[Husker] Coaches

[Dick Karre]

As you all have probably noticed, I occasionally like to plumb the 
depths (and heights) of Nebraska football history. I wish to do so again 
- what else do we have to do during a bye week?

In 118 years of intercollegiate football, Nebraska has had 31 head 
coaches, four of whom coached only one or two games; those four won't be 
considered further here. Of the remaining 27, who had the best winning 
percentage? The answer is the immortal Ewald O. "Jumbo" Stiehm, whose 
five teams (1911-15) went an incredible 35-2-3; a 91.3% winning 
percentage. (Contrary to popular belief, Steve Stone did NOT play for 
the Stiehm Rollers, though he was in the knothole section for many of 
their games).

Second all time, was Walter C. "Bummy" Booth. His six teams 
(1900-05)were 46-8-1, an 84.5% winning percentage. His 1902 team was 
undefeated, untied and unscored upon.

Third and fourth are two guys you've all heard of. Tom Osborne 
(1973-1997) went 255-49-3 (83.6%), and Bob Devaney (1962-72) was 
101-20-2 (82.9%).

So who is number five? The answer surprised me: Frank Solich. Though 
several coaches from the twenties and thirties are close, Solich's 58-19 
record (75.3%) is the fifth best record among all NU coaches. (Do you 
suppose Steve Pederson knew that? Or cared? Probably not.)

But how does Bill Callahan stack up? Through the KSU game, Callahan is 
27-21 (56.3%). From 1942 through 1961, NU had seven coaches, all of whom 
had losing records. Prior to the War, only two coaches (Edwin Branch, 
1899, and William G. Kline, (1918) had losing records, and they both 
coached only one season (it was a tough crowd, even then). Henry Schulte 
(1919-20) had a winning record, but a winning percentage lower than 
Callahan's (8-6-3, 55.9%). Note, however, that if the Huskers lose to 
CU, Callahan (55.1%) will drop below Schulte. All the other pre-war 
coaches did better than Callhan.

If you're keeping score at home, you realize that Callahan will finish 
the regular season (and his career at NU, in all likelihood) with the 
17th or 18th best winning percentage among the 27 Nebraska coaches.

But one thing continues to puzzle me: how in the world do you pronounce 
"Ewald"?

-- 
Dick Karre
dkarre at comcast.net