Nebraska...not feeling Frosty anymore

[entropy]

Hoss... Guess UNL coaches think they still have a shot with bubba. They are probably the only ones.

[entropy]

no idea where this comes from, but it was on another board..

Everywhere else there was significant commotion -- the kind of racket that speculative rambling produces when everyone wants to be a know-it-all but actually knows very little.

Nebraska was maybe moving to the Big Ten. Half of the Big 12 was maybe taking Horace Greeley's advice to head west.

Maybe. Put that word before any storyline and see where people run with it.

There were reports based on other reports, blogs based on other blogs, blather based on other blather.

Sources say this, sources say that, but University of Nebraska-Lincoln chancellor Harvey Perlman wasn't saying a thing.

Husker athletic director Tom Osborne wasn't much for words either during those critical days before Nebraska forged a new path in a new conference. A historical moment seemed to be around the corner. But both men also knew that such a moment could be intercepted by a misstep late in the game.

"I've said when he and I have a conversation, it's usually silence followed by silence," Perlman will tell you.

So it was. There were crickets in Lincoln while the rest of the intercollegiate world buzzed. What would be Nebraska's move? Stick with the Big 12 -- as unstable as it seemed -- or make a monumental move to the Big Ten?

Such was the question of all questions last June. You remember.

A tense time for Perlman. Exhilarating, too.

"Looking back now, it was fun because things were moving in a positive direction," Perlman told the Journal Star this week. "On the other hand, there was the real possibility that we would be in a pretty desperate situation at some point if both conferences said no in one way or another."

Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of the significant day, the day they'd scribble into the history books: June 11, 2010.

That is when Perlman and Osborne emerged from their silence with a hammer -- memorably driving home the points to the NU Board of Regents as to why Nebraska should join the Big Ten.

By the time everybody put their heads to the pillow that night, it was done.

With a year's time to step back from that day, Perlman downplays his speech to the regents, a presentation that was lauded by many across the state.

"Most of that speech was recitation of facts," Perlman said. "You don't have to spend a lot of time writing those down."

Regardless, it's a moment that still stands out -- the period at the end of a story that had been dominated by question marks for months.

It's also a moment one has to consider might have never arrived if not for a personal trust among three men.

***

Jim Delany couldn't tell you for sure how it was going to play out even after an important meeting with Perlman and Osborne last May.

But the Big Ten commissioner did know one thing: He liked those guys.

"Harvey is very direct, very smart, a very straight shooter. There's no icing on the cake with him. You just have the cake, right?" Delany said. "Tom is a person of very few words, and I think Harvey is a person of a few more words, but they don't oversell. They tend to say what's on their mind. They tend to say it very clearly."

Delany will tell you there was no lightning-bolt moment when he knew Nebraska was the right fit for the conference. It just became steadily apparent over time.

But a meeting with Osborne and Perlman on May 25 seems to be one of the key dates in this courtship. Delany left that day thinking that the three men shared a common philosophy on many of the critical points.

"There was a sense that these people are good people," Delany said. "These people view it in a lot of the same ways that we view it and that there might be mutual interest. I couldn't speak for my board, nor could they speak for their board, but as individuals we had a good understanding, a good connection."

Perlman had known Delany long before the expansion talk of 2010 dominated the scene. Both served on the Bowl Championship Series Presidential Oversight Committee. But the two had never been involved in any sort of business transaction.

Ultimately, the Big Ten was judging Nebraska as an institution and how it fit culturally and competitively. But how many business deals get done if there's not a connection between those making them?

"Any negotiation on anything, I don't know what the percentages are, but there's a healthy percentage that is based on the terms of the deal and there's a significant percentage that is always based on personal relationships," Perlman said. "You can negotiate a contract, which we did ... but this is a long-term commitment and it is a relationship that is going to have to be built over time. So you have to have some sense that you're dealing with people who are honest, respectful, stick to their word. If you have to go back and look at the contract, it probably isn't a good deal."

The two parties may have liked the representatives on each side, but everyone also knew full well that there had to be, as Delany put it, "a substantive attraction."

As it became clear that was there, the trust and respect each side had for the other would become crucial pieces during one whirlwind week in June.

***

To call last year's Big 12 meetings in Kansas City a circus would be a shameful reflection on circuses everywhere.

At one point: league commissioner Dan Beebe was chased to one of the InterContinental Hotel's elevators. He forced awkward smiles and uttered no comments as he waited anxiously for the doors to open and an escape could be made.

At another point: Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne was trapped behind the bellhop desk by reporters after reports surfaced on the Texas Longhorns' Rivals site -- Orangebloods.com -- that Byrne's school was among six in the conference possibly leaving for the Pac-10.

