Nebraska Football: Bo Pelini Must Take Responsibility for Team's Inconsistency

Bo Pelini, the guy that keeps the even keel?

Yes, this Bo Pelini. And this one. And this one. That’s the premise of a sit-down interview between Pelini and Steven Sipple of the Lincoln Journal-Star. Sipple opens with the premise that college football fans in general, and Nebraska fans in particular, are irrational and over-emotional about their team, and it is the job of Pelini and his staff to be the steady hand on the till for the team.

Of course, Sipple engages in a little straw-man hyperbole. He opens the piece with the premise that if Nebraska won the Capital One Bowl, fans would have been euphoric about the 2011 season and charged with optimism for the future. “Top five, here we come,” is how Sipple thought fans would react to the imaginary bowl victory.

And, to be certain, there would be a segment of Nebraska fans thinking that. But they are likely the same Nebraska fans that think NU is a top-five contender right now.

I don’t think there are too many Children of the Corn thinking that 2011, with Nebraska failing to win its division, would have been a successful campaign even with a Capital One Bowl victory. But the premise is helpful for Sipple to set up Pelini as the calming influence for the team.

Sipple tends to take on the role of apologist for the Nebraska program in general and Pelini in particular. I’m sure that role, in no small measure, is how he got access to Pelini for the interview. Somehow I doubt that Dirk Chatelain is getting that sit-down interview. But to Sipple’s credit, he used the interview opportunity to ask some legitimate questions of Pelini. Here, to me, is the interplay between Sipple and Pelini that is the most noteworthy:

"

What do you think of the notion that the inconsistency of your team is a byproduct of a head coach who loses control at times on the sideline when things go badly, especially in regard to officiating?

"That's asinine. You know what that is? That's people who have no concept of reality."

"

Wow. It’s “asinine” to equate a coach who struggles with control and consistency to a team that struggles with control and consistency?

And, let’s be clear, Nebraska under Pelini has struggled with control and consistency. Under Pelini, where has Nebraska ranked in terms of penalty yardage incurred?

• 2008—99th (61.5 yards/game)
• 2009—102nd (63.9 yards/game)
• 2010—115th (70.9 yards/game)
• 2011—73rd (52.9 yards/game)

How about turnover margin? After all, disciplined and controlled teams take care of the football, right?

• 2008—105th (-0.85 turnovers/game)
• 2009—33rd (+0.33 turnovers/game)
• 2010—61st (-0.07 turnovers/game)
• 2011—67th (-0.08 turnovers/game)

How about winning games you’re supposed to win, especially at home? A disciplined and controlled team takes care of its business against inferior opponents it should be beating, right?

• 2009—Iowa State 9, Nebraska 7 (Iowa State ended 2009 at 7-6)
• 2010—Texas 20, Nebraska 13 (Texas ended 2010 at 5-7)
• 2011—Northwestern 28, Nebraska 25 (Northwestern ended 2011 at 6-7)

So it’s at least a fair question to ask the head Husker why his teams continue to struggle in areas needing discipline and consistency. And to be certain, it would be unfair to blame Pelini for all of his teams’ struggles in those areas.

But to say the concept is “asinine” and someone who posits it has “no concept of reality”? From the same guy who said that he’s “a lot calmer then a lot of other coaches” and that he’s “under the microscope more than a lot of coaches?”

Sure, Pelini gets a lot of media attention for his sideline rants. But no one from ABC or ESPN is making those faces or swearing at the referees or having a vein-popping shout at his players. Those are actions Pelini chose to engage in, actions that he knows are going to be televised, and actions that he knows are going to feed into a media narrative he’s helped to create. And, as Pelini told Sipple, “[t]here has to be a certain level of accountability. There have to be repercussions for certain actions.”

Amen, coach, amen.

Now, I’m not one of the pearl-clutchers who think Pelini’s sideline rage-fests are bad in and of themselves. Pelini is an intense, passionate man, and those outbursts are nothing if not authentic. If Pelini put a team on the field that consistently gave crisp, sharp and disciplined performances, they wouldn’t be an issue at all.

But he doesn't. Numbers don’t lie. Pelini’s Huskers put out performances that are emotional and intense, but also uncontrolled and ragged—mirroring the behavior of the head Husker. So the sideline outbursts are not the problem—Nebraska’s inconsistency and indiscipline is. The sideline rants and press confrontations are not, in my opinion, the cause of that problem. But it’s fair to ask if those rants are a symptom, particularly if the team’s leader isn’t even willing to entertain the concept of his behavior being somehow linked to the behavior of his team.

Well, so much for my shot at that sit-down interview with Pelini.

If you would like to contact me directly to schedule an interview, ask a question or to get my recipe for a killer peach cobbler, you can send an e-mail to [e-mail]. (DISCLAIMER: Peach cobbler recipe might not be all that killer.)

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