OWH: Bo Pelini insults A.D. Shawn Eichorst in expletive-filled rant during final meeting with players

[skersfan]

I think some of you guys are really sheltered. Don't get me wrong, no one is happier that Bo is gone, absolutely no one, been waiting for it since the day he was hired.

But this language deal is so far from reality. Everyone of those kids use those words daily, the N word is as common as the word IF in some circles. Young girls use the F word like we would say damn years ago.

2003 saw the FUSP mittens on Mrs. Pelini on National television. My guess is she has heard the word a few times.

My guess are youthful military force hears that type of communication on a hourly routine through training, I know I did in the Marine Corps and it was mostly directed at my mother.

Times have changed, I will not say for the good, but profanity is the norm today. I was in a gas station in Moreno Valley filling up my dually, (huge tank) a little over a month ago. A car load of black high school kids pulled in to get gas, these kids were not rude, actually polite to the old guy, then a car with a couple of beautiful young black girls drove up. They knew each other for sure. In 26 years in the Marines I do not think I heard the N word or the F word as much as I did in that 20 minute time frame, coming from both sides. And we are not talking ghetto kids either. Times have changed

Bo is coarse, no question, but he was speaking their language.

Not defending him, but the words meant nothing, his message though was not good.

 

[minnHusker6]

Man I was a true Bo-liever but after hearing and reading that, even if it's true about Eichorst, you don't say those things to the team. You sound like a whiny b**ch. Not a lot of class. Put YSU on the schedule and piss pound the Penguins up and down the field.

 

[HuskerNBigD]

Matthew Hanson from the OWH with some great observations, via twitter.

Matthew Hansen @redcloud_scribe

There are reasons to criticize Harvey Perlman & UNL. There are reasons to praise him. Virtually none of it has anything to do with football.

Matthew Hansen @redcloud_scribe

A plea: Quit looking through lens of football to judge leaders of Nebraska public universities. It makes you look silly and it makes me sad.

Matthew Hansen @redcloud_scribe

A fitting final chapter to Pelini Era. Bo raging to his players, calling boss obscene names, talking about values. http://www.omaha.com/huskers/bo-pelini-insults-a-d-shawn-eichorst-in-expletive-filled/article_b202b14a-8633-11e4-8c91-f3f5386da4f8.html

Matthew Hansen @redcloud_scribe

Here's a value: Modeling the behavior you want to see in 18-22-yr-olds as they become adults. Here's a value: Handling adversity with class.

Matthew Hansen @redcloud_scribe

Here's a value: Being able to look in mirror & accept at least some of the blame when things go bad. Here's a value: Don't use the c word.

A million times, this.

+1,000,000

Football is a gigantic revenue source that funds countless academic activities. Perlman absolutely should be judged on how he manages the football program.

Really? Show me a single academic activity that football provides money to. Just one link will suffice.

From a non monetary perspective, it's an invaluable brand that advertises the university across the country and attracts students.

This is absolutely true. But football does not fund any academic activities directly.

I never said directly. Yes, ticket sales don't go to the sociology program.

The better the football program, the better the image, applications go up, etc.

"Funds" might have been the wrong word, but to say it does not affect the academic institution is equally wrong.

There is a reason presidents have been dismissed due to wrongdoings in the football program elsewhere.

Which in this case, it is probably better for our image that Bo was let go.

 

[Vargas]

I also disagree that this "speech" was a slanderous rip job of the University. Bo called out TWO individuals that he didn't like and tore them apart. He never said anything negative about the school. And in my opinion trashing a school's AD doesn't equate to trashing a school. Everyone who's saying how he is attacking NU is off the mark, in my opinion.

guessing you didn't read the full transcript?

Its a culmination of the negativity. I understand, you guys are human. That is why I talked to you guys constantly. Last game you guys just said f#*k it lets play and you at least played free. That is my advice to you guys that come back. You can't let this place eat you up, because if you let it, it will eat you up. I have been LSU, I have been at Oklahoma, I been to these other places...the scrutiny, it ain't like that everywhere.

