He didn’t exactly descend from a mountaintop. He emerged from a short hallway. But you get the idea.
He once again stood before the media Tuesday, as he has countless times, understated as ever. To many on hand, he was like a friend from an old neighborhood you haven’t seen in years. You just pick up the conversation where it left off and walk away somehow feeling better.
He’s like the grandfather a family leans on in tough times. The Nebraska football program has endured its share of rocky waters lately. Never mind that he shares blame in creating some of those rough patches in recent years. Right now that’s not important. At this moment, the Big Red family needs a steady hand, someone who has seen it all, done it all and won it all a few times.
Enter Tom Osborne, the most powerful interim athletic director in the history of college athletics. Show me an interim athletic director who is being counted on to unify and galvanize an entire state, not to mention rescue a tradition-rich football program from sinking to sustained irrelevancy.
Show me an interim athletic director who next month might have to fire a football coaching staff and hire another.
Well, we always knew the guy enjoys challenges.
This one will be a bear. That became clear watching Nebraska coach Bill Callahan during his weekly media luncheon earlier Tuesday. “These are tough times,” Callahan admitted.
Indeed, Nebraska athletic director Steve Pederson’s firing Monday created a “huge, huge distraction” for the Huskers, Callahan said. As if this team needed anymore challenges.
Pederson’s dismissal likely represented step one toward the end of Callahan’s four-season run as head coach.
The 70-year-old Osborne would have to execute step two – the firing of Callahan and his staff – barring a miraculous turnaround in the final five games by a woebegone team that has seemed rudderless since being pulverized by Southern Cal on Sept. 15.
Osborne said he would wait until the season ends to evaluate Calla- han and his staff. So, no staff changes for now, just an uncomfortable and awkward march toward the last game Nov. 23 at Colorado.
Osborne clearly has made some observations.
For instance: “Naturally, we’d like to see the intensity level pick up,” he said.
Osborne said he has met with Callahan only a couple times in Calla-
han’s four years. There’s really no relationship there, Osborne said. He wasn’t complaining or trying to make it an issue. That’s my job.
Four years and virtually no relationship? That didn’t feel right. Nor did it feel quite right Tuesday when Callahan was asked how he felt about the possibility of Osborne becoming athletic director.
“I would welcome anyone who’s going to be in that leadership position and be my immediate supervisor,” Callahan said. “I’ve got tremendous respect for whoever’s at the helm.”
So, why not mention Osborne’s name? Why go out of your way to avoid it? Seemed awkward and cold.
Or maybe I’m searching for a rift that’s not there. This much is certain: Callahan looks tired. He sounds like a man who sees the writing on the wall. His program suddenly looks tired. Fans are sick and tired. Some tire of hearing Callahan say his team is “really not that far off” from breaking through, as he did Tuesday.
Yes, it’s all very tiring and distressing.
Which is why Nebraska needs Osborne right now, perhaps more than ever. Yes, the situation has become that dire. On the field, the Huskers have deteriorated to levels nobody could have anticipated. The culture and mood throughout the athletic department evidently needs some work, too, hence Pederson’s dismissal.
There exists nobody more capable than Osborne of pumping positive vibes into the program and healing the fractures in Huskerville. Hey, the guy’s name adorns North Stadium. He might as well stop by once in awhile.
Nebraska needs to get that “feeling” back. The Huskers’ football sellout streak suddenly seemed in jeopardy. Not anymore. Nebraska needs to continue filling the big stadium, or all else crumbles in the athletic department. Osborne to the rescue; there was no other choice, really.
In a sense, Osborne returns to lead the cleanup of a mess he helped create. He did Solich no favors by strongly suggesting Solich retain assistant coaches when new blood was needed. He also recommended Pederson for the AD position. But this is no time to reopen old wounds.
Nebraska needs to look forward. Chancellor Harvey Perlman deserves kudos for acting swiftly. The thing is, this could get interesting. Behind the scenes, influential people already are building cases for the next Huskers head coach. Bo Pelini and Turner Gill are being mentioned most. It’s all very speculative at this point, yet all very possible.
As of shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday, when Osborne was introduced as the nation’s most powerful interim AD, Nebraska fans once again found reason to believe. Reason to dream. The tall redhead was back in the fold.
“There are no miracles, no quick fixes,” Osborne cautioned.
His hire was a good start.
