OT Pelini Fired

Submitted by TimStraus on

Per Adam Rittenberg, Bo Pelini has been let go at Nebraska

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bo_lives

November 30th, 2014 at 4:18 PM ^

and there will be nothing under the tree. The kids will cry and you'll say "Just be patient!" Finally, mid January will roll around and you'll hand them a Nokia 3210 and say "See, now wasn't it worth waiting for?"

This is how I anticipate the situation ending up for Michigan.

Joined: 04/10/2011

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mgobaran

November 30th, 2014 at 1:16 PM ^

Nebraska played on Friday. So 2 days since the end of their regular season. To be honest, Firing Hoke tomorrow vs. waiting a week or two isn't going to get Harbaugh here any faster. You see, Harbaugh has a minimum of 4 weeks after today in which he is coaching another team. 

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MLHGK

November 30th, 2014 at 11:34 AM ^

Could not have said it better. Unlike most, Ive had this feeling that Hoke will not be fired. I guess people like how he is teaching his players to be tender hearted and kind to Ohio State players. This is not Michigan football. There is nothing I can say anymore, I am amazed at the incompetence shown by this school right now. 

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gobluesasquatch

November 30th, 2014 at 3:15 PM ^

People are forgetting that Nebraska has flirted with parting ways from Pelini in the past. There were the tapes of his ripping the fan base, the consistent truculance toward the media, his temper tantrums on the sidelines, etc. 

All of the above are tolerated when you are winning, or the hope that you'll break through and win the big ones still exist. But by year 7, it was clear that Pelini was much like Solich - good enough get 9 - 10 wins a year, but not win a title and get blown out by the best competition. Of course, that was always the knock on Tom Osborne until the mid 1990s. 

Anyhow, there decision was made over the course of years, not just a few games or days. The Hoke decision isn't a simple no-brainer. How he's fired might even affect how attractive this job is to some of the former players who are candidates, as well as some of the up and comers from smaller schools who might think twice about how we depose of Brady Hoke. 

 

 

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mgohusker

November 30th, 2014 at 4:20 PM ^

Pelini knew he was a lame duck once Osborne was forced out as athletic director.

The Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman has a huge ego and could never stand that Osborne was the face of the university -- specifically that people believed Osborne was the sole reason Nebraska was accepted to the B1G.

Perlman hired Eichorst (current AD) without any input from Osborne.

Eichorst has since expanded the Nebraska AD staff entirely with crony hires from Wisconsin.

Pelini knew he was going to be fired last year until Osborne got wind and pulled last minute strings with the Board of Regents.

Eichorst figured out that the remaining Osborne loyalists in the AD who were the source of the leak and he fired them (well-liked associate AD Paul Meyers).

Osborne has gotten tired of saving the nincompoops at Nebraska from themselves.

 

 

 

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alum96

November 30th, 2014 at 10:54 AM ^

Start the MGo angst about Nebraska stealing our next coach!

As for Nebraska - welcome to the coaching roulette.  The wrong decision and you are the next Tennessee, Michigan, Miami FL, et al.

Tough spot for Nebraska - not a good recruiting base, a lot of newcomers stealing their players (TCU, KSU, Baylor), and expectations that have not wavered.   I thought yesterday's win would save Bo.

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Danwillhor

November 30th, 2014 at 11:22 AM ^

that he is their top choice. I don't think they'll mess around with long shot guys, etc. They'll go get a guy with a very modern offense, going enough to be there a while (if successful), young enough to recruit with the local powers and a sure thing. I don't see a world where he ever says "no thanks" to Nebraska.

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NebraskaStudent

November 30th, 2014 at 11:25 AM ^

Scott Frost has been on a lot of lists since the Fire Bo crowd became vocal. The only concern is he has no head coaching experience, one of the big criticisms of Bo. FWIW there's been a guy who called this whole firing and has been on top of everything for about a week and he keeps mentioning Jim McElwain as Nebraska's #1 guy, but mentioned McElwain wasn't very interested. We'll see going forward

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funkywolve

November 30th, 2014 at 12:22 PM ^

maybe because it's in Lincoln?  Not knocking the town but I visited for the first time this fall and was stunned at how small it is.  It is tiny and from what I saw very little dversity.  I have no idea how Peilini used to recruit there.  In addition, there really aren't any big recuiiting areas near Nebraska.  Some of the border states are South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa.  At least when they were in the Big 12 they go could into Texas and let the kids/parents know they'll still be playing a few games every year in Texas. I'm guessing the move to the Big 10 has made it a bit tougher to recruit Texas.

While it's a 'blue blood' in this day and age, there are probably some inherent disadvantages that you need to overcome at Nebraska.  Not to mention they just fired a coach who went 67-27 and won a handful of division titles so you know if you take this job, you better win and win big and win big consistently.

