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Post by Wolfgang on Jan 2, 2004 18:40:05 GMT -5
I was expecting some BIG NAMES to be associated with the vacant Nebraska coaching job. After all, it is Nebraska and they fired a pretty fine coach in Frank Solich. So, what names do we get? Al Saunders, offensive coordinator for the KC Chiefs, who turned down the job a couple days ago and Houston Nutt, head coach of Arkansas for the past several years who has never won the SEC during his tenure. Nutt is now the frontrunner. What the...? These are the big names?
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Post by GatorVball on Jan 2, 2004 19:29:14 GMT -5
Nutt turned em down. This is looking a lot like Florida's search for a head coach a few years ago. No one wants the job and they get a guy with no head coaching experience who is in way over his head.
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Post by believer on Jan 2, 2004 20:48:54 GMT -5
Is Spurrier headed back?  ? I support it if helps the Volleyball team win that last game later this year. |
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Post by GatorVball on Jan 2, 2004 20:52:22 GMT -5
Spurrier won't be the head coach at Florida any time soon. Many wish he never left or would come back, myself included, esp. with what we replaced him with, but I honestly don't see him coaching in college again. He hates all that it entails, from recruiting, to talking to boosters, to dealing with our athletic director, they just don't get along.
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Post by lilwok on Jan 2, 2004 21:05:24 GMT -5
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Post by gobears on Jan 2, 2004 22:32:35 GMT -5
Beano Cook on sportsradio this morning said he thought Cal's Jeff Tedford would be the best for Nebraska.
But Jeff isn't going anywhere......at least not yet..... he and family are comfortable in Berkeley. Seem to be west coast folk ......even if Nebr flung a bunch of money his way. VERY high expectations at Nebr and it remains to be seen if possible at all to regain what they had.
As long as Cal stadium renovations are in the works by end of next year, he very likely will stay put in Berkeley.
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Post by foreignball on Jan 2, 2004 23:48:13 GMT -5
According to these stories, Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt turned down 2 million a year (some information posted says 2.5 million) to stay at Arkansas. So I imagine what is his current pay ;D |
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Post by Wolfgang on Jan 3, 2004 0:46:34 GMT -5
Al Saunders?
Houston Nutt?
Jeff Tedford?
These are the saviors dreamed up by AD Steve Pederson? The next few years of NU football should be veddy interesting.
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Post by 2c on Jan 3, 2004 1:20:12 GMT -5
Just give it to Bo and be done with it.
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Post by Wolfgang on Jan 3, 2004 21:13:33 GMT -5
The Nebraska AD held a news conference today. He gave a very monotonous prepared speech, and while he said all the right things, he sounded nervous. Interestingly, he was aware of all the criticisms of the search process and the names (Saunders, Nutt) bandied about when he said (and I paraphrase very liberally):
"Only history can judge the merits of a decision. Gosh, I remember several years ago when USC hired Pete Carroll, he got a very lukewarm reception from the media and the fans. History showed, however, that the decision was a right one. When we make a decision on our head coach, it would be very unwise to make a judgment until some time has passed."
I think history will prove that Pederson was a bumbling fool for letting Solich go.
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Post by bucky415 on Jan 4, 2004 2:47:51 GMT -5
Imagine that. Not a ton of enthusiasm to go to a place where the last guy went 58-19 and got fired.
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Post by SaltNPepper on Jan 4, 2004 8:46:59 GMT -5
One Nebraskan's take on all of this. (Probably more than anyone want to know about the subject)
First of all, while I am a fan of NU football, I am not obsessed with it like so many others in this state (or like I am with volleyball :-)). First a little history of Nebraska football during my lifetime.
When I was a kid growing up in the 50's, we had one losing season after another. When Bob Devaney was hired in the early 60's, he immediately turn the program around with winning seasons and bowl games - they weren't just winning seasons as many only had one or two loses. The interest in husker football among the residents here went from "ho-hum" to "the in thing" to go to husker football games. As a student there in the mid 60's, my season tickets cost about $10 for 5 games, but you could scalp one game often for $15 or $20. Everyone wanted to go to games, the stadium seating capacity increased every two or three years or so and husker football became what we know of it today.
