A few years ago one of my regular clients hired a new IS Manager. Knowing his background and that he’d come from Carlson Companies, when I first met him I jokingly asked him if Curt Carlson ever liked him enough to give him a statue of himself.
My question was a joke. The guy’s response wasn’t.
“Oh, yeah, I won one of those once. They’re called ‘Curties’, about six inches tall, he used to give them out if he thought you were doing a good job”.
Egad. You have to wonder about the ego of a guy that would give out statues of himself. Not that surprising given Carlon’s success, though, as he built Carlson Companies from the ground up. He also got the University of Minnesota to name their business school after him just because he gave them a boatload of money.
There’s a life size statue of him as you enter Carlson Companies, or at least there used to be, I haven’t been out there in quite a few years. There’s a bust of him at the Carlson School of Management. The key here is that when you’re successful you can just about anything you want and get away with it - even give out little statues of yourself.
Unfortunately, when you’re not successful the same ideas can make you look really stupid. Take our old buddy Steve Pederson for example. He wanted to have statues of himself made, too.
Pederson telling a former Husker player when success returned at NU that people will "put up a statue of me." (Pederson, now the A.D. at Pittsburgh, twice declined interview requests for this story through a spokesman.)
Maybe if old Stevey P got really successful he could make miniatures - little tiny ones you could carry around so you could keep him with you and remember him all the time. Reading through his bio at Pitt, you’d have to wonder why we got rid of him:
Nebraska achieved at exceptional levels athletically and academically during his tenure. In 2006-07, the Cornhuskers won the national championship in women's volleyball, while the football team won the 2006 Big 12 North title and advanced to its first New Year's Day bowl game since 2001. Overall, 15 Nebraska teams earned NCAA invitations.
Pederson was at Nebraska for five years and we have 23 teams, meaning there were 345 chances for teams get to get NCAA invitations. 15 out of 345 chances is... not very good is it? I’m thinking there’s a different definition for the word ‘exceptional’ out there in Pittsburgh.
What this means is that Pitt’s standards for athletic success are a helluva low lower than they are at Nebraska, so there’s still a chance for Pedey to get his statues made and then we’ll be sorry.
Especially you because you won’t get one. Maybe you’d like to have had a ‘Pedey’?
A stepped-up "culture of fear" when Pederson last August hired a consultant at $15,000 a month to institute quarterly performance reviews.
Being a consultant now for about 20 years and having worked in organizations of all sizes, shapes and industries, all I have to say is
Holy crap.
The only companies I’m aware of where they do quarterly performance reviews are those that have been bought or sold or are about to be. Oh, that and those run by control freaks and megalomaniacs.
Brian Christopherson at Husker Extra is reporting that Doak Ostergard has returned to the Husker athletic department. Ostergard is to be a contact person for the N Club and a consultant for athletic medicine, strength and conditioning and nutrition.
You should remember Ostergard as the guy who was terminated by Bill Callahan for reasons unknown. Much of Ostergard's experience in the athletic department was chronicled by Jonathan Crowl in the book "The Nebraska Way".
Here's what Crowl had to say about what happened between Ostergard and Callahan:
On February 15, 2007, Doak Ostergard was called into Bill Callahan’s office to deliver his first injury report in nearly a month. Such a stretch was unusual, but Ostergard credited the lapse to Callahan’s distanced management of the program and its personnel following the Cornhuskers’ bowl game loss to Auburn. The head coach had also been busy on the recruiting trail for much of that time. Ostergard had just finished giving the report when Callahan informed his trainer that the meeting would be their last.
“He turned his head to the side, keeping his attention on me, and said, ‘I don’t see this working out. I appreciate all your years of service, loyalty and dedication, but I think we need to make a change,’” Ostergard recalls. Callahan declined to give a reason for Ostergard’s dismissal. “I love you to death,” he said. “This is not a big deal. It’s happened to me.” Callahan explained to Ostergard that he could turn in a letter of resignation and receive a severance package. If not, he would be terminated.
One might argue that Ostergard's termination was the beginning of the end for Steve Pederson. Several other people (besides coaches) were dismissed from the athletic department by Pederson, but when it happened to Ostergard it created a public spectacle. Separate and conflicting golf outings were held, one by the Nebraska Lettermen's Club, the other by a group supporting Ostergard.
Ostergard's return has to make you wonder if everyone else terminated by Steve Pederson will be able to return under Tom Osborne. That'd be ironic.
