NEBRASKA FOOTBALL: Sins of the Father
Commentary: Bo Pelini can and should learn from recent history
Frank Solich made the right choices - too late.
I want to tell you about the time Frank Solich almost saved his job at Nebraska – but didn't quite, for reasons set in motion before he almost saved it.
It was 2002, and NU had just finished its worst regular season in more than 30 years with a 7-6 record. It was headed toward a thoroughly mediocre loss to Ole Miss in the Independence Bowl. Good teams had battered the Blackshirts blue, and the one-dimensional offense committed too many turnovers – a deuce per game - to keep up.
In early December, Solich fired his defensive coordinator Craig Bohl and several defensive assistants. He didn't have much choice. Not a horrible strategist, Bohl had nevertheless wasted NFL talent – Chris Kelsay, Barrett Ruud, Fabian Washington, Demorrio Williams, Josh and Daniel Bullocks – with a scheme that repeatedly left the Huskers exposed to speedy runners and vulnerable to the simplest passing routes. Remember the night Texas' Roy Williams seemingly caught 237 passes against NU's pillow-soft coverage?
With a prickly new athletic director soon to breathe down his neck, Solich couldn't just hit a single with his new defensive coordinator hire. He had to transform the attitude of the entire unit. Complete overhaul.
So he called Monte Kiffin. Who called Pete Carroll. Who had a name. The same one Kiffin did.
But there was another guy Solich also had in mind. A more “proven” commodity: Georgia Tech's Jon Tenuta. And, of course, Solich had former Huskers he could consider, too. Make his pick from a Big Red Connection.
In the end, Solich spurned safer routes and made the bold choice. He didn't pick a man so much as a mind.
Frank hired Bo Pelini, who began crafting a creative, conceptual defense based on ideas Bo learned from Carroll and shaped into his own. How 11 worked together as one. How effort created better pursuit angles for all. How forcing college quarterbacks to think and pause was the most surefire way to rattle them into the ultimate ego-bruising mistake: An interception.
The effect? Immediate. Husker players bloomed under Bo. They embraced his aggressive mentality that the ball belonged to them, not the offense. He could motivate, teach and shift on the fly. He could change defenses on a dime in a tight spot, calling a timeout to rework the chess pieces right there on the sideline.
Adaptation – the lynch pin in evolution. Bo had it cold. And his schemes and steaming personality delivered Solich a 9-3 season. A chance to survive the almost-certain ax from Steve Pederson.
But he didn't. You can argue he should have. The argument has broken up friendships and dinner clubs. It's been the conversation on the patios and decks of Huskers fans for, well, seven years now.
But Bo couldn't save Frank. And fundamentally, there's a reason. Well, two.
*Solich waited too long to change.
*He stayed stubborn about something he should have changed, but didn't.
In Bohl's first year at defensive coordinator – 2000 – Husker fans could see the chinks. How passing teams – Missouri and Oklahoma – carved up the Blackshirts defense. How Kansas State staged a comeback with a game-winning drive in a snowstorm because of NU couldn't stop the shallow crossing pattern. How 3-8 Colorado's true freshman quarterback – coached by a guy named Shawn Watson - dropped 451 yards and 32 points on Nebraska in the regular-season finale.
With a considerably weaker schedule in 2001, NU's defense improved. Even shined in a 20-10 win over undefeated Oklahoma. But the Day After Thanksgiving Massacre – the 62-36 pummeling at Colorado – reopened all the old wounds. A 37-14 loss to Miami in the Rose Bowl – in which the Hurricanes toyed with NU for a half, then packed it in out of respect for Solich – tore those wounds wide open.
Frank knew. He had to know. It came to bear, one year later.
And he stayed stubborn about player development and recruiting.
The defense was stocked with talent. The offense wasn't. Solich mismanaged his roster. At one point, he had 11 scholarship running backs – and four of them were fullbacks. He couldn't find a quarterback to replace Eric Crouch. He settled on Jammal Lord, who played high school football on a field with construction cones on it and would have been a terrific free safety. He waited too long in each recruiting cycle to knuckle down and land verbal commitments.
While Tom Osborne had a knack for finding athletic wingbacks and tight ends who could do a little of everything, Solich landed gems like Shaun McGann, Larry Henderson, DeWayne Long, Randy “Alvin” Marshall, Clifford Brye, Antwon Guidry and Ronnie Smith.
Bo's arrival – and masterful one-year rebuilding project – masked over some of these weaknesses. So did some of NU's excellent defensive talent. Frank's defenders – I suppose I am one – argued that he needed one more year to succeed or fail. To see his ingenuity in hiring Bo won out over his apathy and stubbornness to change his recruiting style.
Considering Pederson's subsequent coaching search – and the result of his recent, disastrous search at Pittsburgh – mercy prevails. Just barely. And only because Frank hired Bo.
Now – let's consider Bo for a second. Right now. Days after one of the poorest showings of his tenure at NU.
You know where he is? Solich after the 2000 season. Maybe Solich after the 2001 season. No kidding. The record looks good. Everybody's still on board. There's some negativity, but it'll burn off, replaced with optimism for 2011 and the start of a Big Ten era.
But the writing's on the wall for Nebraska's offense. The chinks are there. Bo can rework this thing with Watson or he can promote from within, but the football gods won't be giving him the “loyal coach” discount. Nor will he get a “jack of all trades” discount for trying to call the defense and manage the offense at the same time. The 2011 schedule is brutal by Big Ten design. I expect no competitive breaks from Jim Delany's bunch. Not from the referees, opposing coaches, or the league office.
And Bo's still stubborn in some ways, although not about player development and recruiting. He's pretty good there. Better than Solich ever was.
No, he's bullheaded about the press. He needlessly courts friction with guys who just want a sound byte. And his apparent comfort with quarterback Taylor Martinez's media silence is misguided. As rumors swirled, fans' perception of Martinez - who refused to publicly come to his own defense out of apparent shyness – declined. Judging by my email inbox, the approval rating of Martinez's rumored behavior is quite low. It didn't have to be that way.
I said this the morning after the Holiday Bowl. Bo has freedom. Choices. Which can a blessing or a curse. Sometimes, necessity – brokenness – is the mother of change. Frank had no choice in 2002. There were no piecemeal solutions. So he gambled and won big. Because he had to, you see, so he did. That's how it can work, although the very best adapt before they're looking into the abyss. That's what keeps them out of it.
Bo still enjoys a bully pulpit. Husker fans will line up behind him.
The same could have been said of Solich a decade ago. He wasn't “Tom,” but he was “Frank,” and that still meant a hell of a lot in these parts.
As much as the “Bo” means now.
