[Husker] Callahan

[Steve Reichenbach]

> People forget that Bill Callahan isn't a good coach.  He took Jon
> Gruden's team a Super Bowl, and then set the Raiders on their
> downward spiral that seems to be bottoming out with this season,
> one in which they might not score a point all year.  Big Red
> Lovers, I know I exaggerate a bit, as going after pricey, aged
> veterans to make a run and then failing wasn't ol' Bill's decision,
> but it's not like he helped keep things together in the wake of
> the embarrassing loss to the Bucs.

That is just a stupid opinion.  If Callahan wasn't a "good coach",
he wouldn't have become Gruden's assistant, nor would he have been
tapped for the Raiders head coaching position, nor would he have
taken a team to the Super Bowl.

Yes, Callahan wasn't successful in his second year as head coach
and some of that was his own fault, though as much of it wasn't,
as even this poster acknowledges.

People have a tendency to see things as black and white and to see
things as having a fixed state.  In fact, all coaches make good
decisions and bad decisions and all coaches learn from some of
their mistakes and don't learn as much as they might from others.

To judge Callahan on one season of failure is to see things as
being black and white --- as if because Callahan failed at something
he must be no good --- but this ignores all of his successes.
And, it does not acknowledge the fact that everyone makes mistakes
and what usually distinguishes successful people is learning from
mistakes and becoming better.  To judge a coach as "not good" because
of a lack of success in one year, the second year as a head coach,
is just stupid.

Some people wanted to fire Devaney after he went 6-4 two years
running, but he learned what he needed to do and got it done.  Some
people wanted to fire Osborne because he couldn't win big games,
but he learned what he needed to do and got it done.  It is too
early to know whether Callahan will be successful at Nebraska ---
I'm guessing he'll have successes and failures just as all coaches
do and I hope he does what the best coaches do and learns to reduce
the frequency and magnitude of failures.