Nebraska Football: Does Bo Pelini Have the Toughest Job in College Football?

Nebraska claims to have the best fans in college football. When opposing teams come into Memorial Stadium, Cornhuskers fans go out of their way to treat them and their fans with respect. While Cornhuskers fans are easy on opposing teams, are they too hard on Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini?

Nebraska fans have high expectations for their team, but are the expectations too high? When Nebraska beat Tennessee Chattanooga in their first game, 40-7, many Cornhuskers fans were not pleased. The team did make some mistakes but this was the first game of the season and Nebraska was installing a new offense with many young players.

After the game, Coach Pelini was asked about the sloppy play of his team. Understandably, Pelini looked upset from the questions. His team did just win a game by 33 points!

In the second game of the season, Nebraska faced an underrated Fresno State team. Fresno State has won many games against BCS schools in the past two years. Although Fresno State was a quality team on the Cornhuskers’ schedule, Nebraska fans would settle for nothing less than a blowout. The game was close going into the fourth quarter. The Nebraska coaching staff made some adjustments that allowed the Cornhuskers to pull away to a 42-29 victory.

After the Fresno State game, Pelini was again asked about his team’s poor play. Once again, Pelini had to dodge the questions and try to put a positive spin on the game. Each week, no matter how well his team plays, Pelini faces reporters and fans who expect more. Is this fair?

One of the biggest problems with Cornhuskers fans' expectations of their team is that throughout summer camp the Nebraska coaching staff was hyping up their team. The practices were closed to all except a few select members of the media. All fans had to go off of was what Pelini and his staff said.

The word out of Lincoln was how Taylor Martinez matured as a quarterback, the team is the deepest it has ever been, the freshman are stepping up and will be a big part of the team and how great the defense is. What did Pelini think the expectations of Cornhusker Nation would be when all they heard was how great the team looked?

When Nebraska continued to play sloppy football as they did in 2010, fans became frustrated. Pelini keeps telling the media and fans that Martinez is a young quarterback and he has only made 15 starts. How many starts does Martinez need to make before Cornhuskers fans can expect mistake-free football from their quarterback?

So, with the high expectations of Cornhuskers fans and the frustration from Pelini about answering questions about his team’s play even when they win big, the question is: Does Pelini have the toughest job in college football?

Nebraska football is all the Cornhuskers fans have to hang their hat on. Coaches at other schools are not the only show in town. This does not mean Pelini’s job is any tougher than other coaches in the top conferences. Just ask Georgia’s Mark Richt.

Richt is from Omaha and familiar with Nebraska fans. I am sure he would switch places with Pelini right now. Richt has taken his Bulldogs to bowl games every year in the toughest conference in college football. His team lost their first two games this season to two tough opponents, Boise State and South Carolina. Now fans and media in Georgia want him fired.

At least fans in Nebraska are not asking for Pelini to be fired. They just want to know why they were told the team was improved this year, but their play on the field does not reflect it.

I don’t think Pelini has any tougher of a job than any coach from a highly ranked BCS school. Yes, Cornhuskers fans expect a lot out of their team, but so do LSU, Florida, Texas and many other fan bases. If Pelini could handle the media without the, Why are you asking me that? attitude, then maybe Cornhuskers fans would be easier on him.

The reality is Pelini is our coach and we are his fans. Both need to be a little easier on each other!