Bo Pelini close to hiring brother at YSU

March 3, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Nine members of Bo Pelini’s coaching staff officially started on Monday.

The 10th should join them soon.

Bo Pelini’s older brother, Carl, flew into town on Sunday night to finalize an agreement for him to become Youngstown State’s defensive line coach.

“I think he’s ready to take it [the job] if all goes smooth,” a YSU source said Monday afternoon. “We’re closer.”

Three of Pelini’s assistants are holdovers from Eric Wolford’s staff: offensive coordinator Shane Montgomery, offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo and defensive coordinator Ron Stoops (who previously coached linebackers).

Five others are following Pelini from Nebraska: associate head coach/running backs coach Ron Brown (who spent 24 years as an offensive assistant with the Cornhuskers), wide receivers coach Brian Crist (who was Pelini’s director of player personnel at Nebraska), linebackers coach T.J. Hollowell (who was a defensive graduate assistant for the Huskers last season), tight ends coach Kyle Brey (a graduate assistant the past two years at Nebraska) and assistant secondary coach Tim Marlowe (a Mooney High graduate who played for Pelini and spent the last two years as an offensive assistant).

Defensive backs coach Richard McNutt doesn’t have ties to Pelini or Wolford but he coached with YSU president Jim Tressel at Ohio State.

Carl Pelini has not coached since his messy exit from Florida Atlantic during the 2013 season. After originally resigning amid allegations of illegal drug use — charges Pelini has denied — his exit was changed to a firing for “failing to timely report certain conduct of a member of your staff,” according to a letter from FAU’s interim president.

YSU sources said Pelini passed three drug tests following his departure, including a hair follicle test. He chose YSU over an offer from an NFL team, a source said.

Carl was a defensive line coach and defensive coordinator under Bo at Nebraska. He also served as Austintown Fitch’s head football coach from 2000-02.

The contracts for Wolford’s previous assistants did not expire until Sunday.