You gotta fight that fellas, you gotta just go play and enjoy this thing because at the end of the day, its not a job. It oughta be the best time of your life. Any of you guys have on your mind do I want to go or stay? At the end of the day you gotta sit there and think this is how many years I got left, these gotta be the best of my life. If you don't think this is the best place then you shouldn't stay.

Where's the rip job? That Nebraska has more scrutiny than LSU or Oklahoma? Who here disagrees with that? He follows that up with "If you don't think this is the best place then you shouldn't stay." Like I said previously, that's sound advice at any time.

I'll disagree with that. At OU they went 12-1, losing in the championship game. At LSU they had a new coach (honeymoon period) and went 11-2, 11-2, 12-2 with a championship that last game. There's a lot less scrutiny when you win. I guarantee if he'd have hung around there and lost to just about every single ranked team they played, he'd have felt at least as much scrutiny.

You disagreed by saying there was less scrutiny there because they were winning? Which in effect means that he was telling the truth?

 

[zoogs]

It never once sounds like he is poisoning the well, attempting to create a rift between the players and admins

(emphasis mine)
Okay, you lost me here.

The guy — you guys saw him (Sunday) — the guy's a total (redacted). I mean, he is. He's a total (redacted).

You saw him. He's never been in the locker room. At the end of the day, he was never going to support us. And he didn't support us. You saw it. He was never going to come out in the paper and support (us)

I could see it in the athletic director's face, I could see it the other guy's face Kaz will tell you they were pissed. They didn't want us to win that game.

I said, "You don't spend any time with us. Our players don't even know who you are." And I said, "That isn't leadership." (...) At the end of the day, the guy ain't changing. I knew that when I took the job.

You know, when they forced coach Osborne out and that's what happened, he got forced out when he got forced out...

Everybody wasn't going in the right direction.

I think there were agendas and those go all the way over to the chancellor's office. Between the AD and the chancellor.

You know, I don't have a lot of confidence in what their plan is. I don't even know if they have a plan right now, which, to me, is scary.

You ain't gonna change what's going on on the third floor (of the athletic department). It doesn't mean it can affect you guys.

(Eichorst) probably tried to fill you guys in. I heard the meeting didn't go real well for the man, which doesn't surprise me, ... (laughter)

And that was the crazy thing. To be honest with you fellas, he knows nothing about and I've always said he knew nothing about me. I don't know him. He doesn't know me. He has no idea. He has no idea what is important to me, what I represent, how we run our program. He had no idea.

He's a policy guy, a lawyer who sits behind a desk and pushes a pen all day. And you guys know as well I do, that isn't how you lead anybody.

Let me tell you about core values. And fellas, this all stays here. But, a guy like him, who has no integrity, he doesnt even understand what a core value is.

What you should have said is, "What are those core values you're talking about?"

(Players said, almost in unison, He didn't have an answer.)

Because he didnt have an answer, guys. He doesn't even I told you guys like that dont know what is important to them. You have to represent something.

Quote

...when he told me he would meet with you guys at 8 o'clock...my first thought was: "Well, that ain't going to go real well." Because I knew he wouldn’t handle it the right way. I heard he brought security with him? (Laughing) C’mon man. I mean, ****, fellas, look who he circles himself with. Look at his team of people. C'mon, man. I’d rather ******** work at McDonald’s than work with some of those guys.


...I mean, you get the idea. Making that rift is pretty much this speech's thing.

 

[BigRedBuster]

It is absolutely, positively foolish to think Perlman should be judge by the state of the football program.

he was being judged plenty harshly after the A&M game. it continued for some time (da'skers). the odd thing is it was ok - even "trendy" - on this board to critisize Perlman and the "administration" in regards to the football program, right up until about....last week. now all of a sudden any suggestion that there is a connection between Perlman and the football program is rubbish.

There has always been posters on here wanting Perlman fired. And, there has always been ones who have tried to explain his job is much bigger than just the football program.

 

[TrueHuskerFan]

I think the point of creating the "us vs. them" mentality is that when there is criticism, it fuels you and makes you play better. So I wish I could ask Bo what the point of creating that culture was when he goes on to say that the criticism got to them and negatively influenced the way they played at Wisconsin.

