Yes, that's when Harvey hired Eichorst without even the courtesy of letting the sitting AD (Osborne) know. Osborne & Pelini were tied together in a sense, as were Harvey & Eichorst. Harvey had it out for Osborne and especially Bo, his ego couldn't handle those two being bigger than him.
Pelini's job security left with Tom's retirement. It was a cloud over the staff, players and recruiting the next few years as neither weasel would commit to acknowledging Pelini remaining as head coach beyond one year. Hence the "if they want to fire me, fire me" comment, openly admitting to the media he didn't know whether he was getting a job extension or being let go and the general negative atmosphere surrounding the program during those few years. I'm not denying Bo didn't hurt his own cause quite a bit. However, the true issues with the athletic department stemmed from Harvey & Eichorst, Harvey especially as that guy had no backbone.