Callahan restores order in Lincoln
Nebraska's rebirth
After a rough start, coach has Cornhuskers on brink of Big 12 title with berth in Saturday's championship game against Oklahoma

By George Schroeder

Published: December 1, 2006

LINCOLN, Neb. ? Taken during Super Bowl XXXVII, the photograph captured Bill Callahan's finest moment.

It once hung outside his office — a not-so-subtle reminder, perhaps, of the Nebraska coach's past success.

Once hung.

Last March, the photograph came down, replaced by a more recent memory. Surrounded by exuberant Huskers, Callahan is getting a Gatorade bath during the final moments of a win last season over Colorado.

The symbolism is obvious: Even as Callahan's conversion of Nebraska football continues, his conversion to Nebraska football might be complete.

"I love this level of football," Callahan said.

Maybe that's because, after a rocky start, he has taken the Huskers to a higher level.

In his third season, Nebraska is one step from a Big 12 Championship. Earlier this week, Callahan stood in a hallway inside Memorial Stadium and deflected questions about the state of the program, instead preferring to keep the focus on Saturday, and Oklahoma.

But the rebuilding project is proceeding.

"We're getting there," he said. "I don't think we're there yet."

Skeptics would note that 9-3 is the same record that cost Frank Solich his job. Others would suggest the Huskers haven't yet met their lofty standards.

But the Huskers could get there — or get a lot closer — by beating OU.

"It would be great if we win," Callahan said. "That's what we came here for — to win."

That's what Callahan is doing. And after some anxious moments — just who was this interloper, and what was he doing to their football program? — Huskers fans believe in their coach.

"The overwhelming majority of people feel like the program has turned the corner," said Bob Knowles, a prominent Omaha attorney and longtime booster. "We're headed in the right direction."

Three years ago Thursday, when Nebraska athletic director Steve Pederson announced Solich's firing, he said he would not allow the program to "gravitate to mediocrity. We will not surrender the Big 12 Conference to Oklahoma and Texas."

Then, Pederson launched a search that lasted six weeks and wound through a bunch of candidates — and three rejections — before finding Callahan, who had just been fired by the Raiders (less than one year after that Super Bowl appearance).

Out went the option running game, which had become as ingrained in the state's fabric as farming. In came the West Coast offense — with passing, passing and more passing.

Out went the Huskers' huge walk-on program. Only later, after severe backlash, did Callahan reinstate a leaner version of the program.

Then, there were those moments against OU. In 2004, after a 30-3 loss at Owen Field, Callahan referred to OU fans as "******* hillbillies." A year later, during a loss in Lincoln, Callahan made a throat-slash gesture.

"I probably made some errors, probably said some things I shouldn't have said," Callahan said this week. "I've apologized for it and moved on."

Of course, after years of keeping it in the family, Nebraskans might have struggled with any outsider. It wasn't so much the change but how Callahan initially went about it.

"I think it took some time, a year or two, for him to understand Nebraska traditions and how vitally important it is to everyone in the state," said Knowles, a past president of the Touchdown Club, a prominent booster organization.

Far more distressing than the departure from tradition were the initial results. In 2004, the Huskers' first losing record since 1961 snapped a 35-year bowl streak.

"It was pretty tough.. It was very tough," Callahan said. "A lot of growing pains."

The growing pains continued in 2005, when a three-game losing streak during the middle of the season sent Husker nation into a hysterical frenzy.

The capper was a 40-15 home loss to Kansas, which snapped the Huskers' 36-game winning streak in the series. It dropped the Huskers to 5-4 for the season, and Callahan's record to 10-10.

"That was the low ebb," said Dean Kratz, the current president of the Touchdown Club. "That was the nadir."

With hindsight, that's apparent. But at the time?

"There was a great deal of anxiety," Knowles said, "about whether (Callahan) was gonna get it done."

A week later, Nebraska edged Kansas State to become bowl-eligible. But it wasn't until a stunning 30-3 win at Colorado that things turned.

Callahan got that Gatorade bath. In postgame interviews, he was uncharacteristically emotional — though this week, he said he was simply "elated for the players."

Never mind that Colorado was imploding at the end of the Gary Barnett era. The Buffs were still Big 12 North champions, still the Huskers' bitter rivals.

"That was huge for our football team," Callahan said.

And for the fans, as well. Senior defensive end Adam Carriker recalls listening to talk radio on the drive home that night from the airport.

"Everyone was just loving (Callahan)," Carriker said. "A couple weeks earlier, they weren't loving him as much."

Nebraska followed up with an Alamo Bowl win over Michigan. And accompanied by the slogan "Restore the Order," the Huskers took momentum into the 2006 season. Since that loss at Kansas, they're 12-3; they won the Big 12 North for the first time since 1999.

Nebraska just missed an upset of Texas — at a time when beating the 'Horns would have had cosmetic appeal — but notched a signature win at Texas A&M with a late drive for a touchdown.

Order restored? Not yet.

"But we're on our way," senior quarterback Zac Taylor said.

Fans — by nature, optimistic — agree. And they've grown comfortable with a coach who, not so long ago, seemed an ill-fit.

"The way (Callahan) is really fits in with the culture around here," Knowles said. "I clearly sense that people are really coming around. People really like him.

"But it gets back to, ‘What's the most important thing?' Wins."