Bo Pelini
 | |
Mark “Bo” Pelini (born December 13, 1967) is the head football coach at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He had previously been defensive coordinator for the LSU Tigers. On December 2, 2007, one day after coaching in the 2007 SEC Championship Game, Pelini was named as head coach at Nebraska by athletic director Tom Osborne.
Biography
Playing career
Pelini was raised in Youngstown, Ohio, a former center of steel production with a strong athletic tradition. He was nicknamed "Bo" after former Cleveland Browns running back Bo Scott.[2] After graduating from Youngstown Cardinal Mooney High School (the same high school as Oklahoma Sooners Head Coach Bob Stoops), he went on to play free safety for Ohio State University Buckeyes under Earle Bruce and later John Cooper from 1987 to 1990, as a starter in his last two years. Pelini served as a team co-captain in his senior year, along with Vinnie Clark, Jeff Graham and Greg Frey. He earned his bachelor’s degree in business marketing from Ohio State University in 1990 while playing for the Buckeyes.
Coaching career
Following his playing career, Pelini began his coaching career at the University of Iowa as a graduate assistant for the Iowa Hawkeyes under Hayden Fry in 1991. During this period, he also completed his master’s degree in sports administration from Ohio University in 1992. In 1993, he served for one year as quarterbacks coach at Cardinal Mooney High School in Youngstown.
In 1994, Pelini got his first position in the National Football League when he was hired by San Francisco 49ers head coach George Seifert as a scouting assistant. He was quickly promoted to assistant secondary coach, and by the spring of 1994 he had been promoted again to Defensive Backs Coach. In 1995, in his new position, he coached in his first Super Bowl as the 49ers defeated the San Diego Chargers 49–26 in Super Bowl XXIX.
In 1997, Pelini was hired by New England Patriots head coach Pete Carroll, again as defensive backs coach, helping the Patriots reach the playoffs twice during his three years there.
In 2000, Pelini became the Linebackers Coach for the Green Bay Packers under head coach Mike Sherman. Green Bay posted a 33–15 record and reached the playoffs twice in Pelini's three years there as linebackers coach.
Pelini returned to the college ranks in 2003 when he was hired as Defensive Coordinator for the Nebraska Cornhuskers by Head Coach Frank Solich. In 2002, the season prior to his hiring, Nebraska's defense was ranked 55th nationally. In his first year it improved to 11th and led the country in turnover margin. At the conclusion of the regular season, despite posting a 9–3 record, Solich was fired by new Nebraska athletic director Steve Pederson. Pelini was named the interim head coach and led the Cornhuskers to a 17-3 win over the Michigan State Spartans in the 2003 Alamo Bowl[3]. Pelini interviewed for the Nebraska head coach position, but Pederson instead decided after a 41-day search to hire Bill Callahan, who had just been fired by the Oakland Raiders after a disappointing 4–12 season. The following year, Nebraska's defense fell to 56th nationally.
For 2004, Pelini joined the Oklahoma Sooners as co-defensive coordinator under head coach Bob Stoops, helping the Sooners to a 6th place national rushing defense and 11th place national scoring defense on their way towards winning the 2004 Big 12 Championship Game and a spot in the 2005 BCS National Championship Game, where they were defeated 55-19 by the University of Southern California.
In 2005, Pelini was hired by Louisiana State University Tigers Head Coach Les Miles, again as defensive coordinator. His success continued, as LSU was ranked 3rd nationally in overall defense for each of his three years with the Tigers. At the conclusion of the 2007 regular season, LSU defeated Tennessee 21-14 in the 2007 SEC Championship Game and went on to win 38-24 against Ohio State, Pelini's alma mater, in the 2008 BCS National Championship Game.[4] [5]
During the 2007 football season, Nebraska Chancellor Harvey Perlman fired athletic director Steve Pederson, and appointed former Cornhuskers head coach Tom Osborne as Interim Athletic Director. One day after the Cornhuskers' final game of the season, a 65–51 loss to Colorado and finishing the season with 5 wins and 7 losses, Osborne fired Bill Callahan and announced an immediate search for a new football coach. Pelini was selected after a nine-day search as the next head coach. Two names revealed among five interviewed candidates included Buffalo head coach Turner Gill and Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe.
