FS Bo Pelini (official thread)

[Buckskin86]

Published: Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Pelini's success traces back to Mooney years
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His talent and competitive drive were evident in high school.

By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

There's a legendary story about Bo Pelini that dates to his days of playing quarterback at Cardinal Mooney in 1985.

Pelini, who was named the head coach at the University of Nebraska on Sunday, was a coach on the field long before he became a coach on the sidelines, excelling at three sports at Mooney before going on to a successful career at Ohio State where he started at free safety his last two years and served as a captain as a senior in 1990.

Since he started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Iowa in 1991, he's made stops at Ohio University, Mooney, the San Francisco 49ers, the New England Patriots, the Green Bay Packers, Nebraska, Oklahoma and, for the past three years, as the defensive coordinator at LSU.

"Bo was destined to stay in the game of football," Bucci said. "He was a coach on the field, no doubt about it."

Vindy.com - Pelini's success traces back to Mooney years

[osugrad21]

Link

Pelini: Huskers will be ?significantly better?
By RICH KAIPUST, Omaha World-Herald
12/08/2007

Updated 12/08/2007 08:50:54 AM CST



LINCOLN ? Nebraska football coach Bo Pelini said Friday he thinks the Huskers will be ?significantly better? next year after going 5-7 and missing a bowl game in Bill Callahan?s fourth and final season.

?I?m not talking about us coming in and rebuilding,? Pelini said on the Jim Rome Show. ?It?s about going and trying to win right now. I?m committed to that.?

Pelini was defensive coordinator and then interim head coach in 2003 when Nebraska finished 10-3. When Callahan took over in 2004, NU immediately dipped to 5-6 and watched its 35-year bowl streak come to an end.
Callahan followed with records of 8-4 and 9-5 before the 5-7 season cost him his job. Pelini, hired Sunday, said he hasn?t fully evaluated the Huskers? personnel, but believes there is talent in the program.

?I don?t think they?re that far off,? Pelini said. ?Offensively we?re in good shape. Defensively they struggled, and that?s my job to get it fixed.?
Nebraska hasn?t had back-to-back losing seasons since 1960 (4-6) and 1961 (3-6-1). The Huskers have the benefit of starting 2008 with five straight home games, including the first three against teams that finished a combined 14-23 in 2007.

Cont...

Pelini will stay with Nebraska through Dec. 16, then rejoin Louisiana State in its preparations for the Jan. 7 national championship game. That will coincide with a recruiting ?dead period? that starts Dec. 17.

Pelini said interim NU Athletic Director Tom Osborne was supportive of him returning to LSU, which plays Ohio State in New Orleans.

?Coach (Les) Miles and LSU came to me and said they really want me to be a part of it ? and I wanted to be a part of it,? Pelini said. ?The players there and the staff, we?ve been through a lot together. I have a responsibility towards them, and I wouldn?t want to walk out. We?ve gone a long way and we have something to finish.?

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

College football
OSU Football: Pelini's dual role viewed as doable but challenging

Sunday, December 9, 2007 3:28 AM
By Tim May


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Oh, to be a diode in Bo Pelini's cell phone this month, just to monitor the activity.

He has been the new coach at Nebraska for a week, but he's still considered to be the defensive coordinator at Louisiana State, at least through the national championship game against his alma mater, Ohio State, on Jan. 7.
Talk about serving two masters. Let's say he's talking to his new boss, Nebraska interim athletic director Tom Osborne, and there's a beep for an incoming call from LSU coach Les Miles. Does Pelini put Osborne on hold so he can speak to Miles? Or vice versa?
What if it's a recruit he really wants? Or a return call from an assistant coach he's trying to hire?

Continued.......

[Buckskin86]

Pelini holding on to his roots
BY BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star
Saturday, Dec 15, 2007

This is before the San Francisco 49ers called and before he met Pete Carroll, before there were T-shirt slogans built around his name.

This is before he sat in a room, a 26-year-old missing his fiancee, passing the hours with a guy named Ray Rhodes, watching film, talking football, taking notes.

Scribble down enough lessons, learn enough things, and one day, other people are writing down your wisdom.

This is before the ?We Want Bo!? chants, a token interview and a moving van aimed for Oklahoma, before the ?BEAUX TIGERS? signs in Louisiana.

This is a story that goes back to Youngstown, Ohio.

?Hard-working people, that?s home,? Bo Pelini says. ?Yeah, that?s home for me. That?s where I grew up. That?s where I learned everything.?

HuskerExtra.com - Lincoln, Nebraska - Huskerextra - Football

[sandgk]

Great story find there BuckSkin.

