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Nebraska AD stays behind Callahan

Posted: Wednesday November 9, 2005 11:16AM; Updated: Wednesday November 9, 2005 11:16AM

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- Nebraska athletics director Steve Pederson is standing firmly behind coach Bill Callahan, the man he hired to return the Cornhusker football program to excellence.
"I see progress in the program every day," Pederson said Tuesday. "What I see happening is this team and this program evolving, and I feel very good about the future of this program."

The Huskers (5-4, 2-4 Big 12) play Kansas State (4-5, 1-5) in Lincoln this week in a game that could determine who finishes last in the conference's North Division.The 40-15 loss to Kansas on Saturday ended Nebraska's 36-year winning streak against the Jayhawks and fueled the outcry by fans impatient for the team's return to dominance."I understand that its easy to measure everything by what happens on the scoreboard. That's human nature," Pederson said. "None of us like to lose games, but what I think we've tried to do is creating some positive momentum for this team and this program."So I believe absolutely in this coaching staff and players and what they're doing," Pederson said.The coaches are working hard, Pederson said, "and they're great teachers.""I'm fortunate in the fact I can go watch practice on a fairly regular basis," he said, "and I get a chance to see the way they're teaching and the way they're building with the kids."Callahan said earlier Tuesday at his weekly news conference that he has had no discussions about his future with Pederson."I'm going to do the best I can," Callahan said. "That's how I've always responded to adversity."Do I think it (my job) is safe? There is no security in this business," he said.Asked about any changes in the coaching staff, Pederson said: "The coaching staff is a decision made by the head coach. My job is to evaluate the head coach and how he's doing. His job is to evaluate the assistants and so forth, and I sure see tremendous strength in that group. ... I'm proud that they're here."Pederson acknowledges the team's recent struggles -- losses in three straight games and in four of the last five.Nonetheless, he said, "I think were better than we were at the beginning of the season. We were struggling to find ourselves, particularly offensively, at the beginning of the year, and were back rallying back against Texas Tech and Oklahoma and Missouri in games like that."Certainly, the game we didn't play very well was Kansas, but I've seen a dramatic improvement from a year ago," Pederson said.He said his perspective is built on his experiences at Ohio State in the late 1980s in a similar situation."What we really did (at Ohio) was we focused on building the program and not taking shortcuts, and it was some tough years getting started. But then we built it into a consistent top-10 program again," he said.Pederson urged fans to keep a positive outlook for the program and especially for recruiting."We want to add more players to this group of players, so we want a positive atmosphere in recruiting, as well, that will pay dividends for years to come," Pederson said.He remains positive about his decision to hire Callahan to replace longtime Husker Frank Solich, hand-picked by Husker legend Tom Osborne as his successor."Not everyone is going to agree with everything you do, and I knew that when I made this decision," he said.Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.