His first 3-4 years looked promising but then the product on the field started to drop off a bit. What was it that caused the wheels to fall off?
Why did Bo fail at NU
- Thread starter CatColumbia
- Start date
Suh and Crick made him look good for a few years. Without a great d-line, his defenses aren't anything special.
Bo wanted to do his job and not be questioned or bothered, he wanted to do things his way. He had never really failed at anything in his life and had no clue what to do when things got tough.
Rather than embrace the fans and tradition, he saw them as a hindrance to his process.
Rather than embrace the fans and tradition, he saw them as a hindrance to his process.
He didn't know what the job was or did not want the responsibilities of a P5 job. These components of the job sunk him:
- Recruiting
- Staff Management
- Game Management
- Public Relations
- Emotional Intelligence
No option of 408 rushing yards by one guy in one game? 
No option for a 70-31 drubbing in the B1G championship game?
I need more options!!
No option for a 70-31 drubbing in the B1G championship game?
I need more options!!
We had ZERO identity under Bo. The offense was one of those "multiple" offenses, jack of all trades master of none crap. The defensive system went belly up after we lost some key players and I think Bo was a guy that would rather just go through the motions and make due rather than put in the effort to fix it.
We had no true strength under Pelini...
We had no true strength under Pelini...
too many reason to count them all, but it boiled down to Bo not being ready for this job. He likely never would have been ready, because he's too stubborn. Too bad, because the players mostly responded to him and I think he has a pretty good mind for defense.
Well, Bo was 10,000 times a better HC than Callahan & Riley. Not as near good as Devaney & TO but we've had way, wayyyyy worse HCs recently.
He won the division in 3 of his first 5 years. And left as the second winningest coach in school history. "Fail" may be a bit strong.
Our divisions those years were very weak. Weaker than the West this year and that's saying something...
Bo is not our 2nd winningest coach. If you go by total wins, he's a distant 3rd behind TO and Devaney. If you go by win %, he's not even in the top 10.
Agree with your other points though. Sadly, we've had other recent head coaches that truly defined failure.
NU Head Coaches
Fail isn’t the right word. Though he was less than the level of success fans want or expected.
I think ultimately he fell short because he simply wasn’t prepared. He also requires a culture that fits his personality better.
You can pull off the disgruntled act if you’re incredibly successful and detail oriented, ala Bill Belicheck, Nick Saban
I think ultimately he fell short because he simply wasn’t prepared. He also requires a culture that fits his personality better.
You can pull off the disgruntled act if you’re incredibly successful and detail oriented, ala Bill Belicheck, Nick Saban
Don't forget about Alex Henery. From 2008-2010 at least a half dozen games NU won because of A-foot.
Bo was a failure for a variety of reasons including being an absolutely abysmal game day coach who lacked the ability to adapt when his plan wasn’t working.
He was also loyal to a fault and kept coaches around far too long who needed to go.
His attitude towards fans, admin, and everyone else on the planet that created an us vs them attitude simply sealed his fate.
He was also loyal to a fault and kept coaches around far too long who needed to go.
His attitude towards fans, admin, and everyone else on the planet that created an us vs them attitude simply sealed his fate.
I voted for the fans. It was totally the fans' fault. I mean, who else's fault could it have been?RollingLaugh
When you leave with a complete and total lack of class and common decency, like he left with, who showed an active dislike for the fans and program that he worked for and actively tried to interfere with the next coach, failure is most definitely warranted to define him. Success and failure don't have to be defined solely by what happens on the field. As a leader and face of the program, he was the biggest failure we have had.
Agree. He was never going to be a great coach, but a good one. We’ll probably never get a top coach (with all due respect to SF) due to where we are. Parity hurt Neb more than any school in College. Top talent will never come here consistently. We’ll win the West every 5 years and Good a good run every decade only to be let down when we have to play a true top 15.
Well compared to the guy we just fired Bo almost looked like Bill Belichek
Ha! LOVE THIS!
I keep thinking that Riley will be remembered as the coach that no one remembers but now I am starting to think that some NU fans will try to remember him as some sort of savior.
Why is Bo the only coach that is expected to win games with crappy players but also gets put on the cross for recruiting crappy players?
