I wish Callahan was still our HC

[Cactusboy]

This is the quintessential example on why BC failed. His ability to use talent effectively was non-existent.

I dunno. Marlon Lucky was an exceptional talent and used effectively. I'm not sure Lucky ever had the raw desire it takes to explode through holes on the line, but BC knew what he had with Lucky, and the Keller>>Lucky short passing game was incredibly successful.

I suppose some look at using a check-down receiver like Lucky and an indication of a poor QB - and some have said as much on HB - but I thought BC was very good at getting skilled players into space and letting them make plays against poor match-ups.

His stubborness in year one ended NU's bowl run. His blind loyalty to Keller, despite the clear signs that Ganz was not only 1A, but also a guy the team wanted to battle for, cost BC dearly.

You can try to say it was about offensive scheme, but even if that was true, it was clear in August camp that Ganz and Keller were neck & neck running that offense.

BC went with Keller's "on paper measurements" and it cost him.

It is a forgivable offense by itself, but for BC it was only the second to last example of poor personnel judgement (Not canning Cosgrove mid-way into the season was the other).

I think it's easy to say some of those things about the Keller vs. Ganz QB battle now...but back in the day during fall camp BC had to make a decision which QB was going to get the majority of the snaps and be the starter. He had two good choices, and went with the guy with more in-game experience, seniority, and physical measurables. Surely Keller being a transfer might have weighed a little into the equation, but many fans simply look at the results and think it was obvious Joe was better because by the time he played, he lit up the field.

In reality, Joe Ganz was a nobody back then. Yeah, there were reports of a Keller vs. Ganz battle in fall camp, but most folks just chalked that up to good preseason football drama and it was mostly assumed Keller was going to start.

---

I just don't like to see people pile on a former Husker coach or player, whoever it is.

If Callahan hired Bo as his DC and said 'do whatever you need to do on defense, I'll get out of your way.' the results would have likely been different. Watson and Bo were more 'player' coaches and Callahan was the organized CEO guy who knew the X's and O's on offense. Callahan calling offense plays and Bo calling the defense and Watson developing our QB's would have been very interesting combo for sure.

239+ days until the next Husker football game. Let's make sure we cover all the topics we can!

Good reply. and it's common for good coaches to not choose the best QB. Sims over Applewhite. Leinhart over Cassel..etc.

 

[Stickney]

Funny, I just got a PM from the Secretary of Interior in the Congo, turns out I am an African prince!!!! Kinda strange since my ancestors are German Austrian, but you can't argue with the facts of the internet. I'm gonna be rich!!

Anybody got any experience wiring money? PM me.

I once got a PM on another message board telling me that Bo was taking the Miami job, that it was a done deal. I'm not seeing how private messages from a forum, HuskerBoard or otherwise, amount to any kind of "proof" of anything.

Pathetic replies simply because you don't WANT to believe what was said. Either you are saying he lied to me in the PM or I made the PM up. The manner in which the PM was written and what I knew of the poster makes me believe it. and if you think I would have made up 2 PMs like that...that elaborate then all I can do is smile about that. I guess I could take a screen shot of my saved PMs if you do think I made it up.

Relax, just yanking your chain.

I think we can all agree the BC era was "colorful." Which color you choose is up to debate.

Now, have you gotten any PMs on whether Cotton will be back as OLine coach?

 

[knapplc]

Funny, I just got a PM from the Secretary of Interior in the Congo, turns out I am an African prince!!!! Kinda strange since my ancestors are German Austrian, but you can't argue with the facts of the internet. I'm gonna be rich!!

Anybody got any experience wiring money? PM me.

I once got a PM on another message board telling me that Bo was taking the Miami job, that it was a done deal. I'm not seeing how private messages from a forum, HuskerBoard or otherwise, amount to any kind of "proof" of anything.

Pathetic replies simply because you don't WANT to believe what was said. Either you are saying he lied to me in the PM or I made the PM up. The manner in which the PM was written and what I knew of the poster makes me believe it. and if you think I would have made up 2 PMs like that...that elaborate then all I can do is smile about that. I guess I could take a screen shot of my saved PMs if you do think I made it up.

It's pathetic because you posted some words on a message board, which happen to be copies of words from another message board? Come on. You know as well as I that anyone can write anything on a message board. Using that as some kind of "proof" is silly. It's not that I doubt you or the message, it's the medium that is in question. You know better than that.

 

[Enhance]

You realize that has to be the case don't you? I mean Bo has only coached 4 years. The average player is in the system for 4-5 years so that means everyone graduating would likely be a BC recruit. Next year all of the guys going to the NFL will be people the current staff has recruited. And in two years . . .oh boy! Just wait and see.

