I honestly do not care to listen to sports talk show host Jim Rome but I actually found a reason to make an exception on Thursday.
He had Nebraska football head coach Bo Pelini on as his guest on “Jim Rome is Burning” just two days before the Huskers open their season at home against Florida Atlantic. Rome he hosts The Jim Rome Show and hosts the TV show Jim Rome Is Burning (formerly Rome Is Burning) which airs on ESPN. I personally have never cared for Rome’s brash personality. He often sounds like someone that has yet to reach puberty but that’s another story.
Pelini has also twice been on Rome’s radio program while athletic director Tom Osborne has been Rome’s guest once.
Rome and Pelini hit on a variety of topics:
1) “NU is competing for a Big 12 Championship.”
Getting to the Big 12 title game will be much easier than winning it because the South will theoretically always have a leg up on the North with Oklahoma and Texas being two brand name programs that are among the elite of college football. In the North, Nebraska is still a brand name program despite its struggles this decade and while last year’s 9-4 season was a step in the right direction, the Huskers are not yet the elite program they were for so many years. Nebraska has not beaten Texas since 1999 and Oklahoma since 2001. The Huskers losses to Texas have been mostly of the hard-luck variety. Three of Nebraska’s four defeats to the Longhorns this decade have been by seven points or less and that includes Husker teams that went 7-7 in 2002 and 5-7 in 2007. Nebraska has gone 1-5 against the Sooners in the 2000s with just one of those defeats being by less than 14 points.
2) “Zac Lee is a talanted athlete and leader who has the tools; he’s just inexperienced. He just needs to manage the game and play within himself.”
The term “manage the game” can be viewed as a slight in that it could mean the quarterback is not good enough to win it, just don’t screw it up. The truth of the matter is that Lee’s only Div. I-A experience has come in garbage time. Lee has the athletic measureables such as arm strength and athleticism. The most important things for Lee to show are a) Gaining respect of teammates, b) Make the right decisions and c) Handle adversity with poise.
3) “Players understand what is expected of them and they know expectations have increased.”
Since this is only Pelini’s second year, he is still going to deal with some collateral damage from the prior coaching regime. Players might have gotten used to doing things a certain way. With Pelini, there are no shortcuts to success.
4) “To win championships, you need to be able to run the ball and stop the run.”
With the passing game becoming increasing more mainstream, that argument is less true now. It mostly depends on who your quarterback is. If you have a great quarterback, you can get away with not having a star running game. However, college is also much different than the NFL in that the quarterback is an extension of the game. That said, there’s nothing that breaks a team’s will more than running the ball down their throat.
5) “The Big 12 compares favorably to the SEC.”
In one respect, the SEC’s reputation as a conference deep with strong teams is a bit overdone but there’s no denying that it is a collectively strong conference. However, the whole “best conference” debate is a subjective one. Some years, it’s the SEC. Others, it might be the Big 12. Some years, it’s the Pac-10. Others, it’s the Big Ten.
6) “The defense improved quite a bit from 2007 but was nowhere near where I want it to be. The Blackshirts are not there yet but I’m excited about our defense.”
To say Nebraska improved defensively would be like saying Dolly Parton has large breasts. The Huskers improved from No. 112 to No. 55. Nebraska definitely played with effort, which would count as progress but too many mental errors and assignments plaqued the team. There will be some this year too, it’s just a matter of reducing them. With Big 12 offenses producing basketball-like point totals, Nebraska might be hard-pressed to produce a Top Ten defense but a Top 25 seems reasonable.
7) “Pelini credits Tom Osborne for helping him understand the culture, tradition and fan base at Nebraska and how important football is to the entire state. He then says that former head coach Bill Callahan didn’t have that, pointing out that former athletic director Steve Pederson failed him in that regard.”
Callahan made more than his share of mistakes in his time as Nebraska’s head coach – too many to list. I find it intersting but not surprising that Pelini gave the impression of defending Callahan. Since the coaching profession is like it’s own fraternity, most coaches will generally take the high road on blasting other coaches. Yes, Callahan did himself very few favors but it should also be pointed out that Pederson did him none. Again, I’m not surprised that Pelini semi-defended Callahan but Pederson is fair game.
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