Red lobster: Pelini gives Huskers fresh set of claws

Nebraska's fiery first-year coach has fans' enthusiasm boiling over

By Clay Latimer, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published November 25, 2008 at 8:21 p.m.

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Photo by Dave Weaver/Associated Press

Nebraska coach Bo Pelini instructs his defense against Baylor. Defense is his specialty: Pelini served as defensive coordinator at Louisiana State, Oklahoma and Nebraska before taking the reins.

The hardest part of all was remembering the good.

Sitting in his usual spot at Memorial Stadium last year, watching Nebraska stumble through another embarrassing loss, Al Domina was surrounded by signs of decline.

A trampled defense. Listless players. Alienated fans.

And a coach, Bill Callahan, who refused to acknowledge the traditions that had defined Nebraska's legendary program for generations.

"They were imposters, foreigners," said Domina, president of Nebraska's Touchdown Club, about Callahan and his staff. "The culture changed."

Well, welcome home Big Red fans. The Cornhuskers have risen from the sod thanks to Bo Pelini, a fiery 40-year-old coach who's determined to make it like it was.

An old-school defensive specialist, Pelini has guided the Cornhuskers to four victories in their past five games and a 7-4 record going into Friday's regular-season finale against Colorado (1:30 p.m., KMGH-Channel 7) in Lincoln.

A win against the Buffaloes likely would earn the Cornhuskers a trip to a New Year's Day Bowl and a chance to finish the season in the Top 25.

"The better bowl game you go to, obviously, it's better for us (and) better for the kids, but part of it is out of our control," Pelini said Monday during the Big 12 teleconference. "All you can do is worry about Colorado, and that's all we're focused on right now."

Reconnecting

Pelini's achievements hardly end on the field. During the past year, he has barnstormed the state with athletic director Tom Osborne - who knows a bit about championship teams and connecting with Nebraskans - speaking to groups large and small.

He has re-established the importance of the walk-on program that Callahan virtually disbanded, welcomed back former players whom Callahan spurned and helped ease the tension that hung over the athletic department for several years.

He drops by Cornhuskers basketball, volleyball and softball games, dines regularly with his family at local restaurants, jogs most days in Lincoln, where he seems as charmingly ordinary as his trademark gray sweat shirt.

"You just think of him as a Nebraskan. He's very, very genuine. What you see is what you get," Domina said.

In fact, Pelini grew up in Ohio, but no one had to tell him Nebraska football is a public trust - and that the coach is its steward.

"I try not to separate myself," he said. "They want to see you out there, they want to see you as part of the community. They want to get to know you. So I try to do that as much as I possibly can."

There have been some big bumps on Nebraska's road back to respectability. Missouri scored the first four times it had the ball Oct. 5, beating Nebraska 52-17 for its first road win against the Cornhuskers in 30 years. The 35-point defeat was the Cornhuskers' worst in Lincoln in 53 years.

But Nebraska pushed then-unbeaten Texas Tech into overtime the next week before losing, then followed with back-to-back wins.

On Nov. 1, Oklahoma routed Nebraska 62-28 in a game that so incensed Pelini, TV cameras repeatedly caught him screaming obscenities into his headset, yelling at sideline officials and grabbing the face mask of one of his players who had just been ejected - actions he apologized for afterward.

But with the season in the balance, the Cornhuskers responded with a 45-35 home win against Kansas, then beat Kansas State 56-28 in Manhattan on Nov. 15.

Building trust

"I think he really won the team over, the way he handled adverse situations," said Nebraska offensive coordinator Shawn Watson, a former CU assistant under Gary Barnett. "It gave him instant credibility.

"We have a real chemistry. There is a high level of trust between players and coaches. Bo has done a tremendous job of appreciating the past and, at the same time, developing a character and personality inside our team."

Added CU coach Dan Hawkins: "They're a very good football team. They're playing really hard and doing really well and, obviously, gained some momentum. That showed, certainly, in the Kansas game."

Success was in short supply a year ago. In 2003, athletic director Steve Pederson hired Callahan, making him the first outsider to coach the Cornhuskers in more than 40 years.

Callahan, who took the Oakland Raiders to the Super Bowl in 2002, said he would bring an NFL-style passing offense to a program that was famous for an overpowering running game.

The changes hardly ended there. Callahan fired seven assistants from the previous staff, including Pelini, who led the Cornhuskers to victory in the 2003 Alamo Bowl as interim coach. Even more disturbing to Nebraska fans, Callahan ignored the sacred walk-on program.