Right, but Husker37 asked what "talent" Callahan had brought in here, and I responded by showing that we've sent some very talented players to the NFL (especially guys like Suh and Amukamara) all of which were Callahan recruits. Obviously, Pelini wasn't here to recruit them, but it doesn't detract from the fact that Callahan had some very good players here.

You have to admit one thing, Billy C's offense could score points. The problem was with the defense. And, I might add, he recruited some top notch talent.

I have only agreed one time in my life with Lou Holtz. (Actually, I cannot stand the man.) That is when he said (referring to Bill Callahan's defense), "The most difficult thing for a head coach to do is to fire his friends, even if it costs him his job."

I do not think Bill Callahan was the man for Nebraska because he did not belong to this culture. He was a "no connect" to the fans and players. I wish Pelini could recruit the talent that Callahan had here because I believe he could coach them. Callahan could not.

Six points against Missouri, 14 against Okie Lite, and 14 against Texas A&M. Offense definitely wasn't the problem that year, but those three games were still pathetic performances.

Cactusboy, you're quite clearly ignorant to the Bill Callahan era, and there's truly no nicer way to say it. The state was divided and in an uproar, our players flat out gave up on the season, there was little unity and the program was in shambles. There is no bone in my body that things Callahan remaining on as HC would have been a good thing. All that "talent" brought in was underutilized and poorly developed, and there's absolutely no argument to be made against that.

You're just wrong. Flat out, undeniably, inconceivably wrong about this.

Colorado 65-NU 51 bring back any memories?

First and foremost know that I wasn't calling you flat out wrong - I was talking to CactusboyOG.

Like I said, offense wasn't a problem here, but the idea that we always scored points is factually wrong. Granted we had a lot of trouble scoring points in 2009, but we had a defense that could support this. The 2009 offense with 2007 defense would have been a disaster, possibly even a defeated season. Pelini had a terrible offense, great defense and won 10 games. Callahan had a terrible defense, good offense and only won five.

 

[Cactusboy]

2006 was BC's best year here. We were 9-5. We put up gigantic offensive numbers like 10 against USC and 7 against OU. In the time BC was coach, we put most of our points up against teams with a pulse when the game was clearly lost. The only thing I would have liked to have seen was what a BC recruited QB could have done his jr. or sr. year. However, BC could never keep a QB around long enough to get there. Beck bolted. Freeman decommitted. Gabbert decommitted. With another couple of BC coached years, Suh would have been lucky to be a mid-fourth round draft pick. BC was good at getting the talent, but he rarely ever developed it once he got it to Nebraska.

VIrtualy none of that holds up to even minimal scrutiny.

Beck was a flop

Freeman bolting was a fluke

Gabbert bolted AFTER/BECAUSE BC was fired.

Player development-

off the top of my head from the offense...

Zac Taylor (big 12 MVP)

Ganz

Nate Swift

Peterson

Purify

BJax

All of those guys did better than expected. They all over achieved. Sure not all players did..but show me ANY former NU coach and I'll show you similar lists of flops.

 

[Cactusboy]

Marlon Lucky? Are you serious? He was not very effective and not used well. Hell, BC kept Brandon Jackson off the filed so we could watch Lucky get repeatedly tackled by stiff breezes. Did that guy EVER break a tackle? He was good in space I guess, but we rarely got him there.

If my aunt Sally had nuts, she'd be my uncle Sal.

One phrase sums up the total failure that was the BC era..."half-pack" We couldn't tackle on defense, yet we were not smart enough to go full pads so our players could LEARN to tackle? This is not the NFL. CFB players need to be taught the basics. And don't blame that on Cos. The head coach decided to "half-pack".

Bjax emerged his last season and BC gave him more PT as that happened. Go back and look at the game stats. Lucky didn't live up to his star rating, but that happens all the time.

 

[JJ Husker]

Funny, I just got a PM from the Secretary of Interior in the Congo, turns out I am an African prince!!!! Kinda strange since my ancestors are German Austrian, but you can't argue with the facts of the internet. I'm gonna be rich!!

Anybody got any experience wiring money? PM me.

I once got a PM on another message board telling me that Bo was taking the Miami job, that it was a done deal. I'm not seeing how private messages from a forum, HuskerBoard or otherwise, amount to any kind of "proof" of anything.

Pathetic replies simply because you don't WANT to believe what was said. Either you are saying he lied to me in the PM or I made the PM up. The manner in which the PM was written and what I knew of the poster makes me believe it. and if you think I would have made up 2 PMs like that...that elaborate then all I can do is smile about that. I guess I could take a screen shot of my saved PMs if you do think I made it up.

