I would not say that, but there are some who would.In his weekly Cavalcade of Whimsy (a personal favorite title and column), Pete Fiutak ranks the Top 5 Worst Coaching Jobs of 2007 from crap to utter and complete crap:
5) Phil Bennett, SMU (Firing already announced).
4) Sonny Lubick, CSU
3) Tim Brewster, Minnesota
2) Bill Callahan, Nebraska
1) Charlie Weis, Notre Dame
Notre Dame may be the only security blanket Nebraska fans have right now, the one program worse off than the Cornhuskers. While Notre Dame is somehow still reeling in recruits, Nebraska has the advantage of a new coach next year not just new players. Weis isn't going anywhere yet.
But has he really out-uncoached, to coin a term, Bill Callahan? I'm hesitant to think so. Notre Dame and Nebraska are equally awful on different sides of the ball. With both coaches being offensive guys, ND's pathetic ability to move the ball seems the more glaring failure. Point for Callahan but I can't really overlook the preseason expectations when comparing the two.
Mark May famously predicted the Irish would start 0-8 before the season began (and they would've if not for the plague descending on UCLA's QB corps). Nebraska, however, was a contender in the Big 12 North and while that's not exactly a dominant position to be in they were ranked to start the season. I'd say most rational people felt Nebraska was an Alamo Bowl level squad before the season began.
Now they're not even a bowl worthy squad, but even after five consecutive losses I still have a hard time believing Nebraska is this bad. I honestly was prepared for Nebraska to beat Kansas last week. It would've surprised me but it wouldn't have shocked me. I don't think it's naive to say Nebraska has as much talent as, if not more than, the rest of their division at least.
You have to throw out the tradition factor here. Notre Dame and Nebraska are atrocious right now by any standards, but what's worse: being bad in a rebuilding year or taking three steps back when everyone was looking for the program to take one step forward?
Nebraska is a program in turmoil, just check the rumor pulse on any given day since October 15. Notre Dame is simply bad. For that reason, I'll give the nod to Callahan (although the turmoil is not entirely his fault) over Weis but there's still hope. If you were to ask me which program could rebound quicker I'd again give the nod to Nebraska, which I suppose is the definition of disappointment.
In Related News: In that same column Fiutak lists Buffalo's Turner Gill as having the fifth best coaching job of the year and he lists Callahan in his "shocked if they aren't gone" category. Will one ranking begat the other? The more I think about it the more I realize that there's almost no way Osoborne will pass over Gill at this point but maybe that's just me.
4 comments:
Hey, I'm not sold on Turner, how about you? I hope Tom can think more outside the box than that. I would definitely support T.G. but I think I need to see more. I heard Damon Benning mention Randy Edsall from UCONN. I kinda like what I've read about him. What do you think?
Almost ten years ago to the day...I sat at work when the news of TO's retirement crossed the wire. A couple of co-workers (mind you, I lived in Connecticut where I was the lone NU alum at my job) asked me what I thought of the news and the announcement of the new coach. I told them I would much rather have had Turner get the nod. Solich was the "safe transitional choice" but Gill would seem to have more potential for long-term success, if the decision had been made to stay in-house. Seems very serendipitous that we're having the Turner Gill discussion ten years hence as it really makes me feel ahead of the curve on this one. But like Bobbyperu said, I can't even say I'm 100% sold on Turner, even to this day.
However, I can say that I talked to Gill's brother-in-law recently and he said something to the extent of "Turner might not get the job, but I guarantee that TO will never hire Bo Pelini..." So I'm anxious to see how that guarantee plays out in the midst of this colossal wave of Bo love that we find crashing down around us on a daily basis. Bo seems like a hot head and I can sure see how that would clash with TO's style. If for that reason alone, I can see that there's no way...I figure that if he wasn't good enough for Syracuse, how can he be the man for NU?
But on the other hand...personally, I was a Bo supporter when he was named interim coach and sort of feel like he's just as deserving now, for the fact that:
A) he was given the job
B) he succeeded in the job and kept the team together (and performing quite well) during a period of great uncertainty and tumult
C) following the successful completion of A & B...he had the job inexplicably taken away from him
But it'd be a shame to see him screw up his undefeated record at NU.
There are several dozen guys that could have potential...Edsall, Schiano & Leavitt are three big east guys who come up in a lot of pie-in-the-sky theories. A lot of old-schoolers fancy Johnson because he runs the triple option at Navy (perhaps we could also dig up Devaney and he could sell popcorn in the "knothole section"? I'm all for tradition...but it seems that I would like to take another step forward rather than two steps backward.) Out here in Brandon's old stomping grounds, the vibe on Joe Glenn is mixed (there are a few Wyo fans who don't think his results match the hype). I don't know if any of them would be interested in an open coaching job at NU...and am even less certain that any would be able to achieve the expectations that come with the position, but I do know that it'll be an entertaining and lively off season full of discussion and debate. Can't ask for much more out of a season like this one...it'll keep our minds occupied out here in western Nebraska during the doldrums of January-March.
Bobbyperu,
I'm not totally sold on Gill either, but if I don't like him because he's only got two years as a head coach under his belt, how do I long for Pelini who has none? That very question probably deserves a full post somewhere down the line.
Regardless, I just hope TO truly has his eye out for the best man for the job and the challenge with Gill is he's the easy higher. Not saying he's not right, but I hope others at least have a realistic shot.
DT,
I'm all for tradition too and, if Gill were to get the job, I'd be fine with it, but Nebraska cannot expect to win like they used to. The game is different now.
Callahan was a departure for Nebraska, just not the right one. In all honesty, I think Pederson's plan for Nebraska football was a good one, but he made the move without a solid replacement on board and we were left picking up scraps. The error wasn't necessarily in the philosophy but rather the execution.
I just hope that TO doesn't become hamstrung by the days of yore. The appealing thing about Pelini is that there is some question as to how he'd fit in. It's risky, but in an exciting way that was, at least for me, absent with the hiring of Callahan.
If Bo gets the job you'll know that he had to do some convincing, win some wary people over and isn't that recruiting in a nutshell?
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