Pederson justifies process he used to find coach, says fans should be energized

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BYTODDHENRICHS

Outside of wife Tami, Steve Pederson jokingly said Friday that he wasn't aware of anyone criticizing the search for Nebraska's next head football coach.

In reality, NU's athletic director said things got "pretty ugly" before landing one of the coaches on his initial wish list.

"I don't think Nebraskans will hold a grudge,"he said. "I think that they'll get over it.

"When they see his energy and his enthusiasm and he starts getting his staff in place, I think people are going to be energized."

The applause that greeted Bill Callahan's introduction Friday was the latest ruckus in a highly scrutinized search for Frank Solich's replacement.

In the last 40 days, Pederson's popularity plummeted not only among Big Red boosters backing Bo Pelini for the job but rival athletic directors who saw a rumored - then refuted - $2.5 million-a-year offer to Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt as upping the ante.

Pederson's affection ultimately scored a Texas-sized raise for Nutt, and later Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer.

Through it all, folks poked fun at Nebraska and at Pederson, who earned some unsolicited advice.

"I was taught that you don't make a change until you know who you're going to hire,"stately Arkansas ADFrank Broyles told The Associated Press earlier this week. "And you also have to make sure the new guy is better than the old guy."

With an offensive-minded coach in tow Friday - someone who coached in the last Super Bowl - Pederson went on the offensive.

"You have people say a search shouldn't take more than three days,"he said. "Is that really the way to hire somebody that is going to make a million and a half a year?

"If you're going to go after great people, it's not necessarily going to just go like that."

Since the tumultuous weeks that led to the firing of Solich on Nov. 29, very little has gone as expected in and around Nebraska's tradition-rich football program.

Pederson said Callahan was the sixth candidate that he met face-to-face during a search that featured late-night landings on a remote Nebraska airstrip.

Although rumors circulated non-stop, Pederson said the process didn't begin in earnest until after Nebraska's win against Michigan State in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29.

The next day, a private plane, presumably carrying Pederson, left San Antonio for Olathe, Kan., and a meeting with Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Al Saunders.

The plane ultimately flew to York, where Pederson departed Jan. 1 on a round trip to meet with Nutt in Fayetteville, Ark.

Zimmer swooped into town Monday, the first day that Callahan and Pederson acknowledged contact. Callahan came to Lincoln on Wednesday, the same day that internal candidates Pelini and Turner Gill officially interviewed.

All the while, the Husker Nation withstood the seismic waves of talk that Steve Spurrier or Steve Mariucci might take the job.

Callahan, both loved and loathed by the armor-adorned Raider Nation, is readily prepared to face such passion.

"I would love to finish my career in Nebraska," said Callahan, 47. "And I'm going to do everything I can to make that happen."

Pederson offered Callahan the job Thursday afternoon following the second of two meetings between the former Oakland Raiders head coach and UNLchancellor Harvey Perlman. A contract was hammered out late Thursday night.

After Friday's announcement, Pederson said his only regrets were not outlining a timetable for the search from the start and the impact the process has had on efforts to raise $40 million for facilities improvements.

Donations have lagged over the last six weeks with Pederson focused on other things.

So with Husker fans tuned in Friday, he urged them to "send money" and said his next big task will be to get out on the fund-raising circuit.

How he's greeted will likely say a lot in how Husker fans view their new football coach.

The former recruiting coordinator in Pederson considers Callahan a difference-maker.

"I hope people will look at this and say, 'If we give this guy the tools ... Wow,"Pederson said. "I'd love for this to be the last football coach Iever hire. And so if it's going to be that, you better try to do it right."

Reach Todd Henrichs at 473-7439 or thenrichs@;journalstar.com.