Is Florida Atlantic Interested in Carl Pelini?

by Husker Mike on Nov 29, 2011 10:07 PM CST in 2011 Nebraska Huskers Football

Is Carl Pelini headed to South Beach? (Photo by Eric Francis/Getty Images)

Chuck King of Owl Insider reported last week that Florida Atlantic athletic director Craig Angelos traveled to Lincoln to discuss the Owls now-vacant head coaching position with Nebraska defensive coordinator Carl Pelini. FAU is looking for a successor to Howard Schnellenberger, who announced his retirement plans at the end of this season in August. Last Saturday, the Owls defeated Alabama-Birmingham 38-35 to send Schnellenberger out a winner.

That victory was Florida Atlantic's only victory on the season; the Owls went 1-11 on the season. Even Western Kentucky beat the Owls 20-0 in Boca Raton this season. So whomever Florida Atlantic turns to, the next coach will have quite a bit of work to do.

Is Carl Pelini a serious candidate for the FAU job? FAU athletic director Angelos has done a fairly good job keeping his candidate list quiet, though it's believed he's been targeting offensive coaches. Schnellenberger's teams have gone downhill since 2008's Motor City Bowl team. Even with a senior quarterback in Rusty Smith, the Owls couldn't get back to a bowl game after offensive coordinator Gary Nord left for Purdue. Angelos is looking for a coach who will implement a spread attack, thinking that will give them a better chance to compete in the Sun Belt conference.

But that doesn't mean that Pelini isn't a candidate, though I'm sure one of the biggest questions Pelini will face is who he'd bring in as his offensive coordinator. If Carl leaves the shadow of his brother, who would Bo Pelini bring in to replace Carl?

Considering the issues on defense this season, would another change on the coaching staff provide Bo Pelini and opportunity to further refine his coaching staff? Or would it raise even more questions going into the 2012 season?

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In a way I'd welcome it

I’m not by any stretch saying Carl is a bad coach and/or a liability. Carl’s value to the program is kind of hard to measure since he and Bo are virtually always talked about in the same sentence with regard to their defensive aptitude. We do know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Bo knows defense, so again, it’s kind of hard to gauge how big of a part Carl has been in our defensive turnaround.

But that’s not the reason why a part of me thinks it would be good for Carl to get hired away. What I’m more concerned about is unwarranted loyalty. Loyalty is generally viewed as a positive attribute, but not when it exceeds proper boundaries. Had Callahan not put his friendship with Cosgrove before what was plainly obvious to everyone else in the country (Cosgrove was a horrid DC), he’d probably still be the coach here. Likewise, I’m not sure if Bo would be able to bring himself to fire his brother even if it was in the best interest of the program. It’d be a shame if a situation like that were to damage the program.

"My hardest job is to convince the people of Nebraska that 10-1 is not a losing season." - Tom Osborne

by jdhusker on Nov 29, 2011 10:26 PM CST reply actions

Pretty interesting point.

By the way, should I be glad that the HC was such good friends with a horrid DC? Cuz i kinda hated both of em. And if it took Corey McKeon “not having fun anymore” to get those tradition ruining bastards out of here, then so be it.

Sorry. I have flashbacks when the names are spoken.

by BIGRED J on Nov 29, 2011 10:38 PM CST up reply actions

Up until this season...

…the defense hasn’t been an issue.

That being said, this season’s issues seemed to be focused on the secondary more than anything, and I attribute that to the loss of Marvin Sanders more than anything.

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by Husker Mike on Nov 29, 2011 11:09 PM CST up reply actions

Yeah

Again, my comment had nothing really to do with me thinking Carl’s doing an inadequate job (I don’t) I’m just a little uncomfortable with the idea of having an assistant on staff that Bo potentially wouldn’t be willing to fire even if it needed to be done.

"My hardest job is to convince the people of Nebraska that 10-1 is not a losing season." - Tom Osborne

by jdhusker on Nov 30, 2011 12:02 AM CST up reply actions

Also, no Prince.

With Prince and Dennard playing, we had two shut down corners.

Add in Hagg at peso, and our secondary was basically like throwing through plate glass.

Play for the love of the game. A Cornhusker through feast or famine. That's the Nebraska way.

by Salt Creek and Stadium on Nov 30, 2011 12:09 AM CST up reply actions

Agreed

Don’t forget Gomes, he’s also playing on Sundays now.

I think Corey Raymond had a really tough job this year replacing those guys with a bunch of guys who didn’t have that much experience if any. I’ve previously mentioned this, but I think that the real test for Corey Raymond’s coaching is Stanley Jean-Baptiste. He’s already proven that he has the athletic ability and the tools needed to be a great corner. Now it’s on the coaches to get him to play the position at a high level. If Baptiste doesn’t succeed, it’s on Raymond.

