Bill Callahan has been fired!
Lincoln Journal Star is reporting that Bo Pelini has been contacted by Baker, Parker and Associates, an Atlanta-based search firm hired by the University.
The coaching staff was given benchmarks when the team was 4-4. Win out, and they would stay, win 3 and they would probably stay, win less than 2 and it would be awfully tough. There would be mitigating circumstances, such as losing by a field goal, then perhaps things would work out.
All nine of Nebraska’s assistant coaches had their contracts terminated, but some were asked to stay on temporarily to help with recruiting.
“It isn’t wins and loss, it is how you do it,” said Osborne.
[UPDATE] Since the assistants are still getting paid monthly salaries, Osborne asked “all assistant coaches who would like to help in the transition to stay on staff and help with recruiting… Coaches who would like to be considered for employment on the next staff will stay on and recruit.”
November 24th, 2007 at 8:51 am
I feel like I should go down to 72nd & Dodge!
November 24th, 2007 at 9:24 am
Thanks for posting. I managed to catch the press conference because of it.
This was handled with the utmost class by Tom Osborne. Let the road back to the top begin.
November 24th, 2007 at 11:06 am
Bill Callahan deserved to be fired. Please re-read that first sentence. With that being said it is a sad day for Nebraska Football. Anytime a coach is not successful and looses his job it is a sad day.
I don’t understand why anyone would want to celebrate a Coach being fired. It not only affects him but it also affects his family. Bill Callahan did not come to Nebraska with the intent to destroy the program. There is no dobt he did the job to the best of his ability and I wish him well.
November 24th, 2007 at 11:42 am
TO made a comment that puzzled me. He said he ” hate to sit in judgment of other people. I never envisioned being in a situation where I would have to make a decision on somebody’s employment opportunity, but that’s the nature of this business.” What confuses me is that, wasn’t he responsible for hiring and firing assistants over his 20+ years as coach?
November 24th, 2007 at 11:53 am
@TJ
Tom also said in his 25 years of coaching he only had to fire two assistants.
November 24th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
What I saw this morning was a man who is commited to NE football and to all NE fans..Tom is a man with class and integrity. If he says it, you can believe it. Steve Pederson and Bill Callahan came in with so much arrogance, and not enough class. Tom remembers where he came from, remembers his roots.. Pederson forgot his roots….
Al I could think after the announcemnt was : DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD…THE WICKED WITH IS DEAD.
LETS GET BACK TO SMASHMOUTH TRUE NE FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!
November 24th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
if the offense changes i hope the most it changes is going to the spread offense. triple option wont work anymore in college football but the way florida, west virginia, or oregon run theyre offenses is impressive.
November 24th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
We need to run the spread. If we hire Bo Pelini, we will run the spread. He even said he really loves the West Virginia style of offense.
November 24th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
What a great day! maybe we can get back to being Nebraska again. I saw Callahan’s last stand in person and it was everything the last 4 years was about. Terrible coaching decisions, a complete meltdown, No adjustments and No defense. finally Tom said no excuses.
Happy Days Are Here Again!
November 24th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
@Count
If you ever get fired let me know so I can have a party.
November 24th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
The spread is fine, but more teams are running it. The more common it is the easier it is to defend. I coach football and my team runs the West Virgina version and we have won many games with that offense. No one else does it in our league so we have an advantage. That’s one reason we had so much success with T.O.’s offense, very few teams ran it. The triple option would be a great way to. Paul Johnson’s offense with Nebraska players……..Back to where we belong in a few short years. He would have a better passing attack than he has now and we would be able to keep our defense off the field with a ball control attack. Before I get banned from this site, I should say I think the spread is a great offense, I know it inside and out. If we are going to run it, we need a an OC with guts who will take chances.
November 24th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
le-
let me commend you on your offense successes. But just as an offense can be successful b/c not many teams run it, it can be said that the reason few if any teams run an offense is b/c its ineffective. I dont believe in todays college football that the “old school” nebraska offense would work. defenses are much faster and stronger than they were when it was successful. at least not without balance.
November 24th, 2007 at 6:23 pm
The so called “Spread” offense is a decendent of Nebraska’s offense fron the ’90’s. The Huskers just emphasized the run more than the pass and ran it primarily out of the I formation. Tom was ahead of his time and the rest of the College football decided to catch up after we beat Florida’s assss!
