Eric the Red
Team HuskerBoard
Elmassian knows WVU vs. MU is a big game
Jack Bogaczyk
Daily Mail Sports Editor
Monday August 28, 2006
If anybody knows what qualifies as a big game in college football, Phil Elmassian does.
It was once said that Elmassian coached in 20,000 leagues above the sea. Well, not quite.
Elmassian has coached in all six Bowl Championship Series conferences, cutting a swath that runs from Seattle to Boston to Baton Rouge, plus a few other leagues. He's coached in 17 bowl games.
He starts a third season -- a seeming eternity in one spot for Elmassian -- as cornerbacks coach at Nebraska on Saturday. If the Cornhuskers can somehow get through Texas and Oklahoma and win the Big XII, it will be Elmassian's fifth conference title.
Perhaps only Magellan has traveled more professional miles than "Elmo," and his sideline stops include recent single seasons at West Virginia University and Marshall, in 2001 and '02, respectively.
So, when the subject turns to Saturday afternoon's kindling of a rivalry between WVU and the Herd at Mountaineer Field, Elmassian doesn't need a match. He's already warmed to the task.
"I've been in a few rivalries," Elmassian said through laughter, "and I think it's great they're playing. For whatever reason, they weren't. I know when I was at Marshall, Bob (Pruett) and the administrative people wanted to play. It didn't happen.
"Did it come up in my year at West Virginia? Not necessarily. It did come up at Marshall, but then, Bob Pruett brought it up every day. He didn't let it die."
Elmassian has coached on opposite sides of three rivalries -- WVU-Marshall, Virginia-Virginia Tech and Richmond-William & Mary (his alma mater, where he played for Coach Lou Holtz). He's also been at Ferrum (Va.), East Carolina, Minnesota, Purdue, Wisconsin, LSU, Washington, Boston College, Syracuse and Nebraska.
"Here's why Marshall and West Virginia should play; it's fun," said Elmassian, 55. "Whatever school you're for or with, you know the phrase, ‘A thousand times why?' Well, someone tell me, ‘Why not?'
"It's cut and dried there, I'm sure. You're for one or the other. The familiarity should only make it more fun. You have players in the state getting recruited by both schools. I've been in those games. They're fun games to coach in. Anybody who says they aren't, is just lying.
"They're also playing at the perfect time, from the get-go. You start out your preseason camp and you know you have a big game right off the bat. It's not like you're playing some I-AA team and it's tough getting guys charged up.
"You've got a big game to start, and everybody in the state to remind you of that. It's a great game anytime you play it. The atmosphere will be great. It gets people into it right away."
Elmassian was the WVU defensive coordinator in Coach Rich Rodriguez's first season on his alma mater's sideline. To say that the pair didn't exactly see eye-to-eye is to say that Tiger Woods can play golf.
"Yeah, but what they've been able to do, you've got to admire," Elmassian said of the Mountaineers' 36 wins and a Sugar Bowl title in the last four seasons.
"They play to Rich's personality. They're tough, and aggressive, and they run the football. They keep coming at you."
The Massachusetts native said that the Cornhuskers, thanks to the former Big Eight taking on four Texas schools and becoming the Big XII, lost its annual rivalry with the Sooners.
"That's too bad; there's something not good about that," he said. "Some games, you should play every year. Right now, I'd say our biggest rivalry here is (Big XII North foe) Colorado. That's gotten pretty big, but it's not Oklahoma-Nebraska."
Elmassian, long a proponent of the attacking eight-man front rooted in former Washington Coach Don James' program, obviously has coached in some big-time programs previously. He said the tenor in Lincoln, Neb., is quite different from other places he has been.
"This is a very special place for college football," Elmassian said.
"They thirst badly here for a (Big XII) title. That's the vision.
"We're in about a $70 million football complex that just opened. It's all about the Big Red here."
After leaving Marshall, Elmassian spent a season at Purdue before heading to Nebraska. Another indication of the different levels of football is Division I-A is displayed by the veteran coach's pay scale.
At Marshall, he made $59,000 on Pruett's staff. Working for Bill Callahan with the 'Huskers, Elmassian's salary in 2006 is $159,521.
"It's been pretty grounded here for me," said Elmassian, when asked if it wasn't about time to move again. "We're going to see if we can get some flowers planted at the house, and actually be here to see them bloom."
