Will Carl Pelini wear a full suit on the sidelines too?
When Florida Atlantic came to Lincoln to open the 2009 football season, fans got a look at coaching legend Howard Schnellenberger’s wardrobe. Then a 77-year-old, Schnellenberger was decked out in suit on Tom Osborne Field.
Owl fans may be getting used to a different fashion style on the FAU sideline with Pelini set to take over a program that Schnellenberger started and guided for the past 12 seasons. The news became official with a Monday afternoon press conference at the Sun Belt school.
“I see great potential here at FAU to build a program of which the entire community will be proud,” Pelini said. “My vision for this program is to continue the mission of the university to prepare our student athletes for success well beyond football.”
Talk of the move began as early as Thursday night with the NU Athletic Department remaining mum on the situation until after the announcement. NU coach Bo Pelini released a statement about his brother’s hiring on Monday afternoon.
“Carl is very prepared to take the next step and become a head coach and I am excited for him,” Bo Pelini said. “He has all of the skills you need to be a successful head coach, and I think the opportunity at Florida Atlantic is one with a lot of potential. Carl has been a big part of our success here at Nebraska, and it has been great for the two of us to be able to work together the past four years.”
In his fourth year as the defensive coordinator with the Huskers, Carl has coached at the high school and college levels since the late 1980s. Bo brought his brother in during a cultural shift for the NU program as fans were concerned with getting back to a focus on defense.
“Carl Pelini has done a fine job working with our defense here at Nebraska,” NU athletic director Tom Osborne said. “Our defense made excellent improvement in his first year as defensive coordinator, and over the past three years we have been among the nation’s best defenses.
Carl led the Husker defense to improved heights in his first season as their coordinator. In 2009, often considered the best year under the Pelini Model thus far, Nebraska boasted the nation’s best scoring defense (10.4 points/game), pass efficiency defense and red zone defense.
He’ll take the reins a squad that went 1-11 this season with its sole victory coming in a 38-35 barnburner against the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Schnellenberger led the program to back-to-back bowl wins in 2007 and 2008. The Owls managed four winning seasons in their time under him, the two most recent coming when the program was at the FBS level.
“I’m the second head coach in the history of the university and it’s a great honor to be following a legend like coach Schnellenberger,” Carl said. “I know how difficult it is to administrate a program and to be in charge of a football program at the Division I level, but to begin and start it from scratch and get it to where it is today require countless hours of effort and a great commitment on his part.”
Osborne referenced Carl’s intangibles as being vital to his success at the head of a program.
“Carl is a very intelligent coach, is detail-oriented and with his coaching experience, I believe he is ready to take the next step as a college head coach. We wish him well at Florida Atlantic,” Osborne said.