Official: Nebraska fires Bill Callahan

[SrA Husker]

A source close to Nebraska coach Bill Callahan has confirmed that Callahan was fired Saturday morning at a meeting with interim athletic director Tom Osborne.

A news conference was scheduled for 9:30 am at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. This will be broadcast live on ESPNEWS.

Callahan, who has a 27-22 record in four seasons at Nebraska, met with Osborne for less than 15 minutes earlier this morning. ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach reported. Neither Callahan nor Osborne made comments to the media after the meeting.

[Thunder Dan]

they will be better without him, he sucks. I still can't forget last year at USC when Nebraska got the ball on their own 30 with 2 T.O.s and over 1:30 left, and they chose to run the clock out.

[Fabbs]

Was Callahans suckage due to strategy, poor recruiting or both?
Peterson gave him an extension in Sept? No wonder Peterson got run!

New coach?
Will Solich get another look? Does he want it?

[SrA Husker]

Was Callahans suckage due to strategy, poor recruiting or both?
Peterson gave him an extension in Sept? No wonder Peterson got run!

New coach?
Will Solich get another look? Does he want it?

Callahan's suckage was not due to either of those reasons. His recruiting was great. The strategy was sound. The problem was that he was never given a chance in Nebraska. He was criticized from day one, and this year, it found its way into the team.

Solich will NOT get another look. Even Tom Osborne has realized that hiring Solich in 1998 was wrong. His tenure at Ohio is just further proof.

Osborne said a search firm has been hired. Lets hope that he looks outside of former Husker coaches, such as Pelini, Gill, etc. Nothing wrong with those choices, but, a national search must be conducted. Anointing just does not work.

As far as Steve Pederson at A.D., he was fired for reasons WAY ABOVE the football team. He ran the Athletic Department like a dictator, and his entire staff feared him. He didn't let anyone have the freedom they needed to do their job and made it very difficult for people to take vacation, etc.

[j-6]

Ol' Tom better hurry up and get Pelini before Miles leaves LSU for Michigan. I know you (SrA Husker) want to do a national coaching search, but Pelini just seems like too good of a fit to pass up.

[K-State Spur]

his recruiting is only "great" based on rivals stars ratings and tom lemming's rankings.

he had no clue out to recruit for "fit" and some of his heralded recruits were clearly less talented than their star ratings would indicate.

as for lemming, cally could have recruited a pile of dung and lemming would have ranked it in the top 10 when it committed to UNL.

[Brutalis]

Welcome to Arkansas.

Nobody is going to win at Nebraska. Not his fault. They are middle of the road like Arkansas and will never be on top again. Recruiting and location is all that matters.
and they have neither much like us.

[SrA Husker]

Welcome to Arkansas.

Nobody is going to win at Nebraska. Not his fault. They are middle of the road like Arkansas and will never be on top again. Recruiting and location is all that matters.
and they have neither much like us.

What about Kansas? Missouri? Boise State? They don't offer much, either.

[Brutalis]

Kansaw = ez sched
Mizzou = every dog has its day
BS = cupcake sched

Point?

[samikeyp]

Husker.....is there real legs on the Turner Gill rumor?

[TheTruth]

SI.com college football writer Stewart Mandel shares his commentary, analysis and random tidbits on the latest developments around the country.
11/24/2007 01:42:00 PM
Who's Next for the Huskers?
KANSAS CITY, Mo. –- Michigan and Nebraska.

They’re two of the top-four all-time winningest programs. And they’re both now looking for a coach.

Acting Nebraska AD Tom Osborne wasted no time announcing what had been anticipated for months: That Bill Callahan will not be back for a fifth season in Lincoln. The former Super Bowl coach leaves behind one of the most unseemly legacies of any high-profile coach in recent memory.

Ron Zook may have been a punchline at Florida, but he at least went to bowl games every year. John Cooper couldn’t beat Michigan, but he beat most everybody else. In four years’ time, Callahan managed to lead a team that hadn’t missed a bowl game in 43 years to two losing seasons. A team that used to regularly put up 76 points on the likes of Kansas this year allowed 76 to the Jayhawks -- and 65 to Colorado, and 45 to Oklahoma State, and 40 to Ball State.

Along the way, he stopped recruiting in-state players, eliminated Nebraska’s steep tradition of walk-ons, disillusioned former Huskers greats … basically, it was a four-year nightmare, and I’m sure Nebraska fans were thrilled to wake up this morning knowing it was finally over.

The next chapter in that program’s storied history will likely be written sooner than later, according to the timetable Osborne laid out at his press conference Friday. He wants the next guy out there recruiting as soon as possible.

The identity of Osborne’s choice depends on one crucial factor: Whether or not he’s hell bent on bringing in someone with Nebraska ties.

The two most commonly rumored names are Turner Gill and Bo Pelini. Personally, I don’t think either is the best man for the job right now -- both could use more seasoning, with Gill only holding two years of head-coaching experience at low-level Buffalo and Pelini not yet a head coach. Of the two, Gill seems more plausible (mostly because of his direct ties to Osborne), but Nebraska, one of the most prestigious programs in the country, can and should do better than that.

A perfect candidate for the Huskers would be Wake Forest’s Jim Grobe. He’s not only orchestrated one of the most impressive turnarounds in the country, turning the long-struggling Demon Deacons into an 11-win team last season and a bowl team again this year, but his blue-collar approach and penchant for developing unheralded talent fit Nebraska well.

Another possibility is Navy’s Paul Johnson, a logical thought considering he’s both a great coach and the reigning master of the triple-option. I don’t necessarily think Nebraska needs to return to the days of the triple-option to be successful, but Johnson’s version is also a little more modern. My one concern with Johnson would be that he’s never recruited at the highest level.

A couple of weeks ago, I suggested Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly, a career-long winner whose spread offense would be a great fit for Nebraska’s current personnel. It’s believed, however, that Kelly could be a serious candidate at Michigan, the state where he spent most of his career. If Osborne wants to hire a coach quickly, Kelly might not be an option.

Osborne may have a couple other tricks up his sleeve (he always did), but among the most commonly named candidates, my guess is it might come down to Gill and Grobe, with Osborne having to decide which is more important to him: a proven track record or a Nebraska letter jacket.