I joined this forum the day Solich was fired....

[Husker In Buff-land]

At the time I was all hyped thinking the corner would be turned and we'd be back....

14 years later and we are so much worse off...never thought I would say that.

 

[SondyRules]

From the outside looking in, Nebraska still had the prestige if they could get the right guy. They needed a bigger name coach like a Nick Saban or someone similar that was destined for building/maintaining the Nebraska identity. Callahan was a terrible hire in that respect.

 

[rs11]

I think NU needs a young up and comer rising star coach who's hungry and modern.

 

[scarletred]

Pederson wanted to put his own stamp on this program for years to come, with his famous saying " I will not let this program gravitate into mediocrity" He actually started just that in my opinion.

Eichorst had no choice to get rid of Pelini for his antics but he also has helped by his one search hire leaving us in the mess we're in now.

 

[RealHusker]

Someone else may have a better recollection of the details, but I believe Callahan was a fall-back option. I thought Pederson wanted to hire Dave Wannstadt (not that he would have been any better), because Wannstadt assumed he was about to be fired by the Dolphins. Wannstadt was retained by the Dolphins for one more year, so Pederson was left scrambling. Callahan, just a year removed from the Super Bowl was then canned by the Raiders. Pederson and Callahan were equally desperate. Thus, we had a marriage made in the pits of hell.

 

[saluno22]

Someone else may have a better recollection of the details, but I believe Callahan was a fall-back option. I thought Pederson wanted to hire Dave Wannstadt (not that he would have been any better), because Wannstadt assumed he was about to be fired by the Dolphins. Wannstadt was retained by the Dolphins for one more year, so Pederson was left scrambling. Callahan, just a year removed from the Super Bowl was then canned by the Raiders. Pederson and Callahan were equally desperate. Thus, we had a marriage made in the pits of hell.

Houston Nutt and Al Saunders were the others who Pederson reached out to in my recollection.

 

[mel mains]

And Mike Zimmer.

 

[scarletred]

And Mike Zimmer.

Beat me too it...

Doing well for the Vikings.

 

[Husker In Buff-land]

Yeah...Callahan was far down the list of choices. Firing Solich made us look like major assholes to the football world. Firing a coach that in a 5 year tenure had one bad season...then was rebounding after that with a new set of assistant coaches and still was canned at 9-3. People forget that we went 9-4, 12-1, 10-2 in Solich's first three years (yeah yeah w/ Osborne's players) and made BCS bowls. Then a terrible 7-7 year, then a moderate bounce back at 9-3. Who knows what Pelini as D Coor could have done given some time.

 

[dinglefritz]

Wannstedt was a done deal and one of the reasons he fired Solich. Wannie was SP's bud at the time. Then I think the progression was Nutt, Zimmer and finally Callahan. A week or so before Frank was fired, a booster of substance told me that Frank was gone and we had "wow" hire already made. All that was left was to sign the contract. Then unexpectedly Wannie got a contract extension. Saunders may have been in there but I don't recall him being a factor. Our expectations of our coaches and our program are so out of whack because we were so spoiled by the machine that Tom built..

 

[scarletred]

Wannstedt was a done deal and one of the reasons he fired Solich. Wannie was SP's bud at the time. Then I think the progression was Nutt, Zimmer and finally Callahan. A week or so before Frank was fired, a booster of substance told me that Frank was gone and we had "wow" hire already made. All that was left was to sign the contract. Then unexpectedly Wannie got a contract extension. Saunders may have been in there but I don't recall him being a factor. Our expectations of our coaches and our program are so out of whack because we were so spoiled by the machine that Tom built..

Bob and Tom built.... Never forget what Devaney did to jump start this program.

Pedy hired Wannstant at Pitt and they sucked.

 

[dinglefritz]

Bob and Tom built.... Never forget what Devaney did to jump start this program.

Pedy hired Wannstant at Pitt and they sucked.

True but Tom struggled a long time against the elites and Bob had Tom's help with his offense. What took Tom a while to figure out was fixing the D.

 

[Agent0024]

Wannsteadt was already at Pitt when Pederson was hired back. Pederson actually fired him and was later fired himself. I remember thinking at the time his short list probably included guys like Charlie Weis.

 

[Abro1975]

Go get Mike Leach. Never a dull day and points galore.

 

[scarletred]

Wannsteadt was already at Pitt when Pederson was hired back. Pederson actually fired him and was later fired himself. I remember thinking at the time his short list probably included guys like Charlie Weis.

You're right thanks for correcting me, that even makes it more ridiculous that Peddy was his own search committee and he was way over his head.

 

[CoastGuard2018]

You're right thanks for correcting me, that even makes it more ridiculous that Peddy was his own search committee and he was way over his head.

No one harmed athletics at two different schools as much as Pederson. He was instrumental in the tearing down of Pitt Stadium and replacing it with a basketball arena. Fires 2 coaches with winning records and replaces them with Bill Callahan and Mike Haywood respectively.

 

[huskerfan1414]

Football gods still punishing us for firing solich and I don't blame them.

 

[dinglefritz]

Wannsteadt was already at Pitt when Pederson was hired back. Pederson actually fired him and was later fired himself. I remember thinking at the time his short list probably included guys like Charlie Weis.

Yep and likely part of the reason Pederson was hired back at Pitt. What's funny is that Pedey probably pulled the trigger too early on Wannstedt under booster pressure at Pitt too.