Callahan, Carroll share NFL backgrounds
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BY STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star
No question, Bill Callahan endured a rocky first season as Nebraska’s head coach.
Some would suggest the Huskers’ 5-6 record in 2004 and accompanying tumult occurred in part because Callahan encountered a difficult adjustment from the NFL to the college game.
Callahan suggests otherwise.
In fact, Callahan said, the NFL-to-college coaching adjustment tends to be overblown.
“It was an easy transition, personally,” said the 50-year-old Callahan, whose squad plays Pete Carroll’s Southern California Trojans tonight at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
“I don’t think there ever was a time that, as far as the ability to manage a program, I thought, ‘Oh gosh, I don’t know what I’m doing here,’ ” Callahan said. “That never, ever occurred. And I’m sure it didn’t for Pete, either.”
Evidently not.
The 54-year-old Carroll, in his sixth season at Southern California after 16 years in the NFL, has orchestrated a remarkable resurgence of a tradition-rich college program that had fallen on hard times before his arrival. The Trojans captured national championships in 2003 and 2004 and last year came within seven minutes of a three-peat before Texas rallied to win the Rose Bowl title game.
All told, USC has won 46 of its last 48 games.
Before Carroll’s arrival, Paul Hackett had guided the Trojans to a 19-18 record from 1998-2000, including a 5-7 mark in 2000.
Callahan, meanwhile, is in the midst of trying to lead Nebraska back to the elite status Southern Cal currently enjoys. Many regard tonight’s game as a gauge measuring the Huskers’ progress under Callahan. NU, with a 2-0 record this year, has won five straight games dating to last season. Callahan and Co. clearly have generated momentum. But how far is Big Red from again becoming a consistent national championship contender?
We shall soon see.
This much is certain: Carroll and Callahan enjoy coaching in college, saying they have greater control of their programs than they did as NFL head coaches.
“For the first time, you find you have control of all facets,” said Carroll, who had never been a college head coach before taking over at Southern California in 2001.
Callahan said he feels no yearning to return to the NFL
“I think you can be more creative on this level because you don’t have so many people to answer to,” he said. “You’re ultimately the boss. You’re in charge. You don’t have to answer to the general manager or personnel director or owner. You’re running the show. You’re accountable and responsible.
“It’s an awesome responsibility.”
Both Carroll and Callahan came to college after being fired from NFL head coaching positions — Carroll by the New England Patriots after finishing with an 8-8 record in 1999, Callahan by the Oakland Raiders after going 4-12 in 2003. Both encountered degrees of skepticism upon their hirings at their respective schools.
Actually, many Trojan fans were furious with Carroll’s hiring.
The athletic department was besieged with complaints, so many that officials turned off telephones. After all, Carroll was a twice-fired NFL head coach (he also was jettisoned by the New York Jets following a 6-10 record in 1994), a virtual no-name on the West Coast.
Like Callahan, Carroll was the third or fourth option in USC’s candidate pecking order. Dennis Erickson was offered the job, but decided to remain at Oregon State. Mike Riley and Mike Bellotti also were strongly considered.
In Carroll’s first season at Southern California, the Trojans limped to a 1-4 start before finishing 6-6. Things quickly fell into place. Since the middle of the 2002 season, the Trojans have lost only twice, to California in September 2003 and to Texas in last season’s finale.
USC offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin — the only current Trojan assistant who has coached at the school throughout the Carroll era — points to a rigid recruiting philosophy as the primary reason for the program’s surge.
“We try to find first-round (NFL) draft picks out of state, and control the state of California with the rest of our recruiting,” Kiffin said.
Indeed, Kiffin said, Trojan coaches seek “to put a fence around California.”
“It’s maybe one guy a year we lose in the state, and a lot of times it’s because there already are too many guys at a certain position, and the recruit wants to go somewhere he can play right away,” Kiffin said.
The second-most critical factor in Southern California’s success under Carroll has been the head coach’s emphasis on “ball skills,” Kiffin said. In other words, Carroll preaches the importance of forcing turnovers and avoiding them. In the last 65 games, the Trojans are plus 99 in the turnover department — an incredible statistic.
“It’s preached day in and day out that this program is about the football,” Kiffin said. “During the whole practice, the defense is after the ball like you wouldn’t believe. It’s like every down is fourth down. ... It’s all about the way Pete Carroll reminds these guys every day.”
Those close to Carroll describe him as happy-go-lucky and charismatic. Watch him on the sideline and you typically see a man in motion throwing up high-fives and smiling broadly after big plays. If he’s feeling pressure to maintain Southern Cal’s extraordinarily high level, he doesn’t show it.
“It hasn’t been as hard as people might think,” Carroll said of building Southern California’s program. “Because once we found our way of doing things, we stuck with it. It’s been the discipline and strength of your belief in what you’re doing that’s made this possible.”
As is the case at Southern California, Nebraska features a West Coast offense. However, Callahan, throughout spring practice and preseason camp last month, emphasized a physical ground attack. In fact, from the moment he arrived at Nebraska, Callahan vowed the Huskers would play physically on both sides of the ball. As a result, physical, up-tempo practices have become a Callahan trademark at NU.
In recruiting, Nebraska has significantly increased its presence in talent-rich California and Texas.
Make no mistake, Callahan has embraced the recruiting part of the college game. Unlike the NFL, he has final say on the type of players who make up his roster.
“You get what you want,” he said. “Or at the very least, you make up the profile. You go out and try to recruit what you want. It doesn’t always work out perfectly. But you have the ability to get the personalities that fit what you want.”
On game day, it becomes crystal clear which coaches have been most successful in building their programs. Scoreboards provide the ultimate measuring tool.
Tonight, Nebraska measures itself against the nation’s top program in the last five years.
“They’ve always had great players,” Callahan said of the Trojans. “Even when they’ve been down, they’ve always had outstanding players at USC because it’s such a great area to recruit from.
“We’re trying to get back there (to USC’s current level). We were there — this program was there under coach (Tom) Osborne — and we’re trying to get back to that level again.”
For Nebraska, a win tonight would generate respect nationwide and no doubt help Husker recruiting right in USC’s backyard.
“You have to win games,” Callahan said. “To the victor goes the spoils.”
Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.
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