"The football team has always belonged to the state. It's the one unifying source, the focal point of the state," Domina said. "Everyone from Falls City to Alliance feels part of the team. All the towns take pride in their kids, even if they don't get to play. 'Hey, we've got one of our own down there.'

"But Callahan couldn't be bothered with those guys who weren't going to play. Everything was NFL, NFL, NFL - the NFL mentality. He had to have the four-star and five-star recruits."

Under Callahan, the coaches' offices became known as Fort Knox because it was so difficult for visitors and even former players to gain access.

"You felt like you had to get fingerprinted to get into the north-stadium complex," Domina said. "When Tom (Osborne) took over, he said he had the feeling that it was like going into a prison. You practically had to be searched."

After a 5-6 record in his first season, Callahan led the Cornhuskers to bowl games in 2005 and 2006 before things fell apart.

In last year's defensive meltdown, Nebraska gave up at least 40 points in six games, including 76 to Kansas and 65 to Colorado, setting in motion so many changes.

Renewed optimism

In October, Osborne replaced Pederson on an interim basis; a year ago this week, he fired Callahan after a 5-7 season and, eight days later, announced the hiring of Pelini, a move that most Nebraskans immediately embraced.

In fact, before Pelini was named coach, a Scottsbluff truck driver had a check in the mail for a vanity license plate: GO BO.

Before he coached his first game, an Omaha musician penned the Bo Pelini Polka.

"I don't dance, so that was an interesting thing for me to do," Pelini said.

The Cornhuskers' first spring game under Pelini drew a school- record crowd of 80,149 - the second-largest crowd for a spring game in college football history.

Fans lined outside the stadium gates three hours before kickoff, many hoping to see the first signs of a defensive revival.

In 2003, Pelini's only year as the program's defensive coordinator, Nebraska finished second in NCAA Division I-A (now Football Bowl Subdivision) in scoring defense and 11th in total defense.

But only the most optimistic fans at the spring game could have envisioned packing their bags for a New Year's Day bowl - a scenario that probably will unfold if the Cornhuskers beat CU.

"It feels so good to be optimistic and enthusiastic again," Domina said.

Nebraska coaching chronology

Nebraska's coaches since Bob Devaney began the Cornhuskers' resurgence in 1962.

• November 26, 2008

  7:32 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  kris8 writes:

  I was one of the few (idiots) who was actually excited about the Calahan hire in 2003. I was impressed with the 4 and 5 "star" althletes that he was bringing to our program. I think Calahan is a perfect example of how athletes dont make a program...it's good coaching, a solid fan base, great facilities and enduring traditions, all of which Nebraska has. I think Pelini will restore some semblence of what Nebraska Football use to represent, which is a team that most other programs would "shutter" at the thought of facing.

• November 26, 2008

  9:07 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  cthusker writes:

  I'm not really sure what happened between CU and NU with the hate stuff! I used to go to all the NU games in Bolder and then it really started getting nasty. Threats, throwing things, car damage you name it. Simply not worth subjecting myself or family to that kind of crap. I believe that CU has been taken over by a bunch of left wing loons that don't really represent most Colorado people. Unfortunately it is, what it is! The Huskers are on the way back but we're a long ways from the glory years. Can Bo get it done? Well it looks that way but only time will tell. It's a shame that things are in the state they are in now, but perhaps cooler heads will prevail.

  This is a huge game for both teams! We want the Gator bowl and CU wants a bowl period. I believe we have the upper hand this year, but that's why they play the game. I hope that Husker fans treat CU fans with respect at the game. This is college football and CU fans have a right to be there without harassment. I'm happy with the progress shown by the Huskers this season. Bo has a done a great job with this team. I except the next several years we're going to see the Husker back in the top 20 most of the time. Good luck and hope everyone has a great and safe TG...........

• November 26, 2008

  3:48 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  jersey writes:

  Would any of the Neb. fans know what Corey Ross the former RB and Denver native is doing these days?

• November 26, 2008

  4:41 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  canadianrebel470 writes:

  jersey, he made the Ravens roster this year but was then put on IR. We'll see what happens next year

• November 26, 2008

  6:12 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  jersey writes:

  Canadianrebel470: Thanks for the info. Appreciate it. Happy "T" day!

• November 26, 2008

  11:51 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  benn writes:

  shutter? SHUTTER?

  Cmon fusker, it's SHUDDER.

  Yea - I know you think the N stands for 'Nowledge'

  No one is scared of kNU anymore, not even in the least. You can play your cream-puff OOC schedule every year, but the days of glory are behind you.

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