As the season winds down, it is time to reflect on what we have seen this year. Nebraska's Huskers had the worst season since before many readers of this sad entry where born. Think about that for a sec... If your 44 years old, the last time the Huskers had a season this bad, was before you where born. How on earth then could something like this happen?

When Tom Osborne left the Huskers to represent the state politically, he hand picked Frank Solich to continue running the program. Even after 35 years of stability and success, any new coach was bound to have some growing pains. Seriously, no coach, no matter how well equipped, could walk in and continue as Dr. Osborne had. Tom had the job down to a science, and he was the leading authority on the science he had helped create when he coached under Bob Devany. That said, I believe Frank Solich had a plan for the future of Nebraska football and he was slowly moving the team into it. Unlike many fans, I supported Solich. I didn't see any reason not to. He was winning over 70% of his games, and he appeared to be opening the team up by slowly introducing more play action passing. I agree, the bread and butter of Nebraska was, and probably always should be, the running game. However, the passing game was/is becoming too important to continue ignoring if we want to be successful in the future. Unfortunately other changes within the athletic department would disrupt the gradual changes Solich envisioned, and would ultimately lead to the downfall of our Huskers.

Athletic Director S. Pederson, took it upon himself to interject his vision of what a football team should be, rather than listen to the coaching staff that was hired and basically hand picked to handle these matters by Dr. Osborne. By doing so, Pederson disrupted the "natural rhythm" of the program, nearly costing them a losing season even with Dr. Osborne's replacement at the helm. The disgruntled moved on after that season, and Solich, in spite of Pederson's influence, brought in the necessary replacements to get the team back on track (winning) without making the immediate and drastic changes that Pederson demanded.

A winning record such as ours isn't built in a single season, it is mapped out in advance. I know I am being a bit controversial in my assessment here, but I think that Solich was slowly moving our team to the spread (or something along those lines), while Pederson wanted instant change that our personnel, at that time, could not fully support. Players must be selected, drafted, and trained to support the system we are moving to, while continuing to win in the system we currently have. This slow advancement is what I believe was taking place under Solich. That said, I think the talent we had in the pipe line, our underclassmen, where the type to move to the new system. We needed maybe a year or two more to flesh out the last few pieces of the puzzle. Unfortunately Solich never had the opportunity to see his goal through.

Okay readers, flame on now if you wish. I am simply stating what I think MAY have been taking place, and it is obvious at this point that we will never know for sure, so whatever flame you have will be along the lines of my writings at this point, speculation.

Still here? Okay, lets move on...

Pederson is a lousy ball player, but he knows how to sell cars. By selling himself and playing politics, Pederson was able to convince the Chancellors and many fans, that Solich was a lousy coach. This wasn't a hard sell. Solich was following a man that had won three national championships, and should have had two more, in his last five years as head coach. (Dr. Osborne) Another reason this was an easy sell was that many fans had become too proud of their team, and in doing so, could not allow themselves to see the changes that needed to be made in order to make the team a serious annual contender for the title in the future. 

I'm not suggesting that the Huskers (at that time) could not hope to win a national championship running the triple option a few more years, but that was probably all the time they had left to do it. After that, they would have been left behind and would have found themselves struggling to catch up. 

Pederson realized that no matter what he said, Solich would not make a dramatic change and risk a losing season until all of the necessary players had been put in place and he was confident we could win. Pederson clearly lacked the knowledge necessary to handle a team like this, but he was bitter and angry with Solich for not doing as he demanded. Pederson, who has more ego than any one person of his limited abilities should have, convinced the Chancellors that he could do a better job running the program with a different coach. Once the Chancellors capitulated, he exacted his revenge by firing Solich before that years bowl game. That act by Pederson was without justification and completely classless, and that is how I will always remember Pederson, classless. This was simply a move to embarrass and belittle Solich, I believed that then, and I believe it now.

To further highlight Pederson's lack of knowledge, Solich was fired without any kind of  forethought. No coaches had been contacted, and if they had, the way Pederson fired Solich made it quite clear to any possible candidates that this school, under the direction of Pederson, was not worth associating with. To make matters worse, Pederson was trying to find a coach that would subject himself to Pederson's will. During this time, an entire recruiting class was being lost as days dragged into weeks, then months. When the situation became desperate enough, Pederson realized he HAD to do something as his options had run out. There where no coaches left that would come to Nebraska thanks to his antics, and to that end, we got Bill Callahan.

I'll admit it right now. I did not think Callahan was the right coach for Nebraska. He was not from a school like ours, and he did not have a record that included winning with, or even improving upon, teams he was associated with as a head coach. Furthermore, something about the way he coached caused dissention between him and within his teams.

Alrighty then. Anyone still out there?

The coach that broke the Athletic Directors back, was Bill Callahan. I don't care what you say about the man as a coach, Callahan is not a ####. He knew he had Pederson and the Chancellors between a rock and a hard place, and he squeezed them for everything he could get. He knew he could pretty much write his own lunch ticket because no other self respecting coach would even consider taking the job. To save his own hide, Pederson sold him to the Chancellors as the next best thing to owning tech stock before the bust. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he helped smooth the way for the loosing season he knew was coming down the pike, by selling the Chancellors on the notion that Solich had somehow caused it.  All the while, Callahan was dragging in his buddies so they could get a part of the free lunch.

The west coast offense isn't a bad deal, but it isn't your typical college offense either. Like I have already stated, we had some underclassmen capable of running this type offense, but not so many that it could be run well. To further complicate matters, we all but lost the recruiting class Callahan's first year due to the Pederson act. As a result, Callahan was putting forth a team that was not as skilled as it could be in the offense he was running, and he had a limited number of new recruits his first year. That would come back to haunt him later when the defense and offensive lines suffered attrition.

As time marched on. Callahan never did manage to fit in with the Nebraska philosophy. He struggled to figure out why his teams under performed when they as students had not been given the full speed reps and instruction necessary to improve at their positions. To the credit of the students, they did improve on offense, but the complete lack of quality instruction on defense would signal the end of any fan support Callahan had. Callahan continued to treat his student athletes as if they where in fact professionals, and blamed them for the losses as his program spiraled into the toilet, further distancing himself from the fan base.

In the mean time, Pederson continued to work on saving his own rear-end. He had sold his soul to Callahan in order to save his hide, and he wasn't about to let the winning players of the past shine a spot light on the obvious pitfalls associated with the new system. To that end, he banned them from the program, and convinced the Chancellors to extend the Callahan contract even though he himself must have known that the future looked bleak. The beginning of the end for Pederson came before Callahan ever arrived, but it was jump started when the star players of the past came to Memorial Stadium during the prescheduled tribute game and had the opportunity to tell the Chancellors first hand exactly what they thought of the whole program.

From that point on, the team must have known that they would have an entirely new staff come next spring, but they continued to put up a solid front in the press as they watched their hopes and dreams shatter on the playing field. The only hope they had of a better future was the belief that Dr. Osborne would salvage the program.

 and the saga continues....

To offer your support of Dr. Osborne go to http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/specialsection/cit
irosebowl/2007/index and vote for him in the ESPN coaches poll.

Let the Flamers sing...