Byrne wasn't saying anything, except for one memorable line: "Anyone want to pay the tip?"

"It was a pretty nutty situation," Perlman recalled. "Not because of the people, just the whole context, where we were meeting. They positioned the press between us and the restroom, so every time someone had to go to the bathroom, you had to give yourself an extra 15 minutes to go through the press to get there."

Perlman remembered having one conversation with Osborne in a hotel lounge area near a fireplace. "And then I looked up and there was a camera hidden behind a post taking our picture. So, yeah, it was amusing."

Well, as amusing as anything could be during such a pressure-packed time.

The common narrative that developed was that this was largely a standoff between Nebraska and Texas.

Asked what he thought the biggest misconception of the whole process was, Perlman said: "There are still people that would like to make everything that happens about a Texas-Nebraska rivalry or bitterness. Maybe I'm naive and there's this big conspiracy down in Austin to get the University of Nebraska, but I don't believe it.

"Throughout the Big 12 conversations, we were most often aligned with Texas in terms of revenue sharing, in terms of the direction the conference could go."

There no doubt was a rivalry between the fan bases, which only grew after a second was put on the clock in the 2009 Big 12 Championship Game. But in the board rooms, Perlman didn't see any great animosity.

Perlman notes that, just like Texas, Nebraska was interested in possibly setting up its own television network. Perlman thinks a Husker network might have netted the school an additional $3 to $5 million a year.

"We were probably going to hit the market earlier than they would have," Perlman said. "Texas is the big institution in the Big 12, and it was before we left and still is. But I don't disrespect the people there or the institution. I don't think they bullied anybody. I think they did what each of us as a president of an institution would do: Here's our interest. This is what we want to do. Is there a way that we can accommodate this within the greater good of the Big 12 Conference? That was how it was always framed. And that was our position too."

***

With so much at stake, Perlman wasn't saying anything as reporters followed him through the hotel halls during the Big 12 meetings. Just days earlier he and Osborne had met Delany for that May meeting that had seemed so productive.

But now the Big 12 was giving Nebraska a deadline to commit to the conference. From an outsider's perspective, Perlman's situation could not have seemed much more stressful.

"It was stressful in ways that some other things are not," he said. "It's a different kind of stress when you see a great opportunity to move forward and you might not get it. But the day after you lose the opportunity, you're the same institution that you were before. And that's a little easier circumstance than when you're risking the institution in some regard or you're not clear what the outcome is. I mean, firing high-visibility people is much more stressful than this was."

Still, there was much to weigh. Perlman left the Kansas City meetings on June 4, one week before the big announcement would take place.

It is on that drive when Perlman and Delany shared an important phone call that carried enough significance to Perlman that he even recounted the story to the regents last year during his presentation.

In short, Perlman told Delany that if Nebraska was a school the Big Ten wanted to consider, the timeline was tight. The chancellor also made it clear this was his problem and no one else's.

The commissioner's reaction?

"By the time Harvey called me coming back from the Big 12, he had a level of credibility that his words meant what they said, and so I wasn't worried about being left out or being played," Delany said.

"If that call had happened two months earlier, I probably could have not been as optimistic. We wouldn't have completed our due diligence. But the fact that we had been at it and planned for it, I think we were able to play."

Soon, the reports came out about the deadline Nebraska faced. The situation facing the school's leaders may have seemed troublesome to an outsider.

But those outsiders didn't know what Perlman knew. As he arrived at his home from that Kansas City trip, he couldn't help but feel good about the possibilities.

***

Yet as encouraged as Perlman was about where the situation might be headed, he wasn't resting easy until he received that June 11 phone call at 4:30 p.m. saying the Big Ten presidents had voted to accept Nebraska's application.

"I'm generally optimistic, but in all these transactions, I also have these concerns that anything can go south until you get the signatures on the paper," Perlman said.

During the week leading up to the announcement, it was of the utmost importance to Perlman and Osborne that nothing leaked out of Nebraska's camp about where the situation stood with the Big Ten.

Reports were flying from different parts of the country -- particularly out of Texas. But Perlman and Osborne, aside from one cautiously worded appearance by the athletic director on his monthly radio show, held their tongues.

"When things start leaking, one perception can be that the other side is playing games to manipulate the outcome. That was really the concern," Perlman said. "And I didn't feel like I wanted to bring public pressure on the Big Ten. I didn't feel like it was going to be effective."

In the meantime, Perlman and Osborne laid out the details to the regents in regard to a conference switch.

