OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -Tom Osborne isn’t assessing Bo Pelini’s performance on wins and losses – though the Nebraska athletic director says 8-4 was a “very good” first season for the Cornhuskers’ coach.
To Osborne, the most important thing Pelini did in 2008 was change the culture after a malaise set in during Bill Callahan’s four years.
“I was looking for the team to play hard, to turn the attitude around, the confidence level. Bo and his staff did that,” Osborne said during a teleconference announcing the Huskers’ Gator Bowl matchup with Clemson.
“Sometimes the greatest coaching jobs in the world are done by people who have a losing record. You just have to go with what you’ve got. I don’t know that you can evaluate on the won-loss record, although it was very good. I was pleased with it. They did a great job turning around some things that needed to be turned around.”
Osborne’s opinion matters, and not just because he’s Pelini’s boss.
n assistant under Bob Devaney and then head coach from 1973 to 1997. As head coach, he never won fewer than nine games a season. He won 255 in all and national titles in 1994, ’95 and ’97.
Osborne was away serving in the U.S. House of Representatives while the tandem of Callahan and former athletic director Steve Pederson unsuccessfully attempted to redefine the Nebraska football culture.
Osborne replaced the fired Pederson in October 2007, and one of his first acts was to fire Callahan after a 5-7 season.
Pelini was Nebraska’s defensive coordinator in 2003 under Frank Solich, but Callahan didn’t retain him. Osborne hired Pelini from LSU, where Pelini was defensive coordinator for the national champion Tigers last year.
The Huskers were blown out by Missouri and Oklahoma, but they tied for first in the Big 12 North. And they’re playing in a New Year’s Day bowl game.
Osborne said he didn’t set a goal for number of wins. But the season was a success, he said, under the circumstances.
“I don’t think most people realize how difficult it is to put together a whole new staff, most of whom do not know the players, the players don’t know the coaches, maybe the coaches don’t know each other,” Osborne said.
Osborne said two factors weigh heavily in his evaluation.
Did the players play hard?
“Bo and his staff got them to do that,” Osborne said. “They played with intensity all the time.”
Did they get better, stay the same or get worse?
“There is no question our team improved throughout the year,” Osborne said.
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