Callahan Era Ends

In the amount of time that it takes for the weather to change across the prairie of Nebraska, Bill Callahan and staff were summoned to interim Athletic Director Tom Osborne's office and fired faster than you can say 27-and-22.

The pink slips were handed out efficiently and without emotion by Osborne, much like the Husker living legend handed out losses to the rest of the Big 8/12 while he wast still roaming the sidelines, hat awkwardly cocked to the side of his head, arms neatly folded behind his back or his hand under his chin, never breaking a sweat.

By 9:30am Osborne had already cleaned house, called a press conference, and removed any evidence of the previous regime that had erased most of what Osborne built in 25 years as head coach. The team and program had ostensibly been taken away from the state of Nebraska and it's fans that would flood Lincoln on Saturday's to watch their team, only to see it and the it's status transform before their eyes.

The people in this region may be too trusting, too willing to give someone a chance. Just look and Nebraska fans' reputation as being the class of major college football. We were taken advantage of and duped into believing Bill Callahan and former A.D. Steve Pederson would take us back to the promised land of another national title.

Sure, Callahan has a mind of a top class offensive coordinator. But I warned people when he was hired, look at his head coaching resume. It's true that Callahan took the Oakland Raiders to a Super Bowl, but that was mainly on the momentum that outgoing coach Jon Gruden had created. Callahan took a Super Bowl caliber team and drove them into the toilet and ended up getting fired the very next season with mass mutiny on his hands. Where are the Raiders now? Did I mention that Callahan was the 5th choice to coach the 4th winningest college football program of all time?

What's left is that I along with other Nebraska faithful are forced to sit back and watch Kansas and Missouri play for the Big 12 North and a shot at a National Title. Kansas and Missouri? No less than seven or eight years ago these two teams couldn't carry our equipment. Now we're sitting at home with a losing record. We deserve better than this.

Apparently, I am not the only one who has higher standards. Osborne reportedly told Callahan when he entered the picture after Pederson was fired (the Huskers were 4-4) that if he finished 8-4 there would be no coaching change. Anything less would be hard to accept. That's what has been missing from the Husker program. Standards. You set the bar high and don't accept just making the postseason, or just playing hard. Winning is all that matters.

The Huskers this season were little more than a doormat for the rest of the conference. Nebraska used to be a team that other teams feared, mainly because they played so physical that two or three weeks after being dismantled by Nebraska, you still felt it as you prepared for the rest of your season. That's what needs to be brought back.

All we can do now is sit back and trust in a man that had one of the most legendary coaching careers in college football history. As you may or may not remember, Osborne's record stands at a staggering 255-49-3. That's a winning percentage of .838%. That's an average of 10.2 wins per year and less than two per year. At Callahan's rate, he was on pace to lose 137 games in 25 years.

You can look at Callahan's record and try to dig out some positives. He did win more than he lost, but since when has that been acceptable? The next numbers are fairly mind numbing. Go grab a trash can, because this may make you nauseous.

Callahan was 15-18 against Big 12 opponents, 0-7 against top ten opponents and 3-10 against the top 25. He was also 0-17 when the Husker's trailed at the half. Red flag? What else do you need? Look at the 2007 season, especially the defense. Nebraska finished near the bottom of 119 FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision, previously known as Division I-A) teams in most major defensive categories including yards per game and scoring defense.

You can't regress, and that's exactly what Callahan did. This season was every fan's worst nightmare. Something had to be done and Osborne thankfully pulled the trigger. Bo Pelini and Turner Gil remain the top prospects to succeed Callahan. With Huston Nutt leaving Fayetteville, Arkansas he is also on the list. He was actually almost lured out of Arkansas in 2003 by Pederson, but at the last minute Nutt told Pederson he couldn't leave the program.

The next few weeks will be the most important stretch of time in Husker history in terms in a coaching change. Osborne has one last chance to pick a lasting successor to return this program to national prominence. All we can do is hope that he is as talented and successful in the athletic director's chair as he was guiding this team to so many conference and national titles.

ESPN Story on Callahan's Firing

ESPN's Ivan Maisel's Column on Callahan Firing

Huskers.com Story and Transcript of Press Conference

Watch the Press Conference

Here are some videos to help supplement my rant.