Pelini

Now that we're in the off season, I would like to get Tiger Nations take on the following questions:

Will LSU miss Bo Pelini? And how do you think Bo will do at Nebraska in his first full season?

As a Husker fan I have my own thoughts, but before I share them, I want to hear from you.

 

Not sure if we'll miss Bo or not. We didn't go out and hire a big name replacement. He should do pretty well at Nebraska, after all you guys play in the Big12 north. It'll boil down to how much skill position talent he can lure to Nebraska.

I think most LSU Tiger fans would agree Bo was a good D-Coord we just wish his schemes were a little more aggressive and blitz oriented. Certainly the first few games of '05.

 

If you would have asked me this question in November, 2007, I probably would have said no.

But now that I have had time to look back on it, I think we will initially. Over time, I think our defense will continue to dominate because we are so talented. One thing I always liked about Pelini was how much he rotated reserves in and out of games, and in crucial situations, always guaranteeing that when they would get a chance to start, they would be ready.

As far as how he does his first full season as a Husker, I don't know. I haven't looked at y'all schedule. Regardless, I don't think he is coming in there in first season and winning 9-10 games.

 

Anytime you replace a highly quailifed asst. you are going to have some adjustments to make. Since our co-def. cor. worked together and in this system, I'm optimistic that we won't have a major drop off.

I think Bo will be well organized and a capable head coach. The only question mark to me would be recruiting. Word was he didn't care for it here.

 

Clearly, Pelini was a successful DC - so he'll be missed in that sense. However, just as Gary Crowton seemed to immediately fill the Jimbo void in a very positive way, it's entirely possible that CBDP and CDM will fill the void and then some.

The only criticism I've heard fairly consistently of Pelini is that he doesn't enjoy recruiting - which probably (I would imagine) translates into not being a great recruiter. That shouldn't hurt this season, but it'll be interesting to see if Pelini has the support staff around him to either cover that perceived weakness, or help him correct it.

Nebraska was #30 (Rivals) in recruiting last year, #13 in 2007, and #20 in 2006. Those rankings don't always mean a lot, but the recent trend seems obvious. What I've learned lately is that high-ranked recruiting year in and year out equals depth, and depth equals late-season successes.

So, next year? Who knows. But if Bo can recruit against Mizzou and OU and Texas and Kansas, then Nebraska will be back.

 

Consider me one that is concerned about how he will be as a head coach. He has always come off as a great guy and has had good defensive stats, but I am not sure how well he will recruit and manage a team. This year may not be the best year to judge him as he will be riding some momentum in the recruiting field but I have my concerns...and I could also see him doing well, especially if he gets the talent he wants.

Either way you wont be giving up 600 yards again.

This will once again be a side of the ball you can take pride in.

 

If the Corn-Farmers were my team, I'd be pretty excited to have Pelini as the HC. He has coached under Mike Sherman, Hayden Fry, Pete Carroll, Bob Stoops, Les Miles, and George Seifert (who coached the 49ers to two Superbowls and has a 124-67 record with them). Pelini was on the coaching staff for the 49ers when they won one of their Superbowls. That is a great experience to share with college kids.

Also, don't forgot about the fact that Pelini was on the coaching staffs for teams that had Brett Favre, Steve Young, Drew Bledsoe, Deion Sanders, Ty Law, etc... another cool experience to share with college kids.

Of course, the best thing about Pelini for the Corn Nation was that he was defensive coordinator for Nebraska in 2003. Nebraska's defense went from #55 to #11 under Pelini (dropping back to #56 after Pelini when Oklahoma the next season). When Nebraska fired their head coach, Pelini was named the interim head coach for the bowl game, which Nebraska won. I heard that there were Nebraska fans at the game chanting for Pelini to be hired as the next head coach. Nebraska decided not to do so, hiring a NFL coach with a 17-18 (48.6%) overall winning record instead -- I'm sure a lot of Nebraska fans weren't happy about hiring that "winner."

Anyway, then Pelini goes to Oklahoma, does great with their defense (except for the 55-19 beatdown by USC they suffered in the NC game that year), and then he goes to LSU, and does great with our defense, serving a key part of the 2007 championship Tigers (another great experience to share with college kids).

Also, wasn't it Tom Osborne himself, the legendary Nebraska coach, who choose Pelini to be the Nebraska HC next year? Osborne is a God in Nebraska. Didn't y'all elect him to be one of your US Congressman after he retired from coaching? Wasn't Osborne almost elected the Governor of Nebraska as well?

But yeah, if the Corn Farmers were my team, I'd be pretty excited to have Pelini as the HC. I'm sure he learned a thing or two about recruiting and succeeding in the Big 12 during his year at Nebraska and his year at Oklahoma. I'd also imagine Pelini's year at Iowa would help knowing some of the in-roads of area recruiting, being that Iowa is right across the border from Lincoln, NE.

Also, its pretty neat getting to see Pelini become the HC of the school that decided not to give him the HC job back after the 2003 season.

But yeah, I'm not sure how thrilled I'd be about his decision to hire his brother as his DC, but then again, Pelini is one of those few coaches in college football that plans to be the primary player-caller for the defense next season, instead of letting his DC do that.

Will I miss Pelini? Not as much as I'd miss Crowton should he leave. And I do hope Pelini succeeds at Nebraska more than I hope our ex-OC Jimbo Fisher succeeds at FSU. As for how I think Pelini will do his first season, I'd at least expect Nebraska to have a very good defense next year.

 

I expect we'll miss Pelini, but while I thought he was a great DC, I'm not sold on his ability as a HC. I doubted Miles for a long time, though, so take that into consideration. I'd worry about Pelini's recruiting and possibly his ability to communicate well with his team. I wish him and you success and will be keeping an eye on Nebraska next season. Like others, I expect an improvement in your defense.

 

I'm not sure anyone can be sold on Bo's head coaching ability right now, all anyone can do it form an educated opinion based on his record as an assistant and his other talents like his relationships with the players. The players obviously loved him and his record as a DC is pretty sparkling. I do believe he is a top 5 defensive coordinator based on his overall record, we should never pick out a few games to judge a coach. And in this day and age of explosive offensives no team is going to keep every team from racking up points or yards.

The recruiting issue I don't think will be quite as big as most of us think because now Bo will be having his assistants do most of the leg work & communication while he will be getting in on the recruits he covets the most, and likely trying to sway parents opinions. He may be well suited for that role.

I wish Pelini the best of luck, as I did Fisher. Both guys were very loyal to LSU and very important in bringing national championships here. Pelini had probably the most pressure ever put on an assistant coach at LSU having to follow Saban and wouldn't have been surprised if he would have bolted after his first season the way the naysayers and gloomsayers attacked him, especially after the ASU & UT games. But he stuck to his guns, installed his system and had tremendous results. That tells me he'll be successful at handling the BS that comes with being a head coach and he will not bend to public outcry whe things get rough, he'll continue to implement his plan and systems.