Bo Pelini

Date	Opponent	Location	2008 CHS Prediction
8/30/08	Western Michigan	Lincoln, NE	W
9/06/08	San Jose State	Lincoln, NE	W
9/13/08	New Mexico State	Lincoln, NE	W
9/27/08	Virginia Tech	Lincoln, NE	L
10/04/08	Missouri	Lincoln, NE	L
10/11/08	at Texas Tech	Lubbock, TX	L
10/18/08	Iowa State	Ames, IA	W
10/25/08	Baylor	Lincoln, NE	W
11/01/08	at Oklahoma	Norman, OK	L
11/08/08	Kansas	Lincoln, NE	L
11/15/08	at Kansas State	at Manhattan, KS	W
11/28/08	Colorado	Lincoln, NE	W

	Coaches Hot Seat Prediction		7-5

Coaches Hot Seat Analysis

Watching Bo Pelini coach at LSU in practices and in games over the last three years reminded several of us of another defensive coordinator that won a national championship at another SEC school before beginning a very successful head coaching career. That other coach is Bob Stoops who was the defensive coordinator at Florida under Steve Spurrier, who just like Pelini spent three years at a SEC school before getting a head coaching job in the Big 12. Much like Bob Stoops, Pelini is a live wire on the sideline and even though both men are very demanding, they still get a very high-level of play from their players. Both Pelini and Stoops ride that very fine line that all great football coaches are on that lies between asking too little and too much of their players, while still commanding the respect of their entire team. How a coach stays on that line is a skill that is impossible to define, but all of us know it when we see it, and we fully expect Bo Pelini to have a major impact upon the Nebraska football program in the years to come.

A member of Coaches Hot Seat was recently in Omaha for the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting and he spoke with a few people that follow the Nebraska football program closely. The unanimous view of those Nebraska people was that Pelini has "done everything right" and that "he is asking a lot of the players, which is just what he should be doing." Only last year, these same Nebraska people were really down about their football program, and for the first time it seemed that they were not looking forward to the football season. That is unheard of in Nebraska, but Pelini's arrival in Lincoln has reignited the fan base, and also don't discount how happy everyone is with Tom Osborne now in the AD position. Osborne and Pelini seem like an unbeatable team, because we know that both men in their respective jobs will expect a lot of the people that work for them, and that Nebraska football will be back to the fundamentals that made the Huskers a force that demanded it be paid attention to and dealt with. Unfortunately, do to some incredibly foolish decisions in Lincoln in the past few years, Nebraska football does have a few years of rebuilding, but we do think Pelini can have a positive impact upon the Husker football team in 2008. As for the future, the big challenge for Pelini will be to deal with the rise of Missouri, Kansas, and possibly Colorado in the Big 12 North, and the traditional powers Texas and Oklahoma in the South division. It is going to be next to impossible for Pelini to return Nebraska to its former dominant position in the Big 8/Big 12 under Coach Osborne, but a Nebraska program clicking on all cylinders can become a regular in the Big 12 Championship Game, and that is path to conference and national championships.

Coaches Hot Seat Bottom Line

We predict that Bo Pelini and Nebraska will have a 7-5 record in 2008. Bo Pelini has taken over a much different Nebraska football team than he left in Lincoln in 2003, and the first order of business was to set some basic expectations for on and off the field behavior. From what we have seen, Pelini's message has gotten through to the Husker players, and now the 2008 season looms ahead and it is a very manageable schedule for a first year coach. Nebraska has a very interesting start to the year, by playing their first five games in Lincoln, with three of those games against teams (Western Michigan, San Jose State, and New Mexico State) that even a beleaguered Nebraska team should be able to handle. We believe that Nebraska will struggle a little in those first three games, but that they will get wins in each, which will run their record to 3-0. Week 4 is Nebraska's first big test as Frank Beamer and his very good Virginia Tech Hokies coming calling in Lincoln. This Va. Tech game should be a very good test for Nebraska to see how far they have come under Pelini, and this game will be a very good preparation for the upcoming Big 12 schedule. Nebraska should keep this game close in the first half, but Beamer has a lot of talent at Tech, and they should pull away in the second half. After four games, Nebraska is 3-1. The Big 12 slate begins in week 5 when defending North division champion Missouri comes to Lincoln. Missouri has even more talent than Virginia Tech, and even though Pelini's defense should be slowing down opponents at this point, the Tigers have too much firepower to lose this game. After fives games, Nebraska is 3-2. The first big road test for Pelini at Nebraska is up next with a trip to Lubbock to play Texas Tech. We believe Mike Leach and Tech will have a pretty big year in '08, and Tech will probably put up a lot of points on the Huskers. This won't be as bad as some of the games in the Callahan years, but Tech should get a convincing win. After six games, the Huskers are 3-3. Another Big 12 road game is up next with a trip to Ames to play Iowa State. We believe that this will be a very close game with Nebraska having just a little more talent, which will get them the win over the Cyclones. After seven games, Nebraska is 4-3. Baylor travels to Lincoln in week 8 and by this far into the season Art Briles will be starting to have an impact upon the Bears football team. We also see this as a very close game, with the home field advantage for Nebraska being the difference, which will get them the win. After eight games, the Huskers are 5-3. Week 9 will be a familiar trip for Bo Pelini as Nebraska travels to Norman to play Bob Stoops and Oklahoma. OU should be on a run to the Big 12 championship, and there is a large talent difference between these two teams, which means an almost certain loss for Nebraska. After nine games, Nebraska is 5-4. The turnaround team of 2007, the Kansas Jayhawks travel to Lincoln in week 10, and this should be a great football game with all of the offensive talent on the KU team. Pelini's defense, and the Nebraska offense, should be playing a lot better by this time in the season, and in what we see as a very close game, Kansas wins in the 4th quarter. After ten games, the Huskers are 5-5. Week 11 brings a trip to Manhattan, KS to play Kansas State and this will be a very important game for both teams as both will be striking towards a post-season bowl trip. We are expecting the Nebraska defense to really be playing well by this game, which should give them enough of an advantage to get the win. After eleven wins, Nebraska is 6-5. With at least a .500 record assured, the final game against Colorado will be very important for Nebraska to win to get some momentum entering the post-season. Colorado really improved from year 1 to year 2 under Dan Hawkins, and we expect the Buffs to continue to play better, but with this game being in Lincoln, we see Nebraska getting the win which will run their record to 7-5 for the '08 season.

Certainly if Bo Pelini and Nebraska can get to a 7-5 record in '08, that will be a quite an improvement over the '07 record under Callahan, which included several blowouts. The important thing will be for Nebraska to compete in all the games, especially on the defensive side of the ball, which they really did not do in many games in 2007. We have no doubt that Pelini will demand and get a lot of his Nebraska players in the upcoming season, and we expect to see a much different Husker team than what was put on the field in the past few years. Nebraska certainly has enough talent to put up a 7-5 record in '08, and at worst a .500 record which would get them a trip to a post-season game, which would be important for the extra practices and for '09 recruiting. Now let's see what Bo Pelini and his Husker players can do.

2008 Coaches Hot Seat Prediction: 7-5

Will Bo Pelini be back for the 2009 season? YES