10. Pelini Has Delivered NU From the Abyss of the Harvey Perlman Debacle

There is no way to understate the cesspool Bo Pelini inherited from the combined failures of UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman, former athletic director Steve Pederson, and former head coach Bill Callahan.

For 41 consecutive years, from 1962 through 2003, Nebraska maintained college football’s most successful program.  In his book More Than Winning, Tom Osborne attributed this unprecedented run first and foremost to the “stability” and “continuity of the coaching staff.” He also cited the loyalty of the fans and the support of the administration and athletic department.

 Using these pillars as the foundation, head coaches Bob Devaney, Tom Osborne, and Frank Solich amassed an incredible record of 414-93, a winning percentage of .817, with 22 conference championships and five national championships.

It is quite obvious that Mr. Perlman never got around to reading this book.

In 2003, Perlman chose to completely dismantle this 41-year foundation.  Perlman and his newly-chosen athletic director Steve Pederson fired Solich, who had won more games in his first six seasons than either Osborne or Devaney had, and who had been named the Big 12 Coach of the Year in two of the preceding five seasons.

Perlman and Pederson instead handed the program to fired NFL coach Bill Callahan, who immediately vowed to “flip the culture” of the Nebraska football program.

With Perlman's support, Callahan succeeded in exactly that: flipping the culture.

In just four years, the Perlman-Pederson-Callahan experiment managed to destroy every standard, streak, benchmark, and ideal that had been so painstakingly built for the previous 41 years. 

       The Perlman-Pederson-Callahan experiment quickly turned the proud Nebraska program into an abject disaster:

-       a 27-22 overall won-loss record;

-       a 24-22 record vs. FBS opponents;

-       a .333 winning percentage against teams finishing above .500;

-       a 15-18 conference record;

-       a 1-12 record against teams in the final rankings; 

-       14 double-digit losses in four years;

-       an 0-17 record when trailing at halftime;

-       the ending of numerous cherished Nebraska football streaks, such as the national-best 35-year streak of playing in a bowl game;

-       universal resentment and anger from former players; 

-    discontent and strife throughout the athletic department; and

-       an ugly division of the fan base.

Four years of the Perlman experiment had destroyed the team and the fan base.  Players quit.  Coaches were disrespectful of former players and fans alike.  In the final weeks of the Perlman-Callahan era, Nebraska gave up 49, 40, 41, 45, 36, 28, 76, 31, and 65 points to its opponents.  Opponents scored on an astronomical 51 of the final 82 drives against Nebraska.

Perlman, an intellectual property attorney turned academic, was the man in charge of this debacle – but he appeared wholly oblivious to it.  In July, 2007, Perlman gave Pederson a contract extension, then followed up that up just weeks later with a contract extension for Callahan.

Just weeks later, Perlman fired Pederson.  Appearing to recognize that his experiment with the athletic department had failed, Perlman turned to Osborne.  Osborne returned to the athletic department, fired Callahan, hired Pelini, began the process of healing the massive wounds caused by Perlman and Pederson, and deferentially walked away upon the successful completion of his rescue mission.

            As a result of Perlman's negligence in the poorly-drafted contracts and misguided 2007 extensions, NU had to pay Pederson and Callahan several million dollars in buyouts.  Of the three leaders responsible for this entire debacle, for the dismantling of the 41-year Nebraska legacy, two were fired.  But Perlman remains, looming, and offering no indication that he has learned from his past.  Perlman, as history demonstrates, is a threat to the future of the NU football program.

A quote from Osborne is worth remembering:

“It’s occurred to me often that many problems in athletics – perhaps most problems – result from people having an inappropriate understanding of athletics. 

     Chancellor Perlman’s dalliance with the athletic department is a prime example of Osborne’s pearl of wisdom.

While Perlman's hiring decisions were disastrous, Osborne’s selection of Pelini proved successful.  Despite having no prior head coaching experience, Pelini stepped into the Perlman cesspool and somehow managed to clean up the mess, flipping the culture of the program back to the Osborne-Devaney-Solich model of consistency and character.  Not only has Pelini pulled the program out of the Perlman-Callahan abyss, but he has created one of the most consistently successful programs in the nation.  Only he and Alabama’s Nick Saban have guided their teams to at least 9 wins per season over this span.  

Despite inheriting this disaster, Pelini has won more games than all but 6 of the 130 BCS coaches on the job during Pelini’s tenure. 

Six years after the Perlman-Callahan experiment ended, suspicion abounds that Perlman is once again interested in toying with the athletic department, like a bored man of wealth itching for a new toy, and that he may again step in to force out a winning football coach after six years of sustained high performance on and off the field.

As a philosopher once wrote: Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.