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Frost v. Callahan

drubendall

Assistant Head Coach
Apr 18, 2004
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One major difference between Frost and Callahan is that Callahan brought in a lot of quarterbacks and linemen to fill gaps.

Ultimately, neither was successful at putting a winning product on the field. But Callahan recruited much more top-flight talent than any other recent coach. He maybe could have gotten over the hump if he would have gotten better defensive coaches

Frost put all of his eggs in the Martinez basket and did not shore up the line properly. That will be his demise.
 
One major difference between Frost and Callahan is that Callahan brought in a lot of quarterbacks and linemen to fill gaps.

Ultimately, neither was successful at putting a winning product on the field. But Callahan recruited much more top-flight talent than any other recent coach. He maybe could have gotten over the hump if he would have gotten better defensive coaches

Frost put all of his eggs in the Martinez basket and did not shore up the line properly. That will be his demise.
Along with with having terrible special teams during his tenure..
 
One major difference between Frost and Callahan is that Callahan brought in a lot of quarterbacks and linemen to fill gaps.

Ultimately, neither was successful at putting a winning product on the field. But Callahan recruited much more top-flight talent than any other recent coach. He maybe could have gotten over the hump if he would have gotten better defensive coaches

Frost put all of his eggs in the Martinez basket and did not shore up the line properly. That will be his demise.
If Callahan would have brought in Bo towards the end of his tenure to correct the D he'd still be here...
 
Isn’t it hilarious looking back that we fired a guy one year off a conference championship appearance just because he went 5-7 against a really tough schedule?

I’m not saying that’s an acceptable season, but we didn’t even give the guy a year to adjust and see if he could improve in 2008 with a better QB in Ganz and maybe a better DC. Maybe the culture issues (killing the walk on program, not being friendly toward former players, etc) were more of the driving force?
 
Callahan paid attention the details. His playcalling was on point, just didn't have the high-end talent to run it all, and didn't give it enough time to install it all properly. His defense sucked ass though because he put all his eggs into the offense.

I never really felt he wanted to be in Lincoln however. His passion was in the NFL. If he wanted to stay he would have made the necessary changes to coordinators on his staff..
 
Isn’t it hilarious looking back that we fired a guy one year off a conference championship appearance just because he went 5-7 against a really tough schedule?

I’m not saying that’s an acceptable season, but we didn’t even give the guy a year to adjust and see if he could improve in 2008 with a better QB in Ganz and maybe a better DC. Maybe the culture issues (killing the walk on program, not being friendly toward former players, etc) were more of the driving force?
A lot of it is Tom puts his fingers in everything
 
One major difference between Frost and Callahan is that Callahan brought in a lot of quarterbacks and linemen to fill gaps.

Ultimately, neither was successful at putting a winning product on the field. But Callahan recruited much more top-flight talent than any other recent coach. He maybe could have gotten over the hump if he would have gotten better defensive coaches

Frost put all of his eggs in the Martinez basket and did not shore up the line properly. That will be his demise.
Callahan was better. He recruited better and despite the defensive meltdown in 2007 (which might have been remedied in the offseason if given a chance) the outcome on the field was better.
 
Callahan went after recruits and sold the program and himself. He didn’t put self dictated restraints on where he recruited. He didn’t complain about where Nebraska was geographically. He just recruited.
Callahan reached on a lot of recruits and a lot of them washed out, but he hit on some too. I think his offense was a little bit overly complicated for college kids. I wasn't disappointed when he was fired because you could tell he didn't love being a college coach especially in Lincoln Nebraska. On the other hand I'm curious as to what he might have been able to do over the course of six or seven years
 
Callahan might have had Bo like success if we held on to him long enough. His offenses were good but not elite. And with that 2009 and 2010 defensive talent rising up he probably could have managed 9 wins those years. I would kill to have top 10 recruiting again.
 
One major difference between Frost and Callahan is that Callahan brought in a lot of quarterbacks and linemen to fill gaps.

Ultimately, neither was successful at putting a winning product on the field. But Callahan recruited much more top-flight talent than any other recent coach. He maybe could have gotten over the hump if he would have gotten better defensive coaches

Frost put all of his eggs in the Martinez basket and did not shore up the line properly. That will be his demise.
Callahan started out with less talented QB, Joe Riley, and one whose skill set did not match Callahan's West Coast offense. So it made sense to bring in someone who did, Zac Taylor.

After 2018, Frost thought he had the perfect fit at QB for his system, and so did most Husker fans. He recruited another QB like Martinez (Luke) thinking AM would continue to play really well and give Luke a couple of years to hone his skills. It was a reasonable plan but it didn't pan out for a number of reasons.
 
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This is kind of an apples/oranges face-off. Callahan inherited a gigantic Nebraska brand only 4 years removed from Nebraska competing for a national title in 2001.

Frost inherited a damaged brand from Callahan, Pelini and Riley. The crux of the problem? Developing players with fundamentals, especially to fall back on when s*** hits the fan in tense moments.
 
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Callahan started out with less talented QB, Joe Riley, and one whose skill set did not match Callahan's West Coast offense. So it made sense to bring in someone who did, Zac Taylor.

