Nebraska Coach to Media: Go Ahead and Fire Me!

It's been a rough season for Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini, both professionally and personally.

And it came to a head today.

Despite leading Nebraska to several nine-win seasons and a couple of Big Ten Championship games, Pelini is on the hot seat and fighting for his job.

Many wonder if it's because of his record or his attitude. Pelini has once again put his emotions on his sleeve. After the Cornhuskers' 38-17 pounding at home to Iowa today, he had a spontaneously cavalier response about his job security.

"If they want to fire me, go ahead. I believe in what I have done and I don't apologize for anything I have done."

He continued:

"Its incredible what we've gone through ... I told those kids 'You don't have to apologize to anybody"

In most places, that would be a great speech, but this is Nebraska we're talking about, not Ole Miss, not Iowa, nor Texas Tech, where winning nine games a season is considered successful. With five national championships in their history, nine wins a year is not good enough. It got Frank Solich fired back in the day.

Ironically, that ushered in the Bill Callahan era, after which fans were willing to kiss the feet of a coach who could deliver a nine-win season.

Most Cornhusker fans aren't satisfied with Pelini's performance, and several former players feel the same way. Tommy Frazier, for example, has been calling for Pelini's job for months. Worse, Pelini alienated his fan base earlier this year with his remarks about them.

His comments today didn't help his situation, but I guess Pelini is saying to hell with it.

And the Nebraska administration is probably thinking the same thing.