Outland Trophy crowd focuses on Pelini
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BY BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star
OMAHA — They stood, in fancy clothes, craning necks, whispering and staring. Middle-aged men took out cell phones and aimed them for pictures, for proof to their buddies the next day at work.
“There he is!” one woman said, pointing. Manners could come some other time. Bo Pelini had arrived.
Cortney Grixby looked on, with a bit of a grin.
Husker football coach Bo Pelini said Thursday on the Husker Radio Network that he last spoke to junior I-back Marlon Lucky before the holidays. The coach said he plans on meeting with Lucky in the next few days regarding Lucky’s decision on whether or not to declare for the NFL Draft. The deadline for underclassmen to declare is Tuesday.
On Nebraska’s recruiting situation, Pelini said: “Let’s face it, we were behind the 8-ball from the start. But I feel good about where we are, given the situation we walked into.”
On his coaching staff: “The staff worked out exactly how I envisioned it from Day One. Exactly as I had planned.”
On the praise he has been receiving from his LSU players about his coaching style: “At the end of the day, it’s about relationships, and it’s about family. The only way you can have discipline and accountability is if both sides know they care about each other.”
On the status of his contract: “It’s a done deal,” Pelini said at the Doubletree Hotel, just before the Outland Trophy ceremony. He said he is just waiting to give it a final look and sign it. He is also waiting for athletic director Tom Osborne to return from a trip to California.
” Brian Christopherson and Steven M. Sipple
“He comes in laid-back, that’s what it is,” said Grixby, the former Husker. “It’s laid-back right now, but when you’re on that football field, you know what you’re going to get from him.”
What’s it like, Pelini was asked at one point Thursday night, to walk through a room with all those eyes on you as Nebraska’s head football coach?
“That’s a great thing, because people care,” Pelini said. “That’s what makes it a great job, a great place to be.”
The crowd packed the ballroom at the Doubletree Hotel. The occasion was mainly to honor LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey as the Outland Trophy winner, but also three Husker seniors for team awards: Grixby, Ben Eisenhart and Bo Ruud.
Each award recipient got his due, including a tribute to 1975 Outland Trophy winner Lee Roy Selmon. But the applause was never so loud as when Pelini was introduced.
Even former Sooner Joe Washington, while giving an introduction for Selmon, took his turn at the microphone to direct attention to Pelini.
“You’ve been looking for some help the past four or five years,” Washington told the crowd. “Rest assured, it is here now.”
Several Husker assistant coaches — Ted Gilmore, Ron Brown, Barney Cotton, Mike Ekeler and John Papuchis — were on hand.
“I’ve played for great coaches: Bill Snyder, Bob Stoops, Jim Leavitt, Mike Stoops, coached with those guys. And this guy’s different,” Ekeler said of Pelini. “He’s got more of ‘it’ than I’ve ever been around.”
Yes, the honeymoon rolls on, Nebraskans resting their high hopes on Pelini after a 5-7 season that turned their insides.
Why, people were in such good spirits, they even clapped along when “Boomer Sooner” was played after Selmon spoke.
NU athletic director Tom Osborne has said Pelini’s reclamation project at Nebraska may require two or three years, or even more, before the program is operating at a championship level.
But Pelini was bold Thursday before the banquet while talking on the Husker Radio Network.
“We’re going to set our goals high and shoot for the top,” Pelini said. “I’m not looking at five years down the road. We want to win and win now. We want to win big.”
Thursday was basically Pelini’s first day on the job without any LSU worries. Among his top priorities — other than recruiting, of course — are getting to know his players and getting the winter-conditioning program up and running.
Pelini’s first team meeting will be Sunday night. Winter conditioning begins Monday. He said he’s about ready to announce a strength coach.
He’s hopeful his last act as LSU’s defensive coordinator — a 38-24 triumph against Ohio State in the national championship game Monday — will serve Nebraska well.
“Anytime you’re in the spotlight like that, and they’re talking about the University of Nebraska during the game, it should help recruiting,” Pelini said.
At the banquet, Pelini gave the introductions for Dorsey, Grixby, Eisenhart and Ruud.
“I can’t tell you what an honor and a privilege it was to coach Glenn Dorsey,” he said. “You want to talk about a coach’s dream. He’s sitting right over there.”
He cracked a joke when introducing Grixby as the winner of the Tom Novak Trophy, awarded for his determination.
“When you’re 5-8 or 5-9 or whatever Cortney is, a lot of people think he’s 5-foot,” Pelini said. He looked over at Grixby to make sure he was laughing, then started laughing himself.
When recognizing Eisenhart, the walk-on from Culbertson, for the Cletus Fischer Native Son Award, Pelini said: “What Ben represents is a big part of what this program needs. The more Ben Eisenharts we have, the better off this program’s going to be.”
The crowd gave Dorsey a standing ovation after Pelini introduced him.
“Coach, I’m going to miss you so much,” Dorsey said, giving a hearty laugh.
Then he pulled a Nebraska hat from behind the podium and put it on his head. “Can you sign me up?”
Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7439 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.
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