2008 season
Nebraska opened up with 3 straight wins against Western Michigan, San Jose State, and New Mexico State. Bo Pelini's arrival saw a renewed interest and optimism in Nebraska football, as evidenced by their record Pay-Per View buys.
Nebraska then proceeded to lose a close game to Virginia Tech, while getting beat handily by Missouri the next week. Hitting the road for the first time of the season, the Huskers lost to Texas Tech in overtime. Then the Huskers traveled to Ames, Iowa and beat Iowa State University in a dominant fashion. They came back home and won against the Baylor Bears. Pelini's Huskers then lost on the road the following week to the Oklahoma Sooners. This game marked the first time Pelini went up against Bob Stoops who he formerly worked under as defensive coordinator at the University of Oklahoma in 2004.
On November 8th, Bo Pelini's Nebraska Cornhuskers won against Kansas, making them bowl eligible, something his predecessor, Bill Callahan, was able to accomplish only twice in four years. On November 28, 2008, the Cornhuskers faced the Colorado Buffaloes. This game proved to be a close one, with Nebraska getting win #8, 40–31 with the help of a school record 57 yard field goal by Alex Henery and an interception by Ndamukong Suh which was run back for a touchdown. The 9–4 season was capped by a 26–21 victory over the Clemson Tigers at the 2009 Gator Bowl, played only days after Pelini returned from his father's funeral service in Ohio.
Pelini's 2008 regular season record of 9-4 was the highest among all 28 Division 1A teams with new head coaches and staffs that year.[6] This performance was rewarded in March of 2009 when his salary was increased from $1.1 to $1.8 million. Pelini is under contract until February 2014.[7]
2009 season
Expectations were high heading into the 2009 season for the Cornhuskers. Despite having to replace record setting quarterback Joe Ganz, and the entire receiving corps, Nebraska was expected to contend in the wide open Big 12 North. Defending North champion Missouri had lost 2007 Heisman Trophy finalist Chase Daniel and NFL first round pick Jeremy Maclin. The Cornhuskers were ranked in the preseason at #24 by the AP, the first pre-season ranking since the 2007 season. Nebraska was expecting big seasons from running back Roy Helu and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. Before the season even started, Pelini had to kick his second leading rusher, Quentin Castille off the team. Castille's absence led to the emergence to true freshman running back Rex Burkhead during fall camp.
The Cornhuskers opened the season against Howard Schnellenberger's Florida Atlantic Owls. Nebraska took a 21-3 halftime lead and broke the game open with a couple of Roy Helu touchdowns in the 3rd quarter. True freshman quarterback Cody Green made his Husker debut and finished the scoring with at short touchdown run to make the final 49-3. The second opponent Arkansas State could not catch up with quarterback Zac Lee, who burned the Red Wolves for 340 yards passing in the easy 38-9 victory. #19 Nebraska hit the road against #13 Virginia Tech. The Blackshirt defense dominated the Hokie attack limiting the offense to 278 total yards, including only 86 rushing yards. Nebraska had the chance to extend a 12-10 lead to 18-10 with a touchdown pass from Zac Lee to Menelik Holt, but Holt was ruled to juggle the catch on his way out of the end zone. Late in the 4th quarter with the Nebraska leading 15-10, Virginia Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor completed a 81 yard pass to the Nebraska 3 yard line. Two plays later, Taylor struck again for an 11 yard touchdown pass to Dyrell Roberts. Virginia Tech attempted a two-point conversion, but was unsuccessful, making the score 16-15, Hokies with :21 left. It was a stinging defeat for the Huskers who out gained Virginia Tech 343-278. One of the bright spots was the play of Ndamukong Suh who broke up 4 passes and collected one sack. Nebraska returned home with a #25 ranking and a home crowd juced up for the 300th consecutive sellout. The Huskers wore throwback jerseys as they had the easiest victory of the year, 55-0 over Louisiana-Lafayette.
