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Tougher media tests ahead for Pelini
A few people have asked about Bo Pelini's performance last week at Big 12 media days. How did he handle himself in front of the media throng? Was he smooth? Nervous? Comfortable?
I'd say he handled it well, very comfortably, as if he had been there many times before (even though he's a rookie head coach). He's comfortable in his own skin, which I guess is the key.
His boss isn't surprised. Tom Osborne last week recalled his job interview with Pelini this past Nov. 25 inside a little building at the Baton Rouge, La., airport. Harvey Perlman also was present. Osborne recalls a driving rainstorm as they spoke (I'm doing a little background work for our upcoming book, The Path To Pelini.)
"I think Bo struck me immediately as being authentic," Osborne recalled. "So often when people do a job interview, you have a sense that you're not necessarily talking to the real person. They're trying to put their best foot forward, but maybe you're not seeing the whole person.
"I think Bo is fairly unpretentious. What you see is pretty much the way Bo is. I liked that part of it."
Osborne said he suspected right away Pelini ultimately would be the choice. Osborne said he talked to four other coaches about the job (he still declines to name them, though he says each is a head coach). Osborne said that one of the other four candidates specialized mostly in offense, another mostly defense and "two of them had been head coaches long enough that I don't know that you would distinguish offense or defense. They were head coaches."
Of course, Turner Gill was known to have interviewed for the position. It was widely believed that veteran Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe also interviewed.
"Each of the guys I talked to had excellent qualities," Osborne said. "I think the value of that process is it gave me an opportunity to compare and contrast those individuals with what Bo brought to the table."
The process moved quickly. After interviewing Pelini during an early Sunday afternoon in Baton Rouge, Osborne and Perlman traveled to Atlanta, site of Parker Executive Search, to interview the other four candidates the next day -- all in one day.
"I met with them (the four other candidates) for an hour each, or an hour and a half," Osborne recalled. "It was pretty well organized. I told Harvey I thought Bo would be the best, and he didn't disagree."
As for Pelini's dealings with the media and public, bigger tests obviously are ahead, like during times of intense pressure and adversity, when everyone's questioning the coach's decisions. Such situations obviously are impossible to avoid in jobs like his.
http://www.journalstar.com/blog/huskers.ph...p;tb=1&pb=1
A few people have asked about Bo Pelini's performance last week at Big 12 media days. How did he handle himself in front of the media throng? Was he smooth? Nervous? Comfortable?
I'd say he handled it well, very comfortably, as if he had been there many times before (even though he's a rookie head coach). He's comfortable in his own skin, which I guess is the key.
His boss isn't surprised. Tom Osborne last week recalled his job interview with Pelini this past Nov. 25 inside a little building at the Baton Rouge, La., airport. Harvey Perlman also was present. Osborne recalls a driving rainstorm as they spoke (I'm doing a little background work for our upcoming book, The Path To Pelini.)
"I think Bo struck me immediately as being authentic," Osborne recalled. "So often when people do a job interview, you have a sense that you're not necessarily talking to the real person. They're trying to put their best foot forward, but maybe you're not seeing the whole person.
"I think Bo is fairly unpretentious. What you see is pretty much the way Bo is. I liked that part of it."
Osborne said he suspected right away Pelini ultimately would be the choice. Osborne said he talked to four other coaches about the job (he still declines to name them, though he says each is a head coach). Osborne said that one of the other four candidates specialized mostly in offense, another mostly defense and "two of them had been head coaches long enough that I don't know that you would distinguish offense or defense. They were head coaches."
Of course, Turner Gill was known to have interviewed for the position. It was widely believed that veteran Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe also interviewed.
"Each of the guys I talked to had excellent qualities," Osborne said. "I think the value of that process is it gave me an opportunity to compare and contrast those individuals with what Bo brought to the table."
The process moved quickly. After interviewing Pelini during an early Sunday afternoon in Baton Rouge, Osborne and Perlman traveled to Atlanta, site of Parker Executive Search, to interview the other four candidates the next day -- all in one day.
"I met with them (the four other candidates) for an hour each, or an hour and a half," Osborne recalled. "It was pretty well organized. I told Harvey I thought Bo would be the best, and he didn't disagree."
As for Pelini's dealings with the media and public, bigger tests obviously are ahead, like during times of intense pressure and adversity, when everyone's questioning the coach's decisions. Such situations obviously are impossible to avoid in jobs like his.
http://www.journalstar.com/blog/huskers.ph...p;tb=1&pb=1
