H U S K E R D A N
YES, HE'S
BACK!! THE ONE, THE ONLY!! LOOK!! UP IN THE SKY, IT'S A
BIRD, IT'S A PLANE...IT'S...IT'S... HUSKER DAN!!!!
YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
MISS HUSKER
DAN
Okay, I'm
back. Big deal. But, be honest, you missed me a little, didn't
you? Just a little? A tiny, little bit? Okay, maybe
this much? Huh? Huh? Anyone? Anyone?
(sigh...)
Nevertheless, your
humble Husker servant is back for a look at the Husker Spring Game and will let
you know what he expects from the Huskers this fall.
AIR
BILL
Make no mistake
about it, a new Husker era has begun. You needn't look any farther
than Joe Dailey's passing stats in that game to know there is
something BIG going on in Lincoln: 29 completions in 49
attempts.
'Nuff
said.
I don't know which
is more startling, the 49 attempts or the 29 completions.
How about
both?
VALHALLA
VISIONS
As everyone
knows, Bill Callahan is the new sheriff in town and from the looks of
the record crowd of 61,214 who "braved" the sun-drenched 70 degree day for
the Spring Game, fans were given a glimpse of what
the Cornhuskers are going to like this fall. It's with good
reason that some fans may have left Memorial Stadium with
visions of national championships dancing in their wee little heads.
Surely, (stop calling me Shirley) the Huskers' new West Coast Offense is going
to be the ticket back to the Valhalla of the college football world,
right?
It's just a matter
of time, many loyal Husker fans swear. Just give Coach Bill and his
staff time, and, well, the rest will be history.
And those fans may
be right-but not right, as in not right now.
MY SON, THE
SALESMAN
As everyone knows,
Bill Callahan is the new Husker head coach. But perhaps an even
more important role he's had to play this year, has been that of
Salesman. He has had to convince high schoolers and JV players that by
coming to Nebraska, they can achieve their college (and
pro?) football dreams. Undoubtedly, Callahan has been talking
championships to them-divisional, conference, bowl and national
championships. He may have even talked with them about his (omigosh) NFL
experience! I understand he's been telling them (as he should)
that the winning process is going to begin immediately-not 2 or 3 years down the
road. Coach Bill is the unofficial leader of the NOW Gang-the
National Organization for Winning.
Callahan also
has had to sell his offensive philosophy to the players already in the
system, most of whom were recruited to play option football. He and his
coaches have had to get those players to buy in to the WCO. And the
task is daunting, to be sure.
INHERITANCE
Callahan inherited
an inexperienced fleet of quarterbacks and receivers, a thin offensive
line that has had little training in pass-pro blocking and a
running back crew that has had little experience catching the
football.
In addition to
selling his concepts to the players, he's had to convince the fans and
donors that his plan is going to work. Everyone knows the life blood of
any major college football program is its financial strength. There
is nothing like winning-or the belief in winning-that will open the hearts and
checkbooks of the fans.
RIGHT
ON
Coach Bill must be
doing something right. The crowd who watched his debut as head
coach, broke the all-time attendance record for a Spring
Game.
I listened to the
game on radio and when the team came out during the Tunnel Walk, the
fans made so much noise, it sounded as though Nebraska was
playing Oklahoma for the Big 12 Championship.
In his pregame
interview with Husker play-by-play announcer Jim Rose, Callahan talked about his
goal of winning a national championship. Not even Tom Osborne dared
to discuss such things publicly.
Look, I realize talk
is cheap, but I like what I'm hearing and seeing from Callahan and his new
staff.
What Bill Callahan
has done in the few short months he's been at the helm is nothing short of
miraculous. He was hired January 9th. He didn't have a staff (he had
one, but as you know, most were not retained), no offensive coordinator
and no defensive coordinator. He was thrown into the middle of the
recruiting cauldron but managed to land some key recruits, at
least one of whom had decommitted to the Husker football
program.
He's reduced the
size of the walk-on program, discontinued the Unity Council (!!!!) and has
run his practices in an NFL fashion. He and new NU offensive line
coach Dennis Wagner convinced several players to switch positions, moving
Richie Incognito from guard to center; Mike Andersen to play both guard and
tackle. Seppo Evwaraye, a projected defensive line starter, was
moved to right tackle on the offensive line. Darren DeLone moved from
right tackle to left and Jared Helming moved from defense to the offensive
line. Meanwhile, center Kurt Mann is being called upon to learn to play
several positions on the offensive line.