Look me up on youtube sometime...if you're really bored.

by Billgrip on Nov 30, 2011 9:36 AM CST up reply actions

Gomes

was my favorite to watch. Kid had a knack for the ball.

by JimmytheRed on Nov 30, 2011 10:28 AM CST up reply actions

On Callahan

Had Callahan not put his friendship with Cosgrove before what was plainly obvious to everyone else in the country (Cosgrove was a horrid DC), he’d probably still be the coach here.

I don’t know about that. Even if he had a decent defense don’t forget that he rubbed a lot of people the wrong way by taking our traditions, burning them to the ground, and then peeing on the ashes. Because of that, I don’t think people around here would have had much patience for him long-term, even if he could win somewhat consistently. Don’t forget that par for him was about one or two really stupid comments every few months, like “Crusty-old f**k” in reference to T.O., or “We are the dumbest team in America” (when he was with Oakland), or implying that the fan base in Nebraska is too stupid to understand football.

The defense was the main problem, but it wasn’t the only problem. Our offense was pretty good statistically the last couple years, but people don’t mention is that we still laid some nasty eggs from time to time. Part of the reason we had so many points and yards in 2007 was because we were usually far enough behind that our opponents could just go into prevent defense and coast. I recall a few times where we were completely shut down early and then got some points in garbage time after the game was decided (USC 2007 being the most obvious example).

Look me up on youtube sometime...if you're really bored.

by Billgrip on Nov 30, 2011 9:56 AM CST up reply actions

Comments about TO were made following Steve's removal.

If you win football games, fans don’t get angry.

If Callahan had brought someone like Greg Mattison in and fielded a capable defense, BC would still be coach of Nebraska.

Play for the love of the game. A Cornhusker through feast or famine. That's the Nebraska way.

by Salt Creek and Stadium on Nov 30, 2011 4:20 PM CST up reply actions

Would Mike Stoops

be an option?

Not the victory, but the action. Not the goal, but the game. In the deed, the glory.

by AdamTheTitan on Nov 30, 2011 12:42 AM CST reply actions

That's the scuttlebutt...

Not sure I’m buying it, because Stoops didn’t do THAT badly at Arizona. He may wish to pursue a lower level (MAC/Sun Belt) head job. Heck, he might even be on FAU’s list as well, for all we know. The FAU list isn’t well known.

And while Bo likes to hire guys he’s worked with before, does he want a former head coach as an assistant?

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by Husker Mike on Nov 30, 2011 6:48 AM CST up reply actions

I'm guessing he knows the Stoopses pretty well, so that wouldn't be an issue.

Still, I’m guessing Mike wouldn’t want to go from HC to DC at a school like Nebraska.

Bo probably takes over DC duties and hires a ST coordinator.

Play for the love of the game. A Cornhusker through feast or famine. That's the Nebraska way.

by Salt Creek and Stadium on Nov 30, 2011 4:22 PM CST up reply actions

Seems like a step down

I am not saying Carl is ready for a major program, but he could do better tha FAU right?
Seems like he could get a MWC/C-USA level program, or perhaps a traditonal patsy like Washington State. I can see him leaving a high level job like Nebraska DC for the first HC job he comes across.

So I tried the Barbasol and Rotel dip and I was very dissapointed!

by Amonra on Nov 30, 2011 9:10 AM CST reply actions

Gotta start somewhere

Look me up on youtube sometime...if you're really bored.

by Billgrip on Nov 30, 2011 9:44 AM CST up reply actions

I don't think Carl's stock is that high

Because of the widespread perception that Bo, not Carl, is the driving force behind Nebraska’s strong defenses. I have no idea how true that perception is, but I think FAU may actually be the best Carl could do at this point – if that.

by Cheeseandcorn on Nov 30, 2011 10:42 AM CST up reply actions

Wonder if Carl would be better served making a lateral transfer to prove his defensive chops.

Play for the love of the game. A Cornhusker through feast or famine. That's the Nebraska way.

by Salt Creek and Stadium on Nov 30, 2011 4:23 PM CST up reply actions

Wasn't Tennessee interested in Carl?

Or am I remembering that wrong? Tennessee is a better job than FAU, right?

by BIGRED J on Nov 30, 2011 9:26 AM CST reply actions

I don't think it was Tennessee

If you’re referring to the rumors last year, I think it was some other small school like FAU in the southeast. I googled it and couldn’t find anything but I remember he was a candidate for some job last year and I know it wasn’t super high-profile, like this one.

Look me up on youtube sometime...if you're really bored.

by Billgrip on Nov 30, 2011 9:42 AM CST up reply actions