize the original post was comparing the two in terms of scrutiny, which I agree, but most coaches feel the heat after a loss. I agree that you can't compare Callahan to Osborne yet. Let Callahan win a couple conference titles first and bring NU back to the top 10 on a consistent basis. Right now, we are a work in progress, but the train is back on the track.

 
There are a couple of things that TO and BC and FS are comparable on. All 3 were as stubborn as the day is long. TO and BC know what their teams are capable of. TO stuck to his game plans because that is what the team did best. I must admit that it is possible that is what BC may have been doing in the USC game. With all the speed of the USC D, I'm not sure we have the reciever talent to really get the guys open. Keep in mind that in the first game Zack was picked off once. In the long completion to Herian the ball was way late and the D was out of position but look how fast they recovered.

 
The same alumni that give lots and lots of $$$$$ to the program didn't like the direction the program was going in 2003 are the same ones that didn't like the outcome in year 3 of the game last Saturday. IMO, the heat is on. If we lose to USC and Texas this year and we do the same next year, heat is put on Pud which in turn makes heat on BC. Things are gonna change. This isn't your daddy's Huskers and it sure as hell ain't your granddaddy's huskers anymore. It's win, win often, and win at all costs or else. We've already shown that.Anyone ever wonder if TO would have lasted if numbnut Pud was AD back in 78?
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So is it, "numbnut Pud's" fault or is it the boosters and alumni? You want to have it both ways. Now I've heard everything, it's Pederson's, Callahan's, the alumni's and the booster's faults. Don't forget about the players! Lucky, the entire secondary and the d-line and I'll just throw the ball boys in there for good measure. They should all be fired! :sarcasm

Why can't we just see this game the way it really is? A good old fashioned whoopin by a better and more talented team? Is that the state of Nebraska football nowdays, that we can't lose one game without spiraling into these conversations? It only took about an hour after the loss until someone had already suggested a name for a replacement for BC. And you wonder why SP starts feeling on the hotseat, it's because of fans like you all! Don't you realize that? Whatever, I think we are well on our way to :restore .
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Ultimately, it is the AD's job because he's the one that actually does the hiring and the firing. So, yes I blame numbnut Pud for caving into the alumn's and boosters. Let's face it, the game should have been 35 to 10 if USC wouldn't have been just running the clock out in the 4th. Everyone talks about experience, but what experience does Booty have? USC's offense is out of sync and flat. I'm sure they'll get it together by season's end, but really their offense has only mustered 3 good quarters out of 8.

If USC loses a game, this puts them in the same caliber of team as Texas was in 2003. In order for USC to win it all this year, they're offense is going to have to really improve between now and season's end.

I hope you are right that SP (Pud) is feeling like he's on the hotseat because he's a total tard. Any bets on how the men's basketball team does in the next 5 years? When we were looking for a football coach: we were supposedly taking our time to find the right guy. When we were looking for a men's basketball coach it appeared we took the first warm body we could find.

USC from 1996 to 2001 was 37-35. This was the 2nd worst 5 years stretch in USC football history. It was the first and only time they had failed to make the top 20 in four consecutive years. In walks Carroll. His first year was similar to BC's finishing 6-6. His second year, he fininshed #5 in the BCS rankings. Year 3, he tied for and won a NC. Are you guys really going to try and convince me that a team that was 37-35 before Carroll was really ladened with talent? Come on. He walked into a lot worse situation than BC did, and he's had a lot more success. Again, the bar has been set pretty high. This is how coaches are measured now days. They aren't given time. It's win, win often, and win at all costs. This is the new college football baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 
My notable comparisons:

Osborne - tall - 6'4"?

Callahan - short - 5'6"?

Osborne ran, ran, ran the ball.

Callahan introduced the foward pass.

Osborne wore a headset on the sideline and pretty much called the plays.

Callahan holds his playbook tightly like Fonzie did as the coach in Waterboy.

Osborne politely praised opponents after a game they loss.

Callahan made throat gestures at officials and called fans F'n hillbillies.

Osborne spoke briefly and to the point during conferences.

Callahan speaks in paragraphs, and over uses the word "physical" and "physicality".

Osborne won a few championships but is not on the sideline anymore.

Callahan is the coach last I checked and is doing the best he can do to win the Big 12 North.

Alright that's all. Just having some fun and adding some humor to the board. I hope no one takes me literally.

:)

 
OH MY GOD. IS IT 2004 AND SOMEONE FORGOT TO TELL ME?
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I'm not trying to rehash 2004. I'm simply pointing out that no coach in a top 20 program will be given 20 years to make things happen. Like I've said. Bob Stoops and Pete Carroll and maybe even Charlie Weis (depending on how ND finishes this year) have set the bar way to high reviving top 20 programs that were faced with losing seasons before they got there.

Miami is already thinking of replacing Coker even though he's had one of the best records in history over a 5 year period. He's won 53 games out of his first 63 including a NC. After last season, he was forced to get rid of some of his staff. Wow, that sounds familiar.

Lloyd Carr is/was (until ND beating) on the hotseat. I mean the guy has went to a bowl game every year as head coach. He's won the Big 10 title 5 of the last 7 years. He's won a NC, yet even all of this may not be enough to keep his job.

There are other coaches on the hotseat with similar success to the ones listed above, but you get the point. My point is this: in order to keep your job you must win, win often, and win at all costs. This is the new college football era baby!!!!!!

 
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