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IRVING, Texas -- Defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer is staying with the Dallas Cowboys, as are several other coaches and players who ended the season in limbo.


Coach Bill Parcells said Tuesday that Zimmer told University of Nebraska officials he was remaining in the pros rather than continue to pursue the head coaching vacancy created when Frank Solich was fired after a 9-3 season. Zimmer was in Lincoln, Neb., on Monday for an interview.


Zimmer, who led the Cowboys to a No. 1 defensive ranking this season, will sign a three-year, $3 million contract to remain in Dallas, ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli reports. The $1.5 million-per-year deal he rejected from the Cornhuskers was for six seasons.


Zimmer had been scheduled to make $500,000 the next two seasons under a deal he signed with Dallas last year.


His initial reaction early Tuesday, after sleeping on the Nebraska offer, was to accept the job. But when he reported for work at the Cowboys' headquarters a few hours later, owner Jerry Jones and coach Bill Parcells convinced him to stay and presented him with the proposal for the new contract.


"We found him to be a terrific coach and a man of great integrity," Nebraska athletic director Steve Pederson said in a statement Tuesday. "He was very upfront at the time regarding the fact that his first obligation is to the needs and happiness of his family."


Parcells said Zimmer would not comment.


Arkansas coach Houston Nutt rejected Nebraska's $2 million coaching offer, saying strong family ties and a job left undone kept him with the Razorbacks. Nebraska also expressed interest in Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Al Saunders, but he also said he didn't want the job.


Pederson has indicated that interim coach Bo Pelini and quarterbacks coach Turner Gill, a Fort Worth native, also will be interviewed in the search for a replacement for Frank Solich. The Cornhuskers fired Solich in November after a 9-3 regular season.


Meanwhile, Congressman and former Nebraska coach Tom Osborne has been fielding phone calls from worried assistants at the school he led to two national championships.


Zimmer has been with the Cowboys for nine seasons. He became defensive coordinator in 2000 and this past season his unit gave up the fewest yards in the NFL. He was an assistant at Illinois State, Missouri, and Weber State before jumping to the pros.


Although Zimmer has never been a head coach at any level, Parcells has said several times that he would be a good candidate to run an NFL team.


"I think that the future is bright for Mike," Parcells said Tuesday. "He did an excellent job. If your offense or defense is particularly favorable, people begin to take notice of you. I think that is what happened."


Parcells said the Cowboys also are close to retaining the only two assistant coaches with expiring contracts, strength coach Joe Juraszek and kicking coordinator Steve Hoffman.
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My question is: will Nebraska fans finally wake up and realize their expectations are too high for their program?

My thoughts: College football has changed - you cannot dominate year after year as you could in the past. Roster limits and scholarship constraints have leveled the playing field.

Nebraska fans ask their coach to win the Big12 every year. Not only do they have this expectation, but they seemingly have nothing else to talk about - a bad season from a Nebraska team is disected and talked about more than anywhere else. This puts alot of presure on the head coach.

Nebraska recruits nearly all their talent from out of state. This, too, puts alot of pressure on the coaching staff throughout the year. Lots of travel, alot more persuasion is needed from recruits who, for example, may have grown up in Texas as Longhorns fans.

It seems that at least three coaches have turned down the Nebraska job. Is this because the job isn't viewed in the same light from those within the coaching ranks?

Your thoughts.

The_Dude

i remember what they ad said when he fired solich. he didnt want to "surrender the big xii to oklahoma and texas". kinda made me feel good when i heard that.

as amazing as it is, mack brown has pretty much been owning NU in the past few years and i know that the husker fans have not been likin that.

how many coaches have rejected the offer? i know nutt from arkiesaw , the kansas city OC, now zimmer, butch davis and who else?

with all that said, i admire pederson for firing solich after a 9-3 season. it is obvious that the nebraska program isnt going in the right direction. for god's sakes, JAMAL LORD WAS THEIR QB! nebraska pretty much got blown out by every quality opponent they played (see texas, k-state).

i wish they'd scoop down to austin and take greg davis, the OC back to lincoln.

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"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Darrel K Royal

Hrothgar

Tough to coach in Nebraska because that team means everything to that community. It's gonna be a hard sell for a coach to go in there and and be the savior.

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The fortunes of war favored Hrothgar.

skysooner

I'm actually surprised they are having this much trouble, but I know that the University of Oklahoma found itself in a similar situation a few years back (pre-Stoops) and ended up hiring the worst person to coach the team ever (John Blake).

Artermis

This is all the even plan of Trev Alberts to get himself hired at Nebraska.


Art

Liquor Dealer

I'll try to put aside my personal dislike for Nebraska for a moment. The job is simply not attractive to the people that they are rumored to be considering. It is not attractive for many reasons. It's not a place many of them want to live - that has been mentioned by a couple who were on the "A" list. Reputation - they just dumped a coach with a winning record - Lost opportunity - the recruiting race is lost. Dumping Solich when they did made them coachless when the heat of the recruiting wars was on. Whoever ends up taking the job is at a distinct disadvantage - They are stuck with what's there now - not much - they have little opportunity to improve unless someone can do miracles with little to no recruiting. What is it they say about Nebraska - the "N" on the helmet is for knowledge?

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Life isn't always a bowl of cherries, sometimes it's more like a jar of Jalapenos --- what you say or do today might burn your ass tomorrow!!!

ReggErving

You got him him, Callahan.

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aswo

wow all that jive about hiring an "A" list coach and you get Bill Callahan. wow

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