Sipple Q&A with Pelini

[Foppa]

Well...at least Dirk didn't do this Q&A. Murder is never cool.

[Mavric]

It was the Northwestern where we went away from the three down lineman look early in the second quarter after they scored again (third TD, iirc). But I'm not not sure we really changed all that much. That was a look we'd used before and used since, we were just using it a lot more early in that game. And we started out this year blitzing more - we blitzed or brought some extra pressure on at about half the plays in the first half against Wyoming - it just got lost in how that game ended. We might have blitzed slightly more later in the season but it's also easier to try things when things are going better - generally speaking.

 

I don't know what exactly changed either, but as far as the eye test we just looked like we were getting after it more. We just looked like the old Blackshirts a bit. Guys flying around and getting to the ball. The Michigan game comes to mind if any of you ever get a chance to look back at that one. We were just phenomenal on defense I thought. There were bright spots against Michigan state til' that Cook found his rythym towards the end. I think field position influenced that score quite a bit so one wouldn't think we played well on defense, but actually it was special teams and offense that sucked.

 

I don't know, there were other games too, we just looked different I thought.

I know "the guys were finally getting it" is pretty cliche but I think that's a big part of it in this case. If you go back and watch Wyoming, UCLA, SDSt, etc. the problem wasn't that they were blowing us off the ball or breaking tackles. We were so terribly mis-aligned or blowing assignments that there was simply no one there to make the tackle. Now whether Bo simplified things or the guys figured it out is a whole other conversation but we were MUCH more sound in our assignments in the second half of the year. The other big part (imo) is that we have a lot better athletes on defense than we had the previous couple years. The combination of better athletes and knowing what they were supposed to do made for a pretty good defense down the stretch.

[The Dude]

True touched on this, but for emphasis:

Q: Can you go directly to athletic director Shawn Eichorst if you feel the need? Folks continue to wonder about your relationship with Eichorst.

 

A: Yes. That's not an issue. Everything we've asked for, we've gotten.

Scratch one more excuse off the list.

[ObamaRocks91]

I do think the defensive scheme, or approach, or the way we called it, whatever you want to say, I think that did change this year. It's kind of been an unexplained phenomena in my book how that halftime ( whatever game it was) the players told the coaches to do more of what the players wanted to do. It seemed to be the turning point. We became aggressive as hell. Blitzing increased or at least appeared to to me. Regardless, they changed something, and it worked. I know there will be an argument that maybe the guys just finally started "getting it". Yea, maybe a little, but there was more than that. Some will say this was Bo's defense all along, but I've seen enough bend don't break garbage to know that's not the case. We went after em more. We turned the front four loose more. Whatever change it was, I liked it, so I credit the staff for that. Or the players?

I think the defense was the biggest change we have had in Bo's tenure, outside of coaching changes. We went to a 2 Gap, something some board members harped that we wouldn't do and bashed every mentioning of it. A scheme that I think worked out very well for us and went better than I had originally thought by end of season. We now have the talent to let these guys loose, rather than playing containment. When your that much smaller than the OL, its hard to bring pressure. Defensively, we are looking bright. Offensively, just unsure.

 

HNN, I think you're a funny guy and I think you try to be level-headed but ultimately your love for the Huskers wins over what your logic tells you. Just a complete guess, but even though you're more of a Bo-supporter than most, I think you're far less delusional than most.

 

With that said, I think you need to completely re-word the complete 100% incorrect bolded statement. It is both logically and factually flawed. Perhaps you should do some research on both Bo's traditional defense, our defense the second half of the year, along with our fan bases's perception of those defenses.

 

Or hopefully you just had a typo in there that would make this whole thing a lot easier.

