That was the argument I had with Mrs. Corn Nation this afternoon - had I jumped on the "Fire Bill Callahan" bandwagon? She was a little upset with my comments last night during the game and wanted to know if I'd changed my answer. The answer (and I had to think about it) was "No". I'm not ready to make that jump yet.
We're four years into the Callahan experiment and last night showed us that we're still not very close to getting back to the elite of college football. You have to wonder whether or not we'll ever get there with Callahan at the helm. After watching USC cut through our Blackshirts like melted butter, you have to wonder whether or not Kevin Cosgrove should be back for another season.
After watching last night's game, you have to ask yourself - are the guys we have playing defense that bad compared to the nation's elite?
Saying "No" to that question leads to you to the conclusion that the coaching must be bad if the athletes aren't. And if we're in the fourth year of this regime, then why aren't the athletes better? And if they are, why isn't the coaching better?
If Mrs Corn Nation asked "Should we fire Steve Pederson?" - well, that's a different question. Stevey P has done a decent job with the athletic department, really meaning that he hasn't torched it into the ground yet. Steve Pederson is average. He's a three. He hasn't done anything so bad it warrants getting rid of him (a "one) , while at the same time he hasn't done anything that makes you want to keep him either (a "five"). It's a nice place to be if you're Steve. He can stay there for a very long time - most average people working at public institutions get rewarded with very long careers. It's why government at all levels suck - because everyone is happy with average.
Mrs Corn Nation didn't ask that question. She's very focused and she's not stupid. "Fire Bill Callahan" doesn't have much meaning as long as Steve Pederson is at the helm. It may have been listed as an over-reaction, but I'm not going to back down from the comment that Steve needs to be gone before anything else happens.
It's no wonder that Bill Callahan's agent got his contract extended before USC came to town. Given what you know now, you wouldn't have extended his contract either, would you? That's what agents are for - dangling at the right time, and getting guys like Steve Pederson to bite: hook, line, and sucker.
It's no wonder that Steve Pederson's contract got extended the same way. These guys aren't dumb. Full of themselves maybe, but not dumb.
The unfortunate thing for Bill, Kevin, Steve, and even Harvey is that the scoreboard isn't so forgiving.
42-10, then 49-17, then we scored against reserves.
Bottom line - we sucked against the nation's best. If that's where we are now, how long will it take to make that score even?