Dismissed trainer says he helped Callahan get job
By ERIC OLSON, AP Sports Writer
February 24, 2007
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- Doak Ostergard contends Bill Callahan might not be at Nebraska if it weren't for a message Ostergard delivered to the school's athletic administration in January 2004.
Three years later, Ostergard is out as the Cornhuskers' head football trainer after Callahan asked for his resignation.
"It's ironic the way it turned out," Ostergard said Friday.
More than a week after his dismissal, Ostergard said he still doesn't know for sure why Callahan decided to dump him. He said he has his suspicions, but he didn't feel comfortable discussing them.
Attempts to reach Callahan and athletic director Steve Pederson were unsuccessful. Both said previously that they wouldn't discuss Ostergard's departure because it was a personnel matter.
Ostergard, a 1984 Nebraska graduate from Gothenburg, was on the athletic training staff for 18 years and head football trainer for nine. He was hired by Tom Osborne and retained by Frank Solich and Callahan.
"The other coaches had a comfort level with me in that position," Ostergard said. "I'm not sure (Callahan) had a comfort level."
So why did he remain in Callahan's program for three years?
"Maybe he kept me out of gratitude," Ostergard said.
Ostergard said he notified associate athletic director Marc Boehm of Callahan's interest in the Nebraska job after the Oakland Raiders fired Callahan Dec. 31, 2003.
Ostergard said former Cornhusker players John Parrella and Adam Treu -- both of whom had played for the Raiders and were friends with Callahan -- had told him that Callahan wanted Nebraska to know that he would consider coming to Lincoln.
"Marc Boehm said, 'If we could be so lucky to get him,' " Ostergard recalled.
Ostergard said Callahan could be difficult to deal with, but that he didn't believe he had a rocky relationship with him.
"Anybody who works with him bumps heads with him at some time," Ostergard said.
Ostergard said, as far as he knows, his leaving had nothing to do with his job performance. He said it definitely has nothing to do with the recent hospitalization of running back Marlon Lucky. Lucky was rushed to a hospital Feb. 11 for undisclosed reasons. Less than a week later, Ostergard was out.
Ostergard said someone would have to be "cold, conniving and evil" to believe anything he did led to Lucky's hospitalization.
Ostergard said he knows the reason for Lucky's hospitalization but that he wouldn't violate the player's privacy by divulging it.
He said Lucky was not undergoing any treatment by the athletic training staff in the days leading to the medical emergency.
By ERIC OLSON, AP Sports Writer
February 24, 2007
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- Doak Ostergard contends Bill Callahan might not be at Nebraska if it weren't for a message Ostergard delivered to the school's athletic administration in January 2004.
Three years later, Ostergard is out as the Cornhuskers' head football trainer after Callahan asked for his resignation.
"It's ironic the way it turned out," Ostergard said Friday.
More than a week after his dismissal, Ostergard said he still doesn't know for sure why Callahan decided to dump him. He said he has his suspicions, but he didn't feel comfortable discussing them.
Attempts to reach Callahan and athletic director Steve Pederson were unsuccessful. Both said previously that they wouldn't discuss Ostergard's departure because it was a personnel matter.
Ostergard, a 1984 Nebraska graduate from Gothenburg, was on the athletic training staff for 18 years and head football trainer for nine. He was hired by Tom Osborne and retained by Frank Solich and Callahan.
"The other coaches had a comfort level with me in that position," Ostergard said. "I'm not sure (Callahan) had a comfort level."
So why did he remain in Callahan's program for three years?
"Maybe he kept me out of gratitude," Ostergard said.
Ostergard said he notified associate athletic director Marc Boehm of Callahan's interest in the Nebraska job after the Oakland Raiders fired Callahan Dec. 31, 2003.
Ostergard said former Cornhusker players John Parrella and Adam Treu -- both of whom had played for the Raiders and were friends with Callahan -- had told him that Callahan wanted Nebraska to know that he would consider coming to Lincoln.
"Marc Boehm said, 'If we could be so lucky to get him,' " Ostergard recalled.
Ostergard said Callahan could be difficult to deal with, but that he didn't believe he had a rocky relationship with him.
"Anybody who works with him bumps heads with him at some time," Ostergard said.
Ostergard said, as far as he knows, his leaving had nothing to do with his job performance. He said it definitely has nothing to do with the recent hospitalization of running back Marlon Lucky. Lucky was rushed to a hospital Feb. 11 for undisclosed reasons. Less than a week later, Ostergard was out.
Ostergard said someone would have to be "cold, conniving and evil" to believe anything he did led to Lucky's hospitalization.
Ostergard said he knows the reason for Lucky's hospitalization but that he wouldn't violate the player's privacy by divulging it.
He said Lucky was not undergoing any treatment by the athletic training staff in the days leading to the medical emergency.