Bill Calahan--makes history.
- Thread starter skintight
- Start date
Bill Callahan is a good and decent person and a very good OL coach. He just did not work out here. I wish him well.
Oddly enough you aren't alone. People on here seem to love the guy. I attended every home game during his tenure and some road games. Thought he was a dud.
With a change at DC he might well have gotten us to top 10 status. The program was so internally divided that it was likely not going to be successful no matter what, for a long time. The firing of Frost and start of the Rhule era seems to be the first time the entire program is all aligned with the same perspective and isn't factionalized.
There's just been a lot of necessary humbling of people that insisted on their way and their guys for so long, and that goes all the way up to Osborne. He was insistent on Frost as the right guy, only to have him be the worst coach in NU history. Alberts has done a good job as AD focusing on just finding the best program builder with the best philosophy and not letting outside influences have control. So far things seem much better. We have a good coach, the BS is finally out of the system, and we appear to be headed in a good direction.
Frost was the golden child of the program and the Osborne/Solich/Pelini faction. He WAS considered a top coaching prospect but he would have been fired two years earlier anywhere else.
He was still recruiting kids that watched us play in title games. I don't think he was anything special. I feel like most coaches would have done as good or better than him. He really did no better than Pelini or Solich.
Nebraska was never a job he would’ve pursued if he had not been fired from the Raiders in humiliating fashion. He saw Nebraska as a golden parachute and opportunity to remake his career.
I think he worked hard and wanted to win, but he is not well suited to the college game on a lot of levels. He definitely brought in some dudes that can play.
I think he worked hard and wanted to win, but he is not well suited to the college game on a lot of levels. He definitely brought in some dudes that can play.
As far as recruiting goes, it isn't close. Callahan was vastly better. Callahan was also a pretty good offensive coach despite his QB decision in 2007. Pelini and Solich were better at player development and Solich was better managing the program as a whole (although he inherited it intact from Osborne). Riley was bad and Frost found a way to be worse.
Definitely I think he prefers the lower key environment of being a position coach in the NFL. People forget Suh was a Callahan recruit as were most of the dudes of the early Pelini years. When they were gone Pelini didn't look very good.
I don't think one person has forgotten Suh was a Callahan recruit. A Blake recruit more specifically.
He did worse, far worse.
He was horrible. The “if he had a different dc…” people dont understand how football works. Callahan was a major factor in our bad defense.
Just a horrible hire all around, and enjoyed throwing players under the bus.
JFC I was trying to take the higher ground but he was not a good HC here.
We didn’t have a losing season in like 40 years. And then we had two losing seasons in his 4 years here.
We didn’t have a losing season in like 40 years. And then we had two losing seasons in his 4 years here.
Know a bunch of players who played under him. If he made a few tweaks Nebraska might have been really good, but was a stubborn dude like most coaches.
Was it his second game, at home, that he lost vs Smiss?
That seemed unreal at the time. I know Smiss was always a really tough team under Jeff Bower, I think, but still, what a crazy game and so deflating.
It really wasn't his fault he was here. It was that idiot Steve Pederson that brought him here.
That being said, Nebraska was just a stepping stone for him. He brought his NFL arrogance with him and thought the fans would just accept his/Pederson's way. You remember the "we take what we want" attitude and after the first losing year "just one game, just one season" mentality. That proved he didn't really give a crap about Nebraska and wasn't going to be a long term coach. If he was successful, he'd be off to the NFL in a heartbeat. If he failed, like he did, he'd be fired.
As an OL coach, from all accounts he is very good. As a head coach, not so good. Especially true here. He's done well with as an assistant.
That being said, Nebraska was just a stepping stone for him. He brought his NFL arrogance with him and thought the fans would just accept his/Pederson's way. You remember the "we take what we want" attitude and after the first losing year "just one game, just one season" mentality. That proved he didn't really give a crap about Nebraska and wasn't going to be a long term coach. If he was successful, he'd be off to the NFL in a heartbeat. If he failed, like he did, he'd be fired.
As an OL coach, from all accounts he is very good. As a head coach, not so good. Especially true here. He's done well with as an assistant.
Yep. That is when Joe Dailey threw it out of bounds on 4th down to end the game. Was in college. What a rough year that was.
Ultimately, the program was aligned behind a G5 level coaching staff that did not engage in adequate player development. Both the offensive and defensive approaches were not a fit for the league. So aligned yes, but headed in the wrong direction.
I doubt it. He is an NFL guy all the way. And had he been successful at Nebraska I think he would have jumped to the pro game once an offer came. Still, I think if he had a better defense he would have been successful and been here for a while.
That and if he had picked Joey Ganz in 2007 instead of Keller. He might have made it to Gabbert in 2008. I don't blame him for getting big eyes for Keller. But those big eyes should have seen what a dud Keller was right away.
Yep, but the biggest question would have Eichorst keeped him.. SE had no idea how to hire a Head Coach..
He needed a better defensive coordinator. Kevin Cosgrove was one of the worst DC's in Nebraska history. It was about a toss-up between him and Bob Diaco.
There were a lot of factors working against him. Probably his biggest failure was not embracing the history, Tom and former players. A family member of mine knew him and thought he was a good guy. He will be a great asset for Brian.
I disagree. He really had nothing working against him. He just wasn't that good.
He’s a great offensive mind and tireless recruiter. His DC didn’t measure up.
Split pissed off fan base. There was a mutiny led by former players that influenced guys on defense. Lots of things, some of them caused by his personality, led to a lack of unity in purpose. His below average DC was the obvious problem.
I don't remember his great offensive mind doing much against good teams. But if you needed 56 against someone like Nichols State, he was your guy.