While there is a lot of talk about the status and uncertainty of the next group of head coaches, don't get your hopes up regarding their respective job security. Are these coaches vulnerable? Yes. But not nearly as vulnerable as some would like to think. In other words, it would take a major meltdown, on and off the field, for any of the following coaches not to return for the 2006 season.
Bill Callahan, Nebraska
Callahan is the least secure of this group, but do not expect him to go anywhere following the 2005 season. Cornhusker nation is understandably fuming after a five-win, bowl-less 2004 season. But what did everyone expect from the first-year coach who was scrapping 100 years of power-option in order to bring the program into the new millennium?
When Callahan took the job, both he and the administration knew it was going to be a long-term project. They also knew that it would come under heavy scrutiny from outraged fans. Let's face it: Transitioning Nebraska's offense to the West Coast scheme is college football's equivalent of turning Rush Limbaugh liberal. That is why it would be an embarrassingly cowardly act for the administration to turn its back on Callahan after just two seasons.