In 2003, Bo Pelini returned to college football. He spent one year at Nebraska, one at Oklahoma, then three years at LSU. In December 2007, he came back to Lincoln.
What’s my point?
Pelini has never recruited a high school player and coached him through an entire career. Alfonzo Dennard will be the first. Dennard is the only 2008 recruit scheduled to play his last home game on Friday.
Pelini snagged Dennard from rural Georgia a week before signing day. The cornerback had committed to North Carolina, but changed his mind without ever visiting Lincoln. Four years later, Dennard is a possible first-round draft pick.
Seeing one player begin and complete a career will be a new experience for Pelini. But Dennard represents something more to this program. He is, in my opinion, the most talented high school recruit of the Pelini era.
At a time when the talent cupboard looks a little bare — especially on defense — Bo needs to identify, lure and develop more players like Dennard. If he can’t, Nebraska’s conference championship drought won’t be ending anytime soon.
(By the way, here are Pelini’s best high school recruits, class by class):
2008 — Cam Meredith, Kyler Reed, Will Compton, Baker Steinkuhler
2009 — Rex Burkhead, Taylor Martinez, Eric Martin, Andrew Green
2010 — Kenny Bell, Quincy Enunwa, Chase Rome, Andrew Rodriguez
(It’s way too soon to judge 2011 class members).
* * *
>> Basketball is not a simple game. But I’m going to dumb it down. Here goes: The team with the best player usually wins. Sounds obvious, right? Well, in recent years, Nebraska and Creighton lost a lot of tight games for a lot of reasons. But one of those reasons was that they didn’t have the best player on the floor.
They had balance. They played hard. But they missed a guy who could carry the team when things got tough. The Huskers haven’t had a player like that since, uhhhh, Aleks Maric? Tyronn Lue? And the Jays haven’t had it since Nate Funk and Anthony Tolliver.
Now Nebraska has Bo Spencer. And Creighton has a more seasoned Doug McDermott (who was pretty darned good as a freshman, too). I know it’s early, but it appears those guys could join almost any team in the country and earn immediate playing time.
Balance is nice. But good teams have a standout or two. A player who’s worth 5, 6, maybe 7 wins a year. That’s enough to get a program over the hump.
>> Husker talk Monday focused on, among other things, Bo Pelini keeping Taylor Martinez in Saturday’s game until the bitter end. I don’t have a problem with it. When you’re down four touchdowns, you don’t want to take your best players off the field. (That’s how Nebraska lost to Texas Tech by 60).
Brion Carnes has taken just 22 snaps all year; he should’ve taken more. But the right time wasn’t Saturday, it was against Chattanooga, Wyoming, Minnesota and maybe even Michigan State. Pelini was fortunate this year that Martinez didn’t get dinged up — even for a quarter — because Carnes would’ve come in with almost zero experience.
>> Starting today, I’ll occasionally print your emails in the Brunch Bites (you can find my address below). Here’s one from Sasha:
“I am tired of being using the schedule as an excuse for the (Huskers’) poor performance. The schedule was actually really manageable. The teams we played weren’t all that good. They all had struggles within the program (OSU/PSU) and the two teams that blew us out aren’t the greatest of teams (Mich, one man team… Wisc, they’ve only had Russell Wilson for 2 months and we made him look like Peyton Manning).”
I’ve thought about this topic a lot this fall. Just how good is Nebraska’s competition? And what would NU’s record be had it stayed in the Big 12? Considering the Blackshirts’ struggles against high-powered passing game, that second question is a disturbing thought.
The Huskers may have managed nine wins, simply because of a weak Big 12 North. But South Division offenses — Oklahoma State and Texas A&M were supposed to be on the 2011 schedule — would’ve torched NU.
As for the Big Ten, Sasha’s mostly right. The league is down, especially the three powerhouses. I believe the middle tier is comparable to the SEC and Big Ten. But there’s no question Nebraska’s road will get tougher when Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State get their houses in order. The Huskers missed an opportunity this year. Next year, they need to strike.
>> Has Jim Delany given up on winning national titles? Dan Wetzel says yes.