November 24th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
“Football is like church–many attend, but few understand”
November 24th, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Totally correct Ed. The spread is ours and we should be running it!
November 24th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
@Count
If you ever get fired let me know so I can have a party.
pay me $62,000 a month for three years after spending four years failing at my job and I’ll bring the liquor.
Tough day to be a Callifan huh Ed?
November 24th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
What I saw this morning was a man who is commited to NE football and to all NE fans..Tom is a man with class and integrity. If he says it, you can believe it. Steve Pederson and Bill Callahan came in with so much arrogance, and not enough class. Tom remembers where he came from, remembers his roots.. Pederson forgot his roots….
Al I could think after the announcemnt was : DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD…THE WICKED WITH IS DEAD.
LETS GET BACK TO SMASHMOUTH TRUE NE FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!
Shh! You’ll piss off Ed Callihan
November 24th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
Now everyone’s talking spread. Which spread? Florida, West Virgina, Mizzou? They’re all different. Florida’s spread is the old single wing. They run the QB a ton along w/ a little zone read. It’s been around for 50 years. West Virgina is more zone read. Mizzou is more jet sweep and throwing, with power running w/ the running back and less of a running QB. I think the reason not many run teams run the flex bone is they can’t coach it.
November 24th, 2007 at 8:32 pm
Ed says…
The so called “Spread” offense is a decendent of Nebraska’s offense fron the ’90’s. The Huskers just emphasized the run more than the pass and ran it primarily out of the I formation.”
Nebraska turned to the spread in 1969 when Bob Devaney asked Tom Osborne to come up with an offense that would get Nebraska out of a rut after two sup-par years. NU ran a version of the spread for years.
November 24th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
I would love to run a mix of the Mizzou and West VA spread. I like how West VA is able to have a great running game but at the same time i would love to be able to throw the ball around like Mizzou.
November 24th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
@Ed
When companies decide to downsize and layoff the employees that is sad. And its especially sad when the severence packages ends after 3 months and they dont have a job.
It’s not sad when someone does not do their job and gets fired. Especially when they are told what to do to save their job, also when they live in a 1.6 Million dollar estate, which accrding to the OWH was the largest amout spent on a home in Lancaster County………ever.
Did I mention the errogance of Callahan… He has done such a great job at NU at least he believes so in all aspects of the program…
November 24th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
Husker77 Says:
November 24th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
$62,000 a month for 3 years makes it hard for me to cry. Though I will apologize to Ed for my Callifan comment. He seems to know of what he speaks.
November 24th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
It’s not Callahans fault he will get 3 millions $’s. UNL agreed to pay it if they fired him. The money isn’t coming outta my pocket and I’m sure it is coming out of someone’s who can afford it and isn’t going to miss it. Do you have any idea how hard it is going to be for him to sell that 1.6M dollar house? I am sure he was planning to be here awhile. I didn’t want it to go down this way, but after the OSU game I surely had enough of Cosgrove. When it became apparent he would do nothing to his buddy, I felt he had to go too.
November 24th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
@ ED
Now you are Ed Callihan too!!!
that is 18 and you cannot officially call yourself Sybil anymore!!
November 25th, 2007 at 8:19 am
I will admit when you decide to hit below the belt you are creative. I knew my comments would start an arguement as soon as I hit enter.
November 25th, 2007 at 9:15 am
That’s what I was looking for Pete. There are so many “Spread” offensive teams now. Spread means many different things.
November 25th, 2007 at 10:50 am
I agree with you Ed on the spread, and the fact that Callahan didn’t intentionally cause the downfall of NU football.
November 25th, 2007 at 11:22 am
Count, Because I don’t cheer when a coach gets fired does not mean I am a fan of his. Please review my first post on this subject. As for the money, what does it matter if you get paid 62K a month or $620? Callahan was paid market value. Did he live up to his end of the contract? Obviously not, he was fired. I stand by my initial comment. It’s a sad time for Nebraska football, not because I’m a Callahan fan, but because I have compassion for anyone who looses thier job.
