Page 1 of 1

Let me clarify my stance on Callahan

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2005 8:21 pm
by At Large
Let me clarify myself. I'm apathetic about the criticism of Callahan because we have a lot more to worry about with Callahan. I'm not a fan of him, but I brush off the petty crap because on my grand scale of problems with NU, it's far off my radar.

- He's very stubborn (2 of his forces led to OU touchdowns. He called the block on the fake field goal and also the call on the OU Int runback)
- He doesn't believe in physical practices. That's right. The team rarely goes physical on each other in practice. It's an effort to avoid injuries, but as a former Husker who was on several pro teams just wrote, having no contact can have a detrimental effect in that players take a few series to adjust. This partly explains why NU went 3 and out on their first 5 series and also why the defense is digging itself holes.
- He continues to use a zone block run technique that doesn't work. With our running back talent, we should be able to get a helluva lot more yards (Lucky and Glenn are no slouches back there folks).
- Huge playbook makes it hard for new players to contibute (Hence better linemen are sitting in favor of crappier, more experienced linemen).
- Defensive coordinator keeps running a back peddling strategy to start games and then adjusts. Then inexplicably pulls out the pass rushers on 3rd down, which then gives opposing QBs more time to pull passes off.
- Needless shifting - It takes time and fools no one. Causes more penalties than it saves.
- Ran off best defensive back coach in favor of a journeyman. We're still reeling from this. They fired Marvin Sanders, who the DBs loved like a father, and hired a grizzled loud mouth. Still scratching my head on this one.
- Insistance on scripting the first 15 plays of the game. Go figure that after NU's 5 straight 3 and outs (15 plays in total), that NU started getting first downs against OU.

That's some of our worries. So forgive me if I'm not freaking out about the handshake or the throat slash. I'll bash him for what I think are a lot more important things.

I'm mainly concerned with Callahan putting on a good face, getting more top 5 recruiting classes and then getting fired in three years for not producing better than an 8-win team (if we're lucky). By then, the next coach should have a nice cupboard of talent to start over with. Until then, I will criticize his coaching actions, but I will not worry about his actions that may make him look bad. Like I said before, NU fans have more to worry about.

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2005 8:30 pm
by indyfrisco
Yeah, and what most people are saying is that on top of all that coaching incompetence, he's an asshole too.

Kinda like being married to a fugly who is a lousy lay to boot.

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2005 8:37 pm
by PSUFAN
I have so far not really felt this way...but youse guys were definitely better off under Solich.

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2005 8:37 pm
by TheJON
And don't forget, the guy is a midget. Does he stand on a stool at his press conferences?

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2005 8:43 pm
by Sky
AL, I think that was a good analysis. I agree with you, the throat slash/short hand shake are not that big a deal...more like the exclamation point on a failing regime.

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2005 9:11 pm
by Sky
Well here you go

[web]http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2210501[/web]

The gesture, he said, was one he makes toward his children when "I've had it up to here."
Apparently, instead of the "up to here" motion most parents would use with their children, BC uses a horizontal scale with his children.

"I have had it all the way from the left to the right with you!"

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2005 9:16 pm
by Cornhusker
PSUFAN wrote:I have so far not really felt this way...but youse guys were definitely better off under Solich.
Can't agree, he was fast approching the middle of the road in a conference that has not been up to expectations.
His recruiting and ability to get high level kids to sniff NU were poor at best.

Even if he was able to get his new philosophy and scheme's in place, his lack of talent would have suffered to the Texas teams and OU.

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2005 9:41 pm
by Sky
Oh come on, that was a little funny.

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2005 9:56 pm
by At Large
"Billy Jr., I've so had it up to here that I'm going to act if I'm moving something from left to right across your throat. If you want to interpret that as me cutting your throat, that's your problem."

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2005 10:02 pm
by Mr T
You never know, he couldve been telling him he had dirt on his neck or something...

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2005 11:07 pm
by peter dragon
i copuld buy that if the movement was slow but that was a throat slash. no questions asked..

Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2005 4:53 am
by Danimal
What annoys me isn't even so much the gesture but that he is now denying it was a throat-slash. If he had just fessed up that he was pissed and did something dumb it would pass over. Now he looks like a liar as well as a hothead, nice job BC.

I pretty-much agree with At Large's take on our coaching, though I can see Callahan here after next year. He recruits his ass off and he is our AD's boy, the coach he basically bet his career on. Plus we should improve. I still have considerable doubts but with the talent influx as the staff gels and adjusts we'll become a better team. We should be top25 anyway and that will be enough to save BC's job.

Personally I wish we still had the 03 staff. They weren't recruiting on BC's level but they were doing considerably better than the staff canned after 02. They would have gotten us top15 classes, quite possibly top10 once we were really established again. Plus we were getting more out of the talent on-hand, if we had a real qb rather than just a good athlete trying hard all three of our losses would have been significantly more competitive. Solich DEFINITELY made his mistakes but IMO he did recognize them and the main problem wasn't Solich but the fact that up through 02 we had the staff Osborne wanted there and they weren't getting it done, especially in terms of recruiting. IMO we were headed back to good things in 03, maybe not back to MNC's but at least back to the top10 anyway.

I guess we'll just have to see how things work out. Hopefully BC can get his act together and learn from his mistakes.

Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2005 5:29 am
by XXXL
I have family throughout Nebraska and Iowa. Their takes on the Huskers are sincere, they are in an elevated state of concern.

Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2005 1:25 pm
by indyfrisco
The gesture, he said, was one he makes toward his children when "I've had it up to here."

B.C.
I did not have sexual relations with that girl, Miss Lewinski. She said her throat was sore so I simply told her to say "Aaah!" and I checked her tonsils for about 10 minutes over and over and over with my penis since my hands were full with presidential business.

B.C.