>> Sometimes the SEC reminds me of pro wrestling. Tennessee coach Derek Dooley opened his big yapper after beating Vanderbilt in overtime. On Monday, Vandy coach James Franklin fired back. Wonderfully entertaining.
>> I understand it’s the NFL, not Pop Warner. But does Bill Belichick really need to have Tom Brady throwing into the end zone during the final minute of a 27-3 game? That’s bush league. If I were Todd Haley last night, I would’ve given Belichick a piece of my mind during the post-game handshake.
>> There’s a rumor floating around Texas that DeLoss Dodds might fire Mack Brown and throw $10 million per year at Nick Saban. Sounds crazy, right? Dodds, according to the Austin paper, called the rumor “absurd.” Wouldn’t be the first time Texas did something absurd.
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I’m tired of people making escuses for Bo. 48-17, 45-17 losses, and LOSING to an UNRANKED TEAM WITH A LOSING RECORD, ON YOUR OWN HOME FIELD Is just INEXCUSABLE!!!! We could get BLOWN OUT the next game, and in our bowl game. T-Mart could throw 3 INT’s in each game, and coming next season T-Mart would STILL be our QB!!!!! All Bo will do is cover for him, and say he just had some bad games, it could happen to anyone. Something tells me T-Mart’s daddy is pulling out ALOT of Benjimans to keep T- Tragic in as a starting QB!!!!! I mean COME ON, ESPN has even commented on how ridiculous he plays!!!! It just feels like Bo is here to pick up his check and head home!!!! Bo talks as if Crick was healthy, it would be different!!!…lol.. Really?.. OK.. The games he was in, how many sacks did NU have??? 1 or 2 a game??? NU was getting blasted, NU still has T-Mart still in??? Now wouldn’t a GREAT coach put in the back ups to give them experience??? NOT BO!!! Is he AFFRAID Carnes, or Turner will do what NU fans ALREADY KNOWS what they’ll do???? Which is make Martinez look RIDICULOUS!!! Bo says were a GOOD team..hmmm. Did you fans pay hundreds of $$$$$$ for HOME GAMES to see a GOOD TEAM… HELL NO!!! YOU PAID TO SEE A GREAT TEAM!!!!!!!! Even more DEPRESSING, he said ” This college is about CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!” Really?… Where are they??? Oh I’m sorry Bo, I didn’t know you were referring to the Banana Bowls we won, in replacement of a Division Titles, and National Titles!!!! That’s a GREAT accomplishment to do what you’ve done… If you’re NMSU ( New Mexico State ). That’s like SEC fans should be grateful if they ONLY play in the Banana Bowls rather than a National Title..lol ( not that I wouldn’t enjoy every second of it!!!). I’m sure they would loooooove that idea… NOT!!!
martinez is a sophmore who is getting better throughout the season, he looked horrible early in the year and has progressed as good if not better than crouch did. Does anyone remember when Callahan got fired? if someone would have told us we would be playing in two confernce championship games in the next couple of years we would have taken that in a heartbeat. I dont think changing coaches all the time is the answer. You shouldnt be so angry at five in the morning, get a life
We are not going to win championships with Martinez. Write that down.
I would say we have at least a 50-50 shot to win each of the next two years, so I’m betting Martinez gets at least 1 championship.
Try decaf, Joey.
Anymore articles for you to copy and paste your rant on?
I love the losing team arguement for NW. They are a decent team, going to a bowl, most of they’re losses were close in the final minutes. They are the 7th best team in the conference and could jump higher by beating MSU. They were a trap game. Tough loss but not the end of the world.
Don’t know why I’m trying to reason with someone who clearly has none.
We’re all frustrated right now because there seems to be no end to the losing 4 to 6 games a year in sight as long as the present coaching staff is in charge.
This current coaching staff has never lost 6 games in a year, and never won fewer than nine. If you don’t think Pelini is doing a good job, that’s fine, but you should at least be fair about it.
You might want to consider adding a “yet” to your statement, Bill. As in, Bo Pelini has never lost 6 games in a season ‘yet’.
