Who would you rather have?

Dave M.

Four-Star Recruit
Below are the BIO's on both Paul Johnson and Bo Pelini. Who would you rather have as our new HC?

I still lean towards Bo, but I think that just because I know more about Bo than Paul Johnson!

Paul Johnson:

Johnson formerly served as the head coach at Georgia Southern University. During his time at Georgia Southern, the Eagles captured the NCAA Division I-AA national football championships in 1999 and 2000. He is also one of only four coaches to ever record 50 wins in their first four seasons as head coach at the Division I level.[1]

In 2002, Johnson departed Georgia Southern for Navy. Johnson's initial season saw the Midshipmen win only two of twelve contests, although the season ended on a high note with his first victory over Army. Subsequently, Johnson's teams have enjoyed a high degree of success. The 2003 team completed the regular season with an 8-4 mark, including wins over both Air Force and Army, and earned a berth in the EV1.net Houston Bowl, Navy's first bowl game since 1996. The Midshipmen faced a tough opponent and lost to the Texas Tech Red Raiders, 38-14. In 2004, Johnson's team posted Navy's best start in over 30 years, finishing the regular season 9-2 and once again earning a bowl berth, this time in the Emerald Bowl. Johnson coached the Mids to a win over New Mexico 34-19, the fifth bowl win in the school's history. That gave Navy 10 wins on the season, tying the record for wins at Navy, which had stood since 1905. Coincidentally, this was the season that Johnson won the NCAA Coach of the Year honors. The 2005 squad recorded a final mark of 8-4, which was highlighted by victories over Army, Air Force, and Colorado State in the inaugural Poinsettia Bowl.

Coach Johnson has dominated the Commander in Chief's Trophy competition, going 9-1 (.900) in his five years, with the only loss against another service academy coming at the hands of Air Force in his first season. He is only the second coach in Navy's history to go 5-0 in his first five seasons against Army, joining Wayne Hardin, and his 2006/2007 senior class was the first in Navy history to win the Commander in Chief's Trophy for all four years.

Much of Johnson's success has been predicated on his triple option flexbone offense, a run oriented attack that has led NCAA DI-A football in rushing yards three of the last four years. Some have criticized the triple option as an antiquated, unbalanced system unfit for major college football, which may explain some BCS teams' reluctance to offer him a position despite his accomplishments at both Georgia Southern and Navy. Johnson has rebutted this argument in numerous press conferences and interviews, asserting that several top teams, including 2005-2006 national champion Texas and 2006-2007 national champion Florida, utilize various forms of the option. He has repeatedly stated that the superior athletes in power conferences could help the triple option flourish.

However Johnson has also stated that if he had a good throwing quarterback he would utilize the pass more often.

[edit] Yearly Results

School Year W L T Pct. Notes

Georgia Southern 1997 10 3 0 .769 Southern Conference Champions

Georgia Southern 1998 14 1 0 .933 Southern Conference Champions

Georgia Southern 1999 13 2 0 .867 I-AA National Champion

Southern Conference Champions

Georgia Southern 2000 13 2 0 .867 I-AA National Champion

Southern Conference Champions

Georgia Southern 2001 12 2 0 .857 Southern Conference Champions

Navy 2002 2 10 0 .167

Navy 2003 8 5 0 .615 EV1.net Houston Bowl, L 38-14

Navy 2004 10 2 0 .833 Emerald Bowl, W 34-19

Navy 2005 8 4 0 .667 Poinsettia Bowl, W 51-30

Navy 2006 9 4 0 692 Meineke Car Care Bowl, L 25-24

Total 9 99 35 0 .738

[edit] Personal

Johnson and his wife, Susan, have a daughter named Kaitlyn. He earned his Bachelor of Science in physical education from Western Carolina University in 1979, where he was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order. He also earned a Master of Science in health and physical education from Appalachian State University in 1982.

Bo Pelini:

Mark "Bo" Pelini (born December 13, 1967 in Youngstown, Ohio) is the defensive coordinator for Louisiana State University. He is entering his third season with the Tigers.

Pelini was raised in Youngstown, Ohio, a former center of steel production with a strong athletic tradition. He played free safety for the Ohio State University Buckeyes from 1987 to 1990, starting in 1989 and 1990. Pelini served as a team co-captain in his senior year, along with Vinnie Clark, Jeff Graham and Greg Frey.

