Nebraska Coach Bill Callahan

Nebraska Football Weekly Press Conference
Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2007
Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.)
Pre-Kansas State

Bill Callahan
Nebraska Head Coach

Opening Statement

“I heard Jim Rose resigned today.  I just want to say publicly that I sincerely appreciate his hard work and efforts.  He’s been exemplary to me and for the fans of Nebraska.  He’s got great passion for this program.  It’s sad to see that he’s stepping down.  He’s a great guy, a class act.  He’s been outstanding in terms of our support.  I just want to wish him the best.  He’s a great guy, a great fella and I just can’t say enough great things about Jim Rose.

 

“With that being said, the KansasState game is interesting in a lot of ways.  This is a good football team and an interesting team.  They play a 3-4 defense.  They’re probably the only team in the Big 12 that plays the 3-4 defense.  They do an excellent job there.  They have a West Coast Offense.  They do a nice job dispersing the ball and spreading it out, running it and throwing it.  The quarterback is excellent.  Josh (Freeman) has done an incredible job of performing in their offense at a very young age.  That’s something to note and to be concerned about as we go into this game.  Their defense has been very sound.  Their kicking game just jumps out at you when you look at them on film.  They’re leading the country in punt return and kickoff return, so they’re very solid in every phase of their game.  Last week’s game, they were right in it.  They had some bad breaks at the end there where they didn’t convert.  A couple turnovers cost them, but they’re an outstanding football team and there’s a lot of great players on that team that we have to deal with this weekend.”

 

On the odds of Nebraska going to a bowl game at six wins

“I think it was tough last year for Kansas.  I think their situation was 6-6 a year ago.  I think they were fighting for a bowl at that point.  It will be tough.  It’s just going to matter where the openings and slots are at.  A lot of those decisions are made by the athletic directors and bowl representatives.  We’re going to keep fighting for it.  We’re optimistic that if we get to 6-6, we can be in that position.”

 

On drawing negative national attention from the Kansas loss

“The only thing I can tell you is that we’re disappointed.  Last week’s game was heartbreaking in so many instances.  We’re just trying to work out of it.  We’re at the same juncture as we are after the Texas game.  We had a tough loss to Texas and to Kansas, and we’re trying to come out of it to the best of our ability.  I think kids are resilient.  I think teams and programs are resilient.  I think you can look back into college football history and find a lot of programs have bounced back after having a poor year and not the year they wanted to have.  I think teams always come back.  They find themselves.  I look at Michigan starting 0-2 and now they’re 8-2.  I stated that early in the year that I thought our football team would be right in the hunt.  Everyone will have their ups and downs.  We’re disappointed, obviously.”

 

On the national perception of Nebraska football suffering during the losing streak

“I don’t have the answer for that.  I’m not out there surveying.  All I can tell you from a coach's standpoint is how we work and how we look at football, we see a lot of ups and downs across the country.  I think it’s pretty notable in this era of football with parity and the way things have changed.  I think people recognize that.  That’s more hypothetical than anything.”

 

On the class of 2007 seniors

“I think these kids have been great.  I’m disappointed for them that they haven’t had the success they’ve wanted to at the end here.  They’ve been great.  They’ve been a lot of fun.  They’re great guys and great kids.  They’ve worked hard.   They’ve poured their heart and soul into their preparation.  You go back and think about all the efforts and time and energy that they’ve put into the program, from the time they’re recruited until the time they’re seniors, it’s phenomenal.  You have to respect that.  I certainly appreciate all their efforts.  It’ll be great to see them honored on Saturday.  There’s a lot of great kids and I hope the best for them.  I hope we can do something positive for them on the way out.”

 

On the difficulties this senior class has faced

“It’s been tough.  They’ve gone through a coaching change, at least for a few of those fifth-year seniors.  Some of those guys came in new with us from the very beginning of the time I started here.  Guys like Lance Brandenburgh, he’s been just a great kid.  He’s sacrificed a lot.  He sacrificed a redshirt year and played four years straight through in terms of his eligibility.  He’s never complained one time about redshirting or saving a year to enhance his career.  He’s poured out a lot in terms of his sacrifice.  Bo Ruud, what he’s done here, the leadership he’s displayed in five years of time, has been outstanding.  I think a lot of people look up to him and his work ethic and how he’s gone about his business.  Ben Eisenhart has been a tremendous player for us.  Special teams is kind of where he’s made his mark and now he’s playing more at the safety position.  He’s kind of the heart and soul of the Nebraska kid on our defense, and that’s great to see.  For all those kids, I can go on and on, they’ve been great.  They’ve been fun to coach.  I love those kids.  I just wish the best for them.  They’re great kids.”

