LINCOLN - Steve Pederson is out as Nebraska's athletic director. It was announced at 2:15 this afternoon in a press release by Chancellor Harvey Perlman.
The exact words of the press release are as follows: “University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Harvey Perlman today announced he has asked UNL Athletic Director Steve Pederson to step down from the post he has held since January 2003. Perlman said he believes Pederson is no longer positioned to move the Athletic Department forward."
The move comes two days after Nebraska's football team suffered its worst home loss since 1958, prompting widespread concern about the direction of the football program under Pederson's most notable hire, Bill Callahan.
Less than three months ago, Perlman extended Pederson's contract through June 2013.
Pederson, a North Platte native and University of Nebraska graduate, was hired on Dec. 20, 2002. He'd served the previous six seasons as athletic director at Pittsburgh, where he helped rebuild that program's facilities.
Pederson initially arrived in Lincoln with great fanfare, lauded by many as a Nebraska native with Midwest values who understood the culture and would fit perfectly in his new position.
Those thoughts changed a year later. Pederson fired football coach Frank Solich in December of 2003, saying, “I refuse to let this program gravitate to mediocrity,” and that he wouldn't surrender the Big 12 Conference to Oklahoma and Texas.
Those are comments critics have used against Pederson after each of Nebraska's troubling defeats under Callahan's watch. Callahan, in his fourth season, is 26-18 overall and 14-13 in Big 12 Conference games. Pederson signed Callahan to a five-year contract extension on Sept. 4.
The firing of Solich - which came after Nebraska completed a 9-3 regular season - was followed by a coaching search that lasted more than 40 days, prompting more debate. Pederson was criticized for not being open and honest with public and media.
Pederson has again been recently evasive, refusing to field fans' calls last week on his weekly radio call-in show.
Pederson finally turned to Callahan, recently fired from the NFL's Oakland Raiders. Before hiring Callahan on Jan. 9, 2004, several coaches turned down Pederson's overtures, including Arkansas coach Houston Nutt, Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer and Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Al Saunders.
Pederson also helped revamp Nebraska's football facilities, leading the $40 million expansion of North Stadium - a project that increased Memorial Stadium's capacity to 81,067 and boosted Nebraska's recruiting edge with a new locker room, weight room, indoor practice building and training facilities.
Nebraska's self-supporting athletic department has remained in sound financial shape under Pederson's watch. Other notable Pederson hires include Nebraska men's basketball coach Doc Sadler, who's been widely accepted by fans.
Pederson's first job in college athletics was as an NU sports information assistant in 1980. He was Nebraska's recruiting coordinator from 1982-86 and also served as recruiting coordinator at Tennessee and Ohio State. He returned to Lincoln as an associate athletic director for football operations from 1994-96 before leaving for Pittsburgh.
Reach Brian Rosenthal at (402) 473-7436 or brian.rosenthal@lee.net.
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