Posted on 04/06/2008 3:08:10 PM PDT by rhema
Got Bo? Nebraska does. It says so right here, across the chest of all these bright-red T-shirts in the Nebraska bookstore. For just $14.99, one can be yours.
Bo Pelini -- they're crazy about him here, just nutso for the new Nebraska coach, the king of the whole state. Because that's what he is, really. King. And at this very nanosecond, the king is sitting on his throne, a big chair in this big office on the second floor of big Memorial Stadium. Yes, here sits the man who will make Nebraska a college football power again -- or so everyone Big Red hopes.
The kingdom looks a lot different these days. A program that used to road-grade opponents into roadkill and stacked up five national titles since Bob Devaney began laying bricks for its foundation back in 1962 is a black-and-blue pulp of its former self. The bricks, the foundation -- all of it is gone, the work of Devaney and Tom Osborne in ruins after four horrific years under Bill Callahan.
Last week, Pelini slipped a whistle around his neck and began his first spring practice in charge. "We won't be playing tag out there," he says. "I am focused on laying the foundation needed to make us great. If we do that -- keep laying bricks -- all of that other stuff will take care of itself."
This doesn't figure to be a speedy recovery. Laying bricks, building a foundation -- those things take hard work and time. Pelini is used to working hard -- that's no problem. He's a simple man with a simple plan.
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Pelini rises at 7 a.m., eats a bowl of oatmeal and shoves up his sleeves. First stop: getting his kids to school. Patrick, Kate and Caralyn, the apples of his piercing eyes, stare down at him from a family portrait that hangs behind his desk in his office. In the hallway on his way here, he passes a display case that holds glittering championship trophies. You know, just in case he forgets where he is -- and what's expected.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves with title talk. This is just the beginning. Pelini is still getting to know his players and what makes them tick. That's the key, the secret to his success. "One of my talents is figuring out what motivates people," says Pelini, a former Ohio State safety who squeezes in daily workouts and, at 40, still looks capable of ripping the head off a receiver crossing the middle. "I do that by getting to know them as people and earning their trust and respect.
"I love my guys. I really do. And they know that. I never throw my guys under the bus. If we win, it's because of the players. If we lose, it's because of the coaches. That's how it has to be. It's really pretty simple to play for me. There are no gray areas. It's black and white. If they don't buy in, they can leave."
Pelini learned from the best during a fast-track career in which an early stop was as a 26-year-old assistant for the San Francisco 49ers. He was coaching defensive backs older than him. Didn't matter. Pelini earned their respect because he worked hard -- and he taught them things that made them better.
"I learned a lot from George Seifert," says Pelini. "Some little things. He'd say to an assistant, 'That's not how we do it around here.' And the players naturally rallied around their assistant coach and played harder for him. And that makes the team better. And that makes you win games."
Winning? There hasn't been a lot of that lately in Lincoln. The Huskers haven't been Big 12 champs since 1999. The program suffered two losing records the last four years, for crying out loud. That's two more than Nebraska had in the 42 years before Callahan arrived. Last year was rock bottom: The trampler became the trampled.
USC 49, Nebraska 31
Missouri 41, Nebraska 6
Oklahoma State 45, Nebraska 14
Texas A&M 36, Nebraska 14
Kansas 76, Nebraska 39
Colorado 65, Nebraska 51
"Looking back on the numbers doesn't do us any good," says defensive end Zach Potter. "It just puts us down. It just hurts us. We need to forget last year and move on."
Pelini is here to ease the pain of an aching Husker Nation that longs for yesterday. But hiring him doesn't come without risk. The guy has never been a head coach. And if the losses mount this fall, how will he react? Pelini has never been involved with a losing team during a coaching career that has taken him to the 49ers, Patriots, Packers, Nebraska, Oklahoma, LSU and back to Nebraska.