Look at next year. Michigan will be better. Ohio State and Michigan State, as well as Iowa and NWestern are on the road. Wisconsin has a head coach and an offensive coordinator that know exactly what they are doing….they aren’t still scratching their heads trying to figure things out.
And more than likely, I don’t see us improving. Our defense is a fraud this year…who is going to fill in for Lavonte David or Dennard next year?
Our depth won’t be any better…..and our recruiting class is a joke right now.
I hate to say it, but this program is trending downward. Six losses in a season is only a matter of time. This program has hit its pinnacle under Pelini and that is sad to say. It is all going downhill from here.
+1
6 losses next year? I’ll take the under all day, for as much as you’re willing to bet.
We’re 8-3 and could go 9-4 or 10-3. That’s very good. Losses always suck!
Go Big Red– Punish Iowa!
No Dave, it’s not ‘very good’. It’s very average, a disappointment, and an underachievement.
If not for your last statement, I would think you were an Iowa fan.
Underachievement by what standards? Mid-90s? Perhaps you’ve been asleep for the last decade, but we haven’t strung together consecutive nine-win season (let alone 10) since 2001. We hadn’t won 10 games in a year since Pelini was last at Nebraska. Considering Nebraska, in four years under Pelini, has already won 10 more games than the four years prior to his arrival (about a 40% increase, and his fourth season isn’t even complete yet!), I’d say that’s “very good”, given the circumstances. And just for a little perspective, Bo Pelini has as many wins as TO had in his first four season (again, with two games left to play), and as many 10-win seasons as TO had in his first seven seasons. Step away from the ledge, Butch!
+1 million. There is life above the shoulders in Big Red Country. I thought I was the only sane one left.
Agreed
T.O. never got 3 million a year!
I’m annoyed about the Michigan disaster, too. But these people whining about “only” winning nine games have got an incredibly short memory. Remember what happened after the last time a 9 win coach got fired? A laughingstock coaching search, followed by four years of record-breaking losses, losing seasons, and a defense that was so embarrassing half the stadium was empty by halftime of the ’07 homecoming game.
Did it cross the mind of these people the only coaches that would be an improvement on Bo Pelini wouldn’t want to come to a place that fired a coach with nine wins and no real recruiting base? At least give Bo credit for getting them this far. It’s obvious he’s on the clock now, but let’s give him a little more time to take it up a notch. He has earned that much.
Exactly, college football is about recruiting and then motivating those 19 and 20 year olds to perform every week. Bo is still learning about both of these parts and hopefully will continue to get better. I don’t think Oregon should have lost to USC, Oklahoma State to Iowa State, Iowa to Minnesota, etc etc. But thats why they play the game!
Just because Callahan sucked doesn’t mean the next guy would suck, too. That is such a ridiculous argument, there is absolutely no connection or comparison between them.
Think about where you would rate Pelini in our own division. I would put him near the bottom, only ahead of Jerry Kill from Minnesota. Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern and dare I even say Iowa has a better head coach than we do.
He knows a little bit of defense, but beyond that – Bo falls short in comparison to his peers.
Troll Alert! Troll Alert! Joey=Troll…
That’s why I read the ESPN comments more than these. Far less trolls.
I like Dirk’s commentary, he seems to shoot straight when a great majority of the sportswriters in this state seem too scared to write anything that goes against Bo or the program. Now to be clear, I like Bo and I think we should give him another year or two to get this thing going. However, I’m not satisfied with being a middle of the pack team that can’t win conference championships and if that means I’m not a “true” Husker fan to some of you, I really don’t care. I grew up watching the Huskers compete and win championships and that is what I expect. Did we always win, no, but we were not getting blown out two or three times a year. Bo said yesterday that we can compete with anybody. Maybe we CAN, but DO we? That is what he needs to get straightened out in the next year or two.
You should share this amazing insight with all college coaches. Recruit better players. Wow! I bet they never thought of that. What is frustrating to the fans, (well, many of them anyway), is the Huskers getting blown out by good, but far from great teams. Where’s the progress? We all watched the Big12 championship game 2 years ago. Offensive production is about the same as then, defense is way worse. And if you want to bust on Dirk for his commentary, you should at least try to spell T.O.’s name correctly.
