South Lincoln
"There was a time not too long ago, in an era that seems so different now, when Pelini was considered the outsider. At Nebraska, pre-2002, assistants rarely left. They bought houses, weathered 9-3 seasons, and stayed for a couple of decades until their knees or voices gave out. But in 2002, near the end of a 7-7 season, coach Frank Solich fired nearly half of his staff in the biggest coaching purge since the early 1960s. Reporters camped out in below-freezing temperatures just to catch candidates shuffling by in SUVs … assistant coaching candidates.
When Solich hired Pelini as his defensive coordinator in 2002, it smacked against Nebraska tradition. Pelini was an NFL assistant, with no ties to the state or the program. He was uber-confident, a trait that almost seemed anti-Nebraska. His first meeting with the defense was so legendary it was detailed in a widely circulated e-mail. With a steely glare and get-tough speech, Pelini, supposedly, put the fear of God into a handful of players.
"That meeting," he says, "probably got overblown a bit."
But it only boosted his popularity among Nebraskans. They didn't know that on a Friday night in 2003, hours before the season opener, Pelini sat in his office, running his hands through his closely cropped hair, fretting over whether his defense was ready.
"I have no idea what's going to happen tomorrow," he told his brother Carl. "I don't know if we're going to come out and tear it up … or if we're going to lay an egg."
Solich eventually walked in and said he'd be fine. The next day, the Huskers forced five turnovers in a 17-7 win against No. 24 Oklahoma State.
[+] EnlargeAP Photo/Amy Conn-Gutierrez
The last time Pelini wore Husker red, he was the interim head coach for the Alamo Bowl game in 2003. Some Nebraska faithful wanted him to get the job, but the school hired Bill Callahan instead."Everybody talks about how confident Bo was and how he came in as a gunslinger," says Carl, who's now Nebraska's defensive coordinator. "At the same time, I know how passionate and driven he is and how much he wants to succeed. I just remember that look on his face. The uncertainty that night was probably eating away at him."
Pelini became a cult hero, part Bob Devaney, part John Rambo. He cussed out former Kansas State coach Bill Snyder for running up the score, chest-bumped his own players and took Nebraska's defense from laughingstock to a Top 10 ranking. He did it all in 12 months.
When Solich was abruptly fired, it was Pelini who finished off a 10-3 season as the interim head coach, beating Michigan State in the Alamo Bowl. As the stadium rocked that night to chants of "We want Bo," it seemed as if Pelini was on the verge of his first head coaching job. But athletic director Steve Pederson hired Callahan, a bigger-name pro coach.
Pelini was miffed and said Pederson never really gave him a shot. Years passed, but Nebraskans never forgot. When their beloved team was stumbling through a five-game losing skid last fall, the locals hung signs in drugstores and posted on message boards hoping for Pelini's return.
"He never harbored any grudge against the people of Nebraska," Carl Pelini says. "He had a great experience here. They really made him feel welcome and feel good about the entire state. I think he always looked back at Nebraska with fond memories." "
knapplc is correct, it doesn't need to be brought up again right now.
