Tommie Frazier speaks out against Pelini
As the amazing nebraska defense was smacked around yet again Saturday, former NU QB Tommie Frazier has had enough and is calling for Pelini's head.
If this stuff keeps happening, I think he's gone.
If the lunatics at NU fired Frank Solich for going 9-3 two years removed from a national title game berth, I don't know what it will take to fire Pelini. Keep in mind Solich was 58-19 in 6 years.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9681726/need-tommy-frazier-criticism
September 16th, 2013 at 4:30 PM ^
Its interesting on several levels. First, who cares what Frazier says, really. I know he has the ear of the fanbase what what does that guy know? That was always an interesting thing about the Rodriguez era to me, the knock that none of the former U-M players were around or were invited. I definitely think it matters to have them present, especially guys like Woodson, Brady, etc. But when those guys start speaking out, I value their opinions about as highly as I do MGoYour's. (No offense, I intended that as a compliment. I think)
Second, Pelini seems to understand the problem, that being his demeanor and attitude sucks. But can he change the makeup of his personality and coaching method in time to win the players?
Third, why is no one addressing the elephant in the room? Its pretty clear to me that the jerseys they chose to wear sucked the life out of the players, resulting in the loss. UniformZ strike again!
September 16th, 2013 at 4:52 PM ^
Dude coached 2 years at Doane College and was 3-17. Enough said.
I think the ESPN article said he's in the Medical Device field now.
September 16th, 2013 at 5:14 PM ^
I was at Doane when Frazier was there he was incompetent at best. Also a huge prick. I have a great story about him I told on this board a couple of years ago that I think deserves to be retold:
So it is homecoming the first year of the Frazier years at Doane. Every campus organization was required to do a skit for the homecoming pep rally. Our fraternity decided to recreate Frazier's legendary run against Florida in the National Championship in '95 IIRC. Anyway the fraternity that goes in the spot right before us does the exact same thing so now we have no viable option for our skit. Frazier is standing about 15 feet from us and one of my buddies (we called him Phat Phil which makes the story better) got this great idea to actually ask Frazier to run it with us.
Now mind you Phat Phil is about 15 beers deep so he waddles over to Frazier and calmly and quite soberly explains the situation to Tommy. Frazier looks Phat Phil up and down and very smuggly says "I don't make appearances". Without skipping a beat Phat Phil responds with "Sounds like your pro career".
Frazier's jaw it the floor as he watched Phat Phil walk away. It was a classic comeback to a d-bag move on Frazier's part.
September 16th, 2013 at 5:33 PM ^
+1 for Phat Phil.
September 16th, 2013 at 5:55 PM ^
were you actually there to witness the exchange, or are you taking the word of a dude with over a dozen beers in him? Makes for a fun story, but i'd have to say that the voracity is unverifiable.
September 16th, 2013 at 6:19 PM ^
September 16th, 2013 at 5:56 PM ^
thanks for sharing!
September 16th, 2013 at 9:17 PM ^
Funny story but is that your whole rationale for claiming he's a prick?
September 16th, 2013 at 4:30 PM ^
I live in Nebraska and for the first time (long overdue it my opinion) the fans are starting to realize the wheels have come off at Nebraska. This Monday has a Callahan Monday feel to it. Not good for Pelini.
September 16th, 2013 at 5:00 PM ^
I'm in Omaha and I agree, especially after what Pelini said in reaction to Frazier's comments at his press conference today. You don't say that to the guy who is considered by most Husker fans as THE most legendary player to ever play for them. Unless they somehow magically find a way to win the B1G this year, I think this was the turning point where the majority of their fans finally turned on Pelini and is truly the beginning of the end.
