Pelini challenges team over offseason

knapplc

knapplc

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By Mitch Sherman | ESPN

“The challenge I laid out to this football team is to move forward,” Pelini said. “If we don’t keep thinking about football, if we don’t attack it and we don’t keep continuing to work at it, to spend some time away from the facility, put themselves in position to keep learning and build, if we forget about football until August and just worry about the conditioning part of it, it won’t happen for this football team.”
Pelini’s words are as clear as a slap in the face. It’s not good enough to remain in good shape during the offseason.
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Bo's right - it's not enough to show up in shape for the first game. The team looked physically fit in the home opener against Wyoming - and then proceeded to nearly get beat by a team that finished 5-7 in the Mountain West.

Clearly the thing this team lacks isn't under the pads, it's between the ears. That's why comments like this are particularly concerning:

Pelini delivered his message with notable eloquence. The seventh-year coach, no doubt, has devoted considerable thought to this subject.
He’s looking for leaders within the team to repeat his words in May, June and July.

“I’m not worried about that at all,” senior receiver Kenny Bell said. “We did it this entire winter. The hard work doesn’t stop.”
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If by "did it this entire winter" Bell means they did something different, took a different (higher) level of responsibility and/or dedicated themselves to a higher standard of performance than in years past, that's great. But if he's (as it sounds) taking this challenge lightly and thinking he's got the problems fixed, that's a concern. Because missed blocks, poorly-run routes and dropped passes plagued the WR corps last year, and Kenny was not immune.

Luckily it doesn't seem like everyone has that take on Bo's message:

Armstrong, in particular, said he wants to continue to drill the importance of ball security through the offseason.
“I take all responsibility for it,” he said.

Armstrong said he believes the turnover problems were responsible for every Nebraska loss last year – a debatable assertion that, nonetheless, marks a step in the quarterback’s development as a leader.
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Of those two quotes, I'll take the latter. And here's hoping the team adopts that "I take all responsibility for it" attitude, and carries that though summer workouts.

 
It all sounds good right now, but I need to see some results. They're saying all the right things, but once the lights come on against a team like Miami then we'll see.

 
The hope I have is that someone like Imani Cross, a big dude who puts his work in and then some,takes it upon himself to get in his teammates face, and challenge them to do better during this time.

My fear is that there isn't one of those guys in this team, and the coaching staffs steadfast demand that these guys "get it" on their own leads to a repeat performance.

 
Knapp you hit it spot on about those two quotes. Something off about that first one.

The fact is this team can't possibly know about the level of work or commitment it takes to get over that four loss hump.

Why?

Because they've never done it.

 
I would not be the first one to tell Cross, I was not interested in his effort.

Bell has no idea of what it takes, some of the Alabama kids did not understand it either and they had been there.

Bell seems to me to be the entitled one.

 
I think you're reading it wrong, knapp. If you would have bolded Kenny saying "the hard work doesn't stop," the perception if the quote would change.

 
If you were at the spring game you would see the leadership qualities of many of our players. For example Kenny Bell the entire time pregame to end. Was very engaging with all team, fans, and even coaches. KB may not have been a 1st team all-american. But the leadership qualities he presents to the team and fan base are second to none. And this isnt even including Ameer who obviously has strong work ethic, and i know all the young guys will want to mimic what he does because they know he is headed strait to NFL after this year. I dont know if i could say the same about anyone on Defense at this point, but RG44 and Mitchell seem to have taken a strong part on that role. but we have a strong team with great leadership, and i dont see any dropoff coming during the summer months.

 
ADS said:
It all sounds good right now, but I need to see some results. They're saying all the right things, but once the lights come on against a team like Miami then we'll see.
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Exactly. We see similar stories like this every year. Guys need to step, leaders need to emerge, people need to be 'all in', etc. To me this is just more off-season fodder talk for the fans to get excited about.

 
Dr. Strangelove said:
ADS said:
It all sounds good right now, but I need to see some results. They're saying all the right things, but once the lights come on against a team like Miami then we'll see.
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Exactly. We see similar stories like this every year. Guys need to step, leaders need to emerge, people need to be 'all in', etc. To me this is just more off-season fodder talk for the fans to get excited about.
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+1. There is virtually nothing meaningful, good or bad, that can be gleaned from the quotes in the article. They either get it done on the field in the fall or they don't. Just sit back and take the article for what it is, something to read and satiate our thirst for Nebraska football in the offseason

 
He’s looking for leaders within the team to repeat his words in May, June and July.
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I know guys come and go, but anyone else think Bo's been looking for leaders for about 5 years now? Specifically on defense.

 
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ADS said:
It all sounds good right now, but I need to see some results. They're saying all the right things, but once the lights come on against a team like Miami then we'll see.
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Yep, another pep challenges and carbon copy talk like Nick Saban, Texass, Purdue, Idaho, Kearney State, Drake, Nebraska Wesleyan, etc.

 
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