 

[Vargas]

I see what you're saying about the rift. I guess what I'm confused about is this: Can there actually be a rift between football players and administration. How does a football players viewpoint that his previous coach was unfairly fired by an AD / President have any effect on a football program? They have no effect on an AD or his / her job status or daily work. And vice versa. He specifically told his players to keep playing hard and finish season. He didn't say anything negative about the new coach and said to give him a fair shake.

I know this follows the trendy "us vs them" doom and gloom that has been talked about last couple months. I personally think that whole thing is overblown. Every quote I can recall where this type of mentality comes up he's telling his players to block out the negativity of media. He tells them don't read the articles, ignore fan comments about you, block it out and rely on your teammates. Really tho, let's say all our football players now completely and utterly hate SE. (which isn't happening) So what? What does it matter? What does this rift affect? They aren't going to stage a walk out. They aren't going on strike. They aren't going to stop competing. So now SE gets called a p***** in a football locker room. Who cares?

On a funny note tho, who here thinks that Bo Pelini will never, ever, ever, consider any conversation private that doesn't occur inside his home? hahaha

edit: Also, I'm pretty sure this "us vs them culture" exists in more locker rooms than not. Players consider themselves a brotherhood or family. They have to band together through adversity. And yes, sometimes that adversity comes from negativity from local media and fanbase, whether that negativity is warranted or not isn't the issue. We've seen instances where players were called names and harrassed on campus and also attacked personally via twitter. It's just weird times.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Here is where my Venn diagram overlaps with Bo:

I don't mind fire and passion in a coach.
Sometimes profanity IS the most appropriate word.
Reporters ask some really stupid questions.
Coaching at Nebraska would be stressful.
It's irritating to answer to lawyers in suits on matters of football.
It would be nice to have some privacy left in the world.

But that still leaves my "f#*k you, Bo" circle much, much bigger.

There are so many things to parse in his petty, self-pitying and grenade-throwing exit speech. Connect the dots and he basically admits not wanting to be at Nebraska for the past two seasons. On the one hand he's sucking it up because he loves the players so much. On the other hand, he says he'd rather work at McDonald's.

But he didn't go work at McDonald's, nor did he really suck it up. He took the millions of dollars in an extended contract that UNL didn't need to make, and accepted the private planes and extra staff granted him in a generous new recruiting budget. Shawn Eichorst may not have given him the warmest support after last year's Iowa debacle, but it was more than Bo Pelini had earned at that point.

The fans at Nebraska are no more demanding than fans at schools with winning traditions. That $3 million salary, that 90,000 seat stadium, that shiny new training facility and that NCAA record sellout streak were not built on third-place divisional finishes. Blame the fans? Who filled the seats and cheered wildly? Only to grumble when Nebraska lost in embarrassing fashion? Yet largely supported giving Bo another year? Even after the 2011 tape where he told the entire state to go f#*k itself because he was out of here?

Except there wasn't anywhere to go, because every other major football program now saw the questionable coaching and personal liabilities of Bo Pelini. Meaning Eichorst and the pencil-pushers were right. We now have two tapes of Bo Pelini behaving like a nightmare employee and there's no reason to assume these were rare bursts of passion or candor. As mentioned, this wasn't venting at home to your wife. This was a man who had the chance to sleep on it, and when given the chance to say goodbye to his team, he chose to burn the house down around him. I have no doubt he wanted the worst invectives to reach the ears of people outside that room.

That "loyalty first" approach works for cult leaders, shrinking the world down to a single room and making your followers believe you are the only person who understands them. The only person who has their back. Anything that goes wrong (second half Wisconsin) can be blamed on outside agitators (those demanding fans!). f#*k you, Bo.

No idea how a Mike Riley Nebraska team will play, but the air tastes so much fresher than two weeks ago.

Addition by subtraction. Works for me.

 

[Enhance]

I think the point of creating the "us vs. them" mentality is that when there is criticism, it fuels you and makes you play better. So I wish I could ask Bo what the point of creating that culture was when he goes on to say that the criticism got to them and negatively influenced the way they played at Wisconsin.