Adding to the
changes, Willie Amos moved from defense back to wide receiver. And to
top it off, Callahan managed to find time to hire a new strength
and conditioning coach. Whew!!!!
Amazing.
WINDOW
DRESSING
Let me say that
IMHO, Bill Callahan approached the Spring Game exactly the way it
should have been. He had the first team offense go against the second and
third stringers while the Blackshirts, who were limited to
several basic defenses, faced the second and third string
offense.
Callahan needed
to let Dailey and the offense develop some confidence in the
WCO. There would have been no point in seeing Dailey get sacked,
harassed and intercepted by the Blackshirts. The players, recruits,
fans and donors got what they wanted to see. Who
cares if it was a little window dressing.
SMALL
STUFF
Last week, I was
reading one of the small town Nebraska newspapers (the Verdigre Eagle) and
was pleasantly surprised to read a letter written by Bill Callahan.
His letter began by saying: "What a thrill it was on Saturday to see the
stadium packed with red-clad Husker fans...to have that kind of a welcome as we
begin the 2004 season is tremendous. Coming out of the tunnel and seeing
61,214 Husker football fans left a definite impression on the team and
staff...What a message that sends across the country! There truly is no
place like Nebraska..." He went on to talk about the expansion
project and how much he is looking forward to seeing all the fans at
the Husker opener, September 4th.
What a classy thing
to do.
Look, I've never met
Bill Callahan and he has yet to win one game, but I think we're in for a heck of
a ride. That ride begins this fall. For those of you who think
Nebraska won't have enough offensive horsepower to be competitive over the
next couple of years, think again. As everyone knows, defense wins
championships.
DEFENSE IS
KEY
Look for the
Huskers to have an even better defense this fall than the one we had last
year. If the offense doesn't beat itself and can maintain a modicum of
ball control, the Huskers may go farther than anyone expects. In last
year's Sugar Bowl national championship game neither LSU nor Oklahoma in
had great offenses. And in 2000, Oklahoma, with a good, but not
great offense, beat Florida State. What the Sooners did have,
was an exceptional defense. So who knows, this year is going to be
filled with surprises. Stay tuned.
STALE
MAIL
I was going through
some pretty old letters sent to me over the course of the past football
season. Here are some of them.
Dear Husker
Dan:
In your column about
"100 Reasons Why I'm a Husker Fan", you listed Tommie Frazier's run in the '96
Fiesta Bowl in the 92nd spot. Come on, that was a great run and should
have been listed in at least the top twenty. You really blew
it.
Hugo
Yerwhey
Downey,
California
Dear
Hugo:
Tommie's 75 yard
run, as great as it was, came late in the third quarter (actually with one
second left), when the Gators were beat up and knew they had no chance of
winning the game. The result, was poor tackling by a defense that had been
thoroughly dominated. It was a nice run, but nowhere close to one of the
all-time Husker great runs. Thanks for writing.
Dear Husker
Dan:
You said in an
earlier column, that the Huskers in 1968 beat a weak Minnesota team and a poor
Wyoming team. Fact: Minnesota won the Big 10 that year and
Wyoming was 8-2 that year. And to top it off, you said the Huskers went
6-4 in '67 and '69. They went 6-4 in '67 and '68. Next time, get
your facts straight.
Mia
Kulpa
Farmington, New
Mexico
Dear
Mia:
We both messed
up. Minnesota won the Big 10 championship in '67, not '68. Their '68
team went 6-4 (same as Nebraska's). Wyoming won the WAC conference in '68,
going 7-3 with wins over Arizona State, BYU and Utah. As far as the
Huskers' two 6-4 records, I KNOW the years were '67 and '68. I went to
most of the games those two years. It was a typo. So shoot me.
Thanks for writing.
Dear Husker
Dan:
Perhaps you could
ask your readers to pick a name for the West Coast Offense, the Huskers will be
running under Bill Callahan. Thanks.
Frank
Leaspeeking
Derry,
PA
Dear Frank:
Great idea!!! Readers, send me your ideas for the new Husker offense to
[email protected]. I'll post some of the best ones. Be
sure to include your name and the town in which you live.
Thanks.
You may write Husker Dan at [email protected]