November 18, 2004 CRASH COURSE FOR COACH Cornhusker Football 101 a good idea for frustrated Callahan By Jim D. Berryman MissingNebraska.com Bill Callahan needs to thicken up his skin. If the Husker head coach is truly in for the long haul in rebuilding Nebraska football into what it used to be, he must know a few important things: -There will be a lot more oranges flung from stands to come (Some possibly even in Lincoln at Memorial Stadium) -There will be a lot more rowdy, foul-mouthed drunk Oklahoma or opposing team fans to come This guy's been to the Super Bowl? I'm giving Bill Callahan a chance. I realize you just don't turn around a legendary running-game program into a flashy West Coast offense in one season, with players from the previous coaching staff. I realize the talent wasn't that great to start with. I realize with a few lucky breaks and fewer turnovers, Nebraska would not be 5-5 right now. I realize recruiting analysts suggest Callahan's recruiting class is top-notch. Better things are ahead for NU. But with all the money Callahan is being paid, and all the money in the Nebraska football program, didn't anyone think to give Bill Callahan a one-on-one tutorial in Cornhusker Football 101? Sure Callahan had a legitimate point in complaining about Husker players being pelted with "fruit" during the Oklahoma game on November 13. But what Callahan doesn't realize is that a whole lot of Husker fans are guilty of the same infraction. I think we all recall countless oranges exploding as they hit the turf at Memorial Stadium back in the 80s and 90s. In Lincoln. Home of the Huskers. Were oranges flung by Husker fans back then thrown on purpose at opposing players? For the most part, probably not. Did a few oranges hit opposing players simply because it's impossible to throw an orange onto the field from the cheap seats of a large stadium with any accuracy? Probably so. Did a few of those oranges hit Husker players too? Probably so. Does that mean a whole lot of Husker fans are "f***** hillbillies"? Probably not. Can you imagine 10/11 News having to report this kind of a quote from a Husker head coach to the Big Red masses across Nebraska? In fairness, I wasn't on the field in Norman that night. The extent of the verbal abuse, fruit throwing, taunting, assaulting, whatever; is unknown to me. The Daily Oklahoman says one thing. OU fans say another. Husker players say another. The coach blurts out an expletive. I can't believe the powers-that-be in the NU South Stadium offices didn't clue Callahan in on the fundamentals of being a Cornhusker. At the very least for the NU-OU game. He should have added a couple chores to his pre-game prep: -Watch all the old classic games between the two schools. Even the blowouts. Get to know and feel the "love to hate" feeling Husker fans have about the one-and-only Sooners. The tradition. The magic. -Spend some time with "Boomer Sooner". Husker fans have all heard OU's band play "Boomer Sooner" so many times, Callahan should be required to listen to it. Then hit repeat. Hit repeat. Hit repeat. In Cornhusker Football 101, you learn things like: -We are Nebraska. Our coaches don't yell "f***** anything" at people in the stands at the end of games -We don't get worked up by a bunch of drunk Sooner fans -We don't get worked up by fan treatment in opposing teams' cities. We treat them nice anyway when they come to Lincoln -Oklahoma is our rival. Even so, we miss not playing them every season since the split of the Big 12 -The Big 12 used to be the Big 8 -Even though OU is our rival, now Colorado and Kansas State are bigger rivals. We dislike the purple team. Snyder drives us nuts. McCartney was not our favorite either. The blowout loss to the Buffs still stings. Colorado chants "C-U, C-U", we chant "C-U Later". "C-U Later". Hit repeat. Hit repeat Callahan simply needs to get up to speed on Nebraska football in general and on the people of the state, and positive results are sure to follow. This isn't the NFL. This is college football in America's heartland and we do things differently in Nebraska. I'm not saying that's the way it should be, but that's the way it is. It isn't changing anytime soon despite NU's problems. NU athletic director Steve Pederson must not have known much about Nebraska and its traditions either. Callahan probably wasn't alerted to what he was getting himself into because Pederson didn't even know. You would think Oakland Raiders fans would have gotten under Callahan's skin more than a bunch of Oklahoma fans. Have you seen the stands during a Raiders game in Oakland when the Raiders are losing? Tough crowd! Callahan's remark is not very classy. Even though there was a big-time altercation between a Husker player and rowdy fan after the game. Callahan regrets his outburst. He says he was just sticking up for his team. Sure he was frustrated after a sound defeat by a talented college football team. Callahan hopes for similar success with the Huskers some day, I'm sure of that. At the same time, there's going to be rowdy, vulgar fans around every corner, so Callahan had better hunker down and get used to it. In addition, Husker fans and players had better get used to the fact that despite Lincoln's red carpet treatment of opposing teams and fans, Nebraska is still a bitter sports enemy to many. Fans in other Big 12 towns are not as nice as Husker fans. Either it's time for Nebraska fans to turn a cold shoulder on visiting fans or it's time for Nebraska fans and players to speak out about poor treatment by other teams' fans and players. But not by calling them names. 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