the apple and the tree

[nebraskaart]

There was a now famous moment during the 1995 Orange Bowl half-time when Tom Osborne predicted that Miami would lose their composure during the game, and it would cost them dearly with a penalty, just at the right time. Osborne warned his players: “don’t respond” so that we could get the full benefit of Miami’s well known lack of self control. And sure enough, TO’s players kept their cool as Miami grew more and more frustrated. Eventually, one of Miami’s players could not take it anymore and the unsportsmanlike penalty extended a key 4th quarter drive.

 

One of the Peter brothers recalled that it was like Osborne was a prophet: he told the team what would happen, and then it happened just like he said it would. “Everything he said came true.”

 

Let me ask: Does anyone doubt what Coach Osborne’s half-time advice would have been to his players if he was coaching against Pelini in yesterday’s bowl game?

 

Don’t get me wrong. I am an all-in Pelini supporter. I am very impressed by most of what he has accomplished. He is obviously very gifted at about 90% of what it takes to do his job. He has transformed a lot of things for the positive. He has restored the respect for our great tradition; he has re-imposed expectations of greatness. He has raised the energy that players bring to the game. And while we surely want more, 9 or 10 wins each year ain’t all bad.

 

But the truth of the matter is that after 4 years, the most abiding characteristic of Pelini and his teams isn’t the quality of their play. It ain’t their 9 or 10 wins a season. It’s one thing, and it is apparent to every coach, referee, announcer, and blue-chip player parent in college football:

 

Pelini is that coach from Nebraska that is a hot head. He can’t control himself. When he gets under pressure, he loses composure. And so do his teams.

 

The Huskers are consistently in the lower half of the statistics that reflect on the composure of the team. Pelini’s teams are among the most penalized of the top 25 programs every year. Their turnover rate has generally been ridiculous. TV coverage of a Husker game is dominated by coverage of Pelini’s rollercoaster emotions. It is a national joke, frankly, and has cost us game after game after game.

 

Forgive me, but the old explanations don’t cut it. It isn’t passion. It isn’t a justified response to being treated unfairly. And I am sorry, it isn’t “having his player’s backs.”

 

Maybe those justifications made sense in year one, or explain an occasional verbal shot at a referee here and there. But we have had four years of this garbage, and those excuses simply fall flat now. The truth of the matter is that a man that is 43 years old with the responsibility he has, and with the now obvious impact on his job that his behavior is having, simply should not be acting as he does.

 

It is costing his team, and costing the program.

 

Contrary to some nonsense I keep hearing around the program, passion and self-control are not opposed. Tom Osborne was passionate. Tom Osborne was treated unfairly from time to time. Tom Osborne certainly “had his players backs.” Just ask them. He never acted like this.

 

More importantly, he never cost the team with his demeanor. He never cost us with officials, and his players lived out his demeanor in the games. It paid off. Nebraska was consistently one of the least penalized teams in college football, and made the fewest mistakes. Over and over again we heard the refrain: “Nebraska does things the right way,” and that was true.

 

It was because one guy -- one key guy in the players’ lives -- lived it large himself, and his life translated into expectations about how the players themselves would live. They loved Coach Osborne, and they tried to be like him. The apple and the tree, and all that.

 

It was as though the Big Red culture itself was the personification of one good man’s example. In at least one case, the payoff was a National Championship win over a team that was the exact opposite of who we were.

 

Unfortunately, it appears that Pelini is proving that this apple and tree thing is a two way street. At the end of the day, in key moments and in key games, the Huskers do what the coach they love does: they lose their focus, they lose their composure, they make critical mistakes at exactly the wrong times.

 

It’s my opinion, and it’s just one. But if I were Bo, I would stop it with the veiled whining about referees, I would stop it with the Callahanesque talk about players not executing. Sure, the referees make countless mistakes. The players don’t execute what they are taught. As you say, you can’t change how others do things.

 

Fair enough. Change what you can: Change yourself. Improve your focus. Improve your composure.

 

If you do this, I am guessing the players will figure the penalties and turnovers out for themselves. For good or for bad, the record around here is that wherever coaches go, players will follow.

 

Gary in Lincoln

[The Duke]

Excellent post!

