Bo Pelini needs to immediately change his name to Beaux Pelini because the former angriest man in Nebraska is making his return to the bayou. He is headed to LSU to fill their defensive coordinator position, which became open after Dave Aranda left to be the head coach at Baylor.
NEWS: Former #Huskers coach and current Youngstown State coach Bo Pelini is expected to replace Dave Aranda as #LSU‘s next defensive coordinator, sources tell @SINow.
Pelini’s multi-year deal will pay him around $2M a year. He served as DC under Les Miles from 2005-07.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) January 27, 2020
Pelini spent the last five seasons basically in hiding as the Youngstown State head coach. The Penguins finished 33-28 overall and 18-22 in the Missouri Valley Conference, losing the FCS Championship in 2016.
Prior to Youngstown State, Pelini coached at Nebraska for seven years. The Cornhuskers won nine or 10 games every season before he was fired in a move that makes the administration look pretty dumb considering what Nebraska turned into since he left.
One of the reasons he was fired because Nebraska couldn’t win the big game, but his in-your-face demeanor likely had a lot to do with his removal, whether it was with players, officials and even fans. We talk all the time about “Nebraska Nice,” but I’m not sure there are two people who hated each other more in the state than Bo Pelini and then-Nebraska athletic director Shawn Eichorst.
Will this work for LSU? He certainly has a solid resume and held this same position in Baton Rouge for three years including the national title season in 2007, but this will be a major culture shock to that defense that is used to Dave Aranda’s more calm approach. Maybe Pelini changed since Nebraska because full disclosure: I have not watched a whole lot of Youngstown State football the past few seasons.
LSU pays its assistants as much as any team in college football, so it seems like the Tigers could’ve gone after some of the best candidates in the country and it seems like they’re settling on a guy like Pelini, who can bring plenty of baggage with him.
This is big news for Bo Pelini, it’s big news for LSU football and most importantly, it’s big news for the @FauxPelini Twitter account, who I must admit has lost its mojo as one of the top Twitter follows since Bo Pelini went to the FCS.
Keep the conversation going by reaching out to Erik Buchinger on Twitter or email erik@deceptivespeed.com.