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NebraskaStudent

November 30th, 2014 at 12:06 PM ^

Mostly the fact that we just fired a coach who's only 3 losses came to ranked opponents. Also it's a desolate recruiting area, we have an unrealistic and rabid fan base, and there is heavy pressure that comes from being the biggest name in the state. There are plenty of other jobs out there with a lot less pressure and easier chances to succeed.

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NebraskaStudent

November 30th, 2014 at 2:35 PM ^

Football aside, the Big Ten is better. Our academics have skyrocketed, we're getting new and better professors left and right, and in general our sports have gotten better (basketball, wrestling, etc). Football is the only major downturn, but I don't know if staying in the Big 12 would've helped. This was a failing project since 2002.

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Ghost of Fritz…

November 30th, 2014 at 12:42 PM ^

[Edit:  meant to reply to NebraskaStudent, not MDog.]

A "desolate recruiting area"?  Try Eugene, Oregon.

These days the quality of the coaching staff is more important than ever.  A good staff can take recruits outside the top 25 to league championships and serious overperformance.  See Dantonio at MSU, Harbaugh at Stanford, Patterson at TCU, Urban Meyer at Utah, Peterson at Boise State, etc.

And teams in the best recruiting zones can fail.  See Texas, Florida, USC before Caroll, Alabama before Saban. 

If some really exceptional coaches can win big in Eugene, Oregon, why is it "unrealisitic" for Nebraska (or Michigan) fans to want some of that? 

Pelini was not doing in Lincoln what has been going on in Eugene (or even East Lansing).  So why not give someone else a crack and see if they might do better than Pelini?

Nebraska should not settle for 9-3.  Maybe Scott Frost or Craig Bohl can take Nebraska to the next level.  If not, then try again in 4 years, until you stumble on the next Tom Osborne level of outperforming coach.

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Ghost of Fritz…

November 30th, 2014 at 2:03 PM ^

If Oregon can build a perennial winner in Eugene, Oregon, then it can be done in Lincoln, Nebraska (and Ann Arbor).  But it can only be done with an exceptional coach.  Recruiting base is not very important.  Nike money is also not very important. 

Top ten teams are based more on the quality of the coaching staff than on the quality of the recruiting base.

Anyone saying "they should be realistic in Lincoln because they don't have a good recruiting base" is wrong. 

Nike money is NOT the main reason that Oregon is now a national power (despite the poor recruiting base) 

The main reason is that Mike Belotti and then Chip Kelly were exceptional coaches. 

It did not matter that Oregon is in a remote location with a poor recruiting base and, therefore, was out recruited by the California schools by a wide margin (especially in the earlier Belotti years). 

What mattered was that Oregon stumbled on Mike Belotti, a really exceptional coach, and then made another great decision in hiring Chip Kelly as OC (from New Hampshire!) and later promoting him to HC.

After 7 years it is clear that Pelini is good coach, but he is not two standard deviaitons above the mean, like Belotti or Kelly.  Maybe Craig Bohl (of Scott Frost) might be the next Chip Kelly. 

 

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mb121wl

November 30th, 2014 at 2:37 PM ^

I live in northern California.  A lot of athletes from all over the state see OU as an attractive alternative to other PAC-12 schools, even (especially?) those in SoCal.  As for so many universities in states near California, for OU this place is the "West's Texas."  Eugene doesn't compare to Lincoln at all.

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Ghost of Fritz…

November 30th, 2014 at 3:17 PM ^

Eugene, OR, is a poor recruiting base.  It is very far from NorCal or anything else,  It is a much worse recruiting base than Ann Arbor, and probably worse than Lincoln, Nebraska, given the proximity of Texas (though Eugene is a nicer town than Lincoln).

It is true that TODAY lots of California kids can be recruited up to Eugene.  But that is only because Orgeon has become a consistent winning program, and despute Eugene being a remote and talent poor recruiting base.

Though Oregon can successfully mine California now, that was not at all true when Belotti arrived and slowly built up Oregon.  Before Belotti Oregon was a very bad football program.  At that time almost no quality California recruit would have chosen Oregon over USC or UCLA (or even over Washington or Arizona State).

My point is that recruiting bases are way overrated.  What counts is having a superior coaching staff. 

Oregon went from a terrible program to a really strong program because they happened to hire Belotti (and later Kelley), who turned out to be really great coaches. 

And they did it depite being in a place that is a poor recruiting base. Only AFTER Oregon had established a consistent record of winning did it became easier to get top recruits from California to pick Oregon.

 

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wolpherine2000

November 30th, 2014 at 11:14 AM ^

...if the days of football superpowers are gone and it's only their fans and ADs that don't realize it.  The Solich disastrophe was recent enough that there should still be some folks in Nebraska alive that can remind these uppity youths who think that they deserve better than 9-3 that the punishment for hubris is Bill Callahan.

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