From Corn Nation reader Patrick comes the following:
Our recently departed AD decided Herbie needed an update, so he was made to look younger, brown hair instead of blonde, and I think the overalls went away. I think they used the same new guy for Bounty paper towels. :-)
The Wii box will sport a team's mascot instead of a cover athlete (like the other systems). When I chose the Big XII to vote Nebraska, gone was the younger/"hip" mascot. We've got overalls and blonde hair again.
I don't know if EA has control over what mascots to use. From what I'd guess, they sign a licensing deal with the College Licensing Agency (or whatever they're called) to get official colors, mascots, stadiums, and all that. And that agency should get it's information from the schools. I know in the last few years, the Nebraska mascot in the game itself was the newer version. So, does that mean that we've gotten rid of it and gone back to our roots? Or might this just be a gaffe by the licensing agency and/or EA Sports?
To refresh your memory, here's the most recent pre-Steve Herbie as EA Sports has him:
Hyuk! (Looking oddly like Kris Kringle from "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town")
It'd be nice if they used the updated Herbie. None of the farmers or ranchers I know that are under 60 wear overalls anymore. Most of them would look more like modern-day Herbie, like a normal guy and not like the stereotypical farmer that urbanites would favor.
Could be the marrying type
It is a fair point that Patrick makes, however. How much of Steve Pederson's doings do we throw away just because they were done by him?
The first coverage of Jonathan Crowl's "The Nebraska Way" came out in the Daily Nebraskan last October. The article quotes Doak Ostergard instead of author Jonathan Crowl about the purpose behind the book:
Ostergard said the main purpose of the book was to educate people on the qualities of the football program and speak on the way "business has been done recently."
"We need to try and define what that Nebraska way really was," Ostergard said in an interview with the Daily Nebraskan. "From the outside, people can't understand it, and from the inside, people can't explain it."
It was an awkward article that gave the impression the self-published book was nothing more than a disgruntled ex-employee taking a shot at his former employer. The DN article also included some titillating information about how then coach Bill Callahan viewed Tom Osborne and Husker fans.
In one instance, Ostergard recalled a meeting with Callahan where the coach voiced his frustration over an article printed in a local newspaper.
"F-ing people need to get a life," Ostergard quoted Callahan as saying in the book.
In the book, Ostergard continues to quote Callahan:
"Why don't they go read a book or get lost in the Sandhills? I'm going to get me a real newspaper. I'm going to read The New York Times."
Callahan also grew impatient with former coach Osborne, Ostergard told Crowl.
After a phone conversation with the former coach, who was serving in Washington as a congressman, Ostergard said Callahan referred to Osborne as "a crusty old f-."
Titillating, but is it a fair representation of the book? Or were the reporters at the DN just trying to make waves?
"The Nebraska Way" starts with a foreword by Doak Ostergard, reviewing how he came to be at Nebraska and a quick review of the accomplishments of Husker football over the past (roughly) 40 years. It then starts with Ostergard's firing by Bill Callahan after which we begin a reflection of how things had been done under Osborne.
The first half of the book takes us through the Devaney, Osborne and Solich years. The journey provides a decent review of that piece of Husker history with an impressive number of quotes and anecdotes from former Cornhusker players. At times it's a little gooey, but that's to be expected when reliving glory days
The underlying theme of the review provides a background against which Steve Pederson's reign as athletic director is compared. The result is not a pretty painting. For example, below is the case of Jan Eby, employed by the athletic department for 31 years, but who was fired by Pederson shortly after he became athletic director:
“I was called on December 29, and I was sitting down to a belated Christmas dinner with my family,” Eby said. “I was told my services were no longer required.… I said I really needed the job and asked if there were any other opportunities, and I was told no.” Eby, an employee with the athletic department since Devaney’s days as head coach, was told by a messenger to have her desk cleaned out before employees returned to the office
from their holiday break. She later learned her experience was shared by numerous other employees not only at Nebraska, but also at Pitt.
“It was the same pattern,” Eby recalled.
Author Crowl doesn't pull any punches in his disdain for Pederson, painting him as gutless, arrogant, and insecure. There are several instances of his poor handling of personnel affairs, such as not giving reasons for termination, ducking meetings (including not responding to Tommie Frazier before he took the coaching job at Doane), and constant micro-management.
Bill Callahan doesn't come off nearly as bad in the book as depicted by the Daily Nebraskan article quoted above. It's clear from the book that Callahan had issues with how the team was performing, but he's represented as a man who was being manipulated by Pederson more than being evil of his own accord.
