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Osborne: Next coach must understand Nebraska football cultureESPN.com news services LINCOLN, Neb. -- The next Nebraska coach doesn't necessarily have to have ties to the school, but Tom Osborne says the Cornhuskers' next leader must have an understanding of the program's unique culture and history. Somebody such as former Nebraska quarterback and Buffalo coach Turner Gill would qualify. You want somebody that knows football and has a good work ethic. You want somebody that can motivate. Some people know football, but they really don't get people to play hard for them. Again, I'm not saying that's the case [with the previous staff]. But you've got to get players to play hard. --Tom Osborne Buffalo athletic director Warde Manuel gave permission to Osborne, Nebraska's interim athletic director, to speak with Gill, Buffalo sports information director Paul Vecchio told The Associated Press. He said an interview had not yet been scheduled. Manuel told the Lincoln Journal Star that Turner has his support. "I think it's tremendous. Turner is absolutely ready to coach at Nebraska. He's done a great job, an awesome turnaround. Although I would hate to lose him, he would be a great coach there." Manuel told the the Journal Star that he believes an interview will take place "in the next day or so." Gill's hiring would be a sign of progress, the head of the Black Coaches and Administrators says. That's because Nebraska is a Bowl Championship Series school in the Big 12. "It's a key job because it's visible," BCA executive director Floyd Keith said Monday. There are only six black coaches at 119 major-college football schools: Gill, Mississippi State's Sylvester Croom, UCLA's Karl Dorrell, Washington's Tyrone Willingham, Kansas State's Ron Prince and Miami's Randy Shannon. Four years ago, Keith criticized Nebraska for its 40-day search that resulted in the hiring of Bill Callahan, saying former athletic director Steve Pederson didn't seriously consider minority candidates. Keith said he would send a letter to Osborne discussing the BCA's interest in the search and the organization's willingness to assist. Such letters are routinely sent to schools conducting coaching searches, Keith said. "We hope we have conversations with them during that process and that they follow the guidelines for an inclusive and equitable search," Keith said. LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini also appears to be on the top of the list of names mentioned most often as possible successors Bill Callahan. The Journal Star reported that an airplane carrying Osborne and university chancellor Harvey Perlman left Lincoln bound for Baton Rouge, La., on Sunday afternoon. The Omaha World-Herald reported that Osborne met with Pelini on Sunday then traveled to Atlanta. Parker Executive Search, the firm assisting Nebraska in finding a replacement for Callahan, is based in Atlanta. Pederson interviewed Gill and Pelini before Callahan's hiring in 2004. One of the criticisms of Callahan, who was fired Saturday, was that he didn't understand or appreciate the fans' passion and high expectations. Both were inflated during Osborne's coaching career, a 25-year period that saw the Huskers average 10 wins a season and win three national championships. "I think it's pretty important that they have a good grasp of it," Osborne said of prospective candidates. "I think most people in football have a kind of peripheral sense of what it is like." Gill quarterbacked the Huskers in the early 1980s and was an assistant under Osborne and Frank Solich. He left in 2004, after Callahan's first season. In December 2005, Gill agreed to a five-year contract to coach Buffalo, which won just 10 games in its first seven years in the Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-A. After the Bulls went 2-10 in 2006, Gill led them to a 5-3 finish in the Mid-America Conference, and a first-place tie in the East Division, this season. Buffalo was 5-7 overall. Pelini was the Huskers' defensive coordinator under Solich in 2003 after working eight years as an NFL assistant. Told of the flight, LSU athletic director Skip Bertman told the Journal Star, "Are you kidding me?" Bertman told the the Journal Star that nobody from Nebraska contacted him regarding Pelini, but added, "It's probably not absolutely, positively mandatory for an assistant. I don't suppose he felt he had to contact me, I guess." Gill and Pelini did not return messages left by The Associated Press on Sunday. Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez's name has been bandied, but he said Sunday he has no interest in a return to coaching. Alvarez, who stepped down as Badgers' coach in 2005, played linebacker at Nebraska in 1965-67. "I've got the job I want right now," Alvarez said. Osborne said it would be "nice" if the next coach already had experience at Nebraska. "But that's not going to be exclusive," Osborne said. "I'm not going to make that a prerequisite. So I'll just try to find the best candidate. And it takes two people to agree. I may talk to some people that have Nebraska ties that want no part of it." Among other names to surface in media reports are Rutgers' Greg Schiano, Cincinnati's Brian Kelly, Boise State's Chris Petersen, Navy's Paul Johnson and South Florida's Jim Leavitt. Schiano said he had not been contacted by Nebraska and declined further comment. Kelly also declined to comment. Cincinnati associate athletic director for communications Kelby Siler told the Journal Star that Kelly wouldn't discuss rumors. "He doesn't want to talk about it," Siler told the newspaper. "He doesn't want to field questions. We're just trying to figure out if we're going to El Paso, Charlotte or Birmingham [for bowl games] right now." Siler told the Journal Star that athletic director Mike Thomas won't say whether he's been contacted by schools seeking permission to speak with Kelly. Petersen, Johnson and Leavitt did not return messages left at their offices and through their schools' sports information departments. Whoever the coach is, Osborne envisions a return to the days when Nebraska teams played a bruising brand of football and cultivated many of their best players from within the state. Callahan junked Osborne and Solich's triple-option for the West Coast offense, and the Huskers seemed to lose their hard edge. Under Osborne and Solich, some of the most ferocious hitting occurred on the practice field. Under Callahan, practices in full pads were uncommon. Osborne said he also wants the new coach to embrace the atmosphere, which means showing respect for the program's past, being visible and building the trust of fans and players. "You want somebody whose word is good," Osborne said. "It's very important in recruiting that the players trust you. That what you tell them is going to happen. "You want somebody that knows football and has a good work ethic. You want somebody that can motivate. Some people know football, but they really don't get people to play hard for them. Again, I'm not saying that's the case [with the previous staff]. But you've got to get players to play hard." Osborne said he won't mandate a particular style of offense, but he said some facets of the old triple-option remain effective. "I think it's really hard in college football if you don't have some mobility in your quarterback, to be successful," he said. "You need to have the ability to run the football once in a while and scramble for a first down. The rest of it, I don't know. The new coach will have to decide." Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
England soccer stuck in another era, out-of-step on international stageJeff Rusnak | Soccer Columnist
Given the general affinity for English soccer in the United States, England's failure to qualify for the 2008 European Championship was disappointing for many, particularly Brits living stateside. Then again, for Americans who fear that repeated exposure to England's one-dimensional playing style can have an adverse effect on the way our own teams play, England's early exit should come as a relief. After all, while we share the same language with the mother country, we can't have American youth players and coaches emulating English soccer any more than they already do. England's kick-and-run system failed once again two weeks ago in an historic 3-2 home defeat to Croatia. That loss and an earlier 2-1 defeat to Russia bumped England from Euro 2008, giving Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Michael Owen a summer holiday they would rather not take. David Beckham, meanwhile, will be able to devote himself entirely to the L.A. Galaxy, making England's exit a major victory for MLS. England only needed a tie against Croatia to advance, but was outclassed by a country one-tenth its size. The spoils went to a team that plays the ball calmly out of the back, maintains possession and changes tempo in the midfield, and scores goals off passes inside the 18-yard box. In other words, nothing like England. England remains stuck in another era, still full of pace and fight, but oddly out-of-step on the international stage with its dependence on free-kick scoring chances and wishful crosses into the goalmouth mixer. Again and again, England's direct and predictable approach gets exposed, and again and again England keeps tapping the same overused vein. There's talk that the Croatia embarrassment may stir the cobwebs of English soccer and lay the groundwork for change, beginning at the youth level. Maybe it will, but don't count on it, said Graham Taylor, who coached England from 1990-93. "Our failure has been going on for years and years. Why do people expect England to get to the finals or win these major tournaments?" Taylor said last week at the Soccerex conference in South Africa. Taylor, 63, said he didn't expect to see England "crack it at international level" in his lifetime. He