[Count 'Bility]

I'm sick of this national perception labeling Bo as the hothead. He's no different than any other coach. Watch Brian Kelly at ND for a quarter. Dont see ESPN zooming in on him or Desmond Howard saying he would knock him out. I know most are against and/or tired of the "media hates Nebraska" thing, but seriously, for one unknown reason or another, they just seem to make a bigger deal out of Bo's "explosions"

 

I would also like to know how so many self promoted experts blame the team's issues on Bo's behaviour. It could be it, but how are we so sure all a sudden. Secondly, Bo Pelini is not Tom Osborne, and this comparison is getting as old as rising taxes.

 

But I will say this was a very interesting read and enjoyed it. However, Bo "throwing the players under the bus" is not something that happens all the time, if ever before. Bo is growing in the "behavior" category. He is seeming to lose his temper less and less as the game goes by. But when he lost it Monday, the picked flags on the clip, the bogus pass int., I thought it was totally warranted. yes officials make mistakes, but my land, those two were complete failures and a butt chewin was definitely in line.

[Hunter94]

no, he is a hothead........being pissed off won't change the call, but it will phuck up the team focus.......it is evident.

[Count 'Bility]

Guess we better fire him then, since no other coach gets pissed and hollars as officials for making a completely dumbass call. Good thing Osborne NEVER did (of course, he was usually ahead by 50)

[ZRod]

no, he is a hothead........being pissed off won't change the call, but it will phuck up the team focus.......it is evident.

You're right there is no other reason for losing focus, there can't be. I'm sure you discussed it with the players as well didn't you? And they said that they watch Bo yelling at the ref and got distracted didn't they?

 

That's story is nice to read and it sound like a great theory and all, but these are college kids. You can try and guide them all you want but ultimately they choose their own path. And any opposing fan can cite you quite a few examples from Osborne coached teams about players who defiantly didn't live up to the coach's persona in their own life. And yes Tom did get fired up and yell at the officials, he wasn't always a saint (all though he probably didn't have Bo's vocabulary) but he did have a more reserved demeanor in general. Bo is probably on par with Charlie McBride maybe even a little more reserved, my dad always tells a story about McBride almost got in a fight with Chris Fowler for god sake. But tell me when has Bo yelling on the sideline definitively cost us a game, excluding the jobbing we got at aTm.

 

*Edit I guess you can say Va Tech but my memory is hazy as to the situation there*

[Hunter94]

Guess we better fire him then, since no other coach gets pissed and hollars as officials for making a completely dumbass call. Good thing Osborne NEVER did (of course, he was usually ahead by 50)

 

 

Ozz understood the mental aspect of the game, Bo, not so much, but big on "road rage".......Bo is extreme, i guess kids like that today.

[Stickney]

I'm sick of this national perception labeling Bo as the hothead. He's no different than any other coach. Watch Brian Kelly at ND for a quarter. Dont see ESPN zooming in on him

 

Oh, I think Kelly gets plenty of press and hothead labeling. I would say it is a pretty large part of my perception of Kelly. And, in the same vein, Kelly hasn't exactly produced stellar results at ND either.

 

 

Sorry, but Bo has brought this on himself. He got a horrible (perhaps not deserved) flag against VT in his first early National TV outing. And nearly each year he has provided another "highlight" moment of sideline antics.

 

It was better this year, I guess (though that Chatelain nonsense after The OSU comeback was equally absurd), so hear's hoping progress continues.

[roundegotrip]

Best post I've read in a while. Thanks.

[Joe_5700]

Good post with some valid points. Didn't a USC player lose his cool and pull on a facemask of one of our linemen to extend one of our drives? Would you have posted this had Nebraska won the bowl game? Do you remember fans criticizing TO for being too stoic? I sure do. Pelini is going to need a few more seasons to grow as a head coach. Once that happens, we will start seeing those 11 or 12 win seasons occasionally. Of course even the best coaches are not immune to having a .500 season either...

[Count 'Bility]

I'm sick of this national perception labeling Bo as the hothead. He's no different than any other coach. Watch Brian Kelly at ND for a quarter. Dont see ESPN zooming in on him

 

Oh, I think Kelly gets plenty of press and hothead labeling. I would say it is a pretty large part of my perception of Kelly. And, in the same vein, Kelly hasn't exactly produced stellar results at ND either.

 

 

Sorry, but Bo has brought this on himself. He got a horrible (perhaps not deserved) flag against VT in his first early National TV outing. And nearly each year he has provided another "highlight" moment of sideline antics.