September 16th, 2013 at 5:35 PM ^
Isn't that one of the problems tho You play 3 cupcakes and 1 good team for your non-conference schedule and start the B1g Schedule 3-1. The B1g is and has been terrible and right now is the worst conference of the major conferences besides maybe the Big-12. You play 5 or so cupcake B1g teams that you should beat 9 times out of 10 and 3 teams you got a 50-50 shot at. Where's the glory in a 8-9 win season? If you're a professional fighter and you schedule 9 thirteen year olds and 4 25 year old but finish with a professional record of 10-3 how is that a win? Pelini's teams whip up on the 13 year olds and probably finish under 50% against the 25 year old.
That University has a proud football tradition and a proud fan base. They want to be competing for national championships not Big ten championship. I'm disappointed in the entire conference right now lol so my opinion is a little biased
September 16th, 2013 at 6:16 PM ^
Wow, I can't believe Pelini said that. That reminds me of the RR/Braylon feud but this is worse . . . Frazier is the guy for Husker fans, their ultimate icon. You just can't respond like that.
September 16th, 2013 at 5:45 PM ^
Yep. I agree 100%.
September 16th, 2013 at 4:30 PM ^
September 16th, 2013 at 7:08 PM ^
Also, his stats weren't eye-popping (link). He ran the option, obviously, but Ahman Green was the leading rusher and Lawrence Philips was just behind Frazier.
If they voted for the Heisman after the bowls that year, though, I think he would have won.
September 16th, 2013 at 7:25 PM ^
That must have been the year Ron Powlus won it.
/s
September 16th, 2013 at 7:49 PM ^
you'll have to be more specific, do you mean 94, 95, 96, or 97?
September 16th, 2013 at 4:32 PM ^
Pellini's head. Yeah, their defense isn't doing well of late. But his record isn't that bad at all - maybe not for Nebraska fans though. His comments about how he thinks he may be pushing the players too much is tellling. Maybe too much stick and not enough carrot? If players fear making mistakes, that could explain their less-than-good on field performance.
September 16th, 2013 at 4:47 PM ^
48-17 (2011 Badgers)
45-17 (2011 Michigan)
30-13 (2011 South Carolina)
63-38 (2012 Ohio State)
70-31 (2012 Badgers)
41-21 (2013 UCLA)
The blowouts are no longer an aberration, they're a recurring theme. For the Husker fanbase, I imagine that gets tiring.
September 16th, 2013 at 4:51 PM ^
But what happens next year when Martinez graduates? I dont know who their backup is but I expect that offense takes a step back and that defense... uhhh. And their recruiting classes have seemingly taken a step back since joining the Big 10. Or they were just not that great even in the Big 12, I don't know. But I expected to see Nebraska regularly having 12-18th type of recruiting classes once they got in the Big 10. Neb has Miami at home, @MSU, @NW, @Wiscy...well maybe they will be ok. No UM, OSU or PSU. But still, rubbing shoulders with Iowa for 7th overall in the conference in 2014 is not going to sit well.
September 16th, 2013 at 4:32 PM ^
Boom will go the dynamite.
September 16th, 2013 at 4:38 PM ^
Neb was up 21-3, then lost 41-21, or something like that. it was like both the offense and defense decided to pack it in at the same time.
so, i guess the west is going to be a battle between wisconsin and northwestern every year. i am sure that bo and woody would find that to be perfectly normal.
September 16th, 2013 at 4:40 PM ^
Players in Husker history! 2 national titles, a 3rd nc game that was a missed fg from winning 3 straight and would have been 3 straight undefeated seasons!
There is no doubt he has the ears of the husker fanbase and boosters/alumni!
But, Tom Osbourne isn't the head coach and this isn't the days of the husker option attack. Actually, they got rid of Solich 2yrs too early as they could have waited this thing out and they would have been running the Read Option spread game better than anyone! Instead they ditched all of it, all of their old recruing grounds for Callahan!
They need a head coach and assistant coaches that have recruiting cache again that can grab texas talent like they used to.
Pelini, he could be a dead man walking if they don't compete for a bigten title!
September 16th, 2013 at 6:00 PM ^
Wow! I love your energy! Your've very excited about everything! Six exclamation points in eight sentences must be a record! 6-2 is also probably a better record than Nebraska will have after 8 games!
