[Husker] My last post on Pederson

[Don Mares]

I hesitate to respond to this only because of the lynch mob I've awoken.
Pederson made a lot of mistakes but like Perlman said at the time, you make
the best decisions you can with the information you have at the time.  I
believe that Steve Pederson had the best interests of Nebraska Athletics in
mind when he made all of his decisions.  I will say the most refreshing
thing to me about Osborne is clearly there is no ulterior motive, hidden
agenda or any incling of personal gain.  The man can help out and that's
what he is going to do.  It is a shame that it deteriorated to the point
that he needed to step in.

This will be my last post on the topic so say what you want.  But Pederson
did do plenty of good things that went unnoticed, these are jut a few.  It
appears his undoing may have been his efforts to help Nebraska obtain the
highest levels of success.

- Create opportunity for student athletes to achieve exceptional
performances in all areas
- Chairman of NCAA Football Issues Committee
- Leader in efforts to give football players a fifth year of eligibility
- Pursued early signing period in football
- Addressed shortage of ehnic minorities in head coaching positions at the
division 1 level
- Key negotiator in the big 12 television package - broader exposure to
men's basketball and increased revenue for all schools
- Oversaw the self sufficient, fiscally sound budget at Nebraska of around
70 million
- Put Nebraska back at the forefront of world class facilities
- Increased concessions, restrooms and disabled seating at memorial stadium
- Enhanced Nebraska's nationally recognized Life Skills program to assist
student athletes with postgraduation pursuits
- Created the Life Skills Award for the team demonstrating the strongest
committment to outreach, education and leadership
- Renegotiated Nebraska's contract with Adidas increasing revenue and
exposure

Although, its not Nebraska related, he took a young and unknown Pittsburgh
athletic program and put them in the national spotlight in six years.  As a
result of that effort, he earned the 2002 General Robert R Neyland Athletic
Director Award presented by the All American Football Foundation for
outstanding administrative achievement.

He didn't make the director's cup a priority like Byrne did and I enjoyed
being in the forefront for that but there are several ways to judge success
for an athletic department.

For the record, I didn't like the handling of the Solich debacle but felt
something needed to be done, recruiting suffered under Solich's guidance but
I would have liked to had seen what his new coaching staff could have done.
My wish may be granted now.  I was glad Steve Pederson had the job and felt
he was best qualified to fulfill that role.  With that said, I'm grateful
Perlman stepped in and took action when he did.  I'm even more grateful to
Coach Osborne for stepping in and taking on this whole can of worms that
will probably hurt him more than help him in terms of his legacy.

I, like most of you, just love Nebraska Athletics.

Don