Curt McKeever: Pelini brothers made dad proud
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — My grandfather built a successful family farming business along the Merrimac River valley southwest of St. Louis, plush and fertile land my uncle still works to this day.
Before he was old enough to leave for college, an education deemed vital by his school teacher mother, my dad knew what he wanted to do with his life. And it had nothing to do with agriculture.
Years later, after he’d started his career and would return for visits, grandpa would make it a habit to introduce my dad to his friends not by name but by title.
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“This is my son, the doctor,” he’d say.
Now, for anyone whose greatest desires included pleasing one’s parents, there probably weren’t many bigger moments than those for my father.
Which leads me to today’s Gator Bowl between Clemson and Nebraska.
For Husker coach Bo Pelini and brother Carl, NU’s defensive coordinator, this past week has to have been a trying one. Their 85-year-old dad, who’d been ill this fall, passed away two days before Christmas.
Both returned to their hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, to be with family, and after attending services for their father, joined their team here Saturday.
“Time to get back to work,” Bo said.
We can be sure Pelini already had the deep respect and love of his father long before he became NU’s coach. Strong in character, he’d already compiled a long list of accomplishments in the coaching business.
But Bo and Carl have to be especially grateful for the way things have panned out for the Huskers this season. Their first as captain and co-captain of a Big Red super-liner that had run aground in 2007 had to be one that made them even bigger in their dad’s eyes.
And that pride was reciprocated.
Last summer, just before Father’s Day, Pelini told the Journal Star’s Brian Christopherson how his dad used to hang a baseball from the ceiling in the family garage, mapping out a batter’s box so his sons had their own makeshift batting cage.
Anthony Pelini didn’t grow up an athlete like Bo and Carl, but that didn’t stop him from trying to teach lessons that would serve them well in (and out of) that arena.
“(Dad) didn’t sit there and watch me practice,” Pelini recalled. “But he’d have things to say like, ‘This is how you practice, this is what you do. You’re not just going to show up and be good.’”
Nebraska’s 2008 season proved to be one of the last reminders that his words had gotten through.
So, has Bo Pelini set the bar too high? After an 8-4 regular season in which NU went from tied for last in the Big 12 North at 2-6 last year to tied for first at 5-3, fans are going to get greedy. Right? Heck, fellow Youngstown native, ‘Big Game’ Bob Stoops, went 7-4 his first year at Oklahoma, lost to Mississippi in the Independence Bowl and still came back to win a national championship the next season.
Enough said.
Win or lose today, enjoy the now. With Pelini, Nebraska is extremely organized and possesses a strong work ethic, but those alone hardly guarantee success in the Big 12.
If progress comes smoothly, Pelini will have overcome long odds.
We can be sure the Huskers will be somewhere else this time next year (because the Gator Bowl can’t pick a Big 12 team). But it would be mostly wishful thinking to expect a BCS game to be on the immediate horizon.
For starters, breaking in a new quarterback will be a major hurdle. Yes, Joe Ganz was that special for the offense.
Defensively, while Nebraska finished third in the Big 12 in yards allowed, the average of 361.5 is hardly the standard Pelini seeks. Nor is he ecstatic about giving up at least 28 points, like the Huskers did in each of the last four games.
In fairness, NU gave up an average of 115.3 fewer yards (mostly against the run) than last year’s dysfunctional bunch. That was the fifth-largest jump nationally. Next year’s team will have a proven force, tackle Ndamukong Suh, and another who was becoming one before he was injured in the second game and lost for the season, end Barry Turner. I contend, though, the players most important to continued improvement are Larry Asante and Rickey Thenarse. The play of the safeties in Nebraska’s scheme is huge.
Offensively, look for tight end Mike McNeill to break onto the nation scene, and for Keith Williams and Jaivorio Burkes to be solid anchors to a surprisingly sturdy line.
Whoa! That’s not enjoying the now, is it?
Sorry about that, because the now definitely has intrigue and mystery.
Clemson led the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring defense at 16.6 points per game. But when you figure four touchdowns came on interception returns and another on a blocked punt, the defense actually gave up just 14.3 points per game.
And you thought 2009 was going to be easier than last year.
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