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The starting point for all of this: Cardinal Mooney High in barbed wire-tough Youngstown, Ohio. Pelini grew up in a modest house, one of eight kids banging their knives and forks on the table. His father was a pharmaceutical salesman. His mother stayed at home to tend to the brood.
"Everything revolved around the kids," says Pelini. "We all did everything together. A vacation? We all packed in the car. And we almost never had a baby sitter. My parents never went out."
One place they always went was church. The Catholic-to-the-core Pelinis never missed Mass -- Bo still doesn't -- piling into a pew to praise the Lord and count their blessings. And it was Catholic education all the way. That led Pelini to Cardinal Mooney, where his football fascination was forged. "My parents and many others had to scrimp to afford tuition," he says. "But they did it. I appreciate that. My coaches were hard on me. They were tough. Football was important there."
Pelini lapped it up. He played in the blast furnace of a program led by coach Ron Stoops -- the father of the coaching Stoops boys, Bob (Oklahoma), Mike (Arizona) and Mark (defensive coordinator at Arizona).
"Bob and Mike are older, so me and Mark ran together," says Pelini. "We'd go to the games at Cardinal Mooney High. We had a blast. And in high school, we would practice in the dark. We only ran about 10 plays, but we ran them well."
Pelini learned about discipline, hard work and commitment. Those are some of the principles he's using as bricks in the foundation he is laying in Lincoln. Before he arrived? There was finger pointing. There was a lack of effort. There was dissension. In the first team meeting Pelini called, players slouched in their seats and had headphones on.
"I think there was a lack of confidence," says a program insider. "These guys have been beaten down by what has gone on here. They need some confidence. They need to feel good about themselves."
If only ... well, what if Nebraska had hired Pelini after he led the Huskers to an Alamo Bowl win over Michigan State in 2003? He was the interim coach then, stepping in after Frank Solich was fired, and had done a great job as defensive coordinator that season. Didn't happen, though. Steve Pederson, then the athletic director, thought the school needed to go outside the family for some fresh ideas; he tabbed Callahan after several candidates turned down the job.
So Pelini polished his resume as co-defensive coordinator at Oklahoma for a season and as defensive coordinator at LSU for three years. His defenses ranked in the top 20 overall those three years, and his sophisticated and varied schemes were the backbone of the Tigers' national title last season. Pelini's defensive acumen played a big part in his getting the Nebraska job last December. The storied and revered Blackshirts label, first affixed to the team's marauding defense in 1964, was tattered -- the Huskers ranked 112th in total defense last season, allowing an average of 476.8 yards.
"I had a guy come up to me on the beach when I was in Florida over spring break, saying he wanted the Blackshirts to be strong again," says Pelini. "That's great, but I'm not worried about that right now. I'm worried about the little things, stuff like making players accountable. If that's done, the other things will take care of themselves."
Like winning big again. Which can't come fast enough in Lincoln.
Ping
Solich's 75% winning percentage sounds good right now, at least as an initial target.
Hi GOP_Raider, Biggirl. How are you doing. Doing fine, or trying to. Having seen my Connecticut women going down in a BIG LOST to Stamford in the Final Four tonight, I am a bit edmotional. Other then for that, look forward to the spring Blue and White scrimage football game at the Rent, which is a freebee and is looking forward on Saturday, April 19, 2008 to watching. Take care and thanks for this brief college football related update. :) =^..^=
Stoops was looking after a coach he had respect for.
Until last year, I thought Callahan was doing a respectable job at Nebraska.
The defense was playing well and he was getting the offense to think about something else other than the option.
But Nebraska’s defense just collapsed - as evidenced by some of the scores above.
The few stories I heard from Husker fans was that Callahan pi!!ed off the alumni and boosters, not so much because of his W-L record but because he essentially ignored them.
Want me to send y’all a Longhorns decal to rile up the locals?
Chuckle....I can usually rile ‘em up with my comment about what is a football. :) No point in getting my car keyed.
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