Depending on how you feel about votes of confidence, Nebraska coach Bo Pelini either got great or horrible news on Wednesday when athletic director Shawn Eichorst told a small group of media that he thought the Huskers program was “stable” under the sixth-year coach.
"I really enjoy what he brings to the table," Eichorst said. "He's the first to admit he's kind of walked that line a little bit. Everybody is different. You've got calm and collected, high strung and everything in between. I try not to make judgments about that."
Pelini is 58-24 as the Huskers coach and has won at least nine games in every season he’s been there. However, he’s come under fire for his inability to win either a Big 12 or Big Ten title — though he’s been to three championship games — and for his off-field emotions. Last year, secretly recorded audio of Pelini criticizing fans in 2011 became public shortly after Nebraska blew an 18-point lead to UCLA. Following that game, Pelini was asked about his job status and said: "If they want to fire me, go ahead."
But in the past few months Pelini has seemingly softened. He’s struck up a humorous rapport with his Twitter doppelganger "Faux Pelini" and has even embraced jokes about a cat the two (supposedly) share. Pelini brought a cat to the spring game and made jokes that the feline was hanging out in the hotel room during Big Ten media days.
Last month, Pelini showed up to a team meeting wearing the Huskers new alternate uniform.
And Eichorst, who gave Pelini a one-year extension to 2019 after the Huskers defeated Georgia in a bowl game last year, said the athletic department has given Pelini all of the tools for which he’s asked, including additional recruiting staff, an aircraft for recruiting and the latest technology.
"We've won a lot of ball games, and we've got a lot more ball games to win," Eichorst said. "We're entering a neat era in college football. I think we're stable. We have a seasoned coach who has won a bunch of games. We're resourced the right way. So we should be optimistic. We have good kids in our program. It's never been about a lack of effort or passion.
"Sometimes you have those magical seasons. You guys have been around a lot of them. I hope to be part of one soon."
For more Nebraska news, visit HuskerOnline.com.
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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday
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From Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo Sports - Nebraska AD gives coach Bo Pelini a vote of confidence
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