Bill Callahan

[Laner2]

Originally Posted by Ohio Vol

At what point did Nebraska run the wishbone?

Never did. Ran the power I and option for most of the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Callihan brought the West Coast Offense to NU. U-t-t-e-r d-i-s-a-s-t-e-r.

There are other things I could say, but Doc says the tic will come back.

[vols kick balls]

No matter what it is still going to be Kiffin's play book and Kiffin calling the plays. With that in mind, I could think of a lot worse OL coaches and second opinions on an offensive staff.

[volsfan0156]

He was a terrible head coach, but ive heard he had succes as an OC, and if he screws up, Kiffin can take over the OC duties

[corona1898]

Originally Posted by UTVOLS79

I read something about bill Callahan being OC. I know he head coached at Oakland and Nebraska but where was he a OC at? I wasn't sure.
Posted via VolNation Mobile

Please tell me this isn't true??? Is it from a reliable source?

[Huskerfan]

Originally Posted by volsfan0156

He was a terrible head coach, but ive heard he had succes as an OC, and if he screws up, Kiffin can take over the OC duties

He coaches the line at NYJ, was HC at NU and HC at Oakland. Was he the OC at Oakland before HC?

The guy is a brilliant X and O guy. But he can't call plays. Very predictable. At NU he had the 800 page (for real) play book but he called the same 5 plays over and over. Kiffin has to call the plays.

Another issue was the team got soft. Heck you saw it. He didn't have them in full pads - ever. Only the starters got reps. Former Husker players were shocked and tell stories about water balloon fights by the rest of the squad during practice.

I've always been a Vols fan and wish nothing but the best for you guys. If you must hire him I think the key is you need to have hands on assistants that can teach the kids because Callahan just can't teach and he plays favorites. He started the ones that did the best in class vs. the best on the field. We had four star players looking foolish on the field. Most embarrassing four years ever.

So if Kiffin has to call the plays and make sure the position coaches are teaching... why do you need an OC?

I tailgated with Vols at the NC game in Miami in 98. Osborne's last game. We painted "Tom's Last Dance - The Tennessee Waltz" on a car along with Husker logo etc. We had tons of Vol fans asking to have their photo taken with our car. Ah the memories....

You guys take care. Trust that Kiffin will make good decisions. We went thru this last year and it is tough. But just one year later we are once again hopeful. I wish the same for you. Good luck and Go Big Red!

[Landlordos7]

Hey all, another Husker fan. Hoping I can provide a somewhat different perspective, perhaps more fair or objective (I really don't know how accurate my thoughts are, take them for what they're worth.)


Callahan came to Nebraska after Steve Pedersen (who I daresay was a darker spot on NU history than Callahan was) fired a coach who was winning games, and had even won nine games that season. The thing was, even though he had 9, 10, 11 win seasons, some thought he wasn't the best coach for us because of the last five years of Tom Osborne's legacy, in which he went a ridiculous 60-3 with three national championships and was one field goal away from a fourth.

So now Pedersen is in a bind, because he decides not to hire Bo Pelini, even though the fanbase is screaming for him, and also because what head coach in his right mind would want to come into a place like Nebraska, with the most spoiled fans in all of sports, when the previous coach got fired after a nine win season? Callahan was actually Pedersen's 5th choice (if i recall correctly) for head coach, and frankly put, Callahan needed a job.

There's a few things to make from this. The first is that Pedersen obviously wanted to modernize the offense, which is why Callahan was an option. The second is that Callahan was more than likely brought in here without a real good understanding of what Nebraska football meant to the entire state, whether that be his fault or Pedersen's. The last is that he was entrusted with the job of completely revolutionizing the offense of past that had been so dominant for ~30 years.

So in he comes, with his pretty passing offense and NFL mentality and it was a sight to behold for Husker fans. None of us had ever seen such a business-like approach, getting off certain amounts of plays in so many minutes during practice, huge playbooks, motivational devices, etc., and the first year was very much a transitional phase.

Yadda yadda yadda stuff about more of the transition period..

Basically, what I am getting around to is that Callahan did completely alienate so much of what Nebraska football was, but a lot of it I don't blame on him. Pedersen brought him in, when he most likely didn't know what to expect, and it wasn't exactly fair to expect what was expected of him, and if you ask me he did the job he was primarily brought in for; modernizing the program to keep up with today's standards. In 2006 we were in the top 25 for passing offense, rushing offense, and total offense, and were one play away from beating Texas, and all but won against Auburn as well. In 2007 the offense was still a bit of a well-oiled machine, seemingly the only times it ever faltered once he got his players in was due to questionable philosophies concerning leads.

I personally believe Callahan would be a good hire for a coordinator spot, especially if he is not as in charge of the offense as he was at Nebraska. Look up past articles on him and you will find knowledgeable people in their own right, praising his grasp of offensive philosophies and I completely agree that he is a genius in certain respects on the offensive side of the ball. I even think of him as being a pretty good guy character wise, just unfamiliar with the college level in part. What he flat out stinks with, is being in charge of a major program.