"The Nebraska Way" is unique in it's coverage of the Steve Pederson/Bill Callahan era at Nebraska. Crowl's writing is good, more journalistic than storytelling. If you'd like to learn more about what was happening inside the athletic department at that time, then this is the book you need to read.
My biggest complaint about the book is that too much centers around Doak Ostergard. It would have been better had there been more references or more comments from other athletic department personnel. There are a few, but not enough. Given that Pederson was still running the athletic department at the time the book was written and released perhaps that's understandable.
Normally, I do a book review and then perhaps a follow-up interview with the author. In the case of "The Nebraska Way", I had some problems with the book and wanted to address them immediately. Following this review will be an interview with author Jonathan Crowl.
I normally don't like posting what's been sent to me very much, but this was pretty good:
The gospel, according to a Nebraska fan :
And it came to pass in the land of Lincoln, in the kingdom of Husker Nation, that a man named Pederson arose to rule the realm of Athletics. For he was of the Kingdom, from the city of North Platte, and was a follower of the Huskers of Corn.
But he was not a wise man, forsaking the ways of the Husker Nation, sending the leader Solich into the wilderness, and turning away the warriors of old who wore the tunics of black into battle in ages past, even removing their portraits and pictures.
And in the place of Solich, he selected from the land of La-La a strange man, once known as leading a failed army known as Raiders to defeat after defeat in the grand Coliseum of the Land of Oaks, a city by the bay of San Francisco, a wicked city of Sodomites and practitioners of perversion.
And did this man, known as Callahan, become the general of the Husker armies, forsaking all traditions held dear to the hearts of the citizens.
And a strange plan known as the West Coast Offense was forced upon the armies, and the proven tactics of old were called evil and sinful by Callahan. And complex and confusing were the plans in the Offense, and failure was the result.
And the Husker armies fell apart on the fields of battle, and adversaries from the Land of Troy, the hated Sooners, the powerful Orange Cowboys from the land of Still Water, yea even the despised Purple Cats from the wasteland of Kansas, did achieve victory after victory over the once-mighty Husker armies, and the wearers of the Tunics of Black.
And in the fourth year of the reign of Callahan, did the Husker armies struggle against warriors from a land where canning jars were made. And lo, the armies of Troy, the Tiger tribe from Columbia, yea, even the Orange Cowboys, did soundly defeat the Husker armies.
And it came to pass during the battle with the Orange Cowboys, in the presence of St. Thomas of Osborne and his brave soldiers of yore, that the members of Husker Nation did turn their backs upon the slaughter of the weakened armies of Callahan.
And a hue and cry arose throughout the land, in cyberspace, and on the program ESPN, for the removal of the failed general Callahan and his aides, and his master Pederson the Jerk.
And the Chancellor heard their cries, and dispatched Pederson into exile.
And St. Thomas was summoned by the Chancellor, and was given the power to rule in the department of Athletics.
And o, did Callahan wail and gnash his teeth, telling one and all of the fine works he had done. And his lies fell on deaf ears.
And there was great joy in Husker Nation as St. Thomas restored the traditions of old, welcoming with open arms the warriors of old known to the Nation.
But there was a reminder from St. Thomas that no remedies would be quick in coming, and that time shall pass before the great Husker armies are strong and feared once again throughout the land of the Alliance of 12.
Even so, once again hope is strong among the faithful of the Husker Nation, and some day in the future the Tunics of Black shall once again be worn by the fierce defenders of the field
This week's Big 12 roundtable is being hosted by Texas blog Gabriel's Horn. Pretty appropriate title - The End Is Near. You suppose we'll see at least one guy dressed as an apocalyptic monk outside Memorial with a sandwich-board sign this weekend?
1. With only two or three games left, how are you feeling about your season? Disappointed, elated, surprised, a little violated?
Disappointment is when you fumble a ball on a 3rd and 2 play and let Texas come back to beat you at home. It's when your star receiver fumbles a ball on the first play of the Big 12 Championship game and spots Oklahoma a 7-0 lead. No, this season isn't disappointing. This season is embarrassing. It's humiliating.
The only silver lining to this season is that perhaps Nebraskans will have realistic expectations for our next coach. If we don't, we can count on being the next Alabama. I don't want that.
We still have a shot at our next two games. I still have hope. Perhaps I'm a fool for that.
