LINCOLN - Bill Callahan said the day he was hired that he hoped to finish his career at Nebraska.
As he begins his third season as the Cornhuskers' coach, Callahan says he feels stronger than ever about that statement.
With his pro-style offense and aggressive recruiting approach - not to mention a $50 million facilities upgrade - Callahan has, as he likes to say, changed the culture of Nebraska football.
A program that had grown stale under Tom Osborne lieutenant Frank Solich is now seen as a program on the rise.
Nebraska represented a fresh start for Callahan, who was fired as Oakland Raiders coach after a player uprising in 2003. That followed a humiliating Super Bowl loss to Tampa Bay the previous season.
Not surprisingly, the 50-year-old Callahan says the NFL no longer appeals to him.
“I don't have any ambitions to go back there,” Callahan said.
He relishes and appreciates the autonomy he has as a college coach.
“When you're the head coach on the college level, you're like the GM,” he said. “You get to go out and recruit the players you want to recruit. You have to compete for them, but at least you have the say on who you like to target and go after them. That's the fun part. I love personnel. I love recruiting.”
Callahan's efforts on the recruiting trail the last two years are expected to bear fruit this season.
The No. 20 Huskers, who open against Louisiana Tech, are in the preseason Top 25 for the first time since 2002 and they're favored to win the Big 12 North.
Callahan downplays talk across Big Red country that this is a pivotal season. A road trip to Southern California on Sept. 16 and a home game against defending national champion Texas on Oct. 21 will be measuring sticks for how far the program has come.
“I have said we are making progress,” he said. “But I'm not going to make statements that are bold and outrageous. We're just going to work hard to win, just like every other team out there.”
It's been a methodical building process.
Under Osborne and Solich, Nebraska didn't always go for the five-star prospects. The Huskers often flew under the national recruiting radar, looking for players who could be molded to fit the system. The philosophy worked well for Osborne; not so well for Solich.
Callahan unabashedly goes for the most decorated high school players along with a hearty helping of junior-college transfers.
This was in evidence when he recently brought in NFL-caliber quarterback Sam Keller, the deposed Arizona State starter. Such an accomplishment would have been unimaginable in the days of Nebraska's ground-based offense. The last Nebraska quarterback of consequence in the NFL was Vince Ferragamo in the late 1970s.
Callahan's West Coast system is designed to make Nebraska a training ground for quarterbacks with pro aspirations.
Athletic director Steve Pederson, who declared three years ago that the proud program was sliding into “mediocrity” under Solich, said he likes what Callahan has done so far.
“The program is where I hoped it would be,” Pederson said. “I think he had a bigger job to do than maybe a lot of people realized. He's done it without complaining one time.
“I just want to see continued progress. I see that going on in practice, with the kind of players we've got, the kind of people we've got, the way they're coaching them. We're absolutely on the right track.”
Callahan's first year was blemished by a 60-point loss to Texas Tech, the most lopsided in program history. Then there were three season-ending losses and the 5-6 record that ended Nebraska streaks of 42 winning seasons and 35 years in a bowl.
“It was a tough time,” Callahan said. “It was a transition. I'm talking about massive change, where the entire program philosophy changes, from the offensive and defensive philosophy, to how you run your program, to how you practice. I'm not saying what anybody did in the past is wrong. I'm saying we're doing what we believe in as a staff.”
Last year there was a stretch of four losses in five games, including a 25-point loss at Kansas that was Nebraska's first loss to the Jayhawks since 1968. The next week, a television reporter asked Callahan the famous question, “If you were athletic director, would you fire yourself?”
The Huskers closed an 8-4 campaign with three straight wins, including a 32-28 Alamo Bowl victory over Michigan.
“Our finish last year would be a high point,” Callahan said. “Our team showed tremendous resourcefulness in coming back to win three in a row to finish the year. I'm really proud of them. We have to capitalize on the confidence it brings to your club and parlay that into this year's chemistry.”
Callahan, a Chicago native who has made six previous coaching stops, said he's comfortable living in Nebraska.
He and his wife, Valerie, and two of their four children, Cathryn, 15, and Jaclyn, 13, live outside town on an acreage along with their golden Labrador, Henry.
Callahan spent the summer in Lincoln, working half days during his vacation and spending a good number of afternoons golfing at Firethorn Country Club.
One of his summer highlights was a visit to the governor's mansion for a steak dinner the night before preseason practice started.
Gov. Dave Heineman said Callahan seems at ease living and working in a state where football is always at the forefront of the public's consciousness.
“Nebraska is growing on him every day,” Heineman said. “I think he likes this overwhelming, extraordinary focus on football. It's the thing that brings the state together. I don't care who you are - rich or poor, whatever your political philosophy is, whatever you do in life - we all come together on Nebraska football. He finds it very intriguing.”
Defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove, who has known Callahan since they were roommates as freshmen at Illinois Benedictine College in 1974, said he senses that Callahan has settled in at Nebraska.
“Bill loves a challenge,” Cosgrove said. “When he made the move to the NFL, he looked at it as the next challenge. He had enough of it. He's glad to be back in college. I know that.”