Nebraska Players Receive Email Regarding Pelini's Firing
Nebraska's football players (Or Football Student-Athlete per the email) learned of Bo Pelini's firing via a rather bland and impersonal email. Why the rush to fire him after a come from behind victory? Couldn't they wait til Monday or Tuesday, which seems to be the M.O. from Michigan? The players would have been back and the excuse of so many players being away from campus would not have been needed.
Maybe I am oversensitive since we found out about my H.S. coach being fired by seeing it in the newspaper - but I think this is a pretty crappy way to treat (a) a winning coach in Bo, and (b) the players who clearly play their guts out for the guy.
“Dear Football Student-Athlete.”
How nice to personalize the emails. I certainly hope our players learn Hoke's fate in a much more personal way.
December 2nd, 2014 at 9:59 AM ^
Maybe my title should be changed, but in tribute to Mr. Pelini
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:03 AM ^
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:06 AM ^
like Pelini alot - but don't think he'd be in the top-10 coaches UM would consider. I feel like we are "shooting for the moon" this time around and will do what it takes to get one of our top options...even without getting Mr. H on board. I don't think a "retread" will get much play around here.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:26 AM ^
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December 2nd, 2014 at 10:38 AM ^
but the "footprint" of Nebraska football has greatly shifted - especially with the move to the B1G. Their traditional Big XII stomping grounds in Texas have been reduced with their move - so the fertile recruiting roots they had in Texas seem to be drying up. I give him credit for "making more with less" and think if he had the national cache' of Michigan - he'd do a lot better...
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:49 AM ^
is very close to Michigan's when it comes to football. Losing their traditional rivalries may have hurt it some. Your first point is spot on. Moving to the Big Ten disrupted their recruiting. I think part of our decline was tied to Tressel's ability to lock up Ohio. It's hard to consistently replace a key recruiting territory. At least we could still pick up some productive leftovers.
December 2nd, 2014 at 12:46 PM ^
I think you mean they have cachet - unless you're talking about them hiding a bunch of stuff from around the country.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:48 AM ^
But he is named 'Bo', there is a positive probability that is enough confuse Hackett into thinking he is hiring his old coach.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:18 AM ^
The only way I'd take Pelini is as Les Miles' defensive coordinator.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:28 AM ^
Pelini as DC
Muschamp as DC
We just punt on 1st down
December 2nd, 2014 at 12:57 PM ^
As I think a few of our games could have gone better doing this.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:32 AM ^
but how great would it be for him to get back together with Miles and coach at Michigan. that would be exciting.
December 2nd, 2014 at 11:14 AM ^
I think this is a distinct possibility. I would enjoy a pissed off Bo Pelini as DC, and *potentially* a Coach-in-Waiting.
December 2nd, 2014 at 11:14 AM ^
I think this is a distinct possibility. I would enjoy a pissed off Bo Pelini as DC, and *potentially* a Coach-in-Waiting.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:18 AM ^
He would get props if that was a wolverine or even a squirrel. But a house cat? I don't know if I can that that dude seriously as a player.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:26 AM ^
It was in response to Fake Bo Pelini and the infamous cat photo. It's actually pretty hilarious and cool that he did that.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:40 AM ^
Agree with 1484. I began to "warm up" to Bo after he embraced the Fake Bo Pelini.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:06 AM ^
That's about as "I don't give a shit about you" as it gets. As we talk about getting fired, I'm reminded of the time I got laid off with 75 other people from an ad agency. I was required to meet with an HR person. When I asked her a question, she didn't know the answer and so she had to call someone else. When the person answered, she said into the phone with me sitting there, "I have..........," and she stared at me, realizing she didn't know my name, so she said, "One of the cost-reduced employees in my office......" Ironically, there was a book sitting on her desk, "The Best 100 Places to Work in Chicago," and this agency was on the list. Losing your job is a rough road all around.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:09 AM ^
That sucks.
reminds me of the time in 2000 when I worked at a dot-com startup. Things were great and fun and then the bottom fell out...and a ton of people got a meeting request to go to Room A, and everyone else got the email to go to Room B. Those in Room A were cut. Those in Room B were "safe". Or so they thought..
Multiple people got the WRONG MEETING REQUEST and went to Room B when they were supposed to be in A. The extreme highs of being "safe" to the lows of being "gone" must have been gut wrenching.
Classless.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:19 AM ^
That's bad. I hope the person who sent out the wrong request eventually got his or her own "You're requested in Room A" notice.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:41 AM ^
Karma bit them all in the behind. They closed their doors in 2001.
Thanks for the thoughts Wendy! :)
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:08 AM ^
I'm 55 and spent my life in corporate America both hiring & firing people as well as being hired & fired myself. What I'm saying here is that I''ve been on both sides of that desk at the Friday afternoon meeting with your boss and somebody from HR in the room. Well there's a right way and a wrong way to let people know that their supervisor/boss/coach/whatever has been let go. Because no matter how much YOU may have disliked the individual - odds are a large number of the people he was in charge of liked and respected him and are unhappy to see him get let go.