 

On his speech to the team before the game

“I don’t know.  I usually at the end of the week put my thoughts together before I visit with the team.  Normally, on Friday night when I visit with the team, I’ll have something to say.”

 

On the performance of Maurice Purify late this season

“I really admire Mo.  He’s been through a lot of difficulties as you mentioned.  He’s been through a lot of personal issues off the field in terms of family situations and friends.  For a young man to handle the things he’s handled in his own personal life, is commendable.  I admire him.  He’s hopefully going to be an inspiration for some of the kids that he’s worked with off the field.  He’s done some community service as part of his program to reach out and extend himself to the people of the community.  I think he’s done a great job with that.  Kids look up to him and will look up to him for what he’s done for them and the message that he has for them.  It’s just been fun to watch him grow and change and take things seriously and mature and to get to a point where he can recognize where he can go in terms of football and where football can lead him in his life.  I wish the best for Maurice.  I think he’ll have a good opportunity on the next level and hopefully he can excel and stay there for a long time.”

 

On Purify’s performance against Kansas

“It showed me a lot.  When you get matched up against a high-caliber corner like (Aqib) Talib, you’re going to have an opportunity to be recognized and written up by the pro scouts as a guy that made big plays, whether it was in the red zone or around the field, wherever it may be, he made those big plays against a high-caliber player.  That can only speak positive in terms of his performance.  I think the consistency of playing well when your team is struggling speaks volumes as well.  When you struggle, there’s a tendency to let down in other areas.  He’s just emerged stronger and a little better through the adversity we’ve gone through.  A lot of credit to him in terms of his focus and coming out prepared and playing hard.  I have nothing but great things to say about Mo.”

 

On the feelings of the coaching staff

“The first thing that sticks out is their families and what they’re going through.  I think, as a coach in this business, when the highs are high, they’re great, and when the lows are low, they’re hard.  It’s hard on the families and the children.  We’ve got a strong group of women, a lot of good wives on this staff.  They’re good people.  They’re weathering the storm.  It’s not fun to go to school and be ridiculed.  The overwhelming majority of Nebraska fans have been great and they recognize that we’ve struggled and that these kids are in tough positions.  I think their hearts go out to what’s going on.  That’s what I see.  There’s a lot of negativity out there as well, and that’s understandable because Nebraska fans want excellence and want greatness and we’re about that.  We didn’t do that.  We understand.  The hardships of families, they hurt.  It’s tough on them.  You just have to work through it the best we can.  We have a lot of good people and a lot of support in the staff.  The main thing is to stay together, stick together and keep working hard toward the next game.”

 

On potentially resigning

“This staff doesn’t have any quit in them.  They’re going to keep fighting and keep trying to put out the best product they can.  They’re going to coach these kids hard and they love these kids.  It’s just unfortunate that fans and people don’t get the opportunity to watch coaches bring kids into their homes and embrace them, even in tough times and help them out and try and understand them.  These wives have gone out of their ways, above and beyond the call of duty in having players over to their homes, opening their house to these kids, welcoming them, and helping them out in tough times.  I think you should talk to the players about that.  I think there’s no one that’s been better than this staff and the spouses that are in this situation helping these kids.  That term ?resignation’ is not in our vocabulary.”

 

On the support of Husker fans

“The number of e-mails I’ve received on a daily basis have been very supportive.  I think it reflects the values of Nebraska fans and what they’re about.  A lot of people write in with letters and things of that nature, there’s a lot of positive things in regard to what we’re going through.  They voice their opinion that they’d like to see it better and they know the struggles we go through, but there’s a lot of understanding out there as well.”

 

On maintaining his focus

“I just keep going along.  I just keep doing the best I can.  It’s a life lesson.  I’ve been through this.  This is the third time I’ve been through a tough situation like this and, I think, each time you go through a situation like this, you learn a little bit about yourself and your players.  You try to understand it and try to find where it could have possibly slipped and went wrong.  Those questions keep going back.  I don’t have time to go back and take much of an inventory on everything.  In time, we will.  That’s what the offseason is about.”