added, "We have no record over the years of success but we really hate facing up to the truth. Unless we face up to it, that state of affairs will continue." Fortunately, we suffer no illusions about the quality of the national team in this country. Being relatively new at the game, we know it's got to improve. How to go about it has always been a source of debate, though now it appears we are finally looking to Latinize our approach under the leadership of U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati. Gulati has turned the compass on youth development to South America, hiring former Colombia international Wilmer Cabrera to coach the under-17s. Cabrera hired countryman Oscar Pareja, who played eight seasons for Dallas in MLS, as an assistant. The Latin influence extends to the U.S. under-20s, where coach Thomas Rongen's staff includes ex-D.C. United star Marco Etcheverry and Miami-based scout Juan Carlos Michia, an Argentine. The U-20s just completed an 11-day camp in Argentina, which is clearly the country we ought to try and emulate, not England. Suggestion box "Who is the best candidate? [Arsenal manager] Arsene Wenger, but he won't do the job," Dein said. Dein needn't be reminded that Wenger typically has only one Englishman, Theo Walcott, on his game-day roster of foreign internationals. Why he would want to coach an entire team of English players defies logic. Italy's Fabio Capello said he's interested in the England job and just last week former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said if the F.A. wants to talk, he'll listen. Then again, does it really matter? England may qualify for the 2010 World Cup under any of the aforementioned candidates, but none are likely to create long-term remedies for a national team program in need of an overhaul. ... Argentina's Juan Ramon Riquelme returned to Boca Juniors on a transfer from Spanish club Villareal. Riquelme was not included on FIFA's shortlist for World Player of the Year, which features Brazil's Kaka, Argentina's Lionel Messi and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo. FSC To Televise U-17 Friendlies
Fox Soccer Channel will televise all three U.S. Under-17 ’92 Men’s National Team games during the 2007 Development Academy Nike Friendlies, which are taking place from Dec. 6-9 at IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla. All three matches are against international teams, with the U.S. U-17s taking on Brazil, Russia and Turkey during the weekend. The U.S. kicks off the weekend live on FSC when they go up against Russia on Thursday, Dec. 6 at 3 p.m. ET. Two days later, the U.S. will continue its familiar December match-up with Brazil for the third straight year, and fourth overall, at the Friendlies when the countries square off on Saturday, Dec. 8 at 2:30 p.m. ET. The U.S. will then face Turkey on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET, which will be televised on a same-day delay at 8 p.m. ET. A total of 54 teams competing across the Under-15/16 and Under-17/18 age groups will participate in the 2007 Nike Friendlies. The U.S. Under-17 and Under-15 Mens’ National Teams will each be divided into two squads that will represent U.S. Soccer. The U-17 teams will be divided in to the U-17 ’91 MNT and the U-17 ’92 MNT, while the U-15 team will be made primarily of players born in 1993, and will play as the U-15 Blue and U-15 White teams. The U-17 ‘91s and the U-15 Boys’ National Team will compete against elite club teams. Along with the 81 games that will be played across the weekend, the 2007 edition of the annual event will focus on the development of players, coaches and referees at the international level. U.S. Soccer Symposiums will be conducted for domestic and international coaches and referees and will feature CONCACAF Coaching and Referee Symposiums. U.S. Soccer National Team Coaches and Referees will meet with Academy Coaches and Referees to review their individual development. Gatorade will be providing educational hydration testing for select Academy athletes to learn how proper in-game nutrition can help improve their performance. U.S. Soccer’s Nike Friendlies is an annual competition in which the best youth soccer clubs around the United States are invited to play high-level games that stress quality soccer and player development over wins and losses. Tournament standings are not kept during the competition, in which each U-15/16 team plays three 80-minute games, while U-17/18 teams play three 90-minute games over the four days. A full list of teams and complete schedule is available now at ussoccer.com. During the tournament, ussoccer.com will provide comprehensive coverage of the event including mini-match reports from every game played, photos and video. U.S. Soccer’s all_access video team, as well as Studio 90, the web show made popular during the 2006 World Cup, will be on site providing features and highlights.
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