November 25th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Sorry Ed but I have to agree with you again. I too feel sorry for Callahan and wish him the best. That said, I wasnt a fan of his but I sure dont feel happy about him losing his job. I am glad that Nebraska football has the chance again to get back to the spotlight but I feel bad for BC and his family.
November 25th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
Let’s just all be happy that this program has donors who care enough about this program to “pick up the tab” for the rest of us. Has anyone seen the Real Sports W/Bryant Gumbel show about BOON Pickens? I cannot believe they let one booster have so much control no matter what he is giving to them. If you are giving to a university, a donor should not have that much influence, period! After another sub-par season for OSU and after getting their butts handed to them by OU, I suspect Mike Gundy doesn’t have much time left, either. If you haven’t seen it, try to catch it. It will make you glad to be a Husker!!
November 25th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
Totally agree Brad. I saw the Real Sports and my first thought was I’m glad he’s at OSU and not Nebraska. I guess if you have enough money you can buy a College.
November 25th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
My, My, My Ed. Aren’t you the softie? How can you feel sad for Callahan? No, he didn’t intend to run the NU football program into the ground, and in all honesty he probably didn’t. But give me a break, Bill Callahan is a big boy. He knew coming in that you win or go home at a program like Nebraska’s. The only thing that could conceiveably come as a surpise to him was that it had taken this long to get fired! And let’s be honest, if Pederson hadn’t gotten canned he probably would still be around. (Now him getting fired was cause to celebrate)
No, I don’t take any joy in seeing him get fired at a press conference broadcast on TV, but feel sorry for him? Not a chance. I feel sorry for the guy who doesn’t make a fraction of what he makes, but still spends a chunk of change, that he probably doesn’t have anyway, to buy a couple tickets to take his kid to a Husker game, and then have to sit and watch them perform the way they did against OSU.
Adios and good luck Coach.
November 25th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
Russell Dean (RD), you need to visit more and maybe you would have a clue…lol
November 25th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
RD Says:
November 25th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
No, I don’t take any joy in seeing him get fired at a press conference broadcast on TV, but feel sorry for him? Not a chance. I feel sorry for the guy who doesn’t make a fraction of what he makes, but still spends a chunk of change, that he probably doesn’t have anyway, to buy a couple tickets to take his kid to a Husker game, and then have to sit and watch them perform the way they did against OSU.
Adios and good luck Coach.
Amen.
100% correct
November 25th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
Feel better RD, you have the Count on your side…One bad post, two bad posts, three bad post…lightning, thunder, evil laughter.
November 25th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
Ed Says:
November 25th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
Feel better RD, you have the Count on your side…One bad post, two bad posts, three bad post…lightning, thunder, evil laughter.
Want to stop the bad posts quit posting.
November 25th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
I stand by my initial comment. It’s a sad time for Nebraska football, not because I’m a Callahan fan, but because I have compassion for anyone who looses thier job.
I have compassion for anyone who can’t spell their.
November 25th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
There is no need to resort to that. This is not the Jerry Springer Husker Zone website. Why can’t we all just agree that this man was not right for this, or any other college for that matter, football program? We are not pulitzer prize winning journalists or even english majors for that matter. At least it wasn’t in this format.
OMG My BFF BC wus turminahted..LOL . So, Ed, you can spell however you want as long as it is not in text form.
November 25th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
Husker Brad Says:
November 25th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
I could agree more with everything you wrote. Now tell Ed. He’s the one who seems to think it’s his job to determine what is and what isn’t a good post.
November 25th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
Also, The Buyouts ( A Husker Brad Production ) has been viewed almost 1100 times in 3 days. http://www.jibjab.com/starring_you/receipt/3266078
That is exciting.
November 25th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
LIVE!!! Pay Per Veiw action! Nov 30 UFC 79
“The Meltdown”
Ed “The Killer” Miller vs Joe “The Count” Chocula
Sorry, I thought maybe a little humor would help.
November 25th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
Forever Red! Says:
November 25th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
Off topic. Forever Red by the Red Clad Loon has to be the best book written on what Nebraska football means to us.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Count — you took the first shot. I’ll offer the olive branch — truce.
November 27th, 2007 at 6:32 pm
No wait, I took the first shot but you deserved it…lol — sorry again.