Cornhuskers Coaching Speculation Abounds

AD Tom Osbourne says next coach must understand Nebraska's unique culture.

ByABC News
November 26, 2007, 12:18 PM

Nov. 26, 2007 — -- The next Nebraska coach doesn't necessarily have to have ties to the school, but Tom Osborne says the Cornhuskers' next leader must have an understanding of the program's unique culture and history.

Somebody such as former Nebraska quarterback and Buffalo coach Turner Gill would qualify.

Buffalo athletic director Warde Manuel gave permission to Osborne, Nebraska's interim athletic director, to speak with Gill, Buffalo sports information director Paul Vecchio told The Associated Press. He said an interview had not yet been scheduled.

Manuel told the Lincoln Journal Star that Turner has his support.

"I think it's tremendous. Turner is absolutely ready to coach at Nebraska. He's done a great job, an awesome turnaround. Although I would hate to lose him, he would be a great coach there."

Manuel told the the Journal Star that he believes an interview will take place "in the next day or so."

LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini also appears to be on the top of the list of names mentioned most often as possible successors to Bill Callahan.

The Journal Star reported that an airplane carrying Osborne and university chancellor Harvey Perlman left Lincoln bound for Baton Rouge, La., on Sunday afternoon.

The Omaha World-Herald reported that Osborne met with Pelini on Sunday then traveled to Atlanta. Parker Executive Search, the firm assisting Nebraska in finding a replacement for Callahan, is based in Atlanta.

One of the criticisms of Callahan, who was fired Saturday, was that he didn't understand or appreciate the fans' passion and high expectations. Both were inflated during Osborne's coaching career, a 25-year period that saw the Huskers average 10 wins a season and win three national championships.

"I think it's pretty important that they have a good grasp of it," Osborne said of prospective candidates. "I think most people in football have a kind of peripheral sense of what it is like."

Gill quarterbacked the Huskers in the early 1980s and was an assistant under Osborne and Frank Solich. He left in 2004, after Callahan's first season.