Honestly, I would argue every team needs this mentality to a degree. But, it can't be the rallying cry of your program, which is what it was at Nebraska. This team spoke out against fans and criticism like it was their job, always defending themselves and talking about how outside influences hurt them.

Former Huskers often say they dealt with the same stuff, but, understood the role of fans and were better able to brush it off and keep working, which is what you HAVE to do. This team couldn't do that.

 

[carlfense]

How do you feel about him lying about the circumstances of Osborne's departure?

I don't believe for one second that he lied about that. Did he go off the rails in other areas? Yeah. But, there was quite a bit of smoke regarding Harvey when Osborne abruptly announced his retirement. Harvey has quite the ego, and we know Tom won't throw anyone under the bus.

So you think Osborne is lying?

He resigned in leu of being forced out. It's a technicality, but it's not a lie.. . .

I don't trust Harvey at all, and I have little trust in Shawn.

This is about as clear cut as it gets. One of these people is lying. You can decide for yourself who is more trustworthy.

You know, when they forced Coach Osborne out, and that is what happened....he got forced out. - Bo Pelini

I wasn’t forced out. I resigned. And that’s the end of the story. - Tom Osborne

 

[Vargas]

Here is where my Venn diagram overlaps with Bo:

I don't mind fire and passion in a coach.
Sometimes profanity IS the most appropriate word.
Reporters ask some really stupid questions.
Coaching at Nebraska would be stressful.
It's irritating to answer to lawyers in suits on matters of football.
It would be nice to have some privacy left in the world.

But that still leaves my "f#*k you, Bo" circle much, much bigger.

There are so many things to parse in his petty, self-pitying and grenade-throwing exit speech. Connect the dots and he basically admits not wanting to be at Nebraska for the past two seasons. On the one hand he's sucking it up because he loves the players so much. On the other hand, he says he'd rather work at McDonald's.

But he didn't go work at McDonald's, nor did he really suck it up. He took the millions of dollars in an extended contract that UNL didn't need to make, and accepted the private planes and extra staff granted him in a generous new recruiting budget. Shawn Eichorst may not have given him the warmest support after last year's Iowa debacle, but it was more than Bo Pelini had earned at that point.

The fans at Nebraska are no more demanding than fans at schools with winning traditions. That $3 million salary, that 90,000 seat stadium, that shiny new training facility and that NCAA record sellout streak were not built on third-place divisional finishes. Blame the fans? Who filled the seats and cheered wildly? Only to grumble when Nebraska lost in embarrassing fashion? Yet largely supported giving Bo another year? Even after the 2011 tape where he told the entire state to go f#*k itself because he was out of here?

Except there wasn't anywhere to go, because every other major football program now saw the questionable coaching and personal liabilities of Bo Pelini. Meaning Eichorst and the pencil-pushers were right. We now have two tapes of Bo Pelini behaving like a nightmare employee and there's no reason to assume these were rare bursts of passion or candor. As mentioned, this wasn't venting at home to your wife. This was a man who had the chance to sleep on it, and when given the chance to say goodbye to his team, he chose to burn the house down around him. I have no doubt he wanted the worst invectives to reach the ears of people outside that room.

That "loyalty first" approach works for cult leaders, shrinking the world down to a single room and making your followers believe you are the only person who understands them. The only person who has their back. Anything that goes wrong (second half Wisconsin) can be blamed on outside agitators (those demanding fans!). f#*k you, Bo.

No idea how a Mike Riley Nebraska team will play, but the air tastes so much fresher than two weeks ago.

Addition by subtraction. Works for me.

Do people on this board really believe that Nebraska fans are no more demanding than other "tradition rich" schools? Also, I'm already tired of hearing Bo Pelini being equated to a cult leader. It confuses me that people will shrink at the words Bo used and admonish him for not being "classy" and "professional" but have no compunction when calling him trashy, or a cult leader, or evil, or whatever else thing you can think to say. Sorry, dressing it up with nicer words doesn't actually make it nicer. The expectation you set for him versus yourself makes your opinion hard to swallow.

At the time of this recording he was an unemployed guy talking to a group of his former employees in a "semi private" setting since even that is now being debated.