2. I have to ask, how do you feel about the (possible) buyout of Fran at Texas A&M?
He broke the number one rule of staying employed. If things are going badly, don't give them an excuse to get rid of you. I never saw the greatness that others did in Franchione before he got to A&M, but the stunt he pulled with the insider's newsletter was the mark of a fool.
Ralphie's Wild Cousin - Live Free or Die!
3. We’ve picked coaches, players, stadiums and everything else from other teams. Now, we get down to something even more near and dear: mascots. If you could pick another Big 12 mascot other than your own - who would it be and why?
Ralphie from Colorado. Don't know if you've ever been close to a Buffalo, but they are ginormous beasts. Sounds entirely un-Nebraskan, but it's not. Bison roamed the plains, not the mountains.
Besides it's part of my master plan - the invasion of Colorado. Mass the Nebraska National Guard near Imperial, Nebraska and go across the border. Take out that University in Boulder, take their mascot as a prize. We'd conquer them while they were wondering what neighborhood covenants we'd broken.
We'd be merciful. We'd give Aspen back to the millionaires to whom it belongs while we freeze the assets of the billionaires that live there. We'd allow Colorado State to remain Colorado State and accept them into the Big 12. Rams live in the Mountains.
4. Unexpected Greatness, Unexpected Suckage. Who surprised you this year? Who did you get really excited about, only to be let down? (The first Roundtable asked who was the face of the franchise - do you still feel that way?)
I picked Ndamukong Suh, defensive lineman as the face of the franchise, so blame me for the Huskers being ranked 118th in stopping the run. Clearly I damned them. He's still young and there's still time for him to be a force. Wait, maybe I'm just damning him to mediocrity.
Sam Keller was going to be a NFL-level talent that took the offense to new heights. Didn't happen.
Matt Slauson was the disappointment of the offensive line. I was very high on the line coming into the season. Big disappointment.
The young backs look great. Quentin Castille, Roy Helu. Along with Marlon Lucky, the next coach will have a good corp of backs to start with.
5. I told you there would be booze. Characterize your team by the beverage of your choice.
Skunky beer. You drink some and you think, boy this tastes weird, and then you drink some more. After you've finished a can, you have this sudden bad feeling and the next few hours you spend in the bathroom with fluids coming out of both ends. After that's finished you realize you never want to do that again.
Lightning Round - worth double the points (which will still work out to zero...), and twice the fun!
- Love ‘em.
Maurice Purify. He started this year having legal problems, then had his brother killed in a car-jacking/robbery and his girlfriend killed in a car accident. Then he got to partake in a bad season of Husker football. He hasn't seen the ball as much as we'd like. I hope that Maurice Purify has a good career in whatever he does because he deserves it.
Zack Bowman. As a leader, took off his Blackshirt and no one followed. Said a lot early on.
Courtney Grixby. Played much taller than his size, took a lot of grief for it and never complained.
Ndamukong Suh. I still have faith that he can prove himself in the seasons to come.
- Diss ‘em.
The Big Three - Steve Pederson, Bill Callahan and Kevin Cosgrove. Wherever they go, whatever they do will be forever tied to this, potentially the worst season in Nebraska's 117-year history.
Mike Gundy. Pretty tough in front of young female reporters. Not so tough at home with a lead.
Dennis Franchione. Upperclass Twit of the Year Candidate. There certain to be some car-door slamming in College Station the day after Thanksgiving!
- Pick ‘em.
Colorado @ Iowa State - Colorado Texas A&M @ Mizzou - Mizzou - The Tigers have found an identity in Chase Daniel. KState @ Nebraska - Nebraska - Hope springs eternal. Tech @ Texas - Texas - Tech can't win on the road.
Baylor @ Oklahoma - OU Kansas @ Oklahoma State - Kansas - Fourth quarter against Texas blew their confidence.
It should be clear by now that Bill Callahan and Kevin Cosgrove will be Nebraska coaches until at least the end of the season. Callahan isn't going to resign and cost himself $3M. Despite Osborne's slip about a 'new' coaching staff, he has repeatedly stated that there will be no coaching changes during the season. Rumors have died down, but the talk continues about the Cornhusker's next head coach. Fact is, finding our next head coach is not the number one priority. Finding a new athletic director is.
As long as Tom Osborne holds the title "Interim" the program will be considered up in the air. One of two things need to happen within the next month. Osborne needs to officially become the athletic director, losing the "interim" title OR he needs to find his next athletic director by Thanksgiving. (Whether Osborne is the right choice for athletic director is not the subject of this article, but will be covered in a future piece.)
