Who will be the new coach?

Everywhere you go in Nebraska these days, the hot topics of discussion are (1) The firing of the University of Cornhuskers' head football coach, Frank Solich; and: (2) Speculation about who will replace him as the Huskers' head man.

All sorts of names have been bandied about, ranging all the way from coaches in the National Football League to current Nebraska assistants Bo Pelini and Turner Gill. In fact, even Coach Jeff Gross of the back-to-back champion Bison of McCook High School has been urged to apply. "I received a call from a fan the eastern part of the state, saying he liked the way I coached and asking me to put my name in the mix," Coach Gross said. That's highly unlikely, though. "I like it where I am," said the 35-year-old McCook coach.

So, if not Gross, who else? What's your prediction.? Just for the fun of it, the Gazette is collecting reader's guesses about who they think NU Athletic Director Steve Pederson will pick as the Huskers' new head coach. There's no monetary prize; but you will be publicly recognized in this column if you are right. And wouldn't it be fun, if you -- and you alone -- guessed who the chosen coach was in advance.

Please send your Husker Coach predictions to: Coach Search, % McCook Daily Gazette, Box 1268, McCook, NE 69001. Or, if you prefer, you may e-mail your coach guesses to publisher@mccookgazette.com. There are only two rules in this contest. Steve Pederson is not eligible to enter, and the guesses must be submitted before the coaching selection is announced.

Ready to Rattle

While the football program at the university is in turmoil, the high school programs in Southwest Nebraska have done much to make us proud. Just last month, the Bison of McCook and the Trojans of Cambridge won state football championships, while the Longhorns of Imperial came within an eyelash of making it a three-way title sweep for this area.

Now, there's further evidence of the wholesomeness of area athletic endeavors. Proof comes from Frontier County, where the football programs in Maywood and Medicine Valley of Curtis are blending to form a cooperative football program to be known as the Medicine Valley-Maywood Rattlers. The team, which will probably be best known by the initials MVM, is a combination of the Maywood Tigers and the Medicine Valley Raiders.

The neat thing is how creatively the Rattlers came up with uniforms for next season's games. To show off their new colors, the team will wear the black pants from Maywood and the red jerseys from Medicine Valley.

What a nice, cooperative way to begin a new era of athletic team cooperation in Frontier County. It's an excellent follow-up to the decision, earlier this year, for Twin Valley and Republican Valley to join together to form the Southwest Roughriders.

You have to give our kids credit. They are open to new ideas, and are willing to try innovative approaches.