 

On becoming frustrated with the situation

“I don’t really at all.  I might be getting older.  I get frustrated like anyone else.  I’m as competitive as anyone else.  I don’t get into any kind of rash emotion.  We just try to do the best I can.  That’s all you can ask of your staff and players.  It’s hard.  It’s embarrassing to lose five straight at a place like Nebraska.  I can only imagine what other coaches go through when a top program in the country slides.  I understand that.  I don’t think we wanted to do this.  I don’t think these coaches purposely told these kids, ?hey, don’t go out there and tackle today’.  Or, ?don’t go out there and rush the passer’.  That wasn’t happening.  I think our guys are coaching to the best of their ability and they did the best they could, and it hasn’t been good enough to this point.  Hopefully, Saturday, we can rectify that.”

 

On changing circumstances

“The one thing that I’ve learned about football is that anything can happen.  Anything.  When you think it’s going to go right, it can go the other way.  When you think that it’s going to go the other way, it goes right.  We talked about this last week about good fortune and breaks in the game.  It’s a game.  I understand here in Nebraska, it’s more than a game.  It’s life.  It’s the most important thing to Nebraskans.  I share that passion.  I understand it completely.  It’s hard to go through the situation we’re going through at this point right now.  We’re just trying to do the best we can.”

 

On considering resignation

“I’m not stepping down and not resigning.  I think you need to understand that.  This isn’t about money.  I didn’t get into coaching for the money or buyouts.  I think it’s important to look back to the time where there was a contract extension and you were asking me, ?can you imagine all this money?’ and I said, ?I didn’t get into coaching for money’.  I think, if you get into coaching for money, you’re getting in for all the wrong reasons.  It’s not what I’m about.  It’s one thing to have financial security for your family.  There’s a business aspect to it.  But I didn’t get into it for that.  That’s my philosophy.  My philosophy is to get into coaching to help people and help kids get to where they want to go.  I’ve maintained that, and I’ve maintained that integrity about coaching since the day I got into it.”

 

On the message given to players if a coach resigns

“I think there is a message if you do resign that you’ve quit on your football team.  There’s no quit in this staff for our team.  We’re going to keep plugging away and keep pushing and keep coaching and try to help these kids get through this.  I think that’s the life lesson in all of this.  There’s no quit in this staff, believe me.  We’re not pleased.  We’re not happy.  We’re disappointed.  We're heartbroken, but we have to work through it.  We have to bow up and prepare and get ready for the next game.  You have to maintain a focus and shift gears and change your mindset and get back into your preparation, because no one else really cares.  Kansas State, they don’t really care right now what we’re going through.  In fact, the more distraction there is, the more they like that.  It’s important for us to maintain a focus and work as hard as we can to put the best product out there on the field.”

 

On questions from the underclassmen on the team about Callahan’s status

“I’ve never heard anything like that.  I’ve never heard a question like that.”

 

On the adjustments by the coaching staff during the losing streak

“We’ve done a lot.  Schematically, we’ve done a lot.  Coverage-wise, we’ve changed up coverages.  We’ve changed up fronts and pressures.  I think, each week, we have a whole new set of things for them to do from our core package.  It’s not a complete departure from the things that we do, but rather things that augment and complement what we do.  That’s what most programs do.  That’s what we see on a week-to-week basis from our opponents, so that’s nothing different.  Our practice structure is the same structure that we had here last year when we were 9-3 before the Big 12 Championship.  No different.  It’s no different.  You just try to improve your practice habits and just try to improve your players through that weekly preparation.  That’s all you can do as a coach.”

 

On struggling as a big-time program

“I think it is difficult.  There’s no doubt about that.  There’s difficulty in that, and there’s a lot of life lessons in that as well.  I think players are resilient enough to see that there are opportunities in the next two games.  I know that.  I know our kids see that.  Our kids are resilient.  They see college football.  They study it more than I do.  When they go home, they probably watch three or four more games than I do a week.  They love the game, or else they wouldn’t be playing it.  They see the game differently than we see the game.  Because they’re young and resilient, they bounce back quicker.  They don’t sit around and wallow.  It’s amazing.  Our youth right now, they’re an interesting group of kids.  They’re onto the next thing.  Football is important to them, but then the next thing is important to them, whether it’s school, whether it’s relationships with other people.  They move on quickly.  They don’t sit around like coaches do and analyze everything.  They come in, get the message from the coaches, and move on.  If you put yourself through their paces and put yourself in their shoes in how they go about their business, it’s commendable, especially with everything else they have to deal with.  It’s interesting.  They’re savvy.  They’re media-savvy guys, and they understand where they’re at.  They’re not pleased.  They want to go out and perform well.  When they don’t, they hurt, but they’re on to the next thing.  They don’t sit around feeling sorry for themselves.  The leadership on our football team tries to pick each other up and try to encourage each other, be positive and help that cause.”

