Mavric Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 "I've heard people say, 'Is Ron pushing his personal beliefs?'" Pelini said. "Ron pushes high integrity and doing things the right way. There is no agenda here with Ron. It's about helping develop young men, and he does a phenomenal job of it. "I mean, a phenomenal job." Both Pelini and Brown strongly believe the development of athletes extends beyond the playing field — beyond X's and O's and 40-yard dash times. Most coaches believe that to an extent. It's a matter of degrees. The 57-year-old Brown, in his 24th season at Nebraska, understands that folks sometimes become uncomfortable when he speaks openly and in uncompromising terms about his faith and about biblical standards as they apply to such issues as homosexuality. What I've long hoped is that people don't overlook that Brown is an excellent coach — one who clearly is detail-oriented and instills toughness and discipline. From an outsider's point of view, Brown and Abdullah would seemingly enjoy good chemistry. Both are highly principled, intelligent, conscientious and driven. Abdullah wants to be coached. He's forever hungry to improve, and his improvement has been steady since coming to Nebraska as a three-star recruit who weighed 177 pounds. "Ameer listens, that's the thing," Pelini told me. "He takes everything in. A lot of kids hear you, but they don't listen. There's a big difference. You can hear something, but are you taking it in and understanding how to apply it? And willing to apply it? "All you have to do is go sit in a classroom. You see a lot of kids hearing what the (professor) is saying, but who's really absorbing? Who's going to apply it?" A lot of players, Pelini said, brush off what they don't want to hear. "I tell kids when we recruit them, 'Don't come here thinking we're going to tell you what you want to hear all the time,'" he said. LJS Quote Link to comment
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