Pedersonputs it allon the line

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Husker Athletic Director Steve Pederson is under fire right now, but you have to credit him for one thing. He made a gutsy move.

Pederson put his own career on the line when he fired football coach Frank Solich.

The easy option after the Huskers racked up the season's ninth win against Colorado would have been to give Solich another year.

If Pederson had left Solich in charge of the program Pederson might have heard some muttering and grumbling.

But the complaints certainly would never have been anything like the protests that exploded when he fired Solich.

Pederson grew up in Nebraska and worked a total of eight years in the NU athletic department during separate stints in different capacities. He knows Nebraska. He knows the Husker Nation.

He had to have known he would start a firestorm by terminating Solich, who longtime Husker fans still remember as a gritty, undersized fullback back in the Bob Devaney era.

Even living legend Tom Osborne, who won three national championships as NU football coach before becoming a congressman had put in a word for Solich. "I can't imagine they're going to force Frank out after a break-even season and an 8-3 record," Osborne said. "I can't believe that."

Facing all that, Pederson chose the difficult option.

He forced change, which always brings opportunity and risk.

Pederson returned to Nebraska last year at the conclusion of Nebraska's worst football season since 1961. Since then he has had almost a year to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the NU football program under Solich.

After Pederson's news conference on Sunday we know the results of his assessment. We know where Pederson wants to set the bar for performance: "I refuse to let this program gravitate to mediocrity."

Most importantly, we know how passionately he's committed to reaching that goal.

Forget about the changes that Pederson already has implemented at Nebraska, from the reunion of former Husker football players to the Husker Nation Pavilion.

The defining moments of Pederson's career are unfolding before our eyes. He will be forever judged by the success of his monumental gamble that he can bring in a new coach who can return the program to glory.

Pederson can be faulted for mistakes in the way he handled the Solich firing, from the issue of timing to defensiveness and denial about leaked information.

But he deserves respect for one thing.

When he fired Frank Solich, he was willing to risk it all.