Making The List

If Les Miles takes the Michigan job you can bet that Nebraska Head Coach Bo Pelini will pop up on one or more short lists to be the next head coach at LSU.

This would not be the first time nor will it be the last time Pelini ends up on a “list”.  He was mentioned and I believe a real candidate for the job at Miami and he was also mentioned for the Michigan job, however I don’t find that one as plausible.

These lists drive fans nuts!  I copied a posting from bigrednetwork.com:

“Where does this crap come from?  I’m so sick of the “press” generating these freaking rumors.  Wow!  Keep your freaking months (pens, keyboards) shut till you hear it from the horse’s mouth. Good Lord People! Pelini would not leave NU to go to a Big 10 Team, especially now!"

Yes he would… Ohio State.

The easy thing for fans to do is blame talking heads, fish wrap writers and bloggers.  Lists can fuel rumors, but more times than not there’s some truth in it, or it can at least be plausible.

Bo Pelini to LSU is not only plausible, it is downright believable.  He was very successful as the Tigers defensive coordinator.  He’s now an established head coach with an average of 10 wins per season.  He knows the LSU tradition and expectations and by all accounts his players liked him and so did the fans.

Iowa fans have been through this more than once with Kirk Ferentz.  Ferentz has been on a lot of lists, mostly of the NFL variety.  He has been a serious candidate for more than one job only to stay in Iowa City and give Hawkeye fans a huge sigh of relief.  Why wouldn’t he?  He makes a ton of money and people love him. (For now) However, the more Ferentz wins the more lists he will be on.  Same can be said for Pelini.

What I don’t understand about the “lists” is the fans reaction to them.  Like this post I found on the internet concerning Pelini.

“The press has gotten ridiculous.  It used to be that in order for anything to be reported, there had to be a “source” and a reliable one at that.  Now every douche with a computer or a twitter account becomes the “press”.  No wonder Bo hates dealing with the media so much, it’s worse than a bunch of school girls.”

Now I have been a member of the established “press” for the past 20 years.  I have a computer, I have a twitter account, I have a blog and I have a website.   In all my dealings with coaches during this time, most, if not all of them didn’t mind dealing with me.

I came up with a list when Hayden Fry left Iowa, I’ll admit that Kirk Ferentz wasn’t on it.  I came up with a list when Bill Byrne left Nebraska for Texas A&M and I’m sorry to say Steve Pederson was number one on my list.  I came up with a list when Frank Solich was fired at Nebraska; it’s too bad Pederson didn’t look at it.   It was better than what he came up with.

When coaches and administrators leave this is always speculation by the media on who will replace them.  Call it a wish list, a starting point.  The real reporting starts when interviews take place.  I remember tracking a private plane’s tail number from a Norfolk, NE airport on its way to Baton Rouge, LA. Trust me, fans wanted to know who was on that plane.  It was Tom Osborne going to talk to Bo Pelini.

I’m here to tell you, as a fan don’t get mad at lists and rumors;  be glad your coach is good enough to get on a list!  Let me say it again, be glad, jump up and down, celebrate, shout it out loud!  Why?  I would rather have a coach who is hot than one who is not.

If my coach is in demand and on wish list (long or short) this means he (or she) for Title 9 purposes is doing something right.  This means other teams want what my team has.  If they want it, they are going to have to come and take it.

Do you remember Frank Solich being on any list?  How about Bill Callahan?  Okay, maybe a hit list by Husker fans. 

Sleep well knowing you have a coach who is in demand and not one people just say…. He’s a good guy doing a good job. 

I have news for you, if a coach wants to leave, and I think Bo will leave one day as will Ferentz, it’s because they WANT to.  The think it’s time or they just want a different challenge. 

The truth is fans deep down love the so called “lists” and rumor mills.  They react negatively when it’s something they don’t want to hear.  That’s why they are fans.  But in today’s instant information society a lot more reporting is based off of info pinion than fact, it’s not going to change.

You are reading this blog for information as well as opinion.  I hope you come back to read more.  I hope you tell a friend or two and they read it and tell more friends.

The thought of losing your head coach sucks, but the thought of having a head coach nobody wants sucks even more.  

A coach in demand means the programs you support is in good hands… At least for now.