Bill Callahan (coach)

Infobox NFL PlayerCoach


Color=#0C371D
fontcolor=white
Name=Bill Callahan
DateOfBirth=birth date and age|1956|7|31
Birthplace=Chicago, Illinois
DateOfDeath=
College=Benedictine
Position=Head Coach
Assistant Head Coach
Quarterback
Career Highlights=yes
Awards=
Honors=
Records=
RegularRecord=27-22-0 (College)
15-17-0 (NFL)
PlayoffRecord=2-1 (NFL)
Record=17-18-0 (NFL)
Championships=2006 Big 12 North
2002 AFC Championship
Stats=yes
PFRCoach=CallBi0
player=yes
teams=Illinois Benedictine College
years=1975-1978
coach=yes
coachingteams= Illinois (Assistant)
Northern Arizona (OL)
Southern Illinois (OC)
Wisconsin (OL)
Philadelphia Eagles (OL)
Oakland Raiders (OC)
Oakland Raiders
Nebraska
New York Jets (AHC)
coachingyears=1980-1986
1987-1988
1989
1990-1994
1995-1997
1998-2001
2002-2003
2004-2007
2008-present

Bill Callahan (born July 31, 1956, in Chicago, Illinois) is the Assistant Head Coach/Offense for the New York Jets. He was formerly the head coach of the Oakland Raiders for the 2002-2003 seasons and for the University of Nebraska for the 2004-2007 seasons. He was fired from both positions after posting a losing record in his final season with the teams.

College Quarterback

Callahan was a four-year starter at quarterback at Illinois Benedictine College in Lisle, Illinois, where he was an NAIA honorable mention All-American in his final two seasons.

Early coaching career

The Chicago native began his college coaching career in 1980 as a graduate assistant at University of Illinois before being promoted to full time assistant in 1981, coaching tight ends, offensive line, quarterbacks and special teams through 1986.

Callahan served a two-year stint, 1987-1988, as offensive line coach at Northern Arizona University and one year as offensive coordinator of Southern Illinois in 1989. From 1990-1994, Callahan was offensive line coach at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has been praised by former Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez as being one of the primary reasons why the Badgers were able to turn their program around and eventually win three Rose Bowls in the 1990s. Alvarez cited Callahan specifically for his strong recruiting abilities.

Professional coaching career

Callahan started his NFL career as the offensive line coach for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1995 to 1997. He then spent four seasons as the Oakland Raiders offensive coordinator before being named the franchise's 13th head coach prior to the 2002 season. Callahan was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders of the NFL during the 2002 and 2003 seasons.

Callahan led the Raiders to the 2002 AFC Championship Game and a berth in Super Bowl XXXVII in his first season as a head coach, making him just the fourth rookie head coach in NFL history to do so. The Raiders suffered a lopsided defeat, losing 48-21 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coached by his former boss Jon Gruden. The Raiders finished with a 13-6 record in Callahan's first season.

Callahan is the third Raiders head coach to win an AFC West title and lead his team into the conference championship game in his first full season. Only Art Shell (1990) and John Madden (1969) had accomplished this feat.

Under Callahan's guidance, the Raiders led the NFL in passing for the first time in team history and led the league in total offense for just the second time in team history.

During his tenure as not only head coach but also offensive coordinator for the Raiders, Callahan earned a reputation as one of the finest offensive minds in the NFL. The Raider offense led the league in rushing in 2000 and led the league in passing in 2002. In 2002, the Raiders became the first team to win games in the same season while rushing at least 60 times (against Kansas City in a 24-0 win) and passing at least 60 times (against Pittsburgh in a 30-17 win). The Raider offense also set many franchise records during this period, including fewest sacks allowed (28) in 2000, a mark that was broken the following year (27).

Despite the success of his 2002 team, the 2003 Raiders had a losing record. After his team got off to a 2-5 start, many of his players, in particular Charles Woodson, publicly demonized the coach, even suggesting that Callahan was deliberately trying to sabotage the season. Apparently, his accusations of strife and mutiny within the clubhouse were corroborated by others, including veteran receiver Tim Brown. Callahan, his supporters claim, had recognized that the team was aging and needed younger talent. To get it, he would have to cut existing salaries, an assertion that did not sit well with many of the team's veterans. On Nov. 30, after a 22-8 loss to the Denver Broncos, Callahan said the Raiders must have been "the dumbest team in America in terms of playing the game." After a lackluster 4-12 season, despite having led the Raiders to a Super Bowl a year earlier, Callahan was fired. This may have seemed surprising, but owner Al Davis is not known for being patient with coaches.