 

[carlfense]

And I believe getting kicked out of the AAU wasn't something Harvey could control.

I know a former highly placed administrator that knows otherwise . . . and it's all in writing.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

Here is where my Venn diagram overlaps with Bo:

I don't mind fire and passion in a coach.
Sometimes profanity IS the most appropriate word.
Reporters ask some really stupid questions.
Coaching at Nebraska would be stressful.
It's irritating to answer to lawyers in suits on matters of football.
It would be nice to have some privacy left in the world.

But that still leaves my "f#*k you, Bo" circle much, much bigger.

There are so many things to parse in his petty, self-pitying and grenade-throwing exit speech. Connect the dots and he basically admits not wanting to be at Nebraska for the past two seasons. On the one hand he's sucking it up because he loves the players so much. On the other hand, he says he'd rather work at McDonald's.

But he didn't go work at McDonald's, nor did he really suck it up. He took the millions of dollars in an extended contract that UNL didn't need to make, and accepted the private planes and extra staff granted him in a generous new recruiting budget. Shawn Eichorst may not have given him the warmest support after last year's Iowa debacle, but it was more than Bo Pelini had earned at that point.

The fans at Nebraska are no more demanding than fans at schools with winning traditions. That $3 million salary, that 90,000 seat stadium, that shiny new training facility and that NCAA record sellout streak were not built on third-place divisional finishes. Blame the fans? Who filled the seats and cheered wildly? Only to grumble when Nebraska lost in embarrassing fashion? Yet largely supported giving Bo another year? Even after the 2011 tape where he told the entire state to go f#*k itself because he was out of here?

Except there wasn't anywhere to go, because every other major football program now saw the questionable coaching and personal liabilities of Bo Pelini. Meaning Eichorst and the pencil-pushers were right. We now have two tapes of Bo Pelini behaving like a nightmare employee and there's no reason to assume these were rare bursts of passion or candor. As mentioned, this wasn't venting at home to your wife. This was a man who had the chance to sleep on it, and when given the chance to say goodbye to his team, he chose to burn the house down around him. I have no doubt he wanted the worst invectives to reach the ears of people outside that room.

That "loyalty first" approach works for cult leaders, shrinking the world down to a single room and making your followers believe you are the only person who understands them. The only person who has their back. Anything that goes wrong (second half Wisconsin) can be blamed on outside agitators (those demanding fans!). f#*k you, Bo.

No idea how a Mike Riley Nebraska team will play, but the air tastes so much fresher than two weeks ago.

Addition by subtraction. Works for me.

Do people on this board really believe that Nebraska fans are no more demanding than other "tradition rich" schools?

YES.

Also, I'm already tired of hearing Bo Pelini being equated to a cult leader.

SOUNDS HARSH, I KNOW, BUT THE PSYCHOLOGY IS VALID, UNFORTUNATELY.

It confuses me that people will shrink at the words Bo used and admonish him for not being "classy" and "professional" but have no compunction when calling him trashy, or a cult leader, or evil, or whatever else thing you can think to say.

IT'S TRUE THAT I TAKE A FEW LIBERTIES AS AN ANONYMOUS FAN ON AN INTERNET MESSAGE BOARD, BUT NOT ANY MORE THAN THE HIGHEST PAID STATE EMPLOYEE IN NEBRASKA, HIRED TO REPRESENT THAT STATE TO THE WORLD.

AMONG THE WORDS PELINI-BASHERS AREN'T USING IS THE WORD "c**t."

Sorry, dressing it up with nicer words doesn't actually make it nicer. The expectation you set for him versus yourself makes your opinion hard to swallow.

SEE ABOVE.

At the time of this recording he was an unemployed guy talking to a group of his former employees in a "semi private" setting since even that is now being debated.

IN LIEU OF A FORMAL STATEMENT TO NEBRASKA FANS THAT DOES NOT APPEAR FORTHCOMING, WE HAVE TO TAKE THIS RECORDING AS BO PELINI'S LAST WORD ON THE SUBJECT.

IN ANY SETTING, IN ANY CONTEXT, THEY ARE THE WORDS OF A 15 YEAR OLD. NOT A GROWN MAN, MUCH LESS A LEADER OF YOUNG MEN.