If Osborne officially becomes the AD, he'll need to stick around for a few years after hiring a new head coach to guarantee a new head coach doesn't suffer the same fate as Frank Solich - being fired by a new athletic director after Osborne leaves. If Osborne finds a new athletic director by Thanksgiving, the two can work together to find a new head coach both can agree on.
Dave Rimington - Next AD?
Who would make a good athletic director? Dave Rimington's name has popped up mostly because everyone knows it. He has a college football award named after him, The Rimington Trophy, given each year to the best college football center. You can't get a much bigger name than that. It's not just about the name, though, it's about the man. Dave Rimington is a class individual. I can't remember a single incident in which Rimington ever embarrassed himself, the University of Nebraska, or the people he's worked for.
Is he qualified to be the athletic director at the University of Nebraska?
Rimington is President of the Boomer Esiason Foundation, a non-profit foundation that focuses on research to cure cystic fibrosis. No doubt he's experienced in fund raising. He's been President of the Foundation since 1995, earning an annual compensation of around $130k. Osborne made a comment during a recent interview (the 'new' coaching staff interview) in which he stated he didn't think he should be paid more than the guy who runs the University of Nebraska. Note that the marketing director of the Esiason Foundation makes around $450k, significantly more than Rimington, perhaps a sign that Rimington fits the same mold.
The Esiason Foundation's revenue in 2006 was approximately $5.5M. The University of Nebraska athletic department budget for 2008 is projected at $66.7M. A popular concept is that being athletic director at Nebraska is like being the CEO of a multi-million dollar company. That's only partially true. It's true in the form of that the athletic director must make critical decisions and must understand the finances of an organization much like a CEO.
Because the primary goal of the athletic department is education you cannot apply the same form of personnel management as you would in a for-profit organization, which is something that caused the demise of Steve Pederson. Rimington's experience in non-profit is of benefit here in terms of recognizing that not everything of value should be traded for cash, but that there is a goal more worthy than sheer profit.
Nebraska's athletic director would be in charge of 230 employees of the athletic department. He'd be responsible for 19 men's and women's athletic programs. Dave Rimington''s experience can't be that deep working for a small non-profit in New York City, but with Tom Osborne working with him, we'd get a feel as to how this could work out.
It's also interesting to note that Rimington worked as a graduate assistant at Wisconsin with Bill Callahan, Kevin Cosgrove, and tight ends coach Joe Rudolph, so he is familiar with them as coaches.
Would Rimington make a great choice as athletic director? There seems to be little to the downside and a lot of potential. I, for one, wouldn't be upset with the choice, but I am glad that someone else gets to make these kinds of decisions.
Dave Rimington, Athletic Director, University of Nebraska. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?
KOZN (1620 AM in Omaha) and Steve Sipple of the Lincoln Journal-Star have uncovered a deal between Steve Pederson and a buddy from his days at Pitt, William DeLeo. DeLeo was paid $15,000 a month plus travel expenses to help "streamline operations".
Yep...for those of you who remember "Office Space", that cult classic that ridiculed corporate America, Steve Pederson hired one of the "Bobs".
Said one Nebraska athletic department employee: "(DeLeo) was big business, definitely corporate in nature. He attached a ton of formality to everything he did, which made it less efficient instead of more efficient. In my mind, he was the main contributor as to why Steve lost his job."
"You're trying to focus on the student-athletes, and then all of a sudden we were going to be competing with our neighbors for money," one employee said.
Morale declined in the department as a "culture of fear-based leadership" developed, an employee said.
"I almost went nuts when that guy came in," said one longtime Husker coach who spoke about DeLeo on the condition his name not be used.
Until Monday, Pederson was paying DeLeo $15,000 per month plus expenses. The consulting agreement was terminated, however, the same day Chancellor Harvey Perlman fired Pederson.
DeLeo's involvement in the department reflected Pederson's management style, those interviewed said. "Management style" was the reason Perlman gave for firing Pederson this week.
"I personally always had a good relationship with Steve," said Jay Dirksen, Nebraska's cross country coach. "But he's a different personality type. He just has always rubbed some people the wrong way."
How many more skeletons are we going to find in Pederson's closet? In the end, I think as this evolves, we'll find that Steve Pederson was more concerned with the goal (the bling) than the game (the people and traditions).
