1. On a day that should have been devoted to the heartwarming story of Bo Pelini coming back to his hometown university, he made national headlines on Wednesday for two things:

- His thinly-veiled shot at Nebraska's administration during Wednesday's introductory press conference that was couched in praise of YSU president Jim Tressel and athletic director Ron Strollo: “I believe I have a great situation here,” Pelini said. “Have a tremendous athletic director, a president who understands football, who’s going to support me, something I don’t know if I’ve ever had.”

- His profanity-laced rant on Dec. 2 against his former boss, Nebraska athletic director Shawn Eichorst, which was coincidentally (or not) leaked to the Omaha World-Herald on Wednesday.

YSU limited Pelini's press conference on Wednesday to local media because the university wanted the story to focus on his new job, not his old one.

That didn't happen. And Pelini only has himself to blame.

2. On Thursday, ESPN's Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser weighed in on the Pelini controversy on Pardon the Interruption, with Wilbon saying the rant should give Youngstown State pause.

"He behaves like an idiot and he does it all the time," Wilbon said.

Kornheiser felt YSU should issue a statement like this: "'Bo Pelini was understandably upset and bitter because he had just been fired. He thought that was a private conversation. We have told him that we don't expect any of those problems here.' And then what you tell Pelini is you want him to cool that a little bit. We don't want to hear that."

Countered Wilbon, "He does that when it's not private, Tony. He is red-faced and cursing all the time."

3. On Thursday, Strollo issued a statement that sounded a lot like what Kornheiser recommended:

“Coach Pelini’s remarks as reported are inappropriate and unfortunate,” Strollo said. “We have discussed the report with coach. We are confident that Coach will conduct himself accordingly moving forward. We will not be commenting any further on this issue.”

I felt Pelini should have also issued an apology, but I'm told that Pelini's lawyers made it very clear that he needs to stay quiet, lest Nebraska make a legal case for taking back that $7.6 million it owes him.

4. Pelini, obviously, has a well-deserved reputation as a hothead. But as Strollo interviewed his former players and assistant coaches, it became clear that a lot of people really, really like him. As Fox Sports' Stewart Mandel said, 85 percent of the recording is genuine care for his players. If you read past the first few paragraphs, you can see why so many of his players stay loyal to him.

Should YSU have hired him? Well, Kornheiser made the point that schools like YSU don't get guys like Pelini unless they come with a little bit of baggage.

"You take him," Kornheiser said.

5. My feeling is this: While no one expects football coaches to talk like clergymen, Pelini is a 47-year-old man, not a 17-year-old kid. He needs to clean up his language.

And there's at least one word — it starts with a "c" — that a grown man should never use, in private or public conversation.

Pelini has the right to be frustrated that, for the second time in 13 months, one of his private conversations got released in the media. But when you're the most famous public employee in Nebraska — and the highest-paid — you need to be more careful with what you say.

6. Pelini doesn't need to go on Oprah after this. But he should be on a tight leash at YSU.

President Jim Tressel and athletic director Ron Strollo are both very careful with the image they project to the public. One of the problems with the last coach, Eric Wolford, was that his mouth sometimes got him in trouble. Fans also grew tired of his antics on the sidelines. Pelini is wired the same way.

Most people in Youngstown will look past those flaws. But he needs to cut down on what Kornheiser referred to as the "potpourri of cursing."

He also needs to win. Because most schools will tolerate a controversial coach. Very few will tolerate a losing one.