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The time had come for the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Bo Pelini to part ways following the 2014 season, that much has become clear.
Despite his relative success on the field, Pelini’s grip on the job seemed to wane year after year when he failed to win “the games that mattered” and bring some meaningful hardware back to Lincoln. And with the way Pelini has left the Nebraska job, burning every bridge he comes across on his way to the head coaching position at FCS Youngstown State, it might be a very long time before he gets another chance to prove himself at the FBS level.
Pelini’s resume on the field should speak for itself. He bounced around the NFL for several years as a defensive position coach on a number of successful teams before making the move to the college level. He has been the defensive coordinator of some very tough teams with the LSU Tigers and Oklahoma Sooners and was a highly sought-after coaching commodity when Nebraska handed him the reins to return to Lincoln (where he was the DC in 2003) starting in the 2008 season. In seven seasons under Pelini, Nebraska was one of just three teams in the country to win at least nine games every year as they won four division titles.
But despite the stockpiling of winning seasons, Nebraska grew weary of Pelini coming up short in big games and failing to secure a single conference title. On the biggest stage against their biggest opponents, Nebraska more often than not came up short, finishing just 8-17 against ranked opponents under Pelini. And on too many occasions, the Huskers got flat-out embarrassed, losing 10 games by 20 points or more including the infamous 70-31 beatdown Nebraska received at the hands of the Wisconsin Badgers in the 2012 Big Ten title game. It was those very visible losses that came to define Pelini’s tenure at Nebraska and that ultimately sealed his fate.
Still, with the impressive resume and football acumen that Pelini has accumulated over the years, he should have been a leading candidate for a number of big-time jobs this offseason. He could have made a return to the Big 12 as a defensive coordinator (the Texas Tech Red Raiders are looking for someone as we speak) or possibly even to the SEC. While his former team LSU is not in the market for a new leader on defense, the Auburn Tigers were before they hired Will Muschamp fresh off his dismissal tenure as head coach of the Florida Gators. The South Carolina Gamecocks are likely to be making a change on defense as well after struggling this season and the Texas A&M Aggies have been on the market for a defensive coordinator since Thanksgiving.
If Pelini wasn’t interested in moving back down to the coordinator level, there were a number of mid-major programs looking for new leadership as well. The Colorado State Rams lost their head coach to Florida and would have likely been very interested in bringing a coach into the program that has more wins than any other coach not named Nick Saban over the last seven years. The Houston Cougars, prior to hiring Ohio State Buckeyes OC Tom Herman, would have taken a hard look at Pelini to take over their team in 2015.
In short, there were some big opportunities at the FBS level.
But instead, Pelini went home to take the head coaching position at Youngstown State, joining former Ohio State head coach and now president of YSU Jim Tressel. On the surface, it seems like a major step back as Pelini is far and away the most accomplished FBS coach to make the move down to the FCS level (among current head coaches). As it turns out, Pelini may just be burned out of the big-time college football lifestyle as his colorful exit from Lincoln seems to suggest.
In his introductory press conference with YSU, Pelini did not shy away from throwing shade at Nebraska. He praised Tressel and welcomed the opportunity to work with someone “who understands football,” which is something Pelini said he didn’t know if he’d ever had before.
Then a recording of Pelini addressing the Nebraska football team two days after he was fired was leaked by the Omaha World-Herald in which Pelini goes on a tirade-filled rant against the University of Nebraska, Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst, and even Husker fans themselves. He colorfully painted a picture of a program that was not interested in winning football games and didn’t give the team the support that it needed.
And this wouldn’t be first time that Pelini has been caught talking bad about Big Red Nation. Following a home loss to the UCLA Bruins in 2013, audio recorded following a 2011 come-from-behind win against the Ohio State Buckeyes was released by Deadspin. Among the choice quotes (profanity omitted), Pelini called Nebraska fans “fair-weather” and invited them to kiss his derriere on his way out, believing that they would struggle to find success without him (which we will find out in 2015).
It all comes together to paint a picture of a good football coach who wore out his welcome at a college football institution and let frustration get the best of him on multiple occasions. The result is a coach who appears to be happy returning to his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, to lead the Penguins football program. But how long will the small stage of the Missouri Valley Football Conference really hold his attention?
At some point, you would figure Pelini would be ready to take another run at an FBS job, whether that be as a coordinator or head coach. The problem he will run into at that point, though, is that he has effectively napalmed any connections he might have had at his previous job. Now, instead of being the coach that won nine games or more for seven straight seasons, he’s the abrasive, foul-mouthed malcontent who couldn’t get along with the administration and lashed out at fans. What school is going to want to bring that kind of energy onto their staff?
Hopefully, Pelini feels content getting all the bad feelings he had about his time at Nebraska off his chest as he settles in to lead Youngstown State because chances are he’ll be there for awhile.
You can follow Tyler Brett on Twitter @ATylerBrett, on Facebook and on Google.
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