Jack Bogaczyk
Daily Mail Sports Editor
Monday August 28, 2006
If anybody knows what qualifies as a big game in college football, Phil Elmassian does.
It was once said that Elmassian coached in 20,000 leagues above the sea. Well, not quite.
Elmassian has coached in all six Bowl Championship Series conferences, cutting a swath that runs from Seattle to Boston to Baton Rouge, plus a few other leagues. He's coached in 17 bowl games.
He starts a third season -- a seeming eternity in one spot for Elmassian -- as cornerbacks coach at Nebraska on Saturday. If the Cornhuskers can somehow get through Texas and Oklahoma and win the Big XII, it will be Elmassian's fifth conference title.
Perhaps only Magellan has traveled more professional miles than "Elmo," and his sideline stops include recent single seasons at West Virginia University and Marshall, in 2001 and '02, respectively.
So, when the subject turns to Saturday afternoon's kindling of a rivalry between WVU and the Herd at Mountaineer Field, Elmassian doesn't need a match. He's already warmed to the task.
"I've been in a few rivalries," Elmassian said through laughter, "and I think it's great they're playing. For whatever reason, they weren't. I know when I was at Marshall, Bob (Pruett) and the administrative people wanted to play. It didn't happen.
"Did it come up in my year at West Virginia? Not necessarily. It did come up at Marshall, but then, Bob Pruett brought it up every day. He didn't let it die."
Elmassian has coached on opposite sides of three rivalries -- WVU-Marshall, Virginia-Virginia Tech and Richmond-William & Mary (his alma mater, where he played for Coach Lou Holtz). He's also been at Ferrum (Va.), East Carolina, Minnesota, Purdue, Wisconsin, LSU, Washington, Boston College, Syracuse and Nebraska.
"Here's why Marshall and West Virginia should play; it's fun," said Elmassian, 55. "Whatever school you're for or with, you know the phrase, ‘A thousand times why?' Well, someone tell me, ‘Why not?'
"It's cut and dried there, I'm sure. You're for one or the other. The familiarity should only make it more fun. You have players in the state getting recruited by both schools. I've been in those games. They're fun games to coach in. Anybody who says they aren't, is just lying.
"They're also playing at the perfect time, from the get-go. You start out your preseason camp and you know you have a big game right off the bat. It's not like you're playing some I-AA team and it's tough getting guys charged up.
"You've got a big game to start, and everybody in the state to remind you of that. It's a great game anytime you play it. The atmosphere will be great. It gets people into it right away."
Elmassian was the WVU defensive coordinator in Coach Rich Rodriguez's first season on his alma mater's sideline. To say that the pair didn't exactly see eye-to-eye is to say that Tiger Woods can play golf.
"Yeah, but what they've been able to do, you've got to admire," Elmassian said of the Mountaineers' 36 wins and a Sugar Bowl title in the last four seasons.
"They play to Rich's personality. They're tough, and aggressive, and they run the football. They keep coming at you."
The Massachusetts native said that the Cornhuskers, thanks to the former Big Eight taking on four Texas schools and becoming the Big XII, lost its annual rivalry with the Sooners.
"That's too bad; there's something not good about that," he said. "Some games, you should play every year. Right now, I'd say our biggest rivalry here is (Big XII North foe) Colorado. That's gotten pretty big, but it's not Oklahoma-Nebraska."
Elmassian, long a proponent of the attacking eight-man front rooted in former Washington Coach Don James' program, obviously has coached in some big-time programs previously. He said the tenor in Lincoln, Neb., is quite different from other places he has been.
"This is a very special place for college football," Elmassian said.
"They thirst badly here for a (Big XII) title. That's the vision.
"We're in about a $70 million football complex that just opened. It's all about the Big Red here."
After leaving Marshall, Elmassian spent a season at Purdue before heading to Nebraska. Another indication of the different levels of football is Division I-A is displayed by the veteran coach's pay scale.
At Marshall, he made $59,000 on Pruett's staff. Working for Bill Callahan with the 'Huskers, Elmassian's salary in 2006 is $159,521.
"It's been pretty grounded here for me," said Elmassian, when asked if it wasn't about time to move again. "We're going to see if we can get some flowers planted at the house, and actually be here to see them bloom."