I think what is trying to be pointed out to you is, that anybody can say anything in a PM, in person, or on a message board. Just because somebody said it doesn't make it true or valid. Did you really think you were going to start an "I want Callahan back" thread and not be subjected to ridicule and smart a$$ comments? The Callahan/Peterson years are the absolute worst on record for this program. Seems like every week of his reign we set some new, stupidly pathetic, low for the program. He and Peterson alienated ex-players and destroyed the culture of this program. I don't care what you or anyone thinks of his recruiting, offenses, or any other compartmentalized piece of the puzzle, the fact is we hit rock bottom and started to dig while he was here. Anyone who still thinks he would be better for this program than Pelini either didn't pay attention, is severely reality challenged, or is just plain stupid. If you want to claim he was better at some specific aspect, then go right ahead but, a better head coach? That ship has sailed and it sank in a fiery explosion.

 

[Cactusboy]

Ganz also threw a lot of INT's. Most of his yards he got against KU came against a prevent defense. In BC's tenure, we had to bring bandaid QB's because BC couldn't develop one.

Are you sure about that? We were down 28-21 into the 2nd quarter. Ganz had 2 TD passes at that point and quite a few yards.

And let's just get real here. Ganz was a NOBODY out of high school No one thought he'd EVER get more than mop up time maybe by his Sr year....IF THAT. It's beyond ridiculous to suggest Ganz was developed as a QB VERY well. To suggest otherwise just shows you're not a rational/objective person on this matter.

In many years Ganz would have been the conf MVP for his performance in 07. It just so happened that was a very good year for QBs in the big 12.

 

[Cactusboy]

2006 was BC's best year here. We were 9-5. We put up gigantic offensive numbers like 10 against USC and 7 against OU. In the time BC was coach, we put most of our points up against teams with a pulse when the game was clearly lost. The only thing I would have liked to have seen was what a BC recruited QB could have done his jr. or sr. year. However, BC could never keep a QB around long enough to get there. Beck bolted. Freeman decommitted. Gabbert decommitted. With another couple of BC coached years, Suh would have been lucky to be a mid-fourth round draft pick. BC was good at getting the talent, but he rarely ever developed it once he got it to Nebraska.

DING DING DING. We have a winner. It amazes me when people talk about how good the offense was under BC. It sucked. Oh, against cupcakes, and good teams that had pulled their starters, it could score.

Does it amaze you when people say our D is good under Bo? Should we cherry pick scores of old?

BC's offenses didn't do well at times..but other times it did. 200 yard IN THE FIRST HALF vs USC in 07.

 

[JJ Husker]

2006 was BC's best year here. We were 9-5. We put up gigantic offensive numbers like 10 against USC and 7 against OU. In the time BC was coach, we put most of our points up against teams with a pulse when the game was clearly lost. The only thing I would have liked to have seen was what a BC recruited QB could have done his jr. or sr. year. However, BC could never keep a QB around long enough to get there. Beck bolted. Freeman decommitted. Gabbert decommitted. With another couple of BC coached years, Suh would have been lucky to be a mid-fourth round draft pick. BC was good at getting the talent, but he rarely ever developed it once he got it to Nebraska.

VIrtualy none of that holds up to even minimal scrutiny.

Beck was a flop

Freeman bolting was a fluke

Gabbert bolted AFTER/BECAUSE BC was fired.

Player development-

off the top of my head from the offense...

Zac Taylor (big 12 MVP)

Ganz

Nate Swift

Peterson

Purify

BJax

All of those guys did better than expected. They all over achieved. Sure not all players did..but show me ANY former NU coach and I'll show you similar lists of flops.

And what exactly did this program achieve with that illustrious list of players? Nothing other than setting new program lows week in and week out. I don't say that to bash those players but there was a serious disconnect between player ability and individual results to what the "team" was able to accomplish. None of the individual achievements matter if the net result is the team sucking. That is BC's legacy.

 

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

2006 was BC's best year here. We were 9-5. We put up gigantic offensive numbers like 10 against USC and 7 against OU. In the time BC was coach, we put most of our points up against teams with a pulse when the game was clearly lost. The only thing I would have liked to have seen was what a BC recruited QB could have done his jr. or sr. year. However, BC could never keep a QB around long enough to get there. Beck bolted. Freeman decommitted. Gabbert decommitted. With another couple of BC coached years, Suh would have been lucky to be a mid-fourth round draft pick. BC was good at getting the talent, but he rarely ever developed it once he got it to Nebraska.

DING DING DING. We have a winner. It amazes me when people talk about how good the offense was under BC. It sucked. Oh, against cupcakes, and good teams that had pulled their starters, it could score.

