aurorasooner
10/18/2007, 08:35 AM
and another interesting article Is Pederson's buyout legal? http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=3918&u_sid=10161132
From reading this article, I got the impression that Pederson alienated just about all the previous Nebraska Football people, and was trying to rebuild the whole athletic dept. under his own image, and just pretend there was no previous history. Sounds like the guy was really a control prick. On the flip side, I imagine TO could've walked into Pederson's office any day of the week for a chat, unless Pederson was a total idiot and required him to make an appointment. Just doesn't sound like a real rosy romance between Pederson and anyone associated with past Nebraska football. Bad situation and timing when you fire a guy when he only loses 3 games. A much better situation when you fire a guy that only wins 3 games, and you win the NC 2 years later. U Athletics: Osborne is on call
BY DIRK CHATELAIN
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
LINCOLN — Tom Osborne was 10 minutes late for his first day of work as Nebraska interim athletic director.
Interim Athletic Director Tom Osborne works two phones in his new office during his first day Wednesday in Lincoln. Osborne was on hold waiting to go on the air for a local talk show and the other was one of several calls Osborne took from well wishers.
Caught in traffic, he said.
He parked his car, carried his little briefcase past a statue of himself and walked into a building that bears his name. Then, another problem.
"When I walked in the front door, I had to ask them what floor the athletic director's office was," Osborne said. "And when I got to the (third) floor, I had to ask where the office was."
Osborne had been through the Tom and Nancy Osborne Athletic Complex only once. He had never seen former Athletic Director Steve Pederson's office.
By Wednesday afternoon, Osborne had found the bathroom. He sat at Pederson's old desk and made phone calls, still a little uneasy about his new domicile.
"I got more room than I know what to do with," he said. "I feel like I'm lost."
The day started when he learned of a senior staff meeting about stress relief. Nobody told him about any meeting. He walked in late. A little embarrassing, Osborne said.
He probably didn't have to attend, but "I just kind of wandered in there and thought that'd be a good time to introduce myself."
He spent the morning putting faces to names. His employees showed him around. Lots of rooms and hallways in the Osborne Complex.
"Sometimes even the legends like that don't know which way to turn," said Randy York, Nebraska associate athletic director for communications.
Osborne had a phone at his ear most of the day, taking interview requests from the likes of radio personality Jim Rome. He ate lunch at the training table.
He tried to make sense of rumors swirling around the state that claimed that he was firing the football coaches on Wednesday.
Not true, Osborne said. In fact, he met with Bill Callahan's staff at 12:30 p.m.
"I just tried to let them know that I was here to support them any way I could," Osborne said, "and they don't have to blame themselves for what happened with the change in athletic directors.
"That it was more an administrative thing and it wasn't based on football scores or wins and losses. (I told them) I'd do whatever I could to help them, and then we'll sit down and talk at the end of the year and see where we are."
It's important, Osborne said, the coaches know he's "not out to get them."
Three hours later, he watched a Husker practice for the first time in years.
He even gave the OK to take the pictures of the football All-Americans out of storage and hang them.
"Looks like there's a lot of walls around here," Osborne said. "We ought to be able to find some place for them."
Osborne hopes to find some place in the complex for former athletes, too. Access and security were tight under Pederson.
"I went to see Harvey Perlman the other day and just walked right in," Osborne said.
Former players received an e-mail on Wednesday in which Osborne offered a limited supply of sideline passes to games. Osborne let them know that they're welcome into the A.D.'s office.
"If some people don't want to be bothered, that's fine," Osborne said. "But I'm here to be bothered. So we'll try to relax some of that stuff."
Directing an athletic department requires small talk and hand-shaking, but it's as much about paperwork and number-crunching.
"There's plenty of people around here . . . to do the day-to-day detail work," he said. "A lot of what I'm going to be doing will be people-related. That'll be my focus for the next few weeks."
That seems OK to people in the athletic department. A few senior staffers said they felt rejuvenated Wednesday morning.
Today, his old job complicates his new schedule. He's got to find a way — or find somebody — to administer his business mid-term to two afternoon classes. Osborne will teach when he can this semester, but he'll be calling on some guest speakers to help.
For now, he keeps his office in the College of Business Administration: a quaint abode at the end of a quiet second-floor hallway.
The view from that office, well, there isn't one unless you count the outer wall of Love Library.
At the Osborne Complex, he looks out to the north skyline, over a state-of-the-art practice facility and green practice fields. He has a balcony. He has red chairs and a glass desk and posters of the Nebraska national championship teams he coached.
None of it, by the way, came with him in that briefcase.
