Pelini, Nebraska’s former coach, won 8-9 games most years. Do the Huskers regret letting him go and hiring Mike Riley and Scott Frost?
The Nebraska Cornhuskers haven’t made a bowl game in several years. Do they regret parting with former head football coach Bo Pelini? After all, Pelini won eight or more games for most of his tenure in Lincoln. He never won a conference championship or reached a top-tier bowl, but compared to Mike Riley and Scott Frost, he was basically Woody Hayes or Urban Meyer.
Are there regrets among Nebraska fans and the school about the divorce with Pelini, given how poorly NU has fared on the field without him?
“Everyone came to the conclusion that it was probably best that it come to an end,” Bredeson said. “At the end it was really bad. His relationship with the fans was bad. He was caught on hot mics going really hard after the fans. That stuff became public and it was really messy.”
So in other words: No, there are no regrets at Nebraska about Bo Pelini. His termination wasn’t just about wins and losses. He angered people on a personal level. It was time to break up the marriage.
Learn more about Nebraska football as we start our Big Ten tour here at Trojans Wire, in which we learn about the schools which will soon be USC’s neighbors in a new conference:
House brings a lot of experience to the table, both in the SEC and as a Super Bowl-winning assistant in the NFL.
The Tigers needed a change on defense this offseason.
After failed experiments at defensive coordinator in back-to-back years in [autotag]Bo Pelini[/autotag] and [autotag]Daronte Jones[/autotag], new LSU coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] brought in Matt House from the NFL ranks to fix this defense’s ills. House comes from the Kansas City Chiefs, where he spent the last three seasons as a linebacker coach. He also has SEC play-calling experience at Kentucky.
House has some veteran talent to work with on defense, both in terms of returning players and guys added via the transfer portal. Given these tools and his experience, On3’s Mike Huguenin listed him among the coordinators to watch in college football this fall.
The skinny: LSU’s defense the past two seasons? Well, “bad” is a nice way to put it, so there is some urgency as House – who had been the Kansas City Chiefs’ linebacker coach – takes over as part of Brian Kelly’s new staff. House has experience in the SEC (he was coordinator at Kentucky in 2017 and ’18), and has to know improvement against the run is the top priority. House will use a 3-4 front, and former On3 Consensus five-star recruit Maason Smith should be a breakout star up front. He and Jaquelin Roy should be a dynamic duo in the middle, and Ali Gaye and B.J. Ojulari can bring heat off the edge. Even with the loss of tackle-machine LB Damone Clark, the front seven should be much better than it was last season. Interestingly, for a program that gets acclaim for being “DBU,” the secondary by far is the biggest concern; House and new defensive back coaches Kerry Cooks (safeties) and Robert Steeples (cornerbacks) need six(!) experienced transfer DBs to play well.
There certainly are some questions surrounding the secondary, which will mostly feature new additions starting. However, the defensive line and linebacker groups feature more familiar faces.
With games against offenses the likes of Alabama, Tennessee and Ole Miss, House certainly has his work cut out for him. But given his experience both in this league and as a part of a Super Bowl-winning team in the NFL, expectations are understandably high.
The former Nebraska coach doesn’t hold back when talking about the Big 12.
It’s safe to say that former Nebraska football coach Bo Pelini has never been afraid to speak his mind. And he did just that on an episode of the podcast “Pardon My Take,” released on Monday. During the appearance, Pelini made it well known that he is still upset about the ending of the 2009 Big 12 Championship Game.
Photo By Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
A quick recap of the game in question. Nebraska and Texas played for the Big 12 Championship in 2009, with the Huskers entering with a 9-3 record while Texas was 12-0 on the year. The Longhorns were #3 in the country, and with #2 Alabama playing #1 Florida in the SEC Championship Game, a win for Texas would place in the BCS National Championship Game.
Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
With Nebraska leading 12-10 with six seconds left in the fourth quarter and the Longhorns at the Nebraska 29-yard line, Texas Quarterback Colt McCoy rolled out to his right and threw the ball out of bounds. The clock in the stadium showed no time remaining, and the Huskers began celebrating their first conference title since 1999. However, the officials reviewed the play and placed one second back on the clock. Texas kicked a field goal and won the game 13-12 and advanced to the BCS National Championship Game, where they would lose to Alabama 37-21.
Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
While appearing on “Pardon My Take,” Pelini made it known that he thinks the fix was in and that the Big 12 did what they needed to in order to get Texas to that title game. When asked about the conference’s explanation for adding a second back to the clock, Pelini said,
“They (Big 12 Conference) f***ing lied. That (2009 Big 12 Championship Game) was a screw job… because they wanted Texas to go to the National Championship game. Lets face it, they wanted a team from the Big 12 went. We won the game. The game was over.”
Who knows how the Bo Pelini era may have played out in Lincoln had Nebraska won a conference championship in just his second season. He would coach in two more conference championship games for the Cornhuskers, losing to Oklahoma (20-23) and Wisconsin (31-70). Pelini would coach Nebraska from 2008 to 2014, going 67-27 (counting his interim head coach win in the 2003 Alamo Bowl) and 39-17 in conference play.
Take a look at the comments for yourself in the video linked below. Heads up, it does contain language that is NSFW.
Coach @BoPelini finally telling the truth about the Big 12 Championship in ‘09
To get an idea of how rapidly coaching salaries are rising, Cornhuskers Wire lists the annual compensation paid out to University of Nebraska head football coaches over the past decade below.
Professional sports aren’t the only ones dealing with dead money when it comes to contracts. At the collegiate level, it happens just as often, only it applies to the coaches and not the athletes.
Some of the top payouts include the No. 1 guy on the list Will Muschamp. He earned a total of $19.2M overall, $12.9M came from South Carolina and the remainder from Florida.
Another big payout went to Bo Pelini, who earned $10.5M in payouts. He received $6.5M from Nebraska and another $4M after his one disastrous season in Baton Rouge as the defensive coordinator.
All in all, the SEC led the list as a conference. They totaled $123.2M in payouts, a difference of almost $40M more than the Pac-12. As they say, it just means more in the SEC. In this case, it means more money.
As far as LSU is concerned, $13.7M was just for the football program. Les Miles earned $4.5M following his 2016 firing. Bo Pelini earned the $4M we mentioned. Cam Cameron earned $2.1M and Matt Canada earned $1.7M.
That number only going to grow exponentially with the $16.9M being added due to the firing of current head coach Ed Orgeron. Another reason why current athletic director Scott Woodward has to nail this hire.
Anonymous coaches spoke to Athlon Sports about the LSU Tigers. Did Ed Orgeron have an ego problem amongst the staff?
On the topic of the 2020 LSU Tigers, there are plenty of factors to explain last season. The loss of players to the NFL such as quarterback Joe Burrow. They also lost their passing game coordinator Joe Brady to the NFL with the Carolina Panthers. Defensive coordinator Dave Aranda left for the Big 12 as the head coach of the Baylor Bears.
Is there one specific reason for the drop in performance? Hard to pinpoint one exact reason with so many variables.
Per Athlon Sports, coaches spoke anonymously about each of the SEC football programs. Specifically, we are going to focus on what is said about the LSU Tigers. Two very telling quotes from coaches help explain what exactly happened to the team coming off a national championship season.
“The quote from Ed [Orgeron] about not interviewing his coordinators before he hired them, man you could really tell that’s the truth if you look at last season.”
It would seem counterproductive to not interview incoming coordinators for their new roles with the football program. How would you know if the coaches were going to run the offense or defense as you would see fit? That could be one of the biggest issues for the Tigers during the 2020 season.
“That was an ego problem between coaches. What you see on film is a unit that’s convinced they’re more talented and doesn’t adjust. That is 100 percent coaching. When you have a guy like [Derek] Stingley, a good player looking so out of position and not getting calls, that’s on you as a coach.”
The ego problem between coaches seems like another viable reason for the performances in 2020. More specifically on the defensive side of the ball with Ed Orgeron and then defensive coordinator Bo Pelini. Especially when you factor in how combative and fiery that Pelini is. The team shouldn’t have the inner strife going on in 2021 and allow Daronte Jones to put his guys in a position to succeed in 2021.
The LSU Tigers are on the hunt for a new defensive coordinator after parting ways with Bo Pelini.
One year after winning the national championship with a 15-0 record, the LSU Tigers finished the 2020 season with a disappointing 5-5 record.
Those results led LSU head coach Ed Orgeron to make sweeping changes on his coaching staff, including at defensive coordinator.