Thanks for the link.
Completely unrelated, but it's interesting to me, looking back through the photos over the years that it seems to have become socially acceptable for men to smile in photos, or even show your teeth. Looking back, there are lots of pursed lips, with only a smirk or two before you get to the era of big teethy grins.
The statement was ridiculous. I mean really ridiculous and that's being nice.
10,000 x 0 is still 0. You keep on pining for your idol and you see what his worth is by where he ended up.
Shoot, I know!
Look, I am glad that Bo is gone and I am even glader (is that a word) that Riley is gone, but the people that hate Bo and think he did a bad job coaching are the same people that if they saw Bo walking on water would yell out "Oh man...did you see that...Bo can't swim!"
it applies to both. I find it funny that people think we have binary choices with coaching faults. One need only examine both of their game decisions to see they were out of their depth in making in-game changes.
Both coaches hurt our program far more than they helped it.
He took a liking to cats, far too late.
My opinion - Bo was a good coach, not a great coach. He did very well with the recruits that were in place when he arrived but he couldn't keep up the pipeline of talent.
The idea his teams had no identity is ridiculous. Beck had some dynamic offenses, look at the stats, players who made league teams, etc. Bo had good D's when he had the talent already in place.
He was a players coach and they could run his Tampa D. He didn't hire the greatest coaches available but he seemed to survive that to an extent. But the lack of recruiting talent combined with that eventually caught up to Bo. The pressure began to mount and his inability to handle the complaining got to him. The snowball started going downhill and he couldn't do anything about it. He won a lot of games and deserves credit for that. Had he stayed that would not have continued most likely but who knows.
He also made the transition from Big 12 to the Big 10 which had its own challenges. We were supposedly a team of speed that would kill the Big 10 and it never happened so Bo got caught in a rebuild.
Bo as a football mind is very good, heck he may even be great. Personality wise, you had to work to get past some of that. I am willing to give him props where he deserves it and the blame where it falls as well.
I chuckle how many on here were pro Bo when his personality started to show itself. As a D coordinator, that was not an issue. Now as the head guy, that shows fire, spark, like the gusto, yadda yadda yadda. It took the focus off the game and he could not control it. He changed and the job changed him, happens when you get to the top, no way of knowing until one gets there.
The idea his teams had no identity is ridiculous. Beck had some dynamic offenses, look at the stats, players who made league teams, etc. Bo had good D's when he had the talent already in place.
He was a players coach and they could run his Tampa D. He didn't hire the greatest coaches available but he seemed to survive that to an extent. But the lack of recruiting talent combined with that eventually caught up to Bo. The pressure began to mount and his inability to handle the complaining got to him. The snowball started going downhill and he couldn't do anything about it. He won a lot of games and deserves credit for that. Had he stayed that would not have continued most likely but who knows.
He also made the transition from Big 12 to the Big 10 which had its own challenges. We were supposedly a team of speed that would kill the Big 10 and it never happened so Bo got caught in a rebuild.
Bo as a football mind is very good, heck he may even be great. Personality wise, you had to work to get past some of that. I am willing to give him props where he deserves it and the blame where it falls as well.
I chuckle how many on here were pro Bo when his personality started to show itself. As a D coordinator, that was not an issue. Now as the head guy, that shows fire, spark, like the gusto, yadda yadda yadda. It took the focus off the game and he could not control it. He changed and the job changed him, happens when you get to the top, no way of knowing until one gets there.
1. His personality made it difficult to attract high level Assistant Coaches, especially on defense. A lot of people blamed financial restraints on Nebraska inability to hire elite Assistants. That's really a misnomer. None of the assistants Bo brought on warranted any type of significant salary. You only have to pay a coach $350,000 per year if nobody else is going to pay the guy more than $325,000.
2. Piggybacking on the first point, Bo especially struggled bringing in high quality defensive assistants because he refused to give up any control or accept much input. This led to turnover and made it difficult to build much continuity.