Perlman said it was important to be candid in those discussions. The regents were shown what the opportunities were, what the risks were, where the finances would stand and what the potential penalties were for leaving the Big 12.

Two days before the big announcement, it became clear that June 11 was going to be a monumental day when a six-word sentence was added to the regents' agenda: Resolution regarding UNL athletic conference alignment.

The Varner Hall meeting room on East Campus was packed when the day arrived. Not often is it known when history is coming. But when it is, it draws a crowd.

A couple hours later, Delany appeared. Pop the cork. Nebraska was in.

A year later, Perlman is relieved the process is over and is "extraordinarily pleased" at how things turned out.

It seems to be one of those defining moments for him as a university leader, though he says he doesn't think of it in those terms.

"My wife keeps reminding me if we go 4-8 next year, that legacy will be tarnished a little bit," he joked.

Perlman credits the successes of the athletic program, the hard work of faculty and the significant growth of research at the university under the direction of leaders like Prem Paul as the reasons UNL can now call itself a Big Ten school.

"I don't think we'll start seeing the benefits for five years, 10 years," Perlman said. "We are a Big Ten university. Whether people think of us as a Big Ten university might take awhile, but it is an accomplishment. ... It was just a culmination of the effort of a lot of people."

[entropy]

http://youtu.be/oBeTXsO8bWU

#2 Nebraska vs #7 Colorado 1995


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBeTXsO8bWU&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube - ‪October 28, 1995 - #2 Nebraska @ #7 Colorado‬‏[/ame]

[entropy]

I-680/I-29 interchange supposedly taken today

[geo weidl]

Is that where you tailgate at ent?

[entropy]

LOL.. no

this picture is northeast of downtown Omaha

[Hannibal]

That '95 Nebraska team was incredible. I doubt that we'll ever see another team like that in our lifetimes.

[Wild Hoss]

Certainly not the most talented team to ever be fielded- probably wasn’t even the most talented team fielded in 1995- but you’d be hard-pressed to name a more focused and determined bunch IMO.

What has always stood out about that squad for me was how fundamentally sound it was; they just didn’t make mistakes, and thrived on those made by their opponents. Had no sacks allowed vs 39 recorded, gave up 12 yards in punt returns vs 552 (Couldn't find the bowl game stats here), scored 9 non-offensive touchdowns vs 2, nabbed 23 interceptions (as an almost exclusively Man coverage team) vs 8 thrown, lost only 9 fumbles on 695 rushing attempts vs gaining 9 on 362 opponent rushes, and threw 19 TD passes vs 15.

They applied a lot of pressure to the other team, in all phases of the game, to match their level of execution. They just didn’t give you much room to breathe, and that made an already talented and experienced team even more difficult to play against.

[entropy]

Hoss... 95 and 94 had some very fundamentally sound OL's. Pretty amazing how those teams didn't hurt themselves.

The other thing I've noticed about the teams of the mid 90's was how they owned the second half and just imposed their will on the OL and DL.

[Hannibal]

Certainly not the most talented team to ever be fielded- probably wasn?t even the most talented team fielded in 1995- but you?d be hard-pressed to name a more focused and determined bunch IMO.

That might be the case, but it's pretty hard, if not impossible, to find a team in the last 30 or 40 years that has completely dominated quality competition the way that Nebraska did that year. Beating four teams who finished the season in the Top 10 by an average of 31 points is unheard of in my lifetime.

[Wild Hoss]

We had a lot of things come together at the right time for us; made some schematic changes in the preceding years, made some S&C changes, recruiting changes, organizational changes, but also really just fell backasswards into a lot of in-state talent in those years...a lot more than has come out of the state since. I also think our staff, as a whole, had peaked as well; within just a few more years some of those guys would starting seeing their production really fall off due to age (and Frank Solich). At that time however, they were really clicking and had tons of experience. I also believe the trends in college football favored us somewhat, as the first vestiges of the "Spread Era" were beginning to show, and a lot of teams were getting soft. JMO.

One aspect that?s probably often overlooked is the contributions of our DC, Charlie McBride, and assistants like Craig Bohl and Kevin Steele. They fashioned a 4-3 scheme (11 Robber) that was both simple, easy to recruit to, and unique. It took teams a few years to catch up with it, and 1995 was its zenith IMO even though the stats don?t really support the assertion. There were a LOT of games against teams, especially OOC who hadn't seen us before, who were really shocked and unprepared to handle it.

Its unfortunate that the stupidity of a few has tarnished that group?s reputation, but that?s how it rolls in college athletics. I have come to accept that, even though its not fair. Those of us who followed the team closely knew there were a high number of really great kids on it, some of the best leaders and examples were ever had. Quite the dichotomy.