"I don't have a lot of baggage," he said. http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1200&u_sid=10161153
From reading this article, I got the impression that Pederson alienated just about all the previous Nebraska Football people, and was trying to rebuild the whole athletic dept. under his own image, and just pretend there was no previous history. Sounds like the guy was really a control prick. On the flip side, I imagine TO could've walked into Pederson's office any day of the week for a chat, unless Pederson was a total idiot and required him to make an appointment. Just doesn't sound like a real rosy romance between Pederson and anyone associated with past Nebraska football. Bad situation and timing when you fire a guy when he only loses 3 games. A much better situation when you fire a guy that only wins 3 games, and you win the NC 2 years later. U Athletics: Osborne is on call
BY DIRK CHATELAIN
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
LINCOLN — Tom Osborne was 10 minutes late for his first day of work as Nebraska interim athletic director.
Interim Athletic Director Tom Osborne works two phones in his new office during his first day Wednesday in Lincoln. Osborne was on hold waiting to go on the air for a local talk show and the other was one of several calls Osborne took from well wishers.
Caught in traffic, he said.
He parked his car, carried his little briefcase past a statue of himself and walked into a building that bears his name. Then, another problem.
"When I walked in the front door, I had to ask them what floor the athletic director's office was," Osborne said. "And when I got to the (third) floor, I had to ask where the office was."
Osborne had been through the Tom and Nancy Osborne Athletic Complex only once. He had never seen former Athletic Director Steve Pederson's office.
By Wednesday afternoon, Osborne had found the bathroom. He sat at Pederson's old desk and made phone calls, still a little uneasy about his new domicile.
"I got more room than I know what to do with," he said. "I feel like I'm lost."
The day started when he learned of a senior staff meeting about stress relief. Nobody told him about any meeting. He walked in late. A little embarrassing, Osborne said.
He probably didn't have to attend, but "I just kind of wandered in there and thought that'd be a good time to introduce myself."
He spent the morning putting faces to names. His employees showed him around. Lots of rooms and hallways in the Osborne Complex.
"Sometimes even the legends like that don't know which way to turn," said Randy York, Nebraska associate athletic director for communications.
Osborne had a phone at his ear most of the day, taking interview requests from the likes of radio personality Jim Rome. He ate lunch at the training table.
He tried to make sense of rumors swirling around the state that claimed that he was firing the football coaches on Wednesday.
Not true, Osborne said. In fact, he met with Bill Callahan's staff at 12:30 p.m.
"I just tried to let them know that I was here to support them any way I could," Osborne said, "and they don't have to blame themselves for what happened with the change in athletic directors.
"That it was more an administrative thing and it wasn't based on football scores or wins and losses. (I told them) I'd do whatever I could to help them, and then we'll sit down and talk at the end of the year and see where we are."
It's important, Osborne said, the coaches know he's "not out to get them."
Three hours later, he watched a Husker practice for the first time in years.
He even gave the OK to take the pictures of the football All-Americans out of storage and hang them.
"Looks like there's a lot of walls around here," Osborne said. "We ought to be able to find some place for them."
Osborne hopes to find some place in the complex for former athletes, too. Access and security were tight under Pederson.
"I went to see Harvey Perlman the other day and just walked right in," Osborne said.
Former players received an e-mail on Wednesday in which Osborne offered a limited supply of sideline passes to games. Osborne let them know that they're welcome into the A.D.'s office.
"If some people don't want to be bothered, that's fine," Osborne said. "But I'm here to be bothered. So we'll try to relax some of that stuff."
Directing an athletic department requires small talk and hand-shaking, but it's as much about paperwork and number-crunching.
"There's plenty of people around here . . . to do the day-to-day detail work," he said. "A lot of what I'm going to be doing will be people-related. That'll be my focus for the next few weeks."
That seems OK to people in the athletic department. A few senior staffers said they felt rejuvenated Wednesday morning.
Today, his old job complicates his new schedule. He's got to find a way — or find somebody — to administer his business mid-term to two afternoon classes. Osborne will teach when he can this semester, but he'll be calling on some guest speakers to help.
For now, he keeps his office in the College of Business Administration: a quaint abode at the end of a quiet second-floor hallway.
The view from that office, well, there isn't one unless you count the outer wall of Love Library.
At the Osborne Complex, he looks out to the north skyline, over a state-of-the-art practice facility and green practice fields. He has a balcony. He has red chairs and a glass desk and posters of the Nebraska national championship teams he coached.
None of it, by the way, came with him in that briefcase.
"I don't have a lot of baggage," he said. http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1200&u_sid=10161153