Brad McCaslin felt like he gave it a shot, even if people might laugh and say three months wasn't much of an audition in the 9-to-5 world.

Not long after walking out the door for the final time at UNO, the former Mavericks defensive coordinator tried a sales job. He liked the way the Omaha company did business and dealt with people, and he saw it as something he could possibly excel at.

Then McCaslin found out about some vacant football coaching positions, his wife Erin saw his eyes light up and there was no turning back.

McCaslin went to his superiors at CCS Presentation Systems Inc. They said they understood when he was going through one interview and possibly looking for others. In fairness to them, he stepped away last November even though he had no job lined up.

"I had taken a leap ... I really had," McCaslin said. "I had committed myself, no matter what, that I was going to get back in it.