[True2tRA]

I do think the defensive scheme, or approach, or the way we called it, whatever you want to say, I think that did change this year. It's kind of been an unexplained phenomena in my book how that halftime ( whatever game it was) the players told the coaches to do more of what the players wanted to do. It seemed to be the turning point. We became aggressive as hell. Blitzing increased or at least appeared to to me. Regardless, they changed something, and it worked. I know there will be an argument that maybe the guys just finally started "getting it". Yea, maybe a little, but there was more than that. Some will say this was Bo's defense all along, but I've seen enough bend don't break garbage to know that's not the case. We went after em more. We turned the front four loose more. Whatever change it was, I liked it, so I credit the staff for that. Or the players?

I think the defense was the biggest change we have had in Bo's tenure, outside of coaching changes. We went to a 2 Gap, something some board members harped that we wouldn't do and bashed every mentioning of it. A scheme that I think worked out very well for us and went better than I had originally thought by end of season. We now have the talent to let these guys loose, rather than playing containment. When your that much smaller than the OL, its hard to bring pressure. Defensively, we are looking bright. Offensively, just unsure.

 

HNN, I think you're a funny guy and I think you try to be level-headed but ultimately your love for the Huskers wins over what your logic tells you. Just a complete guess, but even though you're more of a Bo-supporter than most, I think you're far less delusional than most.

 

With that said, I think you need to completely re-word the complete 100% incorrect bolded statement. It is both logically and factually flawed. Perhaps you should do some research on both Bo's traditional defense, our defense the second half of the year, along with our fan bases's perception of those defenses.

 

Or hopefully you just had a typo in there that would make this whole thing a lot easier.

 

I wasn't gonna say anything, but yea, I think the bolded part is actually completely backwards.

 

I'm not defensive guru, but I actually think we moved away from that stupid ass two gap concept quite a bit.

[QMany]

Conspiracy theorists are the best.

[ZRod]

It was the Northwestern where we went away from the three down lineman look early in the second quarter after they scored again (third TD, iirc). But I'm not not sure we really changed all that much. That was a look we'd used before and used since, we were just using it a lot more early in that game. And we started out this year blitzing more - we blitzed or brought some extra pressure on at about half the plays in the first half against Wyoming - it just got lost in how that game ended. We might have blitzed slightly more later in the season but it's also easier to try things when things are going better - generally speaking.

 

I don't know what exactly changed either, but as far as the eye test we just looked like we were getting after it more. We just looked like the old Blackshirts a bit. Guys flying around and getting to the ball. The Michigan game comes to mind if any of you ever get a chance to look back at that one. We were just phenomenal on defense I thought. There were bright spots against Michigan state til' that Cook found his rythym towards the end. I think field position influenced that score quite a bit so one wouldn't think we played well on defense, but actually it was special teams and offense that sucked.

 

I don't know, there were other games too, we just looked different I thought.

We were certainly more aggressive than we were during the UCLA game. I remember going back and watching that game to see how many times we blitzed and I think it was maybe twice in the first half and that was it for the game.

[Mavric]

We were certainly more aggressive than we were during the UCLA game. I remember going back and watching that game to see how many times we blitzed and I think it was maybe twice in the first half and that was it for the game.

The thing about UCLA was it was working well. We had two blown coverages early but other than that they only had 40 or so yards of offense with about five minutes to go in the half. Then.......

[NUBlackshirts01]

I NEVER post, but damnit i cannot stand the damn negativity anymore. What the hell has Bo done so horribly that you guys seem to think he needs to go so badly. We had a once in a lifetime player in Suh that single handedly made this defense a top five unit, take him off the 2009 unit and its not even close to the same. Then in 2010 we had like 4 guys in the secondary that were NFL caliber locking teams up from passing. We changed conferences into what is perceived(and rightfully so) as one of the most hard nosed conferences in the country, maybe not the fastest but one of the toughest in the trenches. It has taken time for him to change from defending spread offenses to ones that consistently send tons of o-lineman to the nfl, but last year showed that he has learned what he needs to do and is adjusting accordingly.

