Be Confident, Husker Fans (And Everyone Else)

RUSH: Omaha, Nebraska, Bill, you’re up first today on Open Line Friday. Nice to have you with us. Hello.

CALLER: Mega dittos, Rush, from Omaha, Nebraska.

RUSH: Thank you.

CALLER: I got a See, I Told You So, my friend. I called you about ten years ago when Tom Osborne retired, and I said, ‘It’s over, Rush.’ I said, ‘Look what happened to the Texas’ and the Oklahomas and the USCs and all those,’ and I said, ‘It’s going to happen to Nebraska.’ And you said, ‘Oh, don’t be so negative. They’ve got a great tradition.’ I didn’t go into details, but I knew that was going to be going, incrementalism, the slow process of going down the tubes. We really hit rock bottom, but now we’ve got — Osborne has decided to go with Pelini as our head coach, and —

RUSH: How do you feel about that?

CALLER: Well, I don’t know, Rush. I’m only two years younger than you are, and I’ve watched Husker football since I’ve been eight years old, and I’m here to say I really don’t know for sure. I could relate to this as… Remember a guy named Buddy Ryan that was with the Bears and then he also was assistant coach, defensive coordinator with the Bears, and then he went with Philadelphia as the head coach, and he kind of fell flat on his face? Well, Pelini has been a great defensive guy as an assistant coach, but he’s never been in that position, and I don’t know the answer to that. It’s going to be really interesting. I think what I’m going to have to do —

RUSH: Wait a second. Are you doubting the ability of the sainted Tom Osborne to pick the right head coach?

CALLER: Well, Tom Osborne is a great man, okay? Let’s make that perfectly clear. But Tom Osborne has not made all the right decisions. He decided he wanted Frank Solich as his head coach and that was one of the reasons I called you ten years ago and said —

RUSH: He was being loyal.

CALLER: I know that, but it wasn’t the right deal. So now he’s kind of doing the same thing in that he’s trying to bring back the Huskers — the people that were close to the program —

RUSH: Right. I’ll tell you, I’m not a big student of college football.

CALLER: I understand that.

RUSH: I spend much more time with the NFL, but one thing, they brought in Callahan, and you try to install a West Coast offense in a college game, it’s a mistake. Nebraska always has been a power running game, with option-type quarterbacks that can also throw the ball, big bruisers. Well, Eric Crouch wasn’t a big bruiser, but —

CALLER: Bob Foss.

RUSH: West Coast offense, you know, chunk and dunk —

CALLER: Yeah.

RUSH: — as Buddy Ryan called it is not really for the college game, and I think that’s what Osborne probably wants to get back to. But, look, I’ll eat the dirt. I didn’t know. If I said that you were wrong, okay. I was wrong. It doesn’t happen very much. I’m happy to admit it.

CALLER: Listen, you keep track of the bleeding heart liberals for me because I listen to you every single day, and I’ll keep tabs on what goes on in the Huskers. I’m going to call you in five years and kind of give you details on what’s going on.

RUSH: (laughing)

CALLER: I hope that Pelini is the real deal and I hope he’s with us for 20 years but I just don’t know if that’s going to be the case or not.

RUSH: Be confident! Be confident. I mean, nothing has happened yet. Be confident. You sound like an economist, waiting for the recession that isn’t going to happen.