Steve Pederson

It's kind of a sad day for me to see him let go with the Huskers. The North Platte native obviously Bleeds Red but I guess that wasn't good enough for some people. I think if he could have not said some of the things he did early on it would have been better but he needed to make a statement. The football program wasn't doing that well and something needed to be done but the whole "mediocrity" comment was bad. Pederson was one of the first people that I interviewed with the magazine. It was fun to sit in his office and talk about the future of the program. The new facilities are a testament to the hard work that he was trying to do. Harvey Perlman was left with zero choice. I think he had to make a move or he would have been gone and he didn't deserve it. I just hope they bring Osborne back at AD, he surrounds himself with good people (like I'm sure he will) and they start to get things back on track!

Here is Pederson's statement. I don't think I would have handled it so well:

Statement from Steve Pederson
10-15-07

The University of Nebraska has been an incredibly special place to my family and me for more than three decades. Whether it was during my time as a Nebraska student, staff member or athletic director, I have always been tremendously proud to call myself a Cornhusker.

Being Nebraska's athletic director was not merely a job for me. I viewed it as an honor and important duty to serve the Nebraska tradition of academic and athletic excellence. During the last five years we have enjoyed many successes and also faced a number of difficult challenges. In the midst of both, we always made our decisions based on what was in the very best interests of our university and its outstanding student-athletes.

On and off the field, we worked passionately and tirelessly to not just win, but win the right way. We can take great pride in the fact that Nebraska still sets the national standard when it comes to producing Academic All-Americans. We have been able to build state-of-the-art facilities like the North Stadium project, but in a financially responsible way. And we have hired new coaches and staff members who are dedicated to success on the field, in the classroom and in the lives of our student-athletes well after their last game has been played.

I would like to thank the great friends and supporters of Nebraska who have been loyal to us the whole way through. Finally, and most importantly, I want to thank our student-athletes, coaches and staff. It has been an honor to work with you and I wish you only the very best.