[Buckin' A]

Originally Posted by Buckskin86

HuskerExtra.com - Lincoln, Nebraska - Huskerextra - Football

Great read. I did not realize how many great coaches come from the Youngstown area. Tressel's, Stoop's, Pelini's, etc...

[DaddyBigBucks]

A long time ago, long before the Spring Game was the event that it is now, I remember sitting in C-Deck watching the trainers cart Mark "Bo" Pelini off the field.

I could tell by the way they were having him hold his arm folded over his chest that they suspected a broken collar bone. I could tell by the way he was holding his head that he and I were pondering the same question: "Is Bo Pelini going to be ready to go at the start of Fall Camp?"

I'm sure that Bo was having other thoughts then; some that I could easily imagine (holy crap, that hurts!) and some that I would never guess. And I'm sure that I was wondering about things that were not crossing Mark's mind (he was 'Mark' to me back then, not that I knew him).

Among the thoughts running through my head was the question of whether Mark realized how utterly vulnerable he looked at the time. I went to college after a stint in the Air Force, so I was a little older than any of the football players; but this was the first time in my life that I looked at one of them and thought, "That poor kid".

I certainly was not wondering whether I was looking at a future head coach of Nebraska.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Pelini gets shot against Buckeyes before departure

Thursday, December 20, 2007 James Varney

Newhouse News Service
Baton Rouge, La.- The national championship may not have a more representative figure of the cross pollination that goes on among big-time college football programs than LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini.
Pelini already has been introduced as the next head coach at Nebraska and will coach the Tigers for the last time in the Bowl Championship Series title game when No. 2 LSU (11-2) clashes with No. 1 Ohio State (11-1) on Jan. 7 at the Superdome. As it happens, Pelini is an Ohio native and a former Buckeyes captain at free safety who played in both of the two previous games between Ohio State and LSU.
He said this week he remembers the atmosphere at Tiger Stadium in 1987, when No. 7 Ohio State and No. 4 LSU battled to a 13-13 tie, and he remembered LSU defensive end Karl Dunbar deflecting a 47-yard field-goal attempt in the final seconds that would have won the game for the Buckeyes. The next year in Ohio Stadium, when Ohio State scored 16 points in the final 1:56 to shock the No. 9 Tigers, Pelini said, "We probably shouldn't have won that game."

Continued.....

[UpNorthBuckeye]

I'd love to see Pelini do well at Nebr for 5, 6 or 7 years, however long JT wants to stay at OSU and then be considered for the OSU job (unless Tressel pulls a Joe Pa and decides to stay for another 26 years).

Good guy, Ohio guy, Ohio State alum, defensive-minded... what's not to like?

Yeah, I know, can he stop the spread????

Only thing he'd have to do is to change his nickname from "Bo" to almost ANYTHING!

Boo Pelini?

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Pelini focuses on his LSU finale

Friday, December 21, 2007 3:22 AM
By Tim May


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Dave Martin Associated Press
Louisiana State defensive coordinator Bo Pelini will move on to his new job as Nebraska coach after the national title game.



BATON ROUGE, La. -- Bo Pelini, a former Ohio State player and the newly named coach at Nebraska, said his priorities are in order as he prepares for his last act as Louisiana State defensive coordinator.
"I've got one thing in mind," Pelini said as he stood on the LSU indoor practice field this week. "That's preparing this football team to play a great game on the seventh."
That's Jan. 7, when LSU meets Ohio State in the national championship game in New Orleans. Pelini's former boss, LSU coach Les Miles, and his new boss, Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne, agreed with Pelini that it was the right thing to do, to finish what he started when Miles hired him in 2005.
"I think it's us and him recognizing he's a part of our team," Miles said. "Until we saddle this one up and ride this last one out, he's with us. I think it benefits us, our team, him, but Nebraska, the fact that their coach is coaching in a heck of game. And I have to be honest with you, I never thought of doing it any other way."
Neither did Pelini.

Cont...

[Buckskin86]

Published Saturday | December 22, 2007
Exploring Bo's Background: Forged in steel
BY MITCH SHERMAN
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio ? The lunchroom at Cardinal Mooney High School appears ordinary. Students eat at round tables. Teachers mingle.


Look closer. It's anything but ordinary.

Mooney football coach P.J. Fecko points to a sophomore in a red sweatshirt at a table not far from the front of the room. Hes a defensive lineman, probably a future college prospect.

The name is Mark Pelini, nephew and namesake of Mark "Bo" Pelini, the Nebraska coach and former Mooney football and basketball star.

Sitting on either side of young Mark? Joe and John Stoops, the twin sons of Ron Stoops, Mooneys defensive coordinator. Ron is a brother to Bob, Mike and Mark ? all Mooney grads ? and the oldest son of Ron Stoops Sr., the legend himself.

"We've been accused of cloning people," said Paul Gregory, the Mooney alumni director.