His coaching career has included stints with the San Francisco 49ers (defensive backs), the New England Patriots (linebackers), the Green Bay Packers (linebackers), the Nebraska Cornhuskers (defensive coordinator) and the Oklahoma Sooners (co-defensive coordinator). Pelini was also interim head coach at the time of the Cornhuskers' 2003 Alamo Bowl victory over Michigan State.

Bo Pelini has been mentioned as a candidate for head coaching jobs at Division 1-A schools, among them Texas A&M and Nebraska (if vacancies arise).[1][2]

 
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I really really do like Paul Johnson but my heart say's Bo. I like Bo more because he's players will take a bullet for this guy. He's got more motivation and inspiration for the game than any other coach out there besides Muschamp. If we get Bo Pelini as our Head Coach I could really see our football team as the old just dominating on both sides of the ball.

 
Tough call. We have seen what Bo can do with a struggling defense and he has been here before, so he has that going for him, BUT Johnson does not have as much flexibility in the athlete he gets at Navy. Johnson has a longer and better track record.

And I am not sure if I want to see the triple option flexbone offense...

 
I would love MUSCHAMP, he has a fire we need. But of course as does Bo.

We could Bring in Johnson for the Triple option, but I still say Bo.

 
I really really do like Paul Johnson but my heart say's Bo. I like Bo more because he's players will take a bullet for this guy. He's got more motivation and inspiration for the game than any other coach out there besides Muschamp. If we get Bo Pelini as our Head Coach I could really see our football team as the old just dominating on both sides of the ball.
I agree... not sure what it is but for me Pelini just seems like the right guy now!!!

What type of offense do you think Pelini would look at running here?

I really like the offense that Paul Johnson runs and think he could "open" it up a little more here than he can at Navy!

 
Pelini is the bigger name, but Johnson I think is a better HC. His players at Navy are mostly a lot less talented than A LOT of the teams they play. Give him talent and I think he'd adapt a system to the players in it. He can't recruit the playmaker WR and so forth at Navy because they can not be over 6'3" to go there. Sure there are good WR under that but if you can't get the WR then why throw much so he recruits running QBs to run the option. I think he'd open it up a little more here, perhaps spread option???

Paul Johnson Link

 
Hi, I am new to this board and signed on because I really miss being able to talk Husker football. Both Johnson and Pelini would be excellent coaches. I would prefer Pelini though. I can't begin to tell you how much fun it was to watch him and the team crush Michigan State. I live in Michigan and these people make Colorado fans seem mild when it comes to arrogance about their teams. Especially Wolverine fans, and yes it was fun to watch us beat them too.

In the end I trust whatever Dr. Tom decides. He loves this program and it is painfully obvious he was brought in to get it back on track.

 
This is the sign of a good College Football coach.

"Hawaii noticed Johnson and he was hired on as offensive coordinator. His time at Hawaii exposed his offensive genius. Several times changing the offensive schemes completely to best suit Hawaii's players such as moving from the spread option to a pass oriented offense."

from this blog

http://bringbacktheoption.blogspot.com/

 
This is the sign of a good College Football coach.

"Hawaii noticed Johnson and he was hired on as offensive coordinator. His time at Hawaii exposed his offensive genius. Several times changing the offensive schemes completely to best suit Hawaii's players such as moving from the spread option to a pass oriented offense."

from this blog

http://bringbacktheoption.blogspot.com/
Thats what I thought he might be able to do here with better athletes... Open it up!

When it comes right down to it, I guess I would be happy with either one.

Any idea which one is actually the better recruiter? The LSU boards just tear Pelini apart for his recruiting "ability".

 
Instead of Johnson....June Jones then? Even though it isn't possible.

But I definitely agree on Johnson, but I believe we are in need of a more defensively backrounded coach this time around.

 
Any idea which one is actually the better recruiter? The LSU boards just tear Pelini apart for his recruiting "ability".
Forgive my naivety on this subject, but as I look at rivals or other sources, it appears that a majority of the recruiting work is handled by the assistant coaches -- not to say the head coach is not important, don't assistants usually make the trips and the calls?

 
So that goes back to my first post -- "LSU boards just tear Pelini apart for his recruiting "ability"" -- based on what criteria!?!

 
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