 

It was better this year, I guess (though that Chatelain nonsense after The OSU comeback was equally absurd), so hear's hoping progress continues.

 

So now it's wrong to stand up for your player and yourself to the media when they constantly rag on the two of you? Guess it fits with society, when things get tough, crawl in a hole and hide. Guess that's why so many are done with Bo. "Well, things were a bit tough this year, guess it's time to find a new coach"

And once again, Bo Pelini is not fricken Tom Osborne.

[Goal-line]

Pelini set the table for himself when he went off on Taylor Martinez, on national TV, for a matter that was not even connected to the game. He should have handled that in his office, after the game. He is the one responsible for his own image, (which is not good). It will take a long time for him to rectify the situation and clean up his perceived hot tempered persona. You reap what you sew.

 

I have coached various sports from little leagues to high school head coaching assignments and I can tell you with out a shadow of a doubt that your players will take on the demeanor of the coach, both as players and as citizens. If you use the excuse of blaming the referees for your own teams' inability to perform, then you are playing right into the hands of the opponent. The downward spiral happens quickly.

 

Officials are part of the game. Do they always get the subjective calls correct? Not all the time. Can they do a better job? Yes, they can. Will they respond to a hot headed coach or player with a positive outcome? No, they will not. Discipline is crucial in any sporting event. Staying focused is paramount. When you don't do those things, even in the face of adversity, then you are simply asking for trouble.

 

Pelini needs some anger management classes. He definitely needs some PR instruction. People treat you like you treat them. If you want to make your own problems, you will sustain those problems. It never ends well.

[treyball3]

excellent post!

 

Yes, questionable calls happen to every team at some point in the season. Yes, coaches get upset. But Bo takes it to a whole new level. I think its ok to get upset at the refs about a call. But yell for a minute, then move on to the next play. Bo's problem is that he lets it fester and can't let it go. He keeps yelling at the refs for the rest of the game. He loses his focus, and his team follows. It's no surprise that he didn't blow up in the Ohio State game, and we came back and won that one. But in our losses, things spiral out of control.

[Count 'Bility]

Pelini set the table for himself when he went off on Taylor Martinez, on national TV, for a matter that was not even connected to the game. He should have handled that in his office, after the game. He is the one responsible for his own image, (which is not good). It will take a long time for him to rectify the situation and clean up his perceived hot tempered persona. You reap what you sew.

 

I have coached various sports from little leagues to high school head coaching assignments and I can tell you with out a shadow of a doubt that your players will take on the demeanor of the coach, both as players and as citizens. If you use the excuse of blaming the referees for your own teams' inability to perform, then you are playing right into the hands of the opponent. The downward spiral happens quickly.

 

Officials are part of the game. Do they always get the subjective calls correct? Not all the time. Can they do a better job? Yes, they can. Will they respond to a hot headed coach or player with a positive outcome? No, they will not. Discipline is crucial in any sporting event. Staying focused is paramount. When you don't do those things, even in the face of adversity, then you are simply asking for trouble.

 

Pelini needs some anger management classes. He definitely needs some PR instruction. People treat you like you treat them. If you want to make your own problems, you will sustain those problems. It never ends well.

 

I'll give you 100 bucks to tell Bo to his face he needs anger management and PR instructions. As far as his image? Whatever.

[knapplc]

Pelini set the table for himself when he went off on Taylor Martinez, on national TV, for a matter that was not even connected to the game. He should have handled that in his office, after the game. He is the one responsible for his own image, (which is not good). It will take a long time for him to rectify the situation and clean up his perceived hot tempered persona. You reap what you sew.

 

I have coached various sports from little leagues to high school head coaching assignments and I can tell you with out a shadow of a doubt that your players will take on the demeanor of the coach, both as players and as citizens. If you use the excuse of blaming the referees for your own teams' inability to perform, then you are playing right into the hands of the opponent. The downward spiral happens quickly.

 

Officials are part of the game. Do they always get the subjective calls correct? Not all the time. Can they do a better job? Yes, they can. Will they respond to a hot headed coach or player with a positive outcome? No, they will not. Discipline is crucial in any sporting event. Staying focused is paramount. When you don't do those things, even in the face of adversity, then you are simply asking for trouble.

 

Pelini needs some anger management classes. He definitely needs some PR instruction. People treat you like you treat them. If you want to make your own problems, you will sustain those problems. It never ends well.

 

 

What?