Does it amaze you when people say our D is good under Bo? Should we cherry pick scores of old?

BC's offenses didn't do well at times..but other times it did. 200 yard IN THE FIRST HALF vs USC in 07.

You'll also remember that Callahan and staff were HORRIBLE at half time adjustments.

 

[Cactusboy]

Cactusboy, True or not, it is ridiculous to not let a HC replace a DC struggling on an epic level....I think that is what everyone has bee n trying to get at....

It appears they wouldn't let him replace him with a high caliber DC that BC wanted because were do our coaching on the cheap.

So could have have fired him...probably. But who would he have replace him with? A guy that was serving our coaches coffee 4 years ago? I mean isn't that what we just did under Bo? That can maybe work w/ the HC is a D guy. Just as I'm sure we could have had a 2nd rate OC under BC and been ok.

The problem seems to be we won't spend money on our coaches. Anyone know why that is? Why are we not even the top 20 for average pay of assistant coaches? maybe we should spend less on sky boxes and more on coaches...

 

[Cactusboy]

Funny, I just got a PM from the Secretary of Interior in the Congo, turns out I am an African prince!!!! Kinda strange since my ancestors are German Austrian, but you can't argue with the facts of the internet. I'm gonna be rich!!

Anybody got any experience wiring money? PM me.

I once got a PM on another message board telling me that Bo was taking the Miami job, that it was a done deal. I'm not seeing how private messages from a forum, HuskerBoard or otherwise, amount to any kind of "proof" of anything.

Pathetic replies simply because you don't WANT to believe what was said. Either you are saying he lied to me in the PM or I made the PM up. The manner in which the PM was written and what I knew of the poster makes me believe it. and if you think I would have made up 2 PMs like that...that elaborate then all I can do is smile about that. I guess I could take a screen shot of my saved PMs if you do think I made it up.

It's pathetic because you posted some words on a message board, which happen to be copies of words from another message board? Come on. You know as well as I that anyone can write anything on a message board. Using that as some kind of "proof" is silly. It's not that I doubt you or the message, it's the medium that is in question. You know better than that.

We are not in a court of law. So people can decide based on the integrity of myself and their common sense. You act as though NO 2nd hand info is credible. Obviously it's a case by case thing, but you want to lump it all together when convenient.

 

[Enhance]

2006 was BC's best year here. We were 9-5. We put up gigantic offensive numbers like 10 against USC and 7 against OU. In the time BC was coach, we put most of our points up against teams with a pulse when the game was clearly lost. The only thing I would have liked to have seen was what a BC recruited QB could have done his jr. or sr. year. However, BC could never keep a QB around long enough to get there. Beck bolted. Freeman decommitted. Gabbert decommitted. With another couple of BC coached years, Suh would have been lucky to be a mid-fourth round draft pick. BC was good at getting the talent, but he rarely ever developed it once he got it to Nebraska.

DING DING DING. We have a winner. It amazes me when people talk about how good the offense was under BC. It sucked. Oh, against cupcakes, and good teams that had pulled their starters, it could score.

Does it amaze you when people say our D is good under Bo? Should we cherry pick scores of old?

BC's offenses didn't do well at times..but other times it did. 200 yard IN THE FIRST HALF vs USC in 07.

Edit - just realized I looked at the wrong game. Regardless, I can pull up any number of scores to contradict your point. That very same offense only scored 6 points against a far less talented defense on the road.

Also, Pelini has had two defenses finish in the top ten in scoring defense and yards allowed. Did any facet of Callahan's teams ever finish in the Top 10, in anything?

 

[Cactusboy]

I think what is trying to be pointed out to you is, that anybody can say anything in a PM, in person, or on a message board. Just because somebody said it doesn't make it true or valid. Did you really think you were going to start an "I want Callahan back" thread and not be subjected to ridicule and smart a$$ comments? The Callahan/Peterson years are the absolute worst on record for this program. Seems like every week of his reign we set some new, stupidly pathetic, low for the program. He and Peterson alienated ex-players and destroyed the culture of this program. I don't care what you or anyone thinks of his recruiting, offenses, or any other compartmentalized piece of the puzzle, the fact is we hit rock bottom and started to dig while he was here. Anyone who still thinks he would be better for this program than Pelini either didn't pay attention, is severely reality challenged, or is just plain stupid. If you want to claim he was better at some specific aspect, then go right ahead but, a better head coach? That ship has sailed and it sank in a fiery explosion.

BC w/ a top notch DC would make LOTS of NU fans happy. Just get outside of the group thinkers on the internets w/ their pitch forks and you'll start to realize this. I realize this not long ago as I started talking about these thing to random NU fans I know.