Sorry if that is a bit jumbled and if you're not exactly sure what to get out of it. There are some things I really dislike Callahan for, and he left a bad taste in my mouth, but some are just me wrongly throwing blame around and even more were the result of Steve Pedersen.

[Ohio Vol]

Originally Posted by Laner2

Never did. Ran the power I and option for most of the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Callihan brought the West Coast Offense to NU. U-t-t-e-r d-i-s-a-s-t-e-r.

There are other things I could say, but Doc says the tic will come back.

It was beautiful to watch for all of those years except two bowl games.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't pattern a lot of my own playcalling tendencies off of Nebraska. They had no compunction about running the same thing seven or eight plays in a row to set up the home run when the defense was just starting to get a little loose out there.

Of course, I say Nebraska's playbook of the Osborne/Solich era was too big. They really only needed about 15 running plays and the play action variations.

[Ohio Vol]

Originally Posted by Huskerfan

He coaches the line at NYJ, was HC at NU and HC at Oakland. Was he the OC at Oakland before HC?

The guy is a brilliant X and O guy. But he can't call plays. Very predictable. At NU he had the 800 page (for real) play book but he called the same 5 plays over and over. Kiffin has to call the plays.

Another issue was the team got soft. Heck you saw it. He didn't have them in full pads - ever. Only the starters got reps. Former Husker players were shocked and tell stories about water balloon fights by the rest of the squad during practice.

I'm not necessarily averse to this. I'm used to full pads being used in practice as punishment for a feeble performance or a poor effort on Friday nights. In my opinion it allows more work to be done since it slows the fatigue process down a little bit, and it also builds a certain amount of aggressive tension during the week that can be unloaded on Friday nights.

The logic came to me by my old head coach via the legendary John Gagliardi.

[jsc1973]

Originally Posted by the.one.the.only

See now this Nebraska fan I actually respect. Those morons in the recruiting forum bring down the whole state of Nebraska.

Those folks don't represent most Nebraska fans. Most Husker fans act like they've won something before.

I'm a member of a Nebraska discussion group, they invited me in during the lead-up to the 2000 Fiesta Bowl. Speaking the name of Callahan to them is about like invoking Satan. He wasn't a good coach, and he was a jerk. He knows the West Coast Offense and that's about it.

[VolsRule]

Running the west coast offense at nebraska, when they can't recruit west coast offense type players---extremely dumb.

[Landlordos7]

Originally Posted by VolsRule

Running the west coast offense at nebraska, when they can't recruit west coast offense type players---extremely dumb.

Actually we had some fantastic recruiting classes under Callahan. His first full class was even considered #1 in the country by some, and we were routinely right up there with the best. Before our 2007 meltdown, we were in the top ten building an extremely impressive quarterback including the #1 pro-style quarterback in the country.

[Volholic]

So I'm guessing that Callahan would coach QBs?

[Volholic]

Originally Posted by Huskerfan

He coaches the line at NYJ, was HC at NU and HC at Oakland. Was he the OC at Oakland before HC?

The guy is a brilliant X and O guy. But he can't call plays. Very predictable. At NU he had the 800 page (for real) play book but he called the same 5 plays over and over. Kiffin has to call the plays.

Another issue was the team got soft. Heck you saw it. He didn't have them in full pads - ever. Only the starters got reps. Former Husker players were shocked and tell stories about water balloon fights by the rest of the squad during practice.

I've always been a Vols fan and wish nothing but the best for you guys. If you must hire him I think the key is you need to have hands on assistants that can teach the kids because Callahan just can't teach and he plays favorites. He started the ones that did the best in class vs. the best on the field. We had four star players looking foolish on the field. Most embarrassing four years ever.

So if Kiffin has to call the plays and make sure the position coaches are teaching... why do you need an OC?

I tailgated with Vols at the NC game in Miami in 98. Osborne's last game. We painted "Tom's Last Dance - The Tennessee Waltz" on a car along with Husker logo etc. We had tons of Vol fans asking to have their photo taken with our car. Ah the memories....

You guys take care. Trust that Kiffin will make good decisions. We went thru this last year and it is tough. But just one year later we are once again hopeful. I wish the same for you. Good luck and Go Big Red!

Oh well I for damn sure would replace Adkins with Callahan as the O-Line Coach.

[VolinDawgland]

I'm not sure that the West Coast offense is particularly suited to the college game as it seems to be too complex. It relies too much on QB making multiple reads quickly, delivering the ball in rythm and relying on WR also making the correct reads and adjustments. I think variations of basic smash mouth football is the best for college using either various versions of run oriented options or Alabama style physical run game with elements of vertical stretch and TE drags across the middle. Be physical, learn to execute a handful of plays flawlessly and be aggressive...don't be trying to think and play at the same time.

[Volholic]

Yeah because USC just looks horrible running it.