Nebraska opened up Big 12 play against the Missouri Tigers in the rain on a Thursday night. The #24 Tigers took a 12-0 lead into the fourth quarter before Zac Lee threw a 56 yard strike to Niles Paul. On the next Tiger drive, Ndamukong Suh made an athletic interception and Lee hit Paul again for a touchdown to make it 13-12 in just a matter of minutes. The Cornhuskers scored twice more in the 4th to make the final 27-12. The win over the defending Big 12 North champions gave Nebraska a #15 national ranking, their highest since 2007. Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was starting to gain a lot of national award attention. The success must have gotten in to the Husker's heads as Nebraska dropped their next game against Texas Tech 31-10 at home. The next game was no better as Iowa State forced a record 8 Cornhusker turnovers in a 9-7 home loss. Nebraska had a record of 4-3, no better than the year before at the same time. A quarterback change was made for the next game, at Baylor. Cody Green became the first true freshman to start at quarterback since Tommie Frazier in 1992. The Huskers defeated Baylor in a offensive struggle, 20-10. Nebraska next hosted the #24 Oklahoma Sooners in a rematch of last years 62-28 Sooner meltdown. Ndamukong Suh blocked an early field goal try and a Prince Amukamara interception set up a easy touchdown to make it 7-0. The only touchdown was enough as Pelini's blackshirts forced 5 Oklahoma interceptions on the night, winning the game 10-3. Nebraska then beat their Big 12 North rivals Kansas, Kansas State, and Colorado easily to qualify for the 2009Big 12 Championship Game against the Texas Longhorns
The #3 Texas Longhorns, led by quarterback Colt McCoy were heavily favored over the Huskers, who were ranked number 21. Two early Texas turnovers led to a Nebraska 6-0 lead in the 1st quarter. A short Colt McCoy touchdown run in the 2nd quarter made it 7-6 Texas at halftime. With 1:44 left in the game, kicker Alex Henery made a 42 yard field goal to make the score 12-10 Nebraska, the Husker's second lead of the game. McCoy then drove Texas down the field only to appear to throw the ball out of bounds on the last play of the game. The Nebraska bench thought that the game was over and rushed the field, but the officials put one second back on the clock, enough time for Hunter Lawrence to kick a game winning 46 yard field goal. Nebraska lost 13-12. Despite the heartbreaking outcome, the Big 12 Championship Game showcased the skill of Ndamukong Suh. The All-American had 4.5 sacks to go along with 11 tackles. With his performance Suh was invited to the 2009 Heisman Trophy ceremony, where he finished 4th. Suh has flourished under coach Pelini, finishing the 2009 season with 85 tackles, 12 sacks, 24 tackles for a loss, 10 passes broken up, 3 blocked kicks, one interception, and a forced fumble. Suh won almost every major post season award available to a defense player, including the Lombardi Award, Outland Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, and The Bill Willis Trophy. Suh is the second Outland and Lombardi winner of Pelini's, following Glenn Dorsey.
Nebraska finished the season with a 33-0 win over the Arizona Wildcats in the 2009 Holiday Bowl. The victory was the first bowl shutout of Nebraska's 45 bowl history. Nebraska's final rank in the coaches and AP media poll was 14th, the highest final ranking since 2001. Under Pelini Nebraska finished #1 in NCAA scoring and pass efficiency defense, the first time since 1984 and 2003 that Nebraska has led the country in those categories respectively.
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nebraska Cornhuskers (Big 12 North) (2003) | |||||||||
| 2003 | Nebraska | 1–0 | W Alamo‡ | 18 | 18 | ||||
| Nebraska Cornhuskers (Big 12 North) (2008–present) | |||||||||
| 2008 | Nebraska | 9–4 | 5–3 | T-1st | W Gator | — | — | ||
| 2009 | Nebraska | 10–4 | 6–2 | 1st | W Holiday | 14 | 14 | ||
| Nebraska: | 20–8 | 11–5 | ‡ Coached bowl game as interim head coach | ||||||
| Total: | 20–8 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||
References
- ^ Bo Pelini, assistants receive raises
- ^ Omaha World-Herald NU Football Notes:Asante in bed early (December 29, 2008)
- ^ 2003 Nebraska Football Schedule Results
- ^ Nebraska Athletics Coach Profile
- ^ LSU Athletics Coach Profile
- ^ THE RED, WHITE, GREEN AND VANILLA HUSKER SPRING GAME
- ^ http://huskersgameday.com/2009/03/30/bo-pelini-signs-contract-extension-through-2014/
External links
- 1967 births
- Living people
- American Roman Catholics
- People from Youngstown, Ohio
- LSU Tigers football coaches
- Nebraska Cornhuskers football coaches
- Oklahoma Sooners football coaches
- San Francisco 49ers coaches
- New England Patriots coaches
- Green Bay Packers coaches
- Ohio State Buckeyes football players
- Big 12 Conference head football coaches