[Husker]Performance Evaluation

[Mike Jaixen]

I'm not sure they get a pass, as much as these are
essentially just mid-term grades at this point.
Barring fraud, coaches get 2 or 3 years to show some
signs of progress in college football.

So where do we grade Callahan and company?

First, the good stuff:

Recruiting:  A+.  Having 18 verbal committments at
this point is outstanding.  But, this grade is only
based on numbers; it's impossible to accurately judge
the quality of recruits. I know some Husker fans are
excited about Harrison Beck, but I also remember
Florida State fans were pretty excited about Chris Rix
when he was in high school.  Rix had Beck-like
credentials coming in (top-5 QB, strongest arm, etc.),
but found himself on the bench by his senior year.

Teaching:  B-. This patchwork line sure played over
expectations, especially after Richie Incognito left. 
And when you consider the size of the playbook that
Callahan brought in, I think they did a reasonable job
teaching it.

Now, the not-so-good-stuff:

Development:  D+.  Let's face it, we really didn't see
anybody emerge as the year progressed, unless you
count the reduction in interceptions from September to
October.  And I attribute that to Dailey deciding to
take a chance on overthrowing the receiver rather than
trying to hit the receiver and risk an interception.
And does anybody want to remember how well Beau Davis
was prepared to play against Texas Tech????

Game management:  D-.  Too many timeouts were burned
on offense and defense because the playcall never got
in.   The worst case was against Iowa State, where the
play call never got in after a 2 minute radio timeout
on 1st and 10.  A rushed playcall at the end of the
3rd quarter against Southern Miss led to a decisive
turnover, and an ill-timed timeout on 3rd and long
yesterday late in the 2nd quarter left Colorado enough
time to score before halftime.

Playcalling:  D-.  I thought long and hard about
giving this an "F". Electing to throw the ball 40+
times against Southern Miss and Iowa State directly
led to losses in very winnable games.  I found the
comments by the coaches about the offense after the
Oklahoma extremely disturbing:  "We decided that our
strength on offense was in running the ball." (It took
you 9 games to figure that out?!?!?!?!?!?) The
"Prevent" defense against Texas Tech made that game a
bad blowout even before the turnovers began.  And a FG
from the 1-foot line against Pitt???  

Special teams:  D-.  Upgraded from an F because kick
coverage improved, thanks to Brandon Rigoni.  Santino
Panico has good hands and not much speed, and never
had any help on returns.  And how long did it take to
figure out that David Dyches was a better kicker than
Sandro DeAngelis???

Game motivation:  F.  The heart of this team was MIA
against Kansas State and Colorado.  Perhaps this was
an impossible task after the events of last winter,
but I remember the words of Benard Thomas last year
about "running through a brick wall" for the old
staff.  In their best game of the year, Missouri, the
heart was provided by Charlie McBride and the 1994
Huskers.

Intangibles:  D-.  Hillbillies and his reaction to the
oranges flying in the OU game, especially after
coaching for how many years in the "Black Hole".  15
yard penalty against Callahan early in the Iowa State
game.  His stupid sign in the "Tunnel Walk".  At least
he didn't call his 2004 team the "dumbest team in
America" like he did in 2003.

Overall grade:  D+.  Not a failing grade, but this
staff has a lot of work to accomplish.  Forget about
"building for championships", let's focus first on
respectability.
 
--- jonlists <jonlists at cbsol.com> wrote:

> Despite all of these, Bill Callahan and crew get a
> pass. First year coach, 
> first year in his contract, and to be blunt, he
> coached like he knew he'd 
> get a pass. 


=====
Mike Jaixen


		
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