During the 1968 and 1969 seasons NU was 6-4 each year - with no bowl games (and by the way, they didn't fire Bob Devaney), but then followed it up with a couple of National Championships in 1970 and 1971 after the upper classmen had "suffered through" the previous two " disappointing" seasons. The following year Devaney stepped down as he was also already the AD and handed the team over to Osborne who was already the offensive coordinator and assistant "head" coach. During the next 26 seasons, Osborne continued calling the offensive plays as he was his own offensive coordinator.
During the first 22 of those years, Osborne's teams record always had a least 1 loss but never over 3. There was often talk in the local press how he has "never won a national championship like his precessor" couldn't consistantly beat Oklahoma" and often talk among many of the husker fans was that he might not be the best man for the job. Well, he them went out and won 3 national titles in the next 4 years and left coaching for congress - I think in a large part because he no longer felt he had anything to prove on the football field. So in the eyes of some husker fans, he was a bum for 22 of his 26 years as head coach.
So when we get to Solich, the natural comparison is to Tom's last 4 years - and no one anywhere in this country was going to have a chance. Last year at the end of the season our AD left for Texas A&M and Pederson came back to Nebraska from Pittsburgh. He was born and raised in Nebraska and was the Nebraska recruiting coordinator for a while before leaving the state. It appears that he and Solich have never been on solid ground with each other and so IMO Solich was going to be gone at some point, however, I was extremely disappointed that Solich got the ax now as I felt it sent out the wrong message to our players, prospective recruits and potential coaching candidates. I think it was a big mistake.
Bo Pelini I think will make an excellent head coach somewhere and if it is not here this year, look for him to leave soon. If not this year then next. He does have the luxiury I feel of waiting until the right job at the right school comes up so I don't see it as a lock that he will leave this year but I think it would give him great satifaction to thumb his nose at Pederson. Making Bo our head coach now I think would be the best move Pederson could make at this point, but I doubt it will happen.
The one thing that really has chanced is that for about 40 years there has been great continuity of the coaches in the Nebraska coaching staff and that had some advantages over programs that were in constant or occassional turmoil.
Will Nebraska regain the national power it had in the 90's. I think they may, but it might take a little while as I'm sure the short term negative effect this has/will had on recruiting will be with us for the next 4 or 5 years - thank very much Mr. Pederson.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2004 13:07:54 GMT -5
I'm not an obessive fan either but here is my take on the whole thing.
The person that Husker fans should be most ticked at is Bill Byrne. He should have cleaned up this football mess before he left for A & M which had already canned their football coach. Steve Pederson was hired with the intent of firing Frank Solich, I truely believe that question was asked of him before he was hired. I also believe that Dave Gilespi, the guy who was quietly fired shortly after Solich was fired was the man who leaked to the alumni who then in turn leaked to the Journal Star what the athletic department was going to do after the bowl game. They forced Pederson's hand. Yes NU went 10-3 but they lost 3 conference games BADLY and that's not going to cut it. We used to kick the crap out of KSU and Mizzou and well, we've never had UT's number but we never got killed either. I'm not jumping on the Pederson band wagon but I'm glad Solich is gone. If the freaking media would leave this alone for a bit and let him do his job all might be well.
The sun will rise, NU will be in a title game again, sooner than later we hope but NU fans need to relax. Maybe the basketball team will give us something to distract us, personally I'm waiting for baseball time.
That's all. It's snowing and I'm bored. ;D
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Post by Wolfgang on Jan 7, 2004 22:22:12 GMT -5
So, after Mike Zimmer, the Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator, turned down the Nebraska job, AD Steve Pederson interviewed Bill Callahan, former Oakland Raiders head coach.
Pederson is determined to not give the job to Bo Pellini.
No one wants this job...
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Post by SaltNPepper on Jan 8, 2004 7:09:31 GMT -5
So, after Mike Zimmer, the Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator, turned down the Nebraska job, AD Steve Pederson interviewed Bill Callahan, former Oakland Raiders head coach. Pederson is determined to not give the job to Bo Pellini. No one wants this job... I have a hunch that some of the people that have shown initial interest were really quite happy where they were at but used this opportunity to get a nice bump in their pay from the team they are currently coaching. |
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