Nebraska Huskers Football: Bo Pelini the Successor to Jim Tressel at Ohio State?

Usually around Memorial Day nothing of significance is happening in the world of college football. Thanks to Jim Tressel, that is not the case this year. Tressel stepped down as the head coach of Ohio State this morning amid allegations of lying to the NCAA and to school administrators.

Even before all of the accusations of NCAA violations came to light, Tressel was already somewhat of a divisive figure, due to his straight-laced reputation and the way he carried himself.  Some people found him admirable and endearing, while others wanted to burn his sweater vest in effigy. Unless you were a Buckeye fan, you probably fell in the second group.

No matter how you feel about Jim Tressel, though, there is no denying how successful he had been as the head football coach of Ohio State. Tressel compiled a record of 106-22 at OSU, to go along with seven Big Ten conference titles and a national championship. That said, replacing Jim Tressel is going to be an unbelievably difficult task for Ohio State to undertake.

Unless interim head coach Luke Fickell has a remarkable amount of success in 2011 (we are talking at least a BCS Bowl), then I believe it is safe to assume that Fickell will not be the permanent successor to Jim Tressel. With that in mind, it is only natural to speculate about who will be the long-term solution for the Buckeyes.

In his book, Urban Meyer wrote that there were three jobs that his wife could not shoot him down for. One of the three he noted was Ohio State. Considering the reason he stated for his resignation in 2010 was to be a better husband and father, (as opposed to his one-day 2009 resignation for health reasons), this is a very significant revelation.

Still, there is probably some truth to the idea that Urban Meyer was a little bit burned out from the constant grind of being a head coach at such a major program. Even if the stress was not still causing Meyer health issues, there was probably still enough stress in his job to wear him out. It is possible that Meyer just is not ready to come back yet.

According to Bruce Feldman of ESPN, the second name, after Meyer, that should be on Ohio State's wish list is Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini. The ties to Ohio State for Pelini are obvious, having grown up in Ohio and played for the Buckeyes himself.

After turning the Huskers' fortunes around following the Bill Callahan era (also known as the era that shall not be spoken of), Pelini has turned himself into one of the hotter coaching commodities in the game. His prowess as a defensive mind is extraordinary, and perhaps even unmatched among his peers.

I am not one of the people who believes that Pelini is looking to leave Lincoln (mostly due to the large shadow cast by his boss, who used to coach a little football at Nebraska as well). Still, this is not like when the University of Miami came knocking on Bo's door. The situation is completely different when someone's alma mater comes calling. At that point, I believe all bets would be off.

If Ohio State offers Pelini the chance to become their head football coach, however, it is not necessarily a lock that he would take it. Without even taking into account any attachments Pelini may have to Nebraska, there are some extenuating factors that could keep him from taking the Ohio State job.

First of all, with Ohio State, Michigan, and possibly Penn State each on somewhat of a downswing, the Big Ten is ripe for the Huskers to enter their new conference and possibly usher in an era of dominance. They would still have to deal with Wisconsin, but after that the biggest concerns would be second-tier teams such as Iowa and Michigan State.

This is not to say that the conference's blue blood programs will stay down forever; but while they are in a mini-rebuilding mode, Nebraska could get off to a pretty nice head start. Obviously this is no sure thing, but Pelini could see this as a golden opportunity to dominate the Big Ten and possibly make a run at a national title with this Nebraska team.

The second thing that needs to be considered is the condition of the Ohio State program that Pelini would be potentially taking over. Even after accounting for the player losses and negative publicity from these allegations, there is a major deterrent for taking the OSU job.

Ohio State is still in line to receive sanctions from the NCAA for the infractions that Jim Tressel lied about. The NCAA looks as though they are in a mood to make examples out of rogue programs, and I doubt Ohio State would be any different.  

These allegations are not as severe as the ones at USC, but it seems unlikely that the NCAA would decide to take it easy on the Buckeyes. I don't know about you, but if I was a head football coach, I would not be overly eager to take over a program on some sort of NCAA probation.

Still, even with all the red flags and possible hurdles, I think Pelini would accept the Ohio State job if it is offered to him. The idea of returning home to bring his former school back to glory seems like it would be too much for Pelini to walk away from.

Just like at Nebraska, coaching at Ohio State is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And if you are from Ohio, the Buckeyes job is the one you want. If Husker fans want to hold onto Bo Pelini, they better hope that Urban Meyer is sick of golfing and hanging out in Bristol.

Some information for this article was used from ESPN.com.