Last offseason, Orgeron went for Bo Pelini, who had spent the previous 12 seasons as head coach for Nebraska and Youngstown State after Dave Aranda left Baton Rouge to take over as head coach at Baylor.
Before becoming the head coach at Nebraska in 2008, Pelini had spent three seasons as defensive coordinator at LSU.
Things didn’t quite go so well in his return.
The Tigers set numerous school records for defensive futility in Pelini’s long year in charge of the defense, and rumors of his tenuous job security began back in October.
Sure, many things played a part in LSU’s struggles this season. A lack of offseason for a new coach to install his defense played a part, as well as the Tigers losing several talented defenders to the NFL and opt-outs.
Regardless, it was apparent that Pelini wasn’t going to turn things around, and Orgeron is now searching for a new defensive coordinator for the second straight season.
Where does Orgeron turn to now?
Does he look for the next up-and-comer, or does he look for a veteran with a proven track record?
Here are the top three options Orgeron should consider for his new defensive coordinator.
Plenty of names are flying around already, but former LSU defensive lineman Breiden Fehoko has his own ideas as to who the Tigers should put in Pelini’s place.
How about Corey Raymond?
Fehoko took to Twitter on Monday afternoon, calling Raymond “the best option for DC.”
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Making the move wouldn’t involve bringing in a new face, but rather serving as a promotion, considering that Raymond is the current cornerbacks coach and recruiting coordinator at LSU.
The LSU defense struggled as a unit early on in the season, experiencing ups and downs throughout the year. But cornerbacks like Elias Ricks and Jay Ward really came into their own as playmakers, especially down the stretch, with Ricks totaling four interceptions and Ward coming up with two.
Corey Raymond is the best option for DC at @LSUfootball
It will be interesting to see how things shake out as the Tigers look to improve a defense that was No. 13 in the SEC in the categories of total defense and pass defense.
LSU has officially parted ways with Bo Pelini, and could do the same with other staff.
LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini will not return to Baton Rouge in 2021, as the school announced Monday evening.
Pelini agreed to a financial settlement to end his employment with the university. He will accept a one-time payment in lieu of the liquidated damages detailed in his contract, according to officials.
“While this year has been challenging in many ways, the decision to return to LSU – a place that I love with many wonderful memories – is something that I’m thankful for,” Pelini said in a statement.
However, after meeting with Coach O and discussing the future of the program, we have mutually decided that it’s best we part ways. I wish nothing but success for LSU, Coach O and the players that I thoroughly enjoyed coaching and getting to know this year. I was proud of how hard our team competed down stretch, the way our young guys stepped up and were developing and the overall direction we were headed.”
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This season marked Pelini’s second stint with LSU, as he took the place of Dave Aranda, who departed for Baylor last offseason.
LSU finished the season with a 5-5 overall record that could have looked a lot better if no conference games had been a part of the schedule, but it’s hard to ignore the fact Pelini’s defense was No. 13 in the SEC in the categories of total defense and pass defense.
The Tigers are also expected to part ways with passing game coordinator Scott Linehan, as first reported by The Advocate’s Brooks Kubena, and there have also been reports there could be continued turnover within the staff this offseason.
#LSU also expected to part ways with passing game coordinator Scott Linehan, as @BKubena reported first.
Bo Pelini is not expected to be on the sidelines for LSU next season.
It was hardly the best season for defending national champion LSU Tigers, struggling to find rhythm on both sides of the ball at the beginning of the season.
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges the team faced was getting the defense right, which was led by defensive coordinator Bo Pelini this year.
This season marked Pelini’s second stint with the Bayou Bengals, taking the place of Dave Aranda, who departed for Baylor last offseason.
Now, Pelini and LSU are expected to be parting ways ahead of the 2021 season, according to several reports.
LSU technically finished off the season on a high note with back-to-back wins over Florida and Ole Miss, which is nothing to scoff at, with a 5-5 overall record that could have looked a lot better if no conference games had been a part of the schedule.
But the Tigers were No. 13 in the SEC in the categories of total defense and pass defense — something that absolutely has to be fixed moving forward.
It will be interesting to see who takes Pelini’s place in Baton Rouge moving forward.
The expectation is that Bo Pelini will not return as LSU's defensive coordinator, per sources https://t.co/aqdWzQiVqc
