Blackshirt
Team HuskerBoard
OWH:
Published Wednesday
March 10, 2004
Ouster fortifies Brown
BY RICH KAIPUST
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN - Ron Brown slumped into his office after meeting with Nebraska Coach Bill Callahan on Jan. 12, hurt by being told he was no longer wanted on the Huskers' football staff.
An extremely religious man, he sat quietly and assessed the bad news he had just received.
"I shut the door," Brown recalls, "and I said, 'God, you could have done it another way. You didn't have to do it this way. You could have softened the blow.' "
Eight weeks later - and embarking on his next endeavor - Brown feels strengthened by what happened.
"I think I was supposed to be rejected," Brown said. "I think I was supposed to go through the public humiliation of being fired. That doesn't sound like a very nice thing, and it isn't.
"But it identifies with Christ. Christ was publicly rejected. He was beaten, he was shamed in public. There is something about being rejected in public and going through public adversity that tests your character. My character needed tweaking and testing for me to move to that next step."
Brown announced it Tuesday, accepting the position of state director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. It also was released that Brown will start hosting a weekly Christian sports talk show (KLMS, 1480 AM) with Bill Doleman, and he will continue as co-director of Mission Nebraska with Stan Parker.
For the first time since 1982, Brown, 47, will not be involved day-to-day with football. But he'll remain in a state where he's become popular for his work outside the sport.
He said his greatest privilege in coaching was the platform it gave him to preach the gospel and speak publicly. He thanked former NU coaches Tom Osborne and Frank Solich for the time and freedom to do so.
"I can live without coaching," Brown said. "I love coaching, but I'm not addicted to it. I am addicted to seeing people come to Christ. That's what I need."
With 17 years of service to NU, Brown was the veteran member of the staff fired by Callahan. Of the other six dismissed, five have moved on to other coaching stops.
Through January and February, Brown made contacts with teams in the NFL, CFL and college. He also traveled to functions like the FCA National Celebration and the religious broadcasters convention.
There were options he might not have explored had Nebraska not overhauled its coaching staff.
"I don't think most people come to the most significant decisions in their life unless it's made for them," Brown said. "There aren't a whole lot of people who just normally decide to step off a job that they love."
Spurred on by rejection, Brown said he's expecting to be "more influential, more impacting, more powerful" in his new roles. Brown called the FCA "as influential of a ministry as there is in the state."
The Nebraska FCA is headquartered in Lincoln, allowing Brown to remain in contact with players from the program that severed ties with him.
"They took my job, but they didn't take my purpose," Brown said. "They told me that I can't coach football at the University of Nebraska, but they can't take away the opportunity that I have to preach the gospel to the whole state of Nebraska."
• NU NOTES: Jimmy Williams is the last of the seven fired assistants still looking for work. Brown said Williams is "sitting at the feet of Jesus" as he considers his next move . . . Brown praised Williams and Osborne for their perspective and help with his decision. Osborne is a longtime supporter of the FCA . . . Brown, the receivers coach during his NU tenure, said of senior Willie Amos' move from cornerback to receiver: "He'll run by a few people." Callahan will release NU's roster and pre-spring practice depth chart today.
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg...8&u_sid=1030096
Published Wednesday
March 10, 2004
Ouster fortifies Brown
BY RICH KAIPUST
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN - Ron Brown slumped into his office after meeting with Nebraska Coach Bill Callahan on Jan. 12, hurt by being told he was no longer wanted on the Huskers' football staff.
An extremely religious man, he sat quietly and assessed the bad news he had just received.
"I shut the door," Brown recalls, "and I said, 'God, you could have done it another way. You didn't have to do it this way. You could have softened the blow.' "
Eight weeks later - and embarking on his next endeavor - Brown feels strengthened by what happened.
"I think I was supposed to be rejected," Brown said. "I think I was supposed to go through the public humiliation of being fired. That doesn't sound like a very nice thing, and it isn't.
"But it identifies with Christ. Christ was publicly rejected. He was beaten, he was shamed in public. There is something about being rejected in public and going through public adversity that tests your character. My character needed tweaking and testing for me to move to that next step."
Brown announced it Tuesday, accepting the position of state director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. It also was released that Brown will start hosting a weekly Christian sports talk show (KLMS, 1480 AM) with Bill Doleman, and he will continue as co-director of Mission Nebraska with Stan Parker.
For the first time since 1982, Brown, 47, will not be involved day-to-day with football. But he'll remain in a state where he's become popular for his work outside the sport.
He said his greatest privilege in coaching was the platform it gave him to preach the gospel and speak publicly. He thanked former NU coaches Tom Osborne and Frank Solich for the time and freedom to do so.
"I can live without coaching," Brown said. "I love coaching, but I'm not addicted to it. I am addicted to seeing people come to Christ. That's what I need."
With 17 years of service to NU, Brown was the veteran member of the staff fired by Callahan. Of the other six dismissed, five have moved on to other coaching stops.
Through January and February, Brown made contacts with teams in the NFL, CFL and college. He also traveled to functions like the FCA National Celebration and the religious broadcasters convention.
There were options he might not have explored had Nebraska not overhauled its coaching staff.
"I don't think most people come to the most significant decisions in their life unless it's made for them," Brown said. "There aren't a whole lot of people who just normally decide to step off a job that they love."
Spurred on by rejection, Brown said he's expecting to be "more influential, more impacting, more powerful" in his new roles. Brown called the FCA "as influential of a ministry as there is in the state."
The Nebraska FCA is headquartered in Lincoln, allowing Brown to remain in contact with players from the program that severed ties with him.
"They took my job, but they didn't take my purpose," Brown said. "They told me that I can't coach football at the University of Nebraska, but they can't take away the opportunity that I have to preach the gospel to the whole state of Nebraska."
• NU NOTES: Jimmy Williams is the last of the seven fired assistants still looking for work. Brown said Williams is "sitting at the feet of Jesus" as he considers his next move . . . Brown praised Williams and Osborne for their perspective and help with his decision. Osborne is a longtime supporter of the FCA . . . Brown, the receivers coach during his NU tenure, said of senior Willie Amos' move from cornerback to receiver: "He'll run by a few people." Callahan will release NU's roster and pre-spring practice depth chart today.
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg...8&u_sid=1030096