Thirty years pass, and not much changes here. Not at Cardinal Mooney, and not in Youngstown.

"People move on," said Tony Congemi, an assistant coach for nearly two decades at Mooney and a lifelong Youngstown resident, "but the toughness stays."

A steely toughness defines Youngstown and its famous sons, from Bob Stoops, the esteemed Oklahoma coach, to former world champion boxer Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini and Bo Pelini.

Pelini's hometown sits along nine exits off Interstate 80 in northeast Ohio. It defines the rust belt image of heavy industry and a harsh past. Visit and youll discover how it all fits together: The NU coach. His family. This town. Its legacy in athletics. And the high school, at the center of it all.

You want to know Pelini? First, understand Youngstown.

Omaha.com Sports Section

[osugrad21]

Blade

Article published Monday, December 24, 2007
Ex-Buckeye Pelini back to help LSU 1 more time

ASSOCIATED PRESS

BATON ROUGE, La. - Before new Nebraska coach Bo Pelini could return to Louisiana State's sideline for one last game as defensive coordinator, he and Tigers head coach Les Miles had to set a few ground rules. "I agreed that he could call the entire defense, call every play," Miles said. "I also agreed that we would be ahead at the end of the game and that if he called a defense that didn't allow that to happen, then he would be relieved of duty immediately. We've agreed that he will not wear an 'N' on his cap when he coaches on the sidelines." Apparently, Miles either isn't very worried about Pelini's dual commitments or he's covering up his concerns with humor.

Cont...

[utgrad73]

While LSU got a couple weeks off after the Southeastern Conference title game for final exams, Pelini said he filled out his Nebraska staff and got caught up, if not ahead, on watching film of the Buckeyes by the time he got back to Baton Rouge. He said he may make a few phone calls regarding business at Nebraska during whatever down time he has, but otherwise will spend the next few weeks preparing LSU's defense just as he has for the last two bowl games.

Nice they got time off after their title game while the Buckeyes continued to work out and prep for the game. Maybe they needed the rest, but I think it bodes well for our team in that we continued to practice. I heard we were running 40's with the goal of beating they previous times. Butch Reynolds was having a field day with kids sprinting everywhere.

Back on topic. Pelini is a professional getting a big paycheck for doing his job. He's also a former Buckeye. Miles needed his insight and defensive know-how to put his team in a position to try to win this. What would he do without him? Personally, I think he should have cleaned out his locker, packed his box of Tiger Trophies, and left the Bayou State. I sense over-confidence in their game plan.

[shetuck]

Sports Illustrated: Pelini balances dual coaching roles at Nebraska, LSU

Juggling act
Pelini balances dual coaching roles at Nebraska, LSU

Posted: Friday December 21, 2007 2:52PM; Updated: Saturday December 22, 2007 4:06PM



Bo Pelini has one final task as defensive coordinator at LSU: Shut down the Buckeyes in the BCS title game.

He has an office in Lincoln, Neb., one floor below a coaching-legend-turned-state representative-turned-athletic director, with a nameplate reading "Bo Pelini" sitting on the desk. Nearly 1,000 miles away in Baton Rouge, La., Pelini has desk and another office, this one with a view of LSU's practice field.

Pelini is charged with restoring a proud program that's coming off a season in which it seemingly hit historic lows on a weekly basis. At the same time, he is preparing a defense to battle Ohio State for the national championship. He could land himself a spot on Heroes for his ability to be at two places at the once but the man who is currently both Nebraska's new head coach and LSU's defensive coordinator says there's nothing superhero about this juggling act.

"If you set out and know what you have to accomplish and what time frames you have, it's not that difficult," Pelini said. "It's not like [getting the Nebraska job] was a surprise. I was able to plan for it and get prepared and I feel good about it."

The day after LSU beat Tennessee for the SEC championship, Pelini was on Nebraska's campus, standing at a podium in front of a banner with a massive red "N" behind him as he was announced as the Cornhuskers next coach. He spent the next two weeks putting together his staff and on the recruiting trail. But the day after the NCAA's mandated "dead period" in recruiting that runs from Dec. 17 to Jan. 1 began, he returned to LSU with the blessing of Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne and the school's administration to help the Tigers prepare for the BCS National Championship Game on Jan. 7.

For a guy who preaches character, it was the right thing to do.
"I have a tremendous amount of love and respect for these guys," Pelini said. "We're close and we started something together and we're aiming to finish it together. "I owe it to them. I would never have felt right [if I left them before the game]. It would have felt like I was walking out on them."

cont'd...

[OH HSKR FAN]

Originally Posted by UpNorthBuckeye

Yeah, I know, can he stop the spread????

He better. Most of the teams in the conference run a variant of it.