Well. That didn't take long.
Nebraska's dismissal of athletic director Steve Pederson Monday was as shocking as it was inevitable. Rarely does an AD get canned in the middle of the season unless there's a rules or academic scandal. In Husker Land, results in football are paramount. Following the worst home loss in half a century, someone had to pay.
Pederson, who worked in the Nebraska athletic department before becoming the AD at Pitt, returned to Nebraska when Bill Byrne got outta town to take the Texas A&M job.
Pederson's biggest move came when he fired Frank Solich, the man who replaced legendary Tom Osborne. Solich was 10-3 in his final season.
Pederson's words the day he canned Solich will serve as his epitaph: "I refuse to let the program gravitate into mediocrity," Pederson said. "We won't surrender the Big 12 to Oklahoma and Texas."
Acting as a one-man search committee, Pederson fumbled the process and finally hired Bill Callahan. After four seasons of ... well, mediocrity ... Callahan will follow Pederson to the unemployment line. The coach will get canned at the end of the season.
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