It appears that the situation in Lincoln was significantly more troubling than many realized. Former Nebraska head football coach Bo Pelini apparently unleashed a rant for the ages during his final meeting with players on December 2nd, a rant that contained heated comment after heated comment against AD Shawn Eichorst.
The Omaha World-Herald obtained audio from the meeting at a local high school and published some of the expletive-filled remarks made by the new Youngstown State coach, including the following:
A guy like him, who has no integrity, he doesn’t even understand what a core value is,” Pelini said, according to the contents of the tape. “He hasn’t understood it from the day he got here. I saw it when I first met with the guy. To have core values means you have to be about something, you have to represent something that is important to you. He’s a f—— lawyer who makes policies. That’s all he’s done since he’s been here: hire people and make policies to cover his own ass.
Look who he circles himself with. Look at his team of people. C’mon, man. I’d rather f—— work at McDonald’s than work with some of those guys. Not that there’s anything bad about working at McDonald’s.
I said to [assistant coach Rick Kaczenski] at one point, ‘Man, this is killing me. I don’t want to die doing this job.’ And I meant it. I was like, ‘I don’t want to have a heart attack doing this job.’
Following the report from the Omaha World-Herald, the university released a statement of their own:
If these comments were, indeed, spoken by Mr. Pelini, we are extremely disappointed, but it only reaffirms the decision that he should no longer be a leader of young men at Nebraska. His habitual use of inappropriate language, and his personal and professional attacks on administrators, are antithetical to the values of our university. His behavior is consistent with a pattern of unprofessional, disrespectful behavior directed by Mr. Pelini toward the passionate fans of Nebraska, employees of the university and, most concerning, our student-athletes.
This behavior is not tolerated at the University of Nebraska and, among many other concerns, played a role in his dismissal.
[ESPN]
Photo Courtesy: Bruce Thorson/USA Today Sports
