Bo Pelini Reportedly Signs 5-Year Extension with Nebraska

Apparently, Bo knows contract extensions.

Bo Pelini, that is. According to Gregg Doyel of CBS, the Nebraska coach has already signed an extension with the team.

Nati Harnik/Associated Press

The extension apparently extends Pelini's current contract by a year. ESPN.com's Mitch Sherman notes that "according to Nebraska, the deal extends Pelini's contract through Feb. 28, 2019." Last week, The Associated Press (via Fox News) discussed the terms of his contract:

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According to terms of Pelini's contract signed in 2012, he'll receive a $100,000 raise on Saturday. That will take his annual salary from $2.975 million to $3.075 million.

Pelini is 57-24 in six seasons at Nebraska. Former athletic director Tom Osborne extended Pelini's contract through February 2018 before he retired in December 2012.

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Nebraska finished 9-4 this past season and wound up third in the Legends Division of the Big Ten behind Michigan State and Iowa. It defeated Georgia in the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl, 24-19, avenging the previous year's Capital One Bowl loss to the Bulldogs.

The bowl victory was the team's first since 2009.

There was some question this offseason as to whether Athletic director Shawn Eichorst fully supported Pelini, but an extension would certainly support that he did. To his credit, Pelini had nothing but good things to say about working with Eichorst, as he told Tom Shatel of the Omaha World-Herald:

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He's not a real hands-on guy. He's been very supportive. His style is to give people room. He doesn't want to micromanage.

Everybody's got to do it their own way. You can't judge that. You have to respect it. There's no one way to do it. There's no one way to manage. Shawn didn't come in here trying to be Coach Osborne, just like I didn't come in here trying to be Frank (Solich) or Pete Carroll.

We share the same vision: to be the best football program in the country.

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Being the best football program in the Big Ten, let alone in the country, will be no easy task for Nebraska. Both Michigan State and Ohio State should field excellent squads this season, while Wisconsin is always in the mix and Brady Hoke and Michigan should be improved in 2014.

But behind Ameer Abdullah and a strong Huskers running game, Pelini should field another strong Nebraska team this season. Reaching three consecutive January bowls is a solid accomplishment, but Nebraska fans will be hoping to get over the hump and win a Big Ten title this season.