The events of the week have brought on another Big Red Roundtable. We're good at getting together when things are crazy, so you'd have to wonder what would happen if we all met at the same bar.
1. Steve Pederson is out as athletic director. Did you see it coming? Good move or bad move?
Add to that the fact that Pederson couldn't even walk on the field to do a presentation and you've created a situation in which changes need to be made. Did I see it coming? Not as quickly as it did. I didn't think Harvey Perlman had it in him to pull the trigger that quickly but I'm glad he did.
It's a good move. Regardless of what happens in the future, Pederson was too polarizing a figure to continue in his current capacity.
2. Tom Osborne has returned as Pederson's interim replacement. Good move/bad move? What should Osborne's priorities be, and what does Osborne need to do?
I'd keep Shawn Watson because he has great hair.
Also a good move because it creates instant credibility within the program. Forget how good a coach Tom Osborne was. Everyone knows who Tom Osborne is as a person. He's a stand-up guy about whom you can say very little ill. He has a national reputation for integrity and fairness. He's served as a congressman
Let's use Dan Cook as an example. He's the one big-name guy who was publicly angry about Pederson's firing. The guy's name is on Cook Pavillion, built in 1989, so he's been giving to the University for quite a while. You don't think he'll at least answer the phone if Osborne gives him a call?
3. The Huskers have been blown out two straight weeks. What is happening with the football team, and what does the rest of the season look like?
There is no heart in this team. There may some heart in the individual players, but not as a team. People can point to all sorts of things - the coaches aren't good, the players aren't fast enough or talented enough, but if the team has stopped giving everything on every play, nothing else matters.
Personally, I've been a consultant for nearly 20 years now. If you've been around long enough, you're going to work in jobs (projects) where things go wrong. (And if someone tells you they've never failed at a job or project, they either haven't done many or haven't challenged themselves or they're flat out lying.) Sometimes you know what it is and you fix it (or not). Sometimes you don't, and there is nothing more frustrating when you can't figure out why things are failing. It sucks.
Ted Gilmore knows more receivers than you can name.
When stuff like this happens you just have to keep going, and keep trying to make things work. There are a bunch of teams, like the Aggies, in the Big 12 who are discombobulated this season. We need to pick up some more wins and get to a bowl game. At this point, anything can happen. I remain hopeful.
4. firecoz.com and billmustgo.com are getting lots of internet traffic. Steve Pederson is already gone. Tom Osborne says nobody will be fired during the season. What happens with this coaching staff?
I've already said that at the end of the season that Kevin Cosgrove wouldn't be fired and that he'd take a position in the NFL. Brad Childress in Minnesota will be in a position at the end of the season that he'll need to move some coaches. He coached with both Callahan and Cosgrove at Wisconsin, so don't be surprised if opportunities come up for at least one of them there. It'd allow them to save face, and Nebraska won't look like they're firing coaches as much as the coaches choose to leave on their own accord. Contracts can be worked out to save face as well.
With regards to assistants, forget who knows who and who is a "Husker Guy" and who isn't. If we get a new head coach and he determines that he wants some of these guys to stay, then I hope they stay. Some of them need to stick around so that the existing players don't come unglued over the next couple seasons. You can't tell me they're all bad coaches and need to be tossed as a whole. That's just plain silly.
I don't have anything against Bill Callahan. I can't think of anything he's done that would make me dislike him to the point that I wanted him to fail at Nebraska.
Participating Husker Blogs to be added as links come available:
I've seen the terms "Husker Heritage" and "The Nebraska Way" more times tonight than I care to see them again.Can someone give me an accurate definition of either of these terms? They only seem to bring out internal conflict for me.
Here's an example:
Steve Pederson wasn't a "Husker Heritage" guy despite the fact that he was around Nebraska's athletic department longer than Bo Pelini who seems to be a "Husker Heritage" guy despite being in Lincoln only a single season.
From the KOLN web site - is there something implied here that we don't know about?
More? Okay.
Tom Osborne is a "Husker Heritage" guy even though he hand-picked Steve Pederson as his guy and did the same for Frank Solich (meaning that he's 0 for 2). Don't take this as some type of judgement against Osborne because I understand what he means to the state of Nebraska. I'm trying to make a point here.
Turner Gill is a "Husker Heritage" guy because, well, because he's probably one of the best human beings that I can think of that's been associated with Husker football since he arrived in 1980.