The changes that Pelini needs to make in this program to insure he will be the head coach 2 years from now are not rocket science. Here they are:
1. Lose the attitude Bo. Your press conferences are excruciatingly uncomfortable to watch because it is nothing more than a collection of cowering sportswriters terrified of telling the King he has no clothes! You have not earned the right to be as arrogant as you are. “We run this football team.” Really? After watching Northwestern and Michigan shell us unmercifully it makes one wonder if ANYONE is in charge of this team!
2. Start recruiting and getting results in a manner befitting a championship football program. Your 2s and 3s that you so proudly boast of coaching up routinely get their heads handed to them on a platter year after year by the 4s and 5s on the championship caliber teams we play. Compare the final recruiting results of the past 11 years and you will see the same teams that end up on the national championship list for the same time period. It is no coincidence that LSU, Alabama, Florida, USC, Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio State, and Miami consistently make both top 10 lists. ALL of these teams have won national championships in the past 11 years.
3. Admit that your good ole boy hiring process for your assistant coaches has been a dismal failure. Hire competent qualified coaches who can teach and properly motivate our athletes. We lost 2 Big 12 Championships because of misguided loyalty to a OC who was clueless! Have you forgotten the primary reason Callahan was fired? His name was Cosgrove. Loyalty is laudable but should never come ahead of what is best for our program. An asst coach who last year ran a golf shop? Are you kidding me?
You are a good man and a good coach. To your credit you have restored some pride and dignity to a program all but destroyed by the Pedersen/Callahan regime. But if you ever want to be a great coach and win championships you must change…and now. The clock is ticking.
Just a little nitpicking here Dirk, but OK and Baylor would not have been on the schedule. They would have played OK ST and TAM in Lincoln, and Texas on the road (opposite of 2010) as well as the north teams (Assuming the league was intact with Colorado of course.) I think we would easily have 3-4 losses with that schedule. I also think it is progress that we are complaining about potentially 9-10 win seasons again. There is a generation who says they grew up watching NU win championships, but if you are a little bit older you remember the disappointing seasons where Nebraska couldn’t win the BIG one and couldn’t win bowl games. 2-3 losses a year, and that was in the weak Big 8. People romanticize Osborne because he left on top, but people wanted his head as well before Tommy Frazier showed up. I think Bo is a good coach and still learning on the job a little. He is terrible with the media, but I also think he is our best option for a coach.
Corrected, thanks. I’m sorry.
I agree, thank you for posting something with your brain and not a flurry of emotions.
This is just my opinion, but I think college football has a lot more parity than it used to thanks the improvements in media and the increased attention and appeal that nontraditional power schools are receiving. I think a great example of this is the marketing Oregon does with its uniforms and flashy style to attract athletes. I read an article on that and think there’s some truth to that.
Also, I believe all of our losses this year have been because of the player’s decisions and execution, not the coaches. The only exception I see may be the Wisky game where Tim Beck was calling all of those pass plays. You can put Bill Belichick in charge of the Huskers, but if the players don’t block or play coverage they will get beat on any given day.
Joe – You last paragraph was pure gold and right on! Those are sentiments exactly! Players have to be in position to execute and then execute! You can’t call time out and go put the players where they need to be. You call the package and expect them to know it!
the coaches need to have their team prepared. with bo it is hit and miss. in big games-mostly a miss. no wonder they cancelled your series-joey
Here you go: I’ll consider 1978-2000 as my “growing up” years.
13 – conference championships
3 – national championships
The Huskers 5 worst losses during that time:
27-7 to OU 1985
23-3 to Mia 1988
41-17 to FSU 1989
45-10 to OU 1990
22-0 to Mia 1991
5 worst losses since 2008:
52-17 to Mizzu 2008
62-28 to OU 2008
31-10 to TT 2009
48-17 to Wisc 2011
45-17 to Mich 2011
Again, I like Bo and I’m all for giving him another year or two to turn things around but we need to be competitive game in and game out.
west ne-remember his losses as dc in 2003. kansas state 38-9 missouri 41-27 and texas 31-7. looks like blow-outs are acceptable to all the mark pelini supporters.
in response to Pats/Chiefs .. it’s not college, your paid to stop them. So stop them. Simple as that.