September 16th, 2013 at 4:42 PM ^
Say this for Pelini: he's very, very consistent. Here's his yearly records:
2008 - 9-4
2009 - 10-4
2010 - 10-4
2011 - 9-4
2012 - 9-4
September 16th, 2013 at 4:49 PM ^
September 16th, 2013 at 5:01 PM ^
These were Carr's records:
1995 - 9-4
1996 - 8-4
1997 - 12-0
1998 - 10-3
1999 - 10-2
2000 - 9-3
2001 - 8-4
2002 - 10-3
2003 - 10-3
2004 - 9-3
2005 - 7-5
2006 - 11-2
2007 - 9-4
Carr's career winning percentage was .752. Pelini's' is .708. Pelini has recorded as many four-loss seasons in five years as Carr did in 13. And of course he does not have a magical national championship season to make him bulletproof.
September 16th, 2013 at 5:48 PM ^
I still clench my teeth looking at some of those years we were 10-3 , 9-3 and remembering back to how we should have lost at least one less game per year in those years.
September 16th, 2013 at 6:01 PM ^
Lloyd never came close to losing to a MAC team. So there is that. He was a product of the Bo mentality. I mean Michigan lost to Washington and UCLA and Oregon twice, with three of those on the road. Lloyd's teams also bridged the era between old school scheduling and today's scheduling.
September 16th, 2013 at 6:43 PM ^
Well, there was that 2006 game against Ball State. Ball State did have an OK coach that day. Also, that first game of Lloyd's last season didn't go so well either. In all fairness, that wasn't a MAC team.
September 16th, 2013 at 6:44 PM ^
"Lloyd never came close to losing to a MAC team."
But he did actually lose to an FCS team! (Sorry ...)
But really, he came fairly close once:
http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?id=263080130
By the account, they were an endzone heave (however unrealistic) and a 2-point conversion from an end-of-regulation tie.
September 16th, 2013 at 6:03 PM ^
I don't necessarily disagree, but that's not the question here. The question is, "Is Bo Pelini duplicating what Carr did?" and the answer is "No."
September 17th, 2013 at 11:41 AM ^
I was in school 96-2000 (bonus semester to make up for all the weed smoking when I was younger) 5 years = 49-12 with a national championship and that awesome Alabama game in 2000...
jdon
September 16th, 2013 at 5:58 PM ^
We all remember the old joke about "You can't spell Lloyd without..."
September 16th, 2013 at 8:17 PM ^
Yeah, those 2002 and 2003 were depressing to watch. So much talent and they gack games to inferior opponents.
And I'd argue that the 2006 season really prettied up some mediocre seasons.
September 16th, 2013 at 8:48 PM ^
so damned refreshing sometimes. At human being level, Pellini can't hold LC's jock.
September 16th, 2013 at 5:57 PM ^
But why break the rhythm of an unconfirmed factual thought.
September 16th, 2013 at 4:53 PM ^
But this is Nebraskafergodsakes.
September 16th, 2013 at 4:58 PM ^
How'd that record work out for Frank Solitch?
September 16th, 2013 at 5:39 PM ^
The funny thing about this is that - to date - Frank Solich would be the more successful coach in comparison to Pelini. Solich went 58-19 for a winning percentage of 0.753. As I recall, the downfall began with that 7-7 performance in 2002, then in 2003 Nebraska went out and got blown out by Missouri, Texas and Kansas State late in the season and that was that for the AD.
Pelini is 51-21 now, I believe, which translates to a 0.708 winning percentage. As for what he said regarding Frazier, it probably wasn't the most PC thing to say regarding a beloved Cornhusker. Strangely, however, the defensive performance in the UCLA represents a slight improvement in the defense thus far and going back to last season, sad as this sounds.
