|
H U S K E R D A N
THIS AND THAT
Okay. It's official. The Huskers
will be playing in the Gator Bowl New Year's Day in Jacksonville, Florida. Nebraska
fans should be dancing in the streets with the news, especially since last year's
bowl-less Huskers finished with a 5-7 record.
DEJA VU-DO
I can
understand Bill Snyder's desire to return as the head coach of the Kansas
State Wildcats and I can understand why many K-State fans applaud that
move. But it seems to me, that this is a short term,
"feel-good" move to mollify Wildcat fans still
betrayed by Ron Prince, who was fired last month.
I don't
question Snyder's coaching ability - he performed a miracle when he took the
worst program in all of college football and turned it into one of the
strongest in the country. But at age 68, how long will he be able to
coach and recruit effectively? If a kid comes out of high school in 2009
at age 18 and redshirts, he would be a senior in 2013. Would Snyder, who
would turn 73 that year, be able to assure a recruit that he
will be there for the kid's entire five year career? And how many
years could he make that promise? I think Kansas State will come to
regret re-hiring Bill Snyder.
NOTRE LAME
Notre Dame
has decided to give Charlie Weis another year as the Notre Dame head
football coach. This is another lame coaching decision that will
come back to haunt the Golden Domers. I wouldn't be surprised if Charlie
gets the boot next year-maybe even before the season has been completed.
Charlie won his first two years at Notre Dame (9-3 and 10-3) with Ty
Willingham's players, but last season, Notre Dame slipped to 3-9. With a
bowl game yet to be played, this year's record stands at 6-6.
SO-SO SOLICH
I wonder if
those who have longed for Frank Solich's return as the Husker head
football coach are reconsidering their position. In his four years as
head coach at Ohio University, the Bobcats have gone 4-7,
9-5, 6-6 and finished this season with a disappointing 4-8 record. You
have to wonder how long the 'Cats will stick with Frank.
TURN AROUND TURNER GILL
Anyone who
saw former Husker standout Turner Gill's Buffalo Bulls beat heavily favored
Ball State in the MAC championship game last week, saw one of the
most touching moments in all of college football. On a post
game live TV interview, an emotional Turner Gill could barely get the
words out to say how proud he was of his players. Mark
this down: Turner Gill will get a very attractive D-1A head coaching job
in the near future. And if he gets the right situation, he could end
up becoming a great head coach.
Those of
you who are wondering why after one year (2004) as an
assistant under Bill Callahan at Nebraska, Gill resigned.
He did so because he couldn't stand to see the demise of the
once proud Husker football program. He saw that tradition was
being swept under the rug by former A.D. Steve Pederson and former head coach
Bill Callahan and he didn't want to be any part of it. That shows what a class
act Turner is.
HUSKER ELVISES
The Husker
Elvises (huskerelvis.net),
who as a group are one of the best goodwill ambassadors the Husker football
program has ever had, are still looking for someone to help
sponsor their appearance at the Gator Bowl. If you know of anyone who can
help, please contact Larry Brew at lbrew@hach.com. As Larry would say in his best Elvis
snarl, "Thank yew, thankyewveramuch."
RECRUITING IN NEBRASKA
Those
Husker fans who were expecting Bo Pelini's first "real" recruiting
class to be sprinkled with a lot of home grown talent, might be
disappointed. Of the first 20 recruits in the 2009 class, only two are
from the state of Nebraska - Cole Pensick from Lincoln and C.J. Zimmerman of
Omaha.
GET OUT THE VOTE
If I had a
Heisman vote, it would look like this: 1.) Sam Bradford
(Oklahoma) 2.) Colt McCoy (Texas) and 3.) Timothy Richard
"Tim" Tebow (Florida).
Sam will
win it because of his immense talent, his team's success, especially down the
stretch; because Tim Tebow won it last year and Colt McCoy will be back next
year for the Longhorns.
HUSKER
DAN'S ARMY T-SHIRTS
Husker Dan's Army T-shirts are
now available for you to order. By buying a
HDA T-shirt, you will help us to continue sending Husker Care Packages
overseas to the men and women serving our country in the armed
services. All purchases are tax-deductible. The shirts come in Large and
X-Large only. The cost per shirt including shipping and handling is $20.00.
Please allow two weeks for delivery. We will make every effort to get these
to you in time for Christmas, but you must order quickly.
Make your check payable to:
Northeast Kansans For Nebraska Alumni Chapter
Att: Husker Dan's Army
Send your check to:
% Bob Elliott
Northeast Kansans For Nebraska Alumni Chapter
3405 Atwood Ave.
Topeka, KS 66614
Be sure to list your mailing address and size (L or X-L).
neks4nebraska.com
Send
your comments to huskerdan@cox.net.
For past Husker Dan columns, click here.
Printer-friendly format |