[Husker] Callahan's system, changes never clicked with Huskers

[Mike Nolan]

> Something a few of us have been discussing since the firing rumblings
> began...isn't it strange that THEN AD SP got a contract renewal with an
> apparent buyout clause (which is common) this summer, and he in turn
> prematurely renewed BC's contract (with a buyout clause) just a couple games
> into the season...anyone else smell something funny, or is it just me?

At the time the Huskers were undefeated, ranked in the top 25, had
played for the Big 12 championship the previous December, had some of
the highest ranked recruiting classes in UNL history, etc.  Superficially
everything looked pretty good.  

The SP extension was similarly good on the surface.  I've known several
of our Chancellors, their attention is pulled in 100 different directions
all the time.  The Athletic Department makes up about 2% of the budget
of the University, probably less than that in terms of funds the Chancellor
has to help raise (eg, from the Legislature) if you consider that it 
is about the only self-funded program on campus.  

Why Harvey Perlman didn't hear the undercurrents of dissent, which were
there if you knew how and where to look, is a more difficult question 
to answer.  One of my sources called it a 'culture of fear' and said 
that uttering the word 'Solich' was considered cause for dismissal.

However, I believe one of the reasons is that UNL has been and continues 
to be a male-oriented and male-dominated institution (including the 
Faculty Senate and the Board of Regents), so many of those reports 
were probably ignored as being 'just from secretaries' and would never 
have gotten got as high up as Perlman's office.  Unfortunately, I don't 
see Chancellor Perlman being able to solve that problem, I'm not sure 
he's even addressing it, at times I have my doubts that he's really 
aware of it, or at least how BAD it is.  And at the moment replacing 
Perlman probably wouldn't help.
--
Mike Nolan