 

On his desire to remain at Nebraska

“I sincerely want to be here.  I think I indicated that when I signed a contract extension that I want to be here.  If I didn’t want to be here, I wouldn’t have signed the extension.  I love our team, I love our kids, I like Nebraska, I love Nebraska and I’m trying to do the best I can right now, so absolutely I want to be here.”

 

On this year’s struggles hurting recruiting

“I don’t think so, just because kids are looking for an opportunity.  They want an opportunity to play.  Some of the kids that we’ve recruited and talked to, they see opportunity.  They see a window of opportunity where they can come in and play, and they can come in and help and contribute to a winning football team.  They see that.  They want that opportunity.  Is it tough if you’ve lost a top national recruit like we have, yeah, that’s tough, but you just have to keep recruiting.”

 

On losing top recruits

“It’s tough.  It’s disappointing to lose a top guy and realize that you have to shift gears and find somebody else.  You just have to move onto the next guy.  That’s just how it is.  You have to move on and find the next player.  There will always be the next player.”

 

On the staff maintaining confidence in its coaching abilities

“We’re disappointed, but doubts?  No, not at all.”

 

On Kevin Cosgrove’s mindset after Saturday’s struggles

“I visited with the defensive staff and Coz and everyone.  I just tried to encourage them to continue to work hard and press on and make the necessary adjustments and go through the film, analyze it and learn from it.  That’s all you can do.  There’s not much else you can do.  I think it’s unfortunate at times when things get snowballed and start steamrolling on you.  It’s very hard when you’re on the short field.  I think we were on the short field seven times on defense.  We turned the ball over three times inside the 25 or the drive start was inside the 25 three times, and when you put a defense on a short field like that and things start to steamroll and have an effect.  It’s tough.  In the final analysis, people just want to look at the final score and say, ?there’s 76 points’, well, yeah, that’s true, that is reality and we have to get better.  But there are other circumstances that lead to those 76 points.  We didn’t do a very good job on offense.  We put up some numbers, but we didn’t do the job that we should’ve done in securing the football.  We turned the ball over three or four times inside the 50 on the short field.  You can’t continually do that against a good team like Kansas that has the ability to score at any range.  It’s hard.  That’s putting the defense in a bad position.  We take this loss as a football team.  We don’t point to offense or defense or special teams.  We just look at it as ourselves and that we have to get better in every aspect.  We have to get better in every area.  When those types of games happen like it did at Texas Tech our first year, we threw some picks inside the 50, when they get on a roll, get momentum and you’re trying to play catch-up and not sit on the ball, you’re vulnerable.  That’s what happened down at Kansas.  I have no excuses, but I’m telling you the reality of that.  That’s the reality of what happens.  We have to get better, no question.”

 

On motivating the team

“It’s an interesting question.  You’re searching and trying to grasp for anything you can.  You’re not grasping for straws, but you are grasping for an idea or concept or something that can get our team going and get our team juiced and get them rallied.  We felt starting fast would be one of those things and we did start fast.  We took the lead, they answered, then we answered and took the lead, then they answered and took the lead.  It see-sawed there early on in the first quarter.  That’s a part of it: starting fast and finishing strong, the things that you preach as a coach that are important.  In the end, it comes down to details.  It really comes down to detailing your work, your execution and your fundamentals, because those are the things that win for you in the end.”

 

On Joe Ganz’s presence motivating the team

“I think it was.  Our team rallied around Joe.  I think there were some throws that he’d love to have back, but for a backup quarterback to go in against the No. 8 team in the country and throw for over 400 yards, that’s pretty commendable.  But I know that the turnovers hurt us.  He realizes that.  For his first start, put in the situation he was in where we kept trying to challenge the score and keep pace with what was going on, that’s a tough predicament for any quarterback, whether he’s a starter or a backup.  You can only imagine putting yourself in that role and trying to go through what he had to go through, that’s a tough ordeal.”

 

On Ganz's abilities no longer being a surprise after playing Saturday

“I don’t think it’s any different.  Our core is our core.  We’ll change accordingly each week, but I don’t think we changed dramatically against KU, and we were still effective.  We still put up positive yards against a pretty good defense.  You put up 489 yards and 39 points against that type a defense, that’s saying a lot, because we have a lot of respect for Kansas’ defense.”