Am I wrong, but doesn’t NU Basketball only have Bo Spencer for ONE year? Sounds like basketball and football have the same recruiting coordinator.
Dirk – your analysis on recruiting is 100% right and badly needed. Nearly all fans think the Husker are amazing and we have NFL talent throughout our depth chart – we’re not even close. And nearly all fans think that poor tackling, injuries and lack of depth, lack on intensity, etc. are all due to bad coaching. Its more likely due to a simpler cause – recruit a few NFL-quality kids and a lot of that takes care of itself. A good test for real talent is how many players reach the field as Frosh and Sophs…if they don’t, they usually won’t be much. Those amazing 5-star recruits that aren’t playing for 3 years – forget it. And we’ve got lots of those.
If you look at what Bo has coming back for 2012, it is bleak. He needs to admit that star players aren’t coming to NU because of his charming (?) personality, and that whatever excitement his new program had back in 2008 has worn thin. So he needs to add a star recruiter, now.
A star recruiter would be a welcome addition to this staff but which is it, we have a bunch of 5 stars that are sitting the bench or we have no talent? Bo brought in his best class last year (his third class) and this class looks like it could be even better. Bo is becoming a better recruiter.
So no, his analysis isn’t very good and 2012 and beyond is anything but bleak.
Bo is trying to change his personality but try it yourself and it ain’t easy. Just like a rat terrier born and bred to do nasty work fighting rats, face to face in a tunnel. Bring these guys into the house at night, pet one and you might just get an instinctive bite rather than appreciation. Its just their personalities.
Bo loves the players and wants them to make the best choices for themselves, so of couse he’s not a high pressure closure. Good and bad but that’s Bo.
Really, politics and sports are the “real world?” I have never considered Nebraska football to be “important” in the big picture. It is entertainment, period. There are real issues in our world, and sports ain’t one of them.
FAIL
The rule of thumb on scholarship recruits is that coaches hope 65% actually develop to fill the 1st and 2nd string. The Huskers seem to have quite a few walk-ons and several jucos on the two deep which tells me the recruiting eyes are not that keen. Hopefully someone looks into my theory a bit more to rank the results of our different classes.
Basketball…Booooooooooo…
Football…Yaaaay!…
I just hope they can get past Iowa this week…Cuz I promise ya’ll….Iowa comes to play. The Iowa teams gear up for one team every year..and guess who it is? The Cyclones did it ever year and the Hawkeyes usually whip their collective heiny’s like we USED to beat up on Colorado…
Last week I picked the Huskers and they got their butts handed to them…This week I’m picking the Hawkeyes, maybe the reverse psychology thing will kick in…
BUt if the Huskers show up like they did last week…It’s gonna be a long day & the “Car Bowl”??….Do you think they will show up for that one like they did for the Washington game last year?
Do you think ESPN will carry that? Probably one of them west coast late night games eh?
Happy Holidays everybody..Enjoy the show.. :-)
P.S. Bolini couldn’t sell ice cubes to the Devil himself…..He’s not built for it..
Untill NU sticks a crowbar in it’s wallet and hires a professional recruiter…
remember what I said a couple of months ago..
M E D I O C R I T Y …..Get used to it…
BTW, The Huskers are two easy wins against a couple of JUCO teams away from a very possible 6-6 season..I picked them to finish 7-5 at the beginning of the season…If last weeks “game” is any indication of this week’s game.., they will probably finish 8-4 and out of the top 25 and with next years abysmal recruiting class…They will probably stay there..
I can’t help wonder how a couple of early .500 seasons would have affected TO’s coaching career…
Since when has 8-4 been a .500 record?