Nebraska Cornhuskers

Nebraska initially pursued Dave Wannstedt, Al Saunders,Arkansas Head Coach Houston Nutt, and Defensive Coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys Mike Zimmer. However all of them turned the university down. Steve Spurrier was also rumored to have been given an invitation to an interview in Lincoln for the Head Coach position. Nebraska eventually settled on their fifth choice, Bill Callahan, who had recently been fired from the head coaching position at the Oakland Raiders. [ [http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/OAK/6968740 Callahan fired by Raiders] ] This would mark the first time in over four decades (since the hiring of Bob Devaney in 1962) that the Nebraska Cornhuskers would be led by a head coach with no direct ties to the university either as a player or an assistant coach.

In his first season at Nebraska (2004), Callahan finished 5-6, giving the Cornhuskers their first losing season since 1961. He had introduced the West Coast offense to a program that had traditionally relied on a strong running attack.

The Cornhuskers finished 8-4 during his second season and won the 2005 Alamo Bowl by narrowly defeating No. 20 Michigan, 32-28. The 8-4 Wolverines were the highest-ranked opponent that Nebraska had beaten since a 20-10 win over No. 2 Oklahoma in October 2001. The Wolverines also were the highest-ranked opponent beaten by Nebraska outside the Cornhuskers' home field in Lincoln since a 66-17 win over Northwestern in the 2000 Alamo Bowl.

In 2006, Nebraska finished 9-5 (including the regular season, the Big 12 Championship loss and a 17-14 loss to Auburn in the Cotton Bowl) and won the Big 12 North for the first time since 1999. The win over then No. 24-ranked Texas A&M marked Nebraska's first ever road win over a ranked Big 12 South team (the 1999 Cornhuskers defeated then-No. 12-ranked Texas in San Antonio to win the Big 12 Championship, although under college rules the location was technically a neutral site, with Nebraska playing as the home team).

Many expected that the 2007 season would be a breakthrough year for Nebraska. Instead the program endured new lows. Nebraska was beaten by Southern California on September 15th , being outrushed by a 313 to 31 margin [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/stewart_mandel/09/16/usc.nebraska/index.html?eref=si_ncaaf USC offensive line dominates matchup with Nebraska] ] . The team had five consecutive losses against Missouri, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Texas and Kansas. It was the first time since 1958 that Nebraska had lost 5 consecutive games [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/scoreboards/2007/11/03/35700_viewcast_recap.html SI Viewcast rec
] ] . On October 15, 2007, Steve Pedersen, the athletic director who hired Callahan, was fired by the University, a possible indicator that Callahan's position was in jeopardy. Pedersen was replaced on an interim basis by Nebraska's legendary former head coach, Tom Osborne. On November 3, the Cornhuskers gave up 76 points to Kansas, the most points ever scored against the Cornhuskers in their 117-year football history. The loss supplanted the previous record for most points allowed in a game, 70, by Texas Tech in 2004, Bill Callahan's first season.

On November 24, 2007, a day after a 65-51 loss to rival Colorado, Callahan arrived to the team's practice facility at 6:30 a.m. He met briefly with Osborne and was fired. As he left the complex, he waved to reporters gathered outside. Osborne announced during a press conference held at the school that Bill's "contract would not be renewed the following season" [cite news | url=http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3125379 | title=Nebraska Fires Callahan | work=ESPN.com | publisher=The Disney Company | date=November 242007 | accessdate=2008-03-10] , but due to a contract extension given to him by Steve Pederson earlier in the year Callahan will still earn $3.1 million as part of his buyout [ [http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7009256235 Callahan Fired As Nebraska Coach] ] . A parade was scheduled for downtown Lincoln by 8:30 a.m. Husker fans danced in the streets. Despite a 27-22 record in Lincoln (five games over .500), Callahan was 0-10 against teams ranked higher than 20th, 25-21 against Division I opponents and 15-18 against the Big 12, and coached the program to its only losing seasons in 45 years.

College head coaching record

CFB Yearly Record Subhead
name = Nebraska Cornhuskers
startyear = 2004
conf = Big 12 Conference
endyear = 2007CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2004
name = Nebraska
overall = 5-6
conference = 3-5
confstanding = 3 *
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking = NR
ranking2 = NRCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2005
name = Nebraska
overall = 8-4
conference = 4-4
confstanding = 2T *
bowlname = Alamo Bowl
bowloutcome = W 32-28
bcsbowl =
ranking = 24
ranking2 = 24CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship = division
year = 2006
name = Nebraska
overall = 9-5
conference = 6-2
confstanding = 1 *
bowlname = Cotton Bowl
bowloutcome = L 17-14
bcsbowl =
ranking = NR
ranking2 = NRCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2007
name = Nebraska
overall = 5-7
conference = 2-6
confstanding = 5T *
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking = NR
ranking2 = NRCFB Yearly Record Subtotal
name = Nebraska
overall = 27-22
confrecord = 15-17* Big 12 North DivisionCFB Yearly Record End
overall = 27-22
bcs =
poll = two
polltype =

On January 18, 2008 Callahan was hired as Assistant Head Coach of the New York Jets.

External links

* [http://www.imgspeakers.com IMG Speakers]

References