When athletic director Tom Osborne announced the hiring of Bo Pelini as the new Husker football head coach, many fans across the state were ecstatic and -- unfortunately -- a little bit delusional.
Pelini was the popular pick almost from the start. Fans remembered his one year as defensive coordinator for Frank Solich and how he turned a lackluster defense into one of the nation's best in the span of 12 months. They also remembered the fire and passion he displayed, particularly during his one-game stint as acting head coach in the Alamo Bowl after Solich was fired by former athletic director Steve Pederson.
Fans remembered what Pelini brought to the table then. And when he went on to LSU and contributed to the Tigers' national championship run last year as defensive coordinator, some fans assumed that his arrival in Lincoln would mean an immediate return to the glory days when Nebraska was king of the hill in the Big 12 North and a consistent player in the national championship race.
What these fans don't understand -- or have simply forgotten -- is that building a championship-caliber team does not happen overnight. The number of coaches that have won titles in their first year on the job are very few and far between, and even in those cases those coaches inherited a wealth of talent and were able to step in and get things going in the right direction immediately (like Larry Coker at Miami, who won a title in his first year with a loaded roster).
When Bob Devaney came to Nebraska in 1962, he inherited a program that, to put it kindly, was not in great shape, but had some quality talent that just needed to be pointed in the right direction. He got Nebraska into the national title picture early, leveled off in the mid 1960's (prompting a petition for his ouster after back-to-back 6-4 seasons in 1967 and 1968), then bounced back and won consecutive national titles before turning the reins over to Osborne.
Nebraska's level of success continued for the better part of two generations from Devaney through Osborne and to Solich, but that foundation of success started developing cracks during the final years of Solich's employment with the program. Pederson felt that a change was needed when Solich was fired after the 2003 season in favor of Bill Callahan, and the program's fall from grace was accelerated after four largely unsuccessful seasons under the former Oakland Raiders coach.
Getting back to the level of success Husker fans enjoyed under Devaney, Osborne and (to a lesser degree) Solich is going to take some time, however. As the old saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day. Neither is a championship program.
Need examples? How about Oklahoma? The Sooners were Nebraska's chief nemesis in the old Big Eight Conference, and their program fell on hard times when widespread cheating put the program on NCAA probation and legendary coach Barry Switzer was shown the door. Oklahoma went from being the block bully to the kid everybody picked on throughout much of the 1990's. They went through three coaching changes before Bob Stoops came in and turned the program into a national championship team, and he has been able to sustain that and keep the Sooners at or near the top of the game.
Another example can be found in the Big 12 with Mack Brown at Texas. The Longhorns were an inconsistent player -- great one year, average the next -- and Brown has been able to build Texas into a championship team that now is a consistent contender.
A third example is developinng in the conference, and Husker fans saw it Saturday with the Missouri Tigers. Missouri has always been one of those teams that teetered back and forth between good and lousy, and it looks like Gary Pinkel has finally gotten the Tigers to play at a consistently high level -- after years of erratic, inconsistent play during his first few years at the helm -- that is making them a national contender as well. If Missouri can somehow win the Big 12 title this year and play for a national championship, it would go a long way to verifying their status as a power team.
Nebraska can get back to that level, but it's not going to happen in 2008. Callahan left this program in complete disarray after last year's 5-7 disaster. Touted as a recruiting genius, it's obvious the word on the street about Callahan's reputation was writing checks the coach couldn't cash. Pelini inherited a program that lacks the go-to players a program needs to be competitive on the national level, and for as great a group of coaches as Pelini and his staff are, there is only so much you can do with what these coaches inherited. The kids are playing hard, but as was evident last Saturday, they lack the physical skills needed for this program to get back to the high level fans became accustomed to seeing for four decades.
The Huskers face another very tough and talented team this weekend at Texas Tech, and it could very well be another humbling weekend for Husker fans against the seventh-ranked Red Raiders. Nebraska has lost its last 18 games against teams ranked higher than 20th (a win over 20th ranked Michigan in the 2004 Alamo Bowl is Nebraska's only win over a ranked team in the last six years), and they still have two tough matchups against ranked teams left on the schedule.
What Husker fans will need to understand is that, for as good a coach as Pelini is, he is not going to turn Nebraska's fortunes around overnight. Fans need to be patient and give Pelini a chance to rebuild this program back to the level fans want to see. A national championship is not going to happen overnight, nor is a Big 12 title. Given the opportunity to rebuild the foundation and recruit the kids needed to fit the style he wants to play, Pelini will have Nebraska back in the national picture before long.
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