[entropy]

While Nebraska fans look at the 95 team as nebraska's best (and the best ever), I think the 94 team has the hearts of Nebraska fans. That team had the pipeline, beat Miami and was the start of the 90's run. 93 also was special to fans because nebraska was the great underdog and I've never saw a team get more respect out of loss than UNL did after the orange bowl vs FSU.

97, imo, was more expected. It didn't have that passion. I also, obviously, excluded the 2 NC in the 70's. I wasn't around.

[entropy]

I'll try this again..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fkNU5SMpucg

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkNU5SMpucg"]YouTube - ‪September 4, 1999 - #5 Nebraska @ Iowa‬‏[/ame]


this was the game where Crouch became the starting QB

[entropy]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oyooch5utMU"]YouTube - ‪2000 Fiesta Bowl - #6 Tennessee vs. #3 Nebraska‬‏[/ame]

since we are on the 1999 season. One of my favorite games with 2 drives of 90+ yards

[entropy]

Meanwhile, Beebe says...
Posted by: Brian Christopherson on June 14, 2011 at 5:43PM CST
It's been a while since this blog checked in on Dan Beebe. We had some Beebe overload there last fall. Needed some space. Besides, I get the sense most Huskers fans have moved on from all that in anticipation of this upcoming fall.

But Beebe has been talking about Nebraska a little bit the past week, getting out a few parting remarks as the Huskers prepare to make their move to the Big Ten officials in a few weeks.

On ESPN's radio station in Austin, Texas, last week, Beebe said: "On the Nebraska point, they never really liked, or at least Tom Osborne never really liked the Big 12, I don't think."
Beebe tried to back off that comment a bit in an interview with ESPN.com's David Ubben, saying that was probably "a little stronger than I should have said it."

"What’s interesting though, and maybe even a little bit curious to me is that Texas and Nebraska were aligned almost exactly on every issue, including the revenue distribution piece and putting all the rights into the conference. So it’s kind of interesting when I read about comments about Nebraska now being pleased about being in a conference where they put all their rights in and divide money equally," Beebe added. "That’s the exact opposite position that they took for years in this conference."

Yes, Nebraska often aligned with Texas on many issues. But then again, that's something Nebraska officials have never tried to hide. In fact, UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman went out of his way to make that clear in an interview with the Journal Star last week.

"There are still people that would like to make everything that happens about a Texas-Nebraska rivalry or bitterness," Perlman said. "Maybe I'm naive and there's this big conspiracy down in Austin to get the University of Nebraska, but I don't believe it."

So, yep, Beebe's right that Nebraska and Texas saw eye-to-eye on plenty of the topics in the board rooms. But trying to shift the focus of the discussion to one about revenue sharing seems a convenient tactic to keep from addressing the real reason Nebraska left the Big 12. Stability. The Big Ten offered a certain future. No matter how it is spun, the Big 12 did not -- definitely not in those early weeks of June last year year.

And on the topic of revenue: If you're sharing revenue but still making more revenue on an annual basis than you think you would have in the old conference, most likely you're not going to have many problems with adjusting your stance a bit.

Then, there's the academics.

"We're a northern school, land-grant institution, we're a comprehensive research institution. I think the kind of institution we are is the kind of institution you'd find in the Big Ten," Perlman said. "That's not to say anything negative about the Big 12 institutions, it's just that they're so very different. It's hard to create a culture when you have both a Texas and a Baylor. Both institutions are great institutions, but they're not alike."

I asked Perlman last week if he was surprised with how positive the response has been around the state since the announcement of Nebraska's move to the Big Ten? After all, some century-old rivalries are being put to bed because of the move.

"I think there are some good reasons for it," Perlman said of those positive vibes. "I think it was contextual. I think if there hadn't been the very visibility that the Big 12 would fall apart and Nebraska would be sitting out here with the Big Six, the reaction might have been different. If we had just made a decision on a casual Saturday afternoon to go to the Big Ten and then announced it the next day with none of that context around it, I suspect there would have been some people that were angrier than they were."

Perlman is right on that. I know plenty of people that enjoyed the ties Nebraska had to the old Big Eight schools and will miss them. It's those same people who would have been ticked off something serious if Nebraska made a move without a seemingly good reason.

But the situation was plenty clear last year: One conference offered a future with solid ground beneath you. The other offered possibilities but no promises of what exactly would it would be, or if it would be, 15 years from now.

Stability was what this was mostly about no matter how else it is framed. The rest is just a bunch of blah-blah-blah on the ride to sign the divorce papers.