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Bo Pelini

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Huskers know Bo right guy

By John Henderson

The Denver Post

Article Last Updated: 12/28/2007 12:56:22 AM MST

 

Let's see. How many jobs and losses and grief could disgraced former Nebraska athletic director Steve Pederson have saved if he had spent that winter of 2004 merely promoting Bo Pelini, then getting out of the way. Nebraska would essentially have the same staff then that Pelini has assembled now.

 

Players would be preparing for a bowl game, probably in January, instead of having to own up to the most embarrassing season in Nebraska history.

 

Tom Osborne's hiring of Pelini made life for the rest of the Big 12 a lot tougher. Not for long will a game at Nebraska be as smooth as a summer's drive across I-80, which, essentially, rushing against its defense had become. And it's going to be a lot tougher if second-ranked Louisiana State snuffs top-ranked Ohio State for the BCS title in 10 days.

 

When Pederson cleaned house after the 10-3 season in 2003 and treated Pelini like a high school JV coach during his obligatory interview, Pelini fled Nebraska for Oklahoma and then LSU. If you haven't noticed, the defense that lifted the Tigers into the favorite's role in the national title game is Pelini's.

 

One more win and Pelini can show a national championship ring to recruits across the country and maybe stem the tide of decommits since the firing of Bill Callahan.

 

These recruits don't know Pelini. However, Nebraska fans do. Where was Pederson during the closing minutes of the 2003 Alamo Bowl when thousands of Nebraska fans were chanting Pelini's name? The interim coach had just led Nebraska to a 17-3 whitewash of Michigan State, winning over his offensive charges who didn't know him very well, either.

 

That entire year during defensive meetings, Pelini would place a letter on the seat of every defensive player. The letters were real-life stories of heroism, of Marines saving entire units from certain death, that type of thing. Before ever drawing an "X" or an "O," Pelini related the story to real-life lessons and football.

 

Rare was a meeting when there wasn't a tear shed.

 

When the offensive players got a load of this guy during bowl prep, they asked their defensive teammates, "You guys have been doing this all year?"

 

Pelini knows Nebraska. He is Nebraska. He and his wife are from Youngstown, Ohio, but the two areas share the same qualities. Blue-collar. Hard working. Do your job and keep your mouth shut. His strong Catholic background fits in with Lincoln's Catholic community.

 

Callahan was too slick, too big- time. He talked a lot and flashed his Super Bowl ring, which didn't quite shine the same when he had to rally to beat Ball State. Callahan was there four years, and some wonder if he'd know a local high school coach even if he was serving Callahan his daily crow.

 

"It has been a breath of fresh air," said Gary Novotny, a big-time booster whose Gary Michaels Clothiers has outfitted Nebraska coaches for years. "It has been overwhelming. There is a complete confidence level in him."

 

I'm a huge Pelini fan. I liked him the minute he went jaw to jaw with Bill Snyder when Kansas State was running it up. I talked with LSU players last season after a win at Tennessee and the players had this mystical, Zen-like look in their eyes when discussing Pelini. "Bo Pelini," All-America defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey told me, "is a mastermind."

 

Under Pelini, LSU's defense is third nationally for the third straight year. Except for a two-week glitch against Mississippi and Arkansas when speculation about the entire staff swirled, LSU's defense has lived up to the hype Pelini helped build.

 

Nebraska's problem is he's not there. While preparing to stop Chris Wells and Todd Boeckman, Pelini has had to watch nearly helplessly as 12 players decommitted. That includes Simi Kuli, the top-rated junior college defensive end in the country out of El Camino Community College in Torrance, Calif.

 

Dan Hawkins has become the biggest shark in Nebraska's blood-filled waters. Colorado has landed four former Cornhusker commitments in offensive lineman Bryce Givens of Mullen High; defensive end Josh Williams from Denton, Texas; linebacker Doug Rippy from Trotwood, Ohio; and Shaun Mohler from Orange Coast Community College in Costa Mesa, Calif.

 

At one point, Nebraska's early recruiting class was in Scouts.com's top 10. It now stands No. 22, four places behind Colorado. Yes, Pelini has reunited five assistants from that 2003 Nebraska staff, but secondary coach Marvin Sanders and offensive line coach Barney Cotton have been out of coaching a year, and tight ends coach Ron Brown has been out four years. Linebackers coach Mike Ekeler and defensive ends coach John Papuchis were LSU interns.

 

On the recruiting trail, this staff is playing catch-up.

 

However, call this a speed bump and may Colorado enjoy it while it can. Don't count on Nebraska giving up 65 points again.

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