Back To the Practice Field!

Nebraska took to the practice field for the 2nd time with out defensive coordinator Carl