OPINION

By Tom Dienhart

updated 6:40 p.m. ET April 7, 2008

Tom Dienhart

LINCOLN, Neb. - Got Bo? Nebraska does. It says so right here, across the chest of all these bright-red T-shirts in the Nebraska bookstore. For just $14.99, one can be yours.

Bo Pelini — they're crazy about him here, just nutso for the new Nebraska coach, the king of the whole state. Because that's what he is, really. King. And at this very nanosecond, the king is sitting on his throne, a big chair in this big office on the second floor of big Memorial Stadium. Yes, here sits the man who will make Nebraska a college football power again — or so everyone Big Red hopes.

The kingdom looks a lot different these days. A program that used to road-grade opponents into roadkill and stacked up five national titles since Bob Devaney began laying bricks for its foundation back in 1962 is a black-and-blue pulp of its former self. The bricks, the foundation — all of it is gone, the work of Devaney and Tom Osborne in ruins after four horrific years under Bill Callahan.

Last week, Pelini slipped a whistle around his neck and began his first spring practice in charge. "We won't be playing tag out there," he says. "I am focused on laying the foundation needed to make us great. If we do that — keep laying bricks — all of that other stuff will take care of itself."

This doesn't figure to be a speedy recovery. Laying bricks, building a foundation — those things take hard work and time. Pelini is used to working hard — that's no problem. He's a simple man with a simple plan.

Pelini rises at 7 a.m., eats a bowl of oatmeal and shoves up his sleeves. First stop: getting his kids to school. Patrick, Kate and Caralyn, the apples of his piercing eyes, stare down at him from a family portrait that hangs behind his desk in his office. In the hallway on his way here, he passes a display case that holds glittering championship trophies. You know, just in case he forgets where he is — and what's expected.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves with title talk. This is just the beginning. Pelini is still getting to know his players and what makes them tick. That's the key, the secret to his success. "One of my talents is figuring out what motivates people," says Pelini, a former Ohio State safety who squeezes in daily workouts and, at 40, still looks capable of ripping the head off a receiver crossing the middle. "I do that by getting to know them as people and earning their trust and respect.

"I love my guys. I really do. And they know that. I never throw my guys under the bus. If we win, it's because of the players. If we lose, it's because of the coaches. That's how it has to be. It's really pretty simple to play for me. There are no gray areas. It's black and white. If they don't buy in, they can leave."

Pelini learned from the best during a fast-track career in which an early stop was as a 26-year-old assistant for the San Francisco 49ers. He was coaching defensive backs older than him. Didn't matter. Pelini earned their respect because he worked hard — and he taught them things that made them better.

"I learned a lot from George Seifert," says Pelini. "Some little things. He'd say to an assistant, 'That's not how we do it around here.' And the players naturally rallied around their assistant coach and played harder for him. And that makes the team better. And that makes you win games."

Winning? There hasn't been a lot of that lately in Lincoln. The Huskers haven't been Big 12 champs since 1999. The program suffered two losing records the last four years, for crying out loud. That's two more than Nebraska had in the 42 years before Callahan arrived. Last year was rock bottom: The trampler became the trampled.

USC 49, Nebraska 31
Missouri 41, Nebraska 6
Oklahoma State 45, Nebraska 14
Texas A&M 36, Nebraska 14
Kansas 76, Nebraska 39
Colorado 65, Nebraska 51

"Looking back on the numbers doesn't do us any good," says defensive end Zach Potter. "It just puts us down. It just hurts us. We need to forget last year and move on."

Pelini is here to ease the pain of an aching Husker Nation that longs for yesterday. But hiring him doesn't come without risk. The guy has never been a head coach. And if the losses mount this fall, how will he react? Pelini has never been involved with a losing team during a coaching career that has taken him to the 49ers, Patriots, Packers, Nebraska, Oklahoma, LSU and back to Nebraska.

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