I read Wetzel’s article. He makes good points, but I think he’s short sighted on this one. Wait until recruits recognize that going to a B1G school gives you the best chance of playing on a big stage throughout the regular season and again come bowl season. Every time we see something dominant that doesn’t appear like it will ever slow down, it does. Nebraska and FSU in the ’90s. Miami at the turn of the century, and USC right after. Now it’s the dominance of a whole conference that is being spotlit with the SEC. Look at the SEC this year, LSU and Alabama are great, though very flawed offensively. The rest of the conference is nothing special. If you are buying Arkansas, that’s your own deal. The SEC isn’t nearly as far ahead of everyone as they are made out to be. Many B1G teams are a few difference makers away from being elite teams. Taking that last step is the hardest, and also involves a little luck. Wait a few years and let’s see what shakes out.
Great post. Agree with everything. However in NU’s case I’ld say we’re short a few lineman instead of playmakers.
This is exactly what I was thinking. His whole argument hinges on the supposed axiom that the SEC will forever be dominant. That’s just silly. While the SEC does have advantages that could help them keep their run going (namely, high-level high school football in their footprint), dynasties come and go all the time. The state of Florida has 0 ranked teams at the moment — it wasn’t that long that looked like an impossibility…
Pretty much don’t agree with anything you wrote. Really cherry picking arguements here. Let’s just leave out all the JC’s that Pelini has had great success with… I think pointing out that Pelini identified Dennard and got him to commit in 1 week shows how good of a recruiter he is. A team should be made up of 4th and 5th year leaders. Pelini’s first recruiting class won’t be seniors for another 2 years. I’ll reserve judgement until then.
mosier-we will all hold our breath waiting on your judgement. in two years will our coaching get better magically? I suppose barney cotton has been doing a tremendous job. and carl (slingblade) pelini is a defensive genius? so you are giving mark pelini 6 years? pelini identified one guy- dennard- and that shows what a great recruiter he is? by that logic-nebraska beats minnesota 41-14 and because of that-mark pelini gets your coach of the year.
(By the way, here are Pelini’s best high school recruits, class by class):
2008 — Cam Meredith, Kyler Reed, Will Compton, Baker Steinkuhler – Compton is the only Pelini recruit, he had 3 weeks to finish a demolished class. I neither fault nor praise Pelini for this class.
2009 — Rex Burkhead, Taylor Martinez, Eric Martin, Andrew Green – add D. Gomes, and Kinnie. Not a great class as top 2 recruits Williams and Green aren’t here anymore and he was hamstrung with a low numbers from Callahan’s big class. This is also the class that was recuited during the disastrous 5-7 multiple blowouts Callahan season.
2010 — Kenny Bell, Quincy Enunwa, Chase Rome, Andrew Rodriguez – Convienently leave off the top 2 recruits Hardrick and David (who turned out pretty good). I would say 7 starters from a class that should be redshirt freshman is pretty good too.
(It’s way too soon to judge 2011 class members). – How generous of you.
So while the 08′ 09 classes weren’t world beaters I think there are legitimate reasons why that what was to be expected, not mentioning the fact that Pelini was brought in knowing that he wasn’t known as a great recruiter. We had that in Callahan and it didn’t get us very far.
I agree with your assessment of Pelini’s recruiting, but it’s worth pointing out that Dirk said Pelini’s best *high school* recruits. Gomes, Kinnie, Hardrick, and David were all JUCO guys.
Bo Spencer is good on the court… what about a story on him not making the grades at an SEC school?! Really says something that he could get enrolled at UNL but not make the grades at LSU.
Guess its like Creighton back in the day when Terrell Taylor hits a game winning shot to beat Florida yet shouldn’t have been able to play due to all of his failed drug tests.
Winning is all that matters.
Alot of good comments about the big red.First of all i agree that all of our opponents this year had our defense on their heals in every game except MSU even the likes of div. 2 team chatta. fresno st wyoming I know the last 2 are div.1 but still the defense sucked period.With the loss of dennard and david we are in trouble next year.Get rid of all these so called freinds of Bos and find somebody who knows defense.Even the lackluster performance of martinez we would still win games if we had a D.