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25 worst college football coaching hires in history

By Nicholas Ian Allen

PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 1: Head coach Mike Price of the Washington State University Cougars manages the game from the sidelines during the 89th Rose Bowl game against University of Oklahoma Sooners at the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2003 in Pasadena, California. Oklahoma defeated Washington St. 34-14. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 1: Head coach Mike Price of the Washington State University Cougars manages the game from the sidelines during the 89th Rose Bowl game against University of Oklahoma Sooners at the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2003 in Pasadena, California. Oklahoma defeated Washington St. 34-14. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /
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LINCOLN, NE – NOVEMBER 24: Head coach Bill Callahan of the Nebraska Cornhuskers challenges a play in the fourth quarter against the Colorado Buffaloes on November 24, 2006 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. Nebraska won 37-14. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
LINCOLN, NE – NOVEMBER 24: Head coach Bill Callahan of the Nebraska Cornhuskers challenges a play in the fourth quarter against the Colorado Buffaloes on November 24, 2006 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. Nebraska won 37-14. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) /

18. Bill Callahan, Nebraska

  • Hired: December 2003
  • Fired: November 2007
  • Record at Nebraska: 27-22 (.551)
  • Career head coaching record: 27-22 (.551)

The Nebraska football program reached its highest point as a national power under Hall of Fame head coach Tom Osborne, who roamed the sidelines in Lincoln from 1973-97. It’s never easy to replace a legend (though Osborne himself did an outstanding job when he took over for multiple national champion head coach Bob Devaney), and the Cornhuskers fired former assistant Frank Solich after a 9-3 record in 2003 after six years as head coach – three of which included 10 or more wins.

Devaney, who was hired away from Wyoming in 1962, was the last Nebraska head coach with no previous ties to the program. But the Cornhuskers looked outside the family to replace Solich and tabbed former Oakland Raiders head coach Bill Callahan for the job.

Though he spent the first 15 years of his coaching career in college, Callahan had been an offensive line coach, coordinator or head coach in the NFL since 1995. He coached the Raiders to the Super Bowl in his first season in charge. Controversy ensued after Oakland lost to Tampa Bay 48-21 because of a late change to the team’s game plan, and the Raiders stumbled to 4-12 in 2003, when he was fired.

To put it simply, Callahan was never a good fit in Nebraska. The Huskers fell to 5-6 in his first season, and though he produced back-to-back winning campaigns in 2005 and 2006, Callahan and the Huskers finished 5-7 in 2007, and he was fired again.

As luck would have it, Osborne was the man that fired Callahan in 2007 while Osborne served as interim athletic director for the school. Though successor Bo Pelini won 10 games in three of his seven seasons (and never won fewer than nine), Nebraska has yet to challenge for a national title. Callahan returned to the NFL, and has worked as a pro assistant since 2008.

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