September 16th, 2013 at 6:03 PM ^
I think Nebraska probably should have kept Solich, but just looking at winning percentages is misleading. Solich took over a Nebraska team that had gone undefeated the previous year, whereas Pelini took over a team that had gone 5-7 under Bill Callahan and was an organizational mess.
September 16th, 2013 at 6:24 PM ^
You're right, of course. One big difference is that Solich took over for the stability that was Tom Osborne and Pelini took over the chaos that erupted during the Callahan years. The record is definitely a high-level analysis, probably too high in these situations.
September 16th, 2013 at 5:06 PM ^
September 16th, 2013 at 5:02 PM ^
Nebraska is a tough place to recruit. That might be due to a combination of Pelini's lack of charisma and the fact that Nebraska isn't a hotbed of talent and Lincoln isn't exactly the easiest place to get to. Out of all the traditional powerhouse programs, Nebraska has probably been most negatively affected by the accelerated pace of recruiting. Twenty years ago, this would be the time of year when recruiting for the current class would hit full swing. Nowadays, if your recruiting for the next class hasn't hit full swing by now, you're behind the 8-ball.
September 16th, 2013 at 5:26 PM ^
with only two viable players for years. During that period, NU never gave a scholarship to a fb and loaded up on tbs from Omaha. They didn't really need to spend any on receivers inasmuch as they didn't use them. All their defensive players were on scholarshp, but they were famous for their walk-on program consisting mainly of NU OLmen who were willing to put in three years of paying their own way. This was not asking much because the tution rivaled that of Michigan's jucos. 3,500 was about as high as tuition got during the Osbourne years. You were able to bring these players along and given any year, it was more than likely to have two of those walk-ons of that year start at least a season, normally two along the OL. They did what OR and WVU did for years. They played one offense to perfection, even better than ND who had far better recruits and loaded up on top talent on D with the extra scholarships left over for these players simply by not having to give them to the same positions that the other top rated schools did, i.e., upbacks and two deep, minimum at two wr formations. ^They got away with promoting the numberofo academic All-Americans they turned out annualy as well, but due to their affiliation with the BIG,they were forced to spend extra money on improving their academic offerings, money that would normally have gone into football improvements. If you will recall, during Tom's years, they were generally considered the standard for strength and conditioning programs and facilities, but have been surpassed by any number-including UM's when RR came in- of programs around the nation since. If I recall correctly the updates expense for UM in that area far surpassed the 2 million dollar mark. ^In this era of dollars donated having a direct correlation to wins on the field, NU is markedly behind the curve there as well. ^It might, indeed, be better for them if they went back to the option seeing it never was stopped until they quit using it. Really don't know. Top ten programs all go through down periods-look at UM experiencing this for over two decades- but return to the top. OU has done it after Switzer, prior to Swoops and two of the Fl schools experienced similar down periods, but have rebounded. Tommy has to get real as to expectations and staying a part of modern day football. Hell PSU, even given their sanctions have recruited better than NU and you wouldn't even know Ohio had been placed on probation at all if you were to look at their recruiting classes. And although in Ohio's case, it's a choice made by h.s. players, but I am somewhat alarmed at the speed differential they are gaining again over UM.
September 16th, 2013 at 6:57 PM ^
September 16th, 2013 at 5:09 PM ^
a sneering, cursing lout of a mook is really a sneering cursing lout of a mook? Quite possible!
September 16th, 2013 at 5:10 PM ^
Then there's this recording from 2011. Doesn't sound like Pelini's had a lot of love for the Nebraska fanbase for a while....
http://deadspin.com/bo-pelini-on-nebraska-fans-fuck-you-fans-fuck-all-o-1327398903
September 16th, 2013 at 5:13 PM ^
You can take the Buckeye out of Ohio...
September 16th, 2013 at 5:45 PM ^
"They can all kiss my ass out the fucking door. 'Cause the day is fucking coming now. We'll see what they can do when I'm fucking gone. I'm so fucking pissed off."
What is this a reference to? Given that this is from October 2011 and the Ohio State job was open, did he think OSU would hire him?