 

[irafreak]

Here is where my Venn diagram overlaps with Bo:

I don't mind fire and passion in a coach.
Sometimes profanity IS the most appropriate word.
Reporters ask some really stupid questions.
Coaching at Nebraska would be stressful.
It's irritating to answer to lawyers in suits on matters of football.
It would be nice to have some privacy left in the world.

But that still leaves my "f#*k you, Bo" circle much, much bigger.

There are so many things to parse in his petty, self-pitying and grenade-throwing exit speech. Connect the dots and he basically admits not wanting to be at Nebraska for the past two seasons. On the one hand he's sucking it up because he loves the players so much. On the other hand, he says he'd rather work at McDonald's.

But he didn't go work at McDonald's, nor did he really suck it up. He took the millions of dollars in an extended contract that UNL didn't need to make, and accepted the private planes and extra staff granted him in a generous new recruiting budget. Shawn Eichorst may not have given him the warmest support after last year's Iowa debacle, but it was more than Bo Pelini had earned at that point.

The fans at Nebraska are no more demanding than fans at schools with winning traditions. That $3 million salary, that 90,000 seat stadium, that shiny new training facility and that NCAA record sellout streak were not built on third-place divisional finishes. Blame the fans? Who filled the seats and cheered wildly? Only to grumble when Nebraska lost in embarrassing fashion? Yet largely supported giving Bo another year? Even after the 2011 tape where he told the entire state to go f#*k itself because he was out of here?

Except there wasn't anywhere to go, because every other major football program now saw the questionable coaching and personal liabilities of Bo Pelini. Meaning Eichorst and the pencil-pushers were right. We now have two tapes of Bo Pelini behaving like a nightmare employee and there's no reason to assume these were rare bursts of passion or candor. As mentioned, this wasn't venting at home to your wife. This was a man who had the chance to sleep on it, and when given the chance to say goodbye to his team, he chose to burn the house down around him. I have no doubt he wanted the worst invectives to reach the ears of people outside that room.

That "loyalty first" approach works for cult leaders, shrinking the world down to a single room and making your followers believe you are the only person who understands them. The only person who has their back. Anything that goes wrong (second half Wisconsin) can be blamed on outside agitators (those demanding fans!). f#*k you, Bo.

No idea how a Mike Riley Nebraska team will play, but the air tastes so much fresher than two weeks ago.

Addition by subtraction. Works for me.

Do people on this board really believe that Nebraska fans are no more demanding than other "tradition rich" schools? Also, I'm already tired of hearing Bo Pelini being equated to a cult leader. It confuses me that people will shrink at the words Bo used and admonish him for not being "classy" and "professional" but have no compunction when calling him trashy, or a cult leader, or evil, or whatever else thing you can think to say. Sorry, dressing it up with nicer words doesn't actually make it nicer. The expectation you set for him versus yourself makes your opinion hard to swallow.

At the time of this recording he was an unemployed guy talking to a group of his former employees in a "semi private" setting since even that is now being debated.

Wow. I can't NOT respond to this.

You're telling me that because fans on a discussion forum get upset and call Pelini a cult leader or that he's not a leader...that's the same as a guy in a very important father figure leadership type role cussing out and bad mouthing his former employer? Seriously? Semi private or not...I could get fired today and my response would not be Bo Pelini's. My "Bo Pelini" response would have been me acting out in high school, not a grown adult supposedly leading other young men.

I remember one of my earlier jobs just out of high school at McDonalds...guy got promoted to manager and the cash envelope was misplaced (found it later in a place he had forgotten he put it) but the dude was so frantic at one point he said "we better find this money cause I'm not going down alone." I thought....what kind of a leader are you? This is Bo acting like a lousy leader and there is a HUGE difference between that and talking down the guy on a message board. For one thing a direct lack of respect for authority which we already have a major problem with in this country (Ferguson anyone?). He's planting seeds that are very harmful to these young men and there's no excuse that can be made for it. He is NOT a good leader or role model. Period. Seeing all of this...I'm so sorry they didn't send him packing last year.