LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — For the second year in a row, Nebraska coach Bo Pelini is going into the final week of the regular season facing questions about his job security.
Nebraska followed a lopsided loss at Wisconsin two weeks ago with a home loss to Minnesota on Saturday. The Cornhuskers end the regular season at Iowa on Friday.
Pelini said Monday he’s “turning over every stone” to win championships and that he won’t be satisfied until he does. Pelini said he makes changes in the way the program operates every season in his attempt to “get over the proverbial hump.”
Asked if he would fire one or more of his assistants if it meant saving his job, Pelini said he would not.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska coach Bo Pelini says he has nothing to apologize for and that his program has not hit a ceiling in his seventh year on the job.
Pelini defended his program Monday in the wake of Saturday’s 59-24 loss at Wisconsin. The Badgers’ Melvin Gordon set an FBS single-game record with 408 yards rushing.
Pelini says the Cornhuskers have been consistent and that a lot of other programs “would have died to have won the amount of football games we’ve won.”
Pelini is 66-26 at Nebraska but hasn’t lost fewer than four games in a season. Pelini said he came to Nebraska to win championships and that he still thinks he can get it done. The Huskers dropped from No. 11 to No. 21 after Saturday’s loss.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska coach Bo Pelini isn’t as optimistic as he was last week about whether star running back Ameer Abdullah would be full strength for Saturday’s game at No. 22 Wisconsin.
Abdullah left the Nov. 1 game against Purdue with a sprained and bruised left knee. Pelini said Monday that Abdullah didn’t practice during the 11th-ranked Cornhuskers’ bye week, though “he worked out on the field.”
Last Tuesday, Pelini said the three-time 1,000-yard rusher was “doing great” and should be “100 percent” for the Badgers.
Pelini said Monday he still believed Abdullah would be fine but added, “I’m not a doctor.”
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska coach Bo Pelini used his weekly news conference to take responsibility for his team’s poor performance in an embarrassingly close win over McNeese State.
The Huskers (2-0) are unranked this week after going into the McNeese State game ranked No. 19. Since the AP poll expanded to 25 teams in 1989, no team ranked as high had ever dropped out after a win.
Nebraska, which plays at Fresno State (0-2) on Saturday, had problems on multiple fronts. Of particular concern was the use of star running back Ameer Abdullah. He touched the ball just once in the fourth quarter before he broke the 58-yard winning touchdown with 20 seconds to play.
Pelini said he should have demanded that offensive coordinator Tim Beck get Abdullah more involved.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska coach Bo Pelini isn’t feeling sorry for himself after seeing as many as three players lost for the season because of injuries and a bunch of others ailing.
Pelini said after practice Wednesday that “there’s nothing you can do about it” and that other teams are in the same situation.
Nickel back Charles Jackson and linebacker Michael Rose are out with season-ending knee injuries and running back Adam Taylor broke his ankle and probably won’t make it back this season. Defensive tackle Kevin Williams is day to day with an ankle injury.
No. 1 right offensive tackle Zach Sterup and long snapper Gabe Miller are among other players who are hurt.
Pelini also announced defensive tackle Aaron Curry has quit the team.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska athletic director Shawn Eichorst says the football program is stable under coach Bo Pelini.
In a 45-minute interview Wednesday with The Associated Press and reporters from the state’s two largest newspapers, Eichorst said the program is “stable” and the Huskers have a “seasoned coach who has won a bunch of games.”
Last season, a secretly recorded audio of Pelini criticizing fans went public. He also nearly struck a sideline official with his cap during a loss to Iowa. Nebraska finished 9-4 after a bowl win over Georgia.
Eichorst says he wants his coaches to represent the university with “honor and distinction,” to provide athletes with a good experience and compete for championships.
ROSEMONT, Ill. – All 14 Big Ten football coaches will visit ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., headquarters July 30-31 to take part in ESPN’s annual mid-summer college football coaches’ “car wash” – in which guests appear across multiple programs and platforms over one day.
The schedules for the Big Ten coaches will include a mixture of interviews with more than 25 different shows and writers across ESPN’s television, radio and digital media platforms. Outlets may include College Football Live, SportsCenter, First Take, SportsNation, Highly Questionable, Numbers Never Lie and E:60 on television and ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike in the Morning, SVP & Russillo, The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Sedano & Stink, The Freddie Coleman Show, The Dan LeBartard Show and College GameDay Radio.
The coaches will also be interviewed by ESPN.com writers Travis Haney, Ivan Maisel and Brett McMurphy; appear on a variety of podcasts; participate in chats; and more.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska football coach Bo Pelini has received a one-year contract extension through February 2019.
Athletic department spokeswoman Chris Anderson on Friday confirmed the extension, which was first reported by CBSSports.com. Anderson said terms were not immediately available for release.
Pelini is 57-24 in six seasons, but there was speculation about his job status at the end of last season as the Cornhuskers’ streak of no conference championships stretched to 14 years.
Minutes after Nebraska lost its last regular-season game, to Iowa, Pelini defended his record and said, “If they want to fire me, go ahead.” Athletic director Shawn Eichorst issued a statement of support for Pelini the next day, but as recently as Tuesday had refused to answer questions about a contract extension.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska football coach Bo Pelini is crossing the $3 million threshold in annual salary.
According to terms of Pelini’s contract signed in 2012, he’ll receive a $100,000 raise on Saturday. That will take his annual salary from $2.975 million to $3.075 million.
Pelini is 57-24 in six seasons at Nebraska. Former athletic director Tom Osborne extended Pelini’s contract through February 2018 before he retired in December 2012.
Raises were announced for two other Big Ten football coaches this week. Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio will earn $3.64 million in annual compensation under a new six-year contract after being paid $1.99 million last year. Minnesota’s Jerry Kill is making $2.1 million, up from $1.2 million, after having his contract extended a year.
Rosemont, Ill. – The Big Ten office today issued a public reprimand of Nebraska football head coach Bo Pelini for violating the Big Ten Sportsmanship Policy following Nebraska’s game against Iowa on Nov. 29, 2013. In addition, the conference announced that the institution has been fined $10,000 as a result of the violation.
The Big Ten determined that Pelini’s postgame comments regarding officials were in violation of Big Ten Conference Agreement 10.01, which states in part that “The Big Ten Conference expects all contests involving a member institution to be conducted without compromise to any fundamental element of sportsmanship. Such fundamental elements include integrity of competition, civility toward all, and respect, particularly toward opponents and officials.” Coaches are teachers as well, and there is an expectation that they set the example for student-athletes and others in areas of sportslike conduct.
“The University of Nebraska embraces and supports the Big Ten Conference’s Sportsmanship Policy,” said Nebraska Director of Athletics Shawn Eichorst. “In that regard, we were disappointed with Coach Pelini’s actions this past Friday regarding game officials. We immediately recognized and addressed the situation with Coach Pelini and the Big Ten Conference. In addition, Coach Pelini acknowledged and accepted responsibility for the inappropriateness of his actions and issued a public apology in advance of this reprimand.”
The Big Ten Conference considers this matter concluded and will have no further comment.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — For the second year in a row, Nebraska coach Bo Pelini is going into the final week of the regular season facing questions about his job security.