I think I'm safe to say that this would fall squarely in the "wrong way" category.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:40 AM ^
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:53 AM ^
I gotta disagree with some qualifications. This isn't the best way to handle it, but if you've already made the decision, this is the social media age - shit gets out. It always does. Even if you think it's nice and secret, the walls tend to have ears when it comes to this kind of thing and you can usually count on someone, somewhere, to leak the information out. If the players are all going to head their separate ways after the game, well, an email may not be the best way to do it, and you could at least assign a staffer to put individual names on top or something, but if the choice is between an email and letting them all find out on Facebook and spend the vacation wondering whether it's true or not, the email is the choice every time.
Edit: And all the proof anyone needs is that U-M didn't ever announce the meeting between Hoke and Hackett, it just leaked. And the OP in the "Hoke meeting with Hackett at noon" thread even says, "I hope news leaks soon after." Leaks happen all the bloody time. Better to get out in front of them as best you can.
December 2nd, 2014 at 11:01 AM ^
True but dont you think they couldve at least put their NAME on the email? "Dear student body athlete" is about as inpersonal and lazy as you can get.
I send email out to total strangers as part of my job (some might call it spamming) and I can get their name on it and I'm sending these out to thousands of surgeons worldwide. Not just 115 players. That's my biggest issue.
And there was no reason to rush to do this. They could've waited until Monday to pull the trigger and then everybody would be at school and they couldve spoken to them directly. They chose the time and place of the termination so it seems to me they never even thought about the players before they did it.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:06 AM ^
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:07 AM ^
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:10 AM ^
believe this to be the case as well. I can't see anything less than this happening, but I feel for the Nebraska players.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:07 AM ^
I just don't understand this move. What is Nebraska's REAL ceiling? I know they used to be a powerhouse.. but are they really more than a perennial 9-3 / 10-2 team? I thought Bo did a great job getting what he could out of his teams. And he was actually pretty fun once he lightened up.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:16 AM ^
I'm sure many people say the same about Michigan right now, after years of mediocrity (at best). My one hope is that Alabama and USC saw some pretty lean years, lending credence to the thought that college football is cyclical, and that Michigan will be back on the upswing soon. Can't keep a historically dominant program down for long, right?
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:25 AM ^
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:35 AM ^
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:55 AM ^
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:09 AM ^
if they tell you you're having a meeting and to bring your laptop and your access badge, its not a good sign. I imagine they told him, bring your playbook and your whistle....
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:15 AM ^
Is it me or does this seem somewhat reasonable?
If a lot of players are away visiting their families, are you going to ask them to all drop these rare opportunities to see them so they can come back to learn their coach is fired? Or are you going to delay firing the guy (even though you've made the decision) until the players get back fo campus? Would it be fair to leave Pelini and his staff hanging out there, letting them go on recruiting trips all over the country?
Yeah, it sucks they weren't told face-to-face, but under the circumstances, probably the best option.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:33 AM ^
I'm with you. If you want to fire him before Monday, this is really the only option. Who knows whether it was necessary for them to do it that early, but I don't see it as so horrible to learn this from an email, and I don't see how pasting in each player's name to make it "personalized" makes things any better.
It's a shitty situation, but this happens all the time. Mr. Nice Guy Brady Hoke texted his players at SDSU to tell them he was leaving. They're big boys, they can deal with it.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:34 AM ^
I'm okay with that but it's really poorly written - more effort could have been made to make it sound better.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:20 AM ^
Guys--
Just fired your coach. Coach Cotton will fill in for the bowl game. I wanted to tell you in person, but that seemed like a lot of work.
Peace,
Shawn
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:22 AM ^
By being huge jerks about it, we look better. To the players, fans, recruits, all around. Everyone knows Michigan needs a change and they know it's coming. Not many saw the Nebraska thing coming. And by email? Sunday after they won? They have a relatively good bowl coming! Nebraska went 9-3!! That's nuts.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:23 AM ^
Might as well have just sent a txt message.
Coach fired, lol.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:32 AM ^
I very much wanted to meet with you this morning ^chose the Thanksgiving weekend to fire Coach Pelini to duck the in-person announcement.
...
As you know, I greatly respect all that you mean ^($$$) and do ^(sell tickets) for the University. You are at the center of our core mission of education ^revenue generation and I understand that this impacts all of you. ^But I don't give a flying fuck so I'm not changing my precious schedule for you.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:27 AM ^
Email, that is so 2000ish, couldn't they have just tweeted it or a snapchat?
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:47 AM ^
Bo and his cat walking out the door with the comment, "Fired your coach today! LOL!!"
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:31 AM ^
"As you know, I greatly respect and appreciate all that you do and mean to the Univesity." - from the letter
I love how he had the gall to throw this into an e-mail sent with a boilerplate, generic greeting. This is truly a shitty way to treat both Pelini and really the entire team and they'll hopefully remember it for a long time.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:32 AM ^
That's really tacky. If nothing it could been written a lot better Reads like something someone is bothered by having to do.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:35 AM ^
So he's not coaching the bowl game? That seems odd. A fired coach usually gets to finish out the season, unless he doesn't want to, right?
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:54 AM ^
To me that's the #1 dickishness. There's no reason for that.
December 2nd, 2014 at 10:38 AM ^
and instant access to news there really isn't a good way to fire high profile people like coaches.
I imagine it was done this way to head off players finding out through texts, twitter and other sources. You can't win these days.
December 2nd, 2014 at 11:18 AM ^
why the rush to fire him? Why not wait til Monday or Tuesday and keep the players engaged? Sucks all around.