3. Bo never really pinpointed an offensive identity or direction. The scheme under Beck didn't change much, but it was convoluted. Tim Beck really became successful in this industry by putting together the KU Passing Skelly with Todd Reesing. He helped develop one of the most potent offenses in college football. But it was built around a pass first dual threat QB. Beck tried to incorporate that type of scheme with QB's who couldn't muster the forward pass. Bo wanted run first guys. It was never really much a consistent fit.
4. Bo was very poorly organized in recruiting. He often had a very good #1 Targets. The NFL is actually riddled right now with guys who were offered by Bo Pelini early on in the recruiting process. Bo would put a lot of energy into those guys. For various reasons, many of them would renege on commitments or choose elsewhere. Unfortunately, Bo never had plan B or Plan C or Plan D. This meant he was often left grasping for plan E or F guys. And he was often in on those guy late that they were never fully vetted. This led to a long list of jackasses like Thomas Brown, Ernest Suttles, Jarad Afalava, Leroy Alexander, Avery Moss, Jaevon Walton, and the rest of the Edna Karr Trio.
5. Bo didn't want to subscribe to the year round responsibilities of Power 5 College football recruiting. Scott Frost flew round trip last week from Orlando's UCF football practice to meet up with Adrian Martinez that night in Fresno. He was back in Orlando the next day, and in Lincoln a few days later. Bo Pelini never met those types of demands. He never committed to that type of schedule.
6. Bo Pelini alienated many of the people who could've supported him. The man was very emotionally immature with a brutal temper. This led to meltdowns on TV and behind closed doors. This persona helped shape a negative image to recruits and outsiders. But he never attempted to manage his behavior, and instead of trying to cultivate relationships he damaged them beyond repair. He certainly had some support when he was fired, but for the most part, he had cut his support by roughly 65% among the money folks who matter to Nebraska.
2. Piggybacking on the first point, Bo especially struggled bringing in high quality defensive assistants because he refused to give up any control or accept much input. This led to turnover and made it difficult to build much continuity.
3. Bo never really pinpointed an offensive identity or direction. The scheme under Beck didn't change much, but it was convoluted. Tim Beck really became successful in this industry by putting together the KU Passing Skelly with Todd Reesing. He helped develop one of the most potent offenses in college football. But it was built around a pass first dual threat QB. Beck tried to incorporate that type of scheme with QB's who couldn't muster the forward pass. Bo wanted run first guys. It was never really much a consistent fit.
4. Bo was very poorly organized in recruiting. He often had a very good #1 Targets. The NFL is actually riddled right now with guys who were offered by Bo Pelini early on in the recruiting process. Bo would put a lot of energy into those guys. For various reasons, many of them would renege on commitments or choose elsewhere. Unfortunately, Bo never had plan B or Plan C or Plan D. This meant he was often left grasping for plan E or F guys. And he was often in on those guy late that they were never fully vetted. This led to a long list of jackasses like Thomas Brown, Ernest Suttles, Jarad Afalava, Leroy Alexander, Avery Moss, Jaevon Walton, and the rest of the Edna Karr Trio.
5. Bo didn't want to subscribe to the year round responsibilities of Power 5 College football recruiting. Scott Frost flew round trip last week from Orlando's UCF football practice to meet up with Adrian Martinez that night in Fresno. He was back in Orlando the next day, and in Lincoln a few days later. Bo Pelini never met those types of demands. He never committed to that type of schedule.
6. Bo Pelini alienated many of the people who could've supported him. The man was very emotionally immature with a brutal temper. This led to meltdowns on TV and behind closed doors. This persona helped shape a negative image to recruits and outsiders. But he never attempted to manage his behavior, and instead of trying to cultivate relationships he damaged them beyond repair. He certainly had some support when he was fired, but for the most part, he had cut his support by roughly 65% among the money folks who matter to Nebraska.
Exactly.... you can always tell the value of a coach by their next job.... Riley is now an assistant to the regional manager, Pelini is at D-1AA, Callahan has not gotten above an OL coach, Solich has been in the MAC for 10+years.... Bad coaching hires by our university leadership, period.
He was an embarrassment who represented Nebraska with his uncontrollable tirades and chewing out players on the sidelines. He couldn't maintain his composure. However, he did win the Conference championship's first game in 2009. He lost game number two by one second...