Pelini part of youthful Big Ten coaching corps

[n.e.husker]

Average age of the 11 non-Penn State head coaches: 47.

 

After Paterno, the oldest in the group is 57-year-old Ron Zook of Illinois.

 

Included are 36-year-old Pat Fitzgerald of Northwestern, 37-year-old Luke Fickell of Ohio State, 41-year-old Bret Bielema of Wisconsin and 43-year-old Bo Pelini of Nebraska.

 

"It requires a lot of energy, a lot of time," Pelini said of being a major-college coach. "It takes its toll on you."

 

Which is why these guys deserve room to breathe during the offseason. Athletic directors should encourage head coaches and their staffs to maintain a light workload for much of July -- you know, like many sports writers.

 

"It's obviously a high-pressure environment," Pelini said. "There are a lot of demands on your time. To handle, in our case, 150-some kids -- it's not easy. I think youth helps me. And I also think it helps you relate to your players.

 

"You have to be able to build a trust. I wouldn't necessarily say, ‘Talk their talk,' but I think a huge part of coaching is being able to communicate with a lot of different kids, a lot of kids from different backgrounds. You have to understand that with this generation of kids, different things are important to them, and they're faced with different challenges than I was (at their age)."

http://huskerextra.com/sports/football/big-ten/article_7e837278-aa7f-537c-bbdf-afb751496be5.html