Fw: [Husker] Cosgrove - Has Gotta Go!

[Pat Gaule]

Monty Perry wrote:
> I have told several of my friends the same thing. We don't know that Dr. 
> Tom will fire anyone. A lot of the speculation has been, in my opinion, 
> wishful thinking. One of the first things he said at the press 
> conference was that during the second of the two 6-4 seasons, he learned 
> more in that year than any other year that he coached. Now I don't have 
> an opinion either way if BC should be fired or not, but lets say BC 
> brings a plan to Dr. Tom, at the seasons end, that includes a change in 
> the defense. We may see him back, and the GRObC wagon may be circling 
> for a while....
> 
> GBR (bleeding red each weekend)


Some perspective is required for analyzing those '67 and '68 seasons.  I 
do not believe they are comparable to the current situation in any way, 
shape or form. First and foremost, those seasons proceeded a period of 5 
years where Devaney went 47-8 upon his arrival to NU.  In those 5 years, 
Nebraska won 4 conference championships and went to a bowl game in 5 
consecutive seasons.  Back then, going to a bowl game meant a lot more 
than it does now, as bids were few and far between.

That 5 year stretch is all the more incredible when you consider what 
preceded it.  Prior to Devaney's arrival (1962), Nebraska had not had a 
winning season since 1954 when they went 6-5.  The last time they had a 
higher winning percentage than .600 was 1950, when they went 6-2.  They 
had not won a conference championship since 1940.  1967 and 1968 were 
certainly "down years", but only because Devaney established a track 
record of success at a school that had not been good for a very long time.

I am sure that Devaney and his assistants (including Osborne) felt some 
pressure during these seasons, but I doubt anyone at the time could have 
looked at that situation objectively and said, "Wow, there are major 
problems with this staff that simply cannot be fixed."  After all, the 
same staff had gone on a tear for the previous 5 seasons.  All that was 
required was for them to figure out what had made them successful during 
the 47-8 run.  They tweaked a few things here and there, and a few years 
later they had a pair of national championships.  For that staff, it was 
merely a matter of addressing a few minor issues to get over the hump.

Furthermore, a .600 winning percentage in an isolated season (or two) is 
simply not that bad.  Do you realize that Callahan's career winning 
percentage at Nebraska stands at a meager .553 (and is dropping by the 
week)?  In other words, over a 4 year period, he has performed 
significantly worse than any single season in the Devaney/Osborne era 
(and all but one season of the Solich era).

Like Devaney, it's only fair to view Callahan's performance in context. 
  In the years prior to Callahan's arrival (2004), Nebraska had not had 
a losing season in 42 years.  Nebraska had not missed out on a bowl bid 
in 35 years.  We're now on pace to do both of those things twice in a 
4-year span.  In the 35 years preceding Callahan, NU finished outside of 
the top 25 on only one occasion (2002).  In 4 years at Nebraska, 
Callahan has finished in the top 25 exactly *once*, when NU squeaked in 
at 24th in both polls to close out the 2005 campaign.  That's still the 
lowest finish for any "ranked" Husker team going back to 1969.    NU is 
only 10 years removed from a national championship and 6 years removed 
from a berth in the national championship game.  Under Callahan, the 
longest we remained undefeated was when we started 4-0 in 2005. 
Callahan has not coached anything that resembled a "great" Nebraska 
team.  I could go on and on with statistics, but I think you get the idea.

My point is that there are *MAJOR* problems with the Nebraska football 
program right now, and there is absolutely no way that they can be 
rectified by the current coaching staff.  With a career record that is 
hovering around .500, Bill Callahan has done nothing to deserve a chance 
at fixing this mess.  When Devaney struggled with those 6-4 seasons, you 
could at least point to his first five years as evidence that he could 
be extremely successful at Nebraska.  Even when Solich went 7-7 in 2002, 
you could look at his first 4 seasons, and several seasons prior as an 
valuable assistant coach, and see *some* proof of success. Both men had 
done enough to give them the benefit of the doubt, and earn a chance at 
"fixing the problem."  Devaney figured it out, and Solich very well 
might have if Steve Pederson had never disgraced this state with his 
presence.

As far as Bill coming to Tom with a plan at season's end, I've 
experienced enough of Callahan's ingenious gameplanning over the past 4 
years to realize that any such plans would be an unmitigated disaster. 
His choice of Cosgrove as a defensive coordinator (and subsequent 
refusal to dump him) is proof that he cannot be trusted to make changes 
to his defensive staff.  Tom Osborne is not stupid, and he is not going 
to buy whatever excuses or plans Callahan tries to feed him.  Callahan 
will not be back.  The only question is when the ax falls.