 

As for the offense, do any of you remember 2009??? We are leaps and bounds better than then even when half of our offense was injured. So many of you just want him gone because of his fieryness but refuse to look at all of the hurdles he has to overcome. I am about done looking at the damn husker football section because there is an absolutely stunning amount of negativity it makes me sick. If you really want to go back to Callahan then GTFO because even Pelinis' recruiting has improved tenfold. Give the man 2-3 more years and if we are still stuck in purgatory then I will agree that things need to change. Until then we need to give him support or watch the whole team turn against us, then we will be in a giant black cloud and become the next Iowa.

 

Go ahead and tear this post apart like you do every other one and call me a sunshine pumper idc. In 2 years half of you will be eating crow(or just saying how you knew he could turn things around).

 

/END RANT

[NUBlackshirts01]

And for those that will twist my opening paragraph and say "see, even you agree that he hasn't done a great job even defensively."

 

Perhaps you have forgotten 2007, EVERY SINGLE defense Bo has put on the field is better than that crap, and yes even the 2008 pile of junk.

[NUpolo8]

And for those that will twist my opening paragraph and say "see, even you agree that he hasn't done a great job even defensively."

 

Perhaps you have forgotten 2007, EVERY SINGLE defense Bo has put on the field is better than that crap, and yes even the 2008 pile of junk.

 

You set the bar quite high.

[It'sNotAFakeID]

I NEVER post, but damnit i cannot stand the damn negativity anymore. What the hell has Bo done so horribly that you guys seem to think he needs to go so badly. We had a once in a lifetime player in Suh that single handedly made this defense a top five unit, take him off the 2009 unit and its not even close to the same. Then in 2010 we had like 4 guys in the secondary that were NFL caliber locking teams up from passing. We changed conferences into what is perceived(and rightfully so) as one of the most hard nosed conferences in the country, maybe not the fastest but one of the toughest in the trenches. It has taken time for him to change from defending spread offenses to ones that consistently send tons of o-lineman to the nfl, but last year showed that he has learned what he needs to do and is adjusting accordingly.

 

As for the offense, do any of you remember 2009??? We are leaps and bounds better than then even when half of our offense was injured. So many of you just want him gone because of his fieryness but refuse to look at all of the hurdles he has to overcome. I am about done looking at the damn husker football section because there is an absolutely stunning amount of negativity it makes me sick. If you really want to go back to Callahan then GTFO because even Pelinis' recruiting has improved tenfold. Give the man 2-3 more years and if we are still stuck in purgatory then I will agree that things need to change. Until then we need to give him support or watch the whole team turn against us, then we will be in a giant black cloud and become the next Iowa.

 

Go ahead and tear this post apart like you do every other one and call me a sunshine pumper idc. In 2 years half of you will be eating crow(or just saying how you knew he could turn things around).

 

/END RANT

 

I would say it's not so much what he's done, but rather what he hasn't done that's the problem. A legitimate concern, imo.

[carlfense]

And for those that will twist my opening paragraph and say "see, even you agree that he hasn't done a great job even defensively."

 

Perhaps you have forgotten 2007, EVERY SINGLE defense Bo has put on the field is better than that crap, and yes even the 2008 pile of junk.

 

You set the bar quite high.

Not as bad as Callahan, I say.

[Mavric]

More from Sipple:

 

The seventh-year Nebraska head football coach is opening spring practices, essentially all of them, to the media -- a first in his tenure.

 

I didn't see that coming.

 

"I might do it for the fall, too," Pelini told me last week.

 

Why in the world is he opening practices to media this spring? The first practice is Saturday.

 

"Why not?" he shot back.

[desertshox]

dear lord. several of you need to get laid or something. this board is becoming unbearable to read. nitpicking every little thing that was said. twisting the words to fit what you want them to mean just to whine that things are they way you want them to be.

 

and given the response to this will be "dont like it you dont have to read it", i think i will do just that.