Suh success helps Carl Pelini nip nepotism charge

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — When former Fitch High coach Carl Pelini became Nebraska’s defensive coordinator, unimpressed critics said it was because of his bloodline.

Validation has come because of his defensive line.

The Cornhuskers have gone from having one of the nation’s worst defenses to one of the best the past two seasons, and head coach Bo Pelini has received almost all the credit from fans and media.

Big brother Carl? Mostly overlooked.

“I think he has,” Bo Pelini said. “Yeah, it’s my system, quote-unquote, but it has evolved and changes year to year. Obviously, Carl has done a phenomenal job.”

Fans still wonder who really is in charge of the defense.

Is it Bo, 42, who carries the defensive play sheet on game days?

Is it Carl, 44, who stands next to Bo and sends signals from the sideline?

The Pelinis give the same answer, one corroborated by the players: Calls are made by committee, with give-and-take between the assistants and Bo.

“Because I signal, I’m not carrying the call sheet,” Carl said. “Bo might say, ‘Let’s bring pressure.’ I’ll throw out a blitz and then we’ll decide which one. Or I’ll say, ‘Let’s go get him,’ and he’ll throw out a blitz.”’

The most tangible evidence of Carl’s impact is on the defensive line, the position he oversees along with ends coach John Papuchis.

“Evaluate me in terms of the performance of my players,” Carl said, “and I think any idea of nepotism will go away.”

His star pupil is Associated Press national player of the year Ndamukong Suh, the dominating tackle who finished fourth in Heisman voting.

Carl’s emphasis on teaching fundamentals and his ability to motivate, colleagues say, helped Suh go from being an underperforming player two years ago to potentially the top overall pick in the NFL draft pick.

The Huskers have another developing star in tackle Jared Crick, an All-Big 12 first-team pick who’ll succeed Suh as the line’s anchor next season.

The line has accounted for 30 of the team’s 42 sacks.

Bo clearly handled the day-to-day management of the defense in 2008. But with Bo devoting more time to the Huskers’ struggling offense since midseason, Carl has taken the lead role in game-planning.

The Huskers are second nationally in scoring defense at 11.2 points a game. That’s a substantial improvement from 28.5 last year and 37.3 in 2007. They’ve allowed only 55 points in second halves, fewest in the nation.

They’re ninth in total defense (285 ypg), an improvement from 55th last year (350 ypg) and 112th (477 ypg) two years ago.

Suh said the public might think Bo is running the whole show, but the players know different.

“I would say it’s both of them,” Suh said. “They choose and pick their turns when they step up. They’re definitely great leaders in my eyes. I would say coach Carl more or less is put in the bigger position because he’s the D-coordinator. He speaks to us the majority of the time.”

Carl said he knew when he joined Bo at Nebraska that it would be difficult for him to establish his own identity.

“I watched it happen with the Stoopses at Oklahoma. And I watched it happen with the Stoopses at Arizona,” Carl said. “They kind of get lumped together, fair or not. I don’t worry too much about how it’s perceived from the outside. All I care about is the final product.”

The Stoops and Pelini boys grew up together in Youngstown, Ohio. Bob Stoops used to have brother Mike as his defensive coordinator at Oklahoma. When Mike left to become head coach at Arizona — Nebraska’s opponent in the Holiday Bowl — he hired brother Mark as his defensive coordinator.

Bob Stoops, whose Sooners were held without a touchdown for the first time since 1998 in a 10-3 loss to the Huskers on Nov. 7, said the fiery Pelini brothers complement each other.

“I think there’s always a little more pressure, just to help your brother,” Stoops said. “I laugh when I see them yelling at each other because I know what that’s like.”

Carl said he wants to become a head coach some day — his name was connected to the Youngstown State job that Eric Wolford got — and he’s confident that people in position to make hires are aware of his value at Nebraska.

“I think if they have another defensive year like they did this year, he’ll get more credit,” said Gil Brandt, former Dallas Cowboys player personnel director who now is draft guru for NFL.com. “Assistants, even the ones whose brother is head coach, have to earn their way.”

Bo Pelini established himself as one of college football’s top defensive minds before Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne hired him away from LSU, where he was coordinator of the Tigers’ 2007 national-championship defense.

Carl’s coaching resume was a bit thin, by major-college standards, when Bo gave him the coordinator’s job at Nebraska.

He was a graduate assistant and restricted earnings coach at Kansas State (1989-91) and then a high school head coach in Kansas and Ohio.

He spent a year as a GA at Nebraska in 2003 under Frank Solich. Bo was the defensive coordinator that season, and Carl had to settle for the GA spot after Solich hired Jimmy Williams over him to coach linebackers.

After Solich and most of his staff were fired after the ‘03 season, Carl was defensive coordinator at Division II Minnesota State-Mankato for a year. From there he went to Ohio University, where he was Solich’s defensive line coach from 2005-07.

Did Bo Pelini think Carl’s hiring would be perceived as nepotism?

“I didn’t even consider it,” Bo said. “I know how intelligent he is, and how intelligent he is football-wise. I knew what I was getting.”

As long as Carl is at Nebraska, he knows he’ll have to continue to prove himself because of his last name.

“I don’t feel I’m less accountable. I almost feel I’m more accountable, from a sense of loyalty,” Carl said. “I know his life’s dream from the time he was 22 or 23 was to be a head coach. Now he’s got it. I’m not going to be the one to let him down.”