Bo's sideline demeanor (at least against South Carolina) is irrelevant. It's simply something his detractors can point to when he's down, but that doesn't make the criticism relevant.
It is very relevant. Bo was more worried about arguing calls (specifically that bogus PI call) than he was actually coaching the game. His demeanor in the second half of the USC game definitely had an effect on the outcome IMO. When your coach doesn't even know what is going on in the game because he is more worried about dropping F Bombs on the ref, that is a problem.
And I don't know where everyone is getting this idea that Bo is seen nationally as a hothead who is giving Nebraska a bad reputation. To those of you who believe that - where do you live? In Nebraska? Because nowhere else I've been recently brings that up when they talk about Nebraska football.
You must not get out much or watch games on TV ever. Bo Pelini is not liked or respected amongst the college football world, especially the fans. Go to about any other B1G or Big 12 message board and ask for yourself. Posts after the game from USC fans themselves stated this exact thing.
When I try to assess what fans think of our program, I tend to exclude fans of teams we play against. Rival fans always find something to dislike about their opponent, especially if something comes up during the one game against their team, like Dennard taking a swing or Bo yelling at a ref.
Out here in PAC 12 country, I've never heard a single fan bring up Bo's temper. Not once. Not even when we play Washington. Out here in Oregon, they complain about Mike Stoops' temper. All the damn time. You know why? Because they don't like him or Arizona to begin with. They target his temper because that's what's there to target. If it were Mangino, they'd target his weight. If it were Kiffin or Neuheisel, they'd target their smugness. If it was Harbaugh, they'd target HIS temper. They're always going to find something.
Anyways, since you ignored the question, I'm assuming you live inside of Nebraska, where every talk radio show, newspaper, and local TV show is talking about Bo's outbursts. I don't live in Nebraska. Out here in the rest of the world, nobody - and I mean, NOBODY - is talking about Bo Pelini's temper.
Are people really going to sit around and say that Bo Pelini's not respected by the college football world a few weeks after his name was brought up for the Ohio State and Penn State jobs? A year after the Miami job? You honestly think that with him winning 9-10 games a year at a program without too many built-in advantages, and with his team performing well academically and staying out of trouble off the field, that he doesn't command a fair amount of respect from coaches, ADs and parents of recruits all over the country?
You want to measure how much people respect Bo Pelini? He just hired a guy from our newly minted divisional rival by giving him - wait for it - the exact same position he had at Iowa. That's respect.