Bo Pelini

The following year, Nebraska's defense fell to 56th nationally.

Mark Anthony "Bo" Pelini (born December 13, 1967) is a former American football coach and former player.

He was most recently the defensive coordinator for the Louisiana State University Tigers football team.

He is the younger brother of former Florida Atlantic head coach Carl Pelini, who has frequently worked under Bo as an assistant coach.

After graduating from Youngstown Cardinal Mooney High School (the same high school as Bob Stoops, former head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners), he went on to play free safety for the Buckeyes at Ohio State University under College Football Hall of Fame head coaches Earle Bruce and John Cooper from 1987 to 1990.

Pelini started in his last two years, and served as a team co-captain in his senior year, along with Vinnie Clark, Jeff Graham, and Greg Frey.

He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Ohio State College of Business in December 1990.

Following his playing career, Pelini began his coaching career at the University of Iowa as a graduate assistant for the Iowa Hawkeyes under Hayden Fry in 1991.

During this period, he also completed his master’s degree in sports administration from Ohio University in 1992.

In 1993, he served for one year as quarterbacks coach at Cardinal Mooney High School in Youngstown.

Following the season, Pelini was briefly employed as linebackers coach with the Detroit Drive of the Arena Football League.

In 1994, Pelini got his first position in the National Football League when he was hired by San Francisco 49ers head coach George Seifert as a scouting assistant.

He was quickly promoted to assistant secondary coach, and by the spring of 1994 he had been promoted again to defensive backs coach.

In 1995, in his new position, he coached in his first Super Bowl as the 49ers defeated the San Diego Chargers 49–26 in Super Bowl XXIX.

In 1997, Pelini was hired by New England Patriots head coach Pete Carroll, again as defensive backs coach, helping the Patriots reach the playoffs twice during his three years there.

In 2000, Pelini became the linebackers coach for the Green Bay Packers under head coach Mike Sherman.

Green Bay posted a 33–15 record and reached the playoffs twice in Pelini's three years there as linebackers coach.

In 2002, the season prior to his hiring, Cornhuskers' defense was ranked 55th nationally.

Pelini returned to the college ranks in 2003 when he was hired as Defensive Coordinator for the Nebraska Cornhuskers by Head Coach Frank Solich.

Pelini was named the interim head coach and led the Cornhuskers to a 17–3 win over the Michigan State Spartans in the 2003 Alamo Bowl.

Pelini interviewed for the Nebraska head coach position, but Pederson instead decided after a 41-day search to hire Bill Callahan, recently head coach of the Oakland Raiders.

For 2004, Pelini joined the Oklahoma Sooners as co-defensive coordinator under head coach Bob Stoops, helping the Sooners to a 6th place national rushing defense and 11th place national scoring defense on their way towards winning the 2004 Big 12 Championship Game and a spot in the 2005 BCS National Championship Game, where they were defeated 55–19 by the USC Trojans.

In 2005, Pelini was hired by LSU Tigers Head Coach Les Miles, again as defensive coordinator.

His success continued, as LSU was ranked 3rd nationally in overall defense for each of his three years with the Tigers.

Pelini served as head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers from December 2007 until November 2014 and later served as head coach of the Youngstown State University football team from 2015 through 2019.

Prior to leading the football program at Nebraska, he was the defensive coordinator for the LSU Tigers, Oklahoma Sooners, and the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Pelini was raised in Youngstown, Ohio, a former center of steel production with a strong athletic tradition.

He was nicknamed "Bo" after former Cleveland Browns running back Bo Scott.

At the conclusion of the 2007 regular season, the LSU Tigers defeated the Tennessee Volunteers 21–14 in the 2007 SEC Championship Game and went on to win 38–24 against the Ohio State Buckeyes, Pelini's alma mater, in the 2008 BCS National Championship Game.

During the 2007 football season, Nebraska Chancellor Harvey Perlman fired athletic director Steve Pederson, and appointed former Cornhuskers head coach Tom Osborne as Interim Athletic Director.

One day after the Cornhuskers' final game of the season, a 65–51 loss to the Colorado Buffaloes and finishing the season with 5 wins and 7 losses, Osborne fired Bill Callahan and announced an immediate search for a new football coach.

Pelini was selected after a nine-day search as the next head coach.

Two names revealed among five interviewed candidates included Buffalo head coach Turner Gill and Wake Forest Demon Deacons head coach Jim Grobe.

2008 season

Nebraska opened up with 3 straight wins against Western Michigan Broncos, San Jose State Spartans, and New Mexico State Aggies.

Bo Pelini's arrival saw a renewed interest and optimism in Nebraska football, as evidenced by their record Pay-Per View buys.

Nebraska then proceeded to lose a close game to Virginia Tech Hokies, and then suffered the worst home loss in school history to the Missouri Tigers 52–17 the next week.

The first road game of the season produced a loss to the Texas Tech Red Raiders in overtime despite giving up 8.77 yards per play.

In his first year it improved to 11th and led the country in turnover margin.

At the conclusion of the regular season, despite posting a 9–3 record, Solich was fired by new Nebraska athletic director Steve Pederson.