After 2018, Frost thought he had the perfect fit at QB for his system, and so did most Husker fans. He recruited another QB like Martinez (Luke) thinking AM would continue to play really well and give Luke a couple of years to hone his skills. It was a reasonable plan but it didn't pan out for a number of reasons.
You mean Joe Dailey?
 
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Callahan: Good offense/poor defense.
Frost: Good enough defense/poor offense and nonexistent special teams
 
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Bill Callahan actually had roots in College Football in the Big Ten, especially with Barry Alvarez, on his initial staff as O-Line coach.

As a coach:
 
One major difference between Frost and Callahan is that Callahan brought in a lot of quarterbacks and linemen to fill gaps.

Ultimately, neither was successful at putting a winning product on the field. But Callahan recruited much more top-flight talent than any other recent coach. He maybe could have gotten over the hump if he would have gotten better defensive coaches

Frost put all of his eggs in the Martinez basket and did not shore up the line properly. That will be his demise.


Callahan had a much better career at NU than Frost has this far. Riley, Bo, and Solich also. Numbers don't lie...


Holla
 
Callahan went after recruits and sold the program and himself. He didn’t put self dictated restraints on where he recruited. He didn’t complain about where Nebraska was geographically. He just recruited.


Yup... Recruiters RECRUIT! That's why I don't really buy the line that you can't recruit to Nebraska. Is it harder? ABSOLUTELY it is but good recruiters recruit well wherever they go. If we had BCs staff of recruiters NOW and a coach who focused on it and STRESSED it we would recruit well now. Everyone always says win and they will come. That isn't always true either. You want to constantly sign high level talent ? Go out and get you 4-5 coaches on your staff who can flat out recruit and see what happens.

Currently the best recruiter on our staff is Bill Busch who somehow isn't a full time coach. While guys like "Bernie" has a full time gig and every QB he's coached at NU has gotten worse. Talk about misusing funds...sigh


Holla
 
Callahan took over a much better situation, that is true. But he also did a much better job. I can easily see how BC would have been very successful at Nebraska, having a hard time seeing how Frost can be.
 
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I don't think Billy C even told kids that he was recruiting them to NU, I think he told them that he was recruiting them to get them to the NFL.
 
If Callahan would have brought in Bo towards the end of his tenure to correct the D he'd still be here...
Not sure he’d still be here because I believe he always wanted to go back to the NFL. His Offense was impressive with the right QBs running things.

I totally agree that he would have been way more successful if he decided to retain Bo as DC and most of the Defensive staff under Bo. Either that or get someone like him. Cosgrove was not a good DC here. Would love to have seen a scenario like that played out. Sigh…What might have been!
 
Not sure he’d still be here because I believe he always wanted to go back to the NFL. His Offense was impressive with the right QBs running things.

I totally agree that he would have been way more successful if he decided to retain Bo as DC and most of the Defensive staff under Bo. Either that or get someone like him. Cosgrove was not a good DC here. Would love to have seen a scenario like that played out. Sigh…What might have been!
He had two white guys running around secondaries catching tons of balls in Swift and Peterson.
 
Not sure Pelini was the answer, but BC could have been for a while if he wanted to and brought in a quality d coord.
 
Frost will be remembered as one of the worst coaches in Nebraska football history, right in company with Bill Glassford and Bill Jennings. Riley and Callahan were a cut above this group, but still nowhere close to Nebraska standards. I think it's time to move on from past coaches discussion. We'll almost certainly get a better coach than Frost, and I'm also highly confident we will get a better coach than Riley or Callahan. If we're lucky, we may find the coach that will bring us back to national prominence. I'm much more interested in discussing the future than rehashing the past.
 
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Frost will be remembered as one of the worst coaches in Nebraska football history, right in company with Bill Glassford and Bill Jennings. Riley and Callahan were a cut above this group, but still nowhere close to Nebraska standards. I think it's time to move on from past coaches discussion. We'll almost certainly get a better coach than Frost, and I'm also highly confident we will get a better coach than Riley or Callahan. If we're lucky, we may find the coach that will bring us back to national prominence. I'm much more interested in discussing the future than rehashing the past.


Well Im only old enough to have watched Osborne and those after him. So from my eyes Frost IS the worst that I've seen. Everything backs that up no matter the excuse people will attempt to make. Not only the numbers but the eye test as well.


Holla
 
Well Im only old enough to have watched Osborne and those after him. So from my eyes Frost IS the worst that I've seen. Everything backs that up no matter the excuse people will attempt to make. Not only the numbers but the eye test as well.


Holla
You are 100% correct, frost and staff are nothing more expensive frauds a gaggle or the ole saying like a chicken running around with its head cut off
 
Two differences between Frost and Callahan:

1. Callahan is a better recruiter.

2. Callahan actually had a couple of winning seasons unlike Scott Frost.
 
"Ultimately, neither was successful at putting a winning product on the field."

What about the Alamo Bowl win over Michigan in Callahan's second season at Nebraska?
 
2006 season was pretty good. 9-5 record with losses to 4 top 10 teams. That team would be 11-2 if they played our current schedule. They really outplayed Texas and should have won that game but for a bad drop. The 2007 team played the toughest schedule that year and yes the defense stunk, but that could have been corrected in the offseason. Callahan was so hated at the time (even in 2006) for replacing Solich and not being Pelini that people refuse to acknowledge things weren't really bad.
 
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