Interview with Bo this morning

[np_husker]

Bo Pelini visited with radio host Bill King on Wednesday morning to talk about the current state of the Nebraska football program.

 

 

 

Anyone who listened would have to agree the interview was “awkward.”

 

http://coachingsearch.com/article?a=Recap-Nebraksa-football-Bo-Pelinis-awkward-interview-with-Bill-King#.UnEMCEIymrY.twitter

[lo country]

This quote is what stood out to me. The ability to fix this issue is the difference between a 8-4/9-3 season, a honorary mention in the press and a low top 25 ranking.

 

Pelini responded, “We started off really well. You always want to start well, but it almost played against us. We played fast. After we got going, we simply let down. I knew we were going to be walking into a hornet’s nest the way their game the week before was. We led them 10-0 and just kind of let them back in the game. Early, there were a lot of self-imposed things: missed tackles, bust a coverage, and the next thing you it’s 10-7, they have momentum and the place is getting juice.”

 

Top tier programs do not let down. They do not let teams back in. They stomp them into submission, impose their will and take care of business. This is the same crap, year after year after year. Just this year, Wyoming, UCLA and Minnie......

 

If you can not keep the kids focused and up, their is a problem on the sidelines. You see it from the "confused" look on the staff, the body language of the players and the "who cares" attitude after a bad play. No one in anyones face for missing a catch, a tackle, a coverage or a block. Dudes need to get up in each others grill. IIRC, Enunwa said the same thing that the guys need to start calling each other out and holding them accountable. Just today, RKIII and TA mentioning keeping the guys fired up this week. How the hell can this be week 8, these guys have been playing for years, the staff has been involved in coaching for years and they are still "letting down"?

[presidentjlh]

I miss angry Bo. Screw what the rest of the nation thinks, I want the hopping mad pissed Bo that gets in his players' grill and gets them fired up.

[Karawithasmile]

Pelini responded, “Good. Really good. We’re exactly in the same spot we were a year ago. Don’t like it, but we were here a year ago and we ended up taking care of our business..."

 

I think that's a really telling statement. How in any way did we end up taking care of business a year ago? We got outplayed and embarassed in the CCG on national television (again). Where's the fighting instinct? This mentality can only bleed into the players' outlook. Shouldn't winning the CCG be the only way we took care of business?

[lo country]

I miss angry Bo. Screw what the rest of the nation thinks, I want the hopping mad pissed Bo that gets in his players' grill and gets them fired up.

I have said it the past two years. Bo, after A&M is a different coach and the team, IMO, has suffered for it. I like angry Bo. Angry Bo got results. PC Bo, not so much.

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[BIG ERN]

Defensively NO ONE has stepped up to be a leader.

 

Offensively it all starts with the QB - and no matter what people say Tommy has that 'IT' factor and just a smooth feel to his game that I think the offense gets behind. Even when Ron comes into the game I feel we are more energized than if Martinez was in. He just has a hmmm dummidy dah attitude.

[presidentjlh]

I miss angry Bo. Screw what the rest of the nation thinks, I want the hopping mad pissed Bo that gets in his players' grill and gets them fired up.

I have said it the past two years. Bo, after A&M is a different coach and the team, IMO, has suffered for it. I like angry Bo. Angry Bo got results. PC Bo, not so much.

<img class="UMSRatingIcon" id="ums_img_tooltip" />

 

Almost every loss back then we were competitive, we were in the game, and it was just a poor offense that left us a bit short. Losses then felt more acceptable in many ways, because we fought tooth and nail.

[EbylHusker]

If you think top tier teams don't let down and let teams back into games they should win, or outright lose them, you must be watching a completely different college football season year in and year out than I am. I think what you meant to say was those teams generally have letdowns, not meltdowns. That we have meltdowns on a consistent basis is troubling.

[Ulty]

If you think top tier teams don't let down and let teams back into games they should win, or outright lose them, you must be watching a completely different college football season year in and year out than I am. I think what you meant to say was those teams generally have letdowns, not meltdowns. That we have meltdowns on a consistent basis is troubling.

 

I agree. One of the things that makes college football so interesting is the impact that emotion and the ability to maintain focus can have on any team at any time, and seeing how these kids can respond to it. What presidentjlh said above about some of our earlier losses being more acceptable because the team at least fought harder is spot on. With Nebraska these days, we don't see the occasional lapse of focus. We see it constantly, and the lack of discipline and energy has been a signature characteristic, along with having a fragile psyche. Teams often take on the traits of their head coach, which is how it appears here.

[Neuman1]

I miss angry Bo. Screw what the rest of the nation thinks, I want the hopping mad pissed Bo that gets in his players' grill and gets them fired up.

Amen! We neutered him and now I, at least, want angry Bo back. It can't be all hugs and kisses on the sidelines. If you do something wrong, you should know about it, whatever it takes to get it through you're athletic skull! I see it everyday in society and look where we're at. What good is bringing in military training to form teamwork and bond when the coach can't enforce or reinforce it? Seems kinda contradictory to me...

[presidentjlh]

Case in point, earlier this season, I can't remember the game, but Afalava had a couple really bad plays, just awful, and Bo kinda returned to his real personality and chewed him out big time on the sidelines. Next couple plays, Afalava was lighting people up, made a couple great plays, looked terrific!

[Junior]

Pelini responded, “Good. Really good. We’re exactly in the same spot we were a year ago. Don’t like it, but we were here a year ago and we ended up taking care of our business..."

 

I think that's a really telling statement. How in any way did we end up taking care of business a year ago? We got outplayed and embarassed in the CCG on national television (again). Where's the fighting instinct? This mentality can only bleed into the players' outlook. Shouldn't winning the CCG be the only way we took care of business?

 

4 losses a year is taking care of business in the Pelini era.

[ADS]

Case in point, earlier this season, I can't remember the game, but Afalava had a couple really bad plays, just awful, and Bo kinda returned to his real personality and chewed him out big time on the sidelines. Next couple plays, Afalava was lighting people up, made a couple great plays, looked terrific!

Illinois game, iirc. He had a real bad play, came back in and had a TFL.

[presidentjlh]

Case in point, earlier this season, I can't remember the game, but Afalava had a couple really bad plays, just awful, and Bo kinda returned to his real personality and chewed him out big time on the sidelines. Next couple plays, Afalava was lighting people up, made a couple great plays, looked terrific!

Illinois game, iirc. He had a real bad play, came back in and had a TFL.

 

Thank you, that sounds correct as I think about it.

[VectorVictor]

I miss angry Bo. Screw what the rest of the nation thinks, I want the hopping mad pissed Bo that gets in his players' grill and gets them fired up.

I have said it the past two years. Bo, after A&M is a different coach and the team, IMO, has suffered for it. I like angry Bo. Angry Bo got results. PC Bo, not so much.

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I'd say the 2009 title game, IMO. If Texass and the Big XII hadn't stolen our win by adding that fraudulent second, the trajectory of this program, and Bo's profile, goes in a whole different direction.

 

The 2010 games were, more or less, on the Big XII and their bought-and-paid-for officiating crew that screwed DoNU in the Texass, aTm, and Iowa State games. That was just the Big XII piling on at that point...though our play didn't exactly help matters much.