It seems to me that a "Husker Heritage" guy is someone who was affiliated in any way with the football team, but was successful at it. In other words, "Husker Heritage" guys are not losers. Do I have that correct?
And what exactly is "The Nebraska Way"?
I ask these things not to be obnoxious but because I'd like someone to define them. They're going to be part of the conversations we have over the next couple of months and I'd rather we not throw them around as if everyone agrees on their meaning unless we define it. Fair?
It's not VJ Day by a long shot, but do you get a sense of elation just the same?
What I've been told is that there was enough money given to the University to buy out Steve's contract AND pay off the current stadium expansion project, the figure somewhere around $40 million.
I was wondering how I'd feel about this when I got the news, and I got the news today as I was driving across Wisconsin to a customer site. After I hung up for the second time in four minutes, an overwhelming feeling of joy hit me. It was downright giddiness.
I've been witness to enough layoffs and firings throughout my career that I know you're not supposed to enjoy them. They're not fun no matter how they're handled. You're supposed to shake the person's hand, say you're sorry that it didn't work out, and wish them luck on their next endeavor, just like Harvey Perlman did. In the case of Steve Pederson, I can't imagine that Nebraskans aren't partying in the streets. The only bad thing I can think about this is that Pederson didn't erect a statue of himself that we could enjoy tearing down.
I see at Husker Extra that big-time contributor Dan Cook isn't happy about the firing. He wanted Pederson and Callahan to have one more year to see if they could be successful.
I hate to sound cliche'd but this one wasn't about wins and losses. It was about morale in the athletic department which was plummeting since Pederson's contract had been renewed. Will the team play better because we've fired our much-hated athletic director? We won't know that until Saturday, but their season started going down the tubes when the contract extensions came out.
Low morale is a life-sucking illness for any organization, and today was a big step forward in killing that illness. You tell me if you feel any better about the future of the program.
In the four years since firing Frank Solich and becoming the most hated man in Nebraska because of a protracted search for a new head coach, Steve Pederson failed to make any effort to make that right. Instead of once being contrite about how he'd handled things, he remained too confident, and that arrogance cast a pall over the athletic department, and with that the state of Nebraska. I fail to see how giving Pederson another year would have made any difference, other than it would have driven more people away.
I've already been asked if Bill Callahan is a lame duck coach. We need to see how the rest of the year works out. If they can save this season (and therefore this team), then Dan Cook may at least get one half of his wish. If Bill Callahan is still here next season it wouldn't bother me (although he needs to make some other changes) because it will mean that he's salvaged the season.
Does firing Pederson solve all of the problems facing Husker football? No, but it's a darn good first step.
All I know for sure is that I'm surprised at my own giddiness.
I thought about not running this feature this week, since I think we all know where this is going... But just for the sake of consistency...
Think this isn't part of the problem?
Offensive Line: F Block somebody, please?
Running Back: D+ If Quentin Castille doesn't start at I-back next week, Billy C spent more time focusing on his buyout than on his soon-to-be-former team.
Quarterback: F Erratic all day, especially early when he misfired badly on several short passes, leading to three-and-outs.
Wide Receiver: C- Tried to make some circus catches of poorly thrown passes.
Defensive Line: F Bleah.
Linebackers: F Bleah.
Secondary: F Bleah.
Special Teams: C+ Adi Kunalic nailed his kickoffs as usual. Dan Titchener had a bad shank on the punt. Rickey Thenarse gives 130% on every play.
Overall: F Worst home loss in nearly 50 years. Please...make it stop!
Elsewhere in college football:
Missouri: B+ Yeah, you lost to Oklahoma. But these are not the Tigers of old.
Texas A&M: F Also laid an egg in their tuneup before the hotjobs.com bowl next weekend. One difference... Bill Byrne will probably get to hire a replacement.
Texas Tech: A Making a case for firing defensive coordinators midseason.
USC: C- More examples that Rivals rankings don't mean squat once you kick off.
Husker Fans: A+ Yeah, a couple thousand left in the 2nd quarter. There were a smattering of boos just before halftime. But 70,000 of you returned after halftime to take your medicine down 38-0. Husker fans are NOT going to let the bungles of an egotistical athletic director and disfunctional coaching staff destroy years of tradition. Well done!
Based on the the results of last's week's report card and yesterday's game, I think it's safe to assume that we'd see about 98% "F" or lower grades from the CornNation readers. So rather than vote on the report card, let's get an update on the pulse of readers instead...
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