My thoughts on the state of the program

[schneidsNU]

Maybe it isn't just the act of berating the officials with veins popping out of his neck (pure red-flashing anger), but rather that the act is concerning in that it may be indicative of how he reacts to anything that he sees wrong...

Those in the know - does he turn that shade of red to players in practice or in the locker room at halftime?  We have seen him do it on the sideline to Taylor last year (that one deservedly, I think).   

If he does this to his players, is _that_ conducive to players standing up for themselves?  I know they are grown men and aren't babies and all that, but if this kind of thing happens as a general course with him, could that be having the muting affect on the team and why a vocal leader hasn't emerged?

Personally, I am still a fan of Pelini.  I'm just getting worried about these not-so-little things that have continued unabated through 4 years and as such, I'm not quite as high on him as I was when he arrived.  And I don't mind him yelling at officials, but sometimes (not Monday) it does seem to consume him for far longer than it really should.  Get in their ear and get out and back to coaching.

[Bummerbry]

Has anyone taken a second to watch Frank Martin coach the K-State basketball team? How he is with his players and the officials make Bo look like a little school girl. And as many K-State fans and alumni I know, it is a non-issue. He gets in his players faces weekly like Bo did once, over a year ago.

[Capn Krunch]

Its weird that all the experts know that Bo yelling at the refs hurts his team and is "counter productive" when those who play the game, have played the game and play for this coach say exactly the opposite. Most don't even know if is happening!

Weird!

Please, tell us more!

How about you give me a list of everything that gets accomplished by throwing a tantrum. Also, it is not what it does from a player's perspective, it is what good does it do Bo? He releases some steam? He should try to fix what causes him to blow up. That would be progress. Also, I could care less whether a former player says something or someone who never played says something. If something is right, it is right, regardless of the source.

He should try to fix a crap call from an official?  If the networks still had the same amount of cameras and lack of zoom capability as they did back in Devaney's day, we wouldn't even be aware of Bo's outbursts which apparently cause our offensive players to have 4 penalities in 6 plays and cause a freshman rb to fumble on the 5.  Not to mention the all conference kicker missing an easy one.

I don't have the ability to see what happens in practice. Maybe Bo addresses the problems that keep surfacing in games. And yes, I am talking about things like not protecting the ball and  false starting. You CAN coach that. I'm saying it might be possible that players see Bo giving the refs hell and think "yeah, see, it's the damn refs fault, I don't need to do anything differently. We're just getting screwed."

[Husker316]

Over the last 4 years, Nebraska is averaging 9/10 wins and 4 losses, every year.  That doesn't suggest an upward trend, nor a downward one.  That record is better than Callahan's 4 years... but that's hardly a mark of anything... other than Pelini is a better head coach than Callahan and that's why we hired him.  Pelini has improved the program in a good way over what we were from 2004 - 2007.

 

All I'm going to say...

Let's look at the records from all the coaches at FBS schools the past four seasons and then let's list all of them who have won 38 or more games in four years.  My guess, Pelini will be on a very short list.

"Nine-win seasons at Nebraska aren't enough," he said. "Nobody's going to appreciate that. So we gotta get better. And we're gonna get better."
That is a quote from Kenny Bell. Obviously the players don't think 9 wins is good enough, why should the fan base?

Good for him, I have met KB a few times, the kid has swagger.  Was a pissed dude during his Freshman season wanted to play but Gilmore told him to wait his turn.  Now all we need is the other 104 players to follow suit with swagger like him!!!

[512Husker]

Over the last 4 years, Nebraska is averaging 9/10 wins and 4 losses, every year.  That doesn't suggest an upward trend, nor a downward one.  That record is better than Callahan's 4 years... but that's hardly a mark of anything... other than Pelini is a better head coach than Callahan and that's why we hired him.  Pelini has improved the program in a good way over what we were from 2004 - 2007.

 

All I'm going to say...

Let's look at the records from all the coaches at FBS schools the past four seasons and then let's list all of them who have won 38 or more games in four years.  My guess, Pelini will be on a very short list.

"Nine-win seasons at Nebraska aren't enough," he said. "Nobody's going to appreciate that. So we gotta get better. And we're gonna get better."
That is a quote from Kenny Bell. Obviously the players don't think 9 wins is good enough, why should the fan base?

Good for him, I have met KB a few times, the kid has swagger.  Was a pissed dude during his Freshman season wanted to play but Gilmore told him to wait his turn.  Now all we need is the other 104 players to follow suit with swagger like him!!!

Exactly, people keep talking about the team needing swagger and a vocal leader and it looks like KB is stepping into that role very well.

[skrzfan]

Has anyone taken a second to watch Frank Martin coach the K-State basketball team? How he is with his players and the officials make Bo look like a little school girl. And as many K-State fans and alumni I know, it is a non-issue. He gets in his players faces weekly like Bo did once, over a year ago.

Yeah martin is a pr@#k. Do not want that here.

[SUHnami]

Has anyone taken a second to watch Frank Martin coach the K-State basketball team? How he is with his players and the officials make Bo look like a little school girl. And as many K-State fans and alumni I know, it is a non-issue. He gets in his players faces weekly like Bo did once, over a year ago.

Yeah martin is a pr@#k. Do not want that here.

So is Nick Saban and look where he has Alabama.  Just sayin.

[MadRat]

Bo's temper was not a problem in the last game.

[njhuskerfan]

Bo's temper was not a problem in the last game.

After Bo's explosion in the ATM game last year, its obvious that the networks are on the lookout for anything that even remotely looks like a repeat.  It's obvious that the media isn't giving him the benefit of the doubt.  The only way the media will revert to more normal sideline coverage of our coach is for him to not give them anything that will provide them further talking points.

[skrzfan]

Has anyone taken a second to watch Frank Martin coach the K-State basketball team? How he is with his players and the officials make Bo look like a little school girl. And as many K-State fans and alumni I know, it is a non-issue. He gets in his players faces weekly like Bo did once, over a year ago.

Yeah martin is a pr@#k. Do not want that here.

So is Nick Saban and look where he has Alabama.  Just sayin.

I haven't seen saban act near as bad as martin.  Maybe I haven't watched saban close enough, but martin acts like an a-hole the entire game it seems to me.  I don't know how the school or players put up with it.

[JR]

Has anyone taken a second to watch Frank Martin coach the K-State basketball team? How he is with his players and the officials make Bo look like a little school girl. And as many K-State fans and alumni I know, it is a non-issue. He gets in his players faces weekly like Bo did once, over a year ago.

I've not ever actually watched KState basketball.  But regardless, what happens at KSU basketball really has no impact on my feelings toward what happens at Nebraska football.  Martin is their problem, not mine.  I don't like the way he coach Pelini loses his cool.  You do, that's fine...  but I just don't.  I think it has a negative impact on the team.

[FreightTrain]

In my very humble opinion I see a young staff trying to find themselves.  I see Doctor Osborne desperately trying to regain what was lost before he runs out of time.  Osborne knows how hard it is to juggle the program, the press, the fans, the contributors and the regents.  Nobody knows better than himself how the old system worked in a state crazy for a sport.

It's a contrast in personalities when you compare Osborne and Bo.  One older now, stoic and reserved and the other hungry to find his way with his emotions on his sleeve for everyone to see.  One and offensive guru.  The other spending his life so far as a defensive guy.

Bo has to up his game quickly.  Be a head coach and not just a coordinator.  Up his game on the field.  With his recruiting.  Dealing with the press and the fans.  Time to mature in his job.  He has not yet learned to juggle.  He had a different road than Osborne and comparing the two is not fair.  Osborne inherited a staff, a winning program that was intact.  Pelini..................not so much.  Recruiting was patchwork yet sprinkled in were some very fine recruits.  The old ways lost and the press with a different mindset.

Now after four seasons of input from Osborne and a constant battle to come up with an offense, there is a foundation now to build on.  Many young players with experience and the potential to take the game to a new place.  Unfortunately the recruiting has been a game of catchup.  First it was the defensive backfield.  It was the running back position and the skilled people.  Then it was the offensive front.  This season it's about the linebackers and filling defensive gaps. 

Eventually we need to have caught up and have all positions going full guns on the production line.  That is more seniors in the starting lineup.  Juniors and sophomores as backups.  Freshmen redshirting and paying their dues.  Not having to rush players to fill gaps in the assemblylines.  Bottom line is this team needs leaders.

Next season our schedule will have ten or eleven opponents that were bowl participants this past season.  Bo needs to show more with a more veteran team.  What I feared the past season was this grinding schedule with a very young team and limited leadership.  Usually a bad combination for any team, but Nebraska weathered it with a young team and a young staff.  Fell short of expectations but did manage to beat Washington, Michigan State, Penn State and Ohio State during a grueling season.  I try to weigh the positives with the negatives.. Next season they will not be so young and green.  The team will need leaders however.  Leaders both in the staff and on the players roster.  There should be enough veterans to produce the needed leadership.

Next season it's Burkheads team.  The following season it's all on Martinez.  Martinez needs to up his game.  He needs to fix some things in his game.  The offensive front should be coming into it's own and there will be no excuses for anyone.  None for the players or the staff.  If they don't have a serious run for the conference title the fans will apply some serious heat to many.  Bo needs to land a great recruiting class this winter.  So far it does look promising.  Maybe next winter Bo can have a balanced recruiting class and doesn't have to fill gaps in catchup mode.  In this grind they call the Big 10, Bo needs to lean hard on Osborne's old secret weapon.  The walkons.  You can't have too many players in a league that attrition usually dictates the winner.  The youngsters won't be youngsters anymore.  The young staff will need to be tight and show more.  The quarterbacks need to step up. The coaches need to have some confidence in the backups and get them some playing time.  The fans want more and won't let up until it happens, or somebody gets thrown to the sacrificial alter of their religion know as bigtime football. 2012 will be a turning point for this staff and head coach.  Osborne isn't getting any younger, and the fans..............well you know.................

[discoverer27]

Maybe it isn't just the act of berating the officials with veins popping out of his neck (pure red-flashing anger), but rather that the act is concerning in that it may be indicative of how he reacts to anything that he sees wrong...

Those in the know - does he turn that shade of red to players in practice or in the locker room at halftime?  We have seen him do it on the sideline to Taylor last year (that one deservedly, I think).   

If he does this to his players, is _that_ conducive to players standing up for themselves?  I know they are grown men and aren't babies and all that, but if this kind of thing happens as a general course with him, could that be having the muting affect on the team and why a vocal leader hasn't emerged?

Personally, I am still a fan of Pelini.  I'm just getting worried about these not-so-little things that have continued unabated through 4 years and as such, I'm not quite as high on him as I was when he arrived.  And I don't mind him yelling at officials, but sometimes (not Monday) it does seem to consume him for far longer than it really should.  Get in their ear and get out and back to coaching.

Every quote I've ever heard or read from players are that they love playing for him.  I'm not sure on the psychological theory that the players won't be vocal because BO is.  The Detroit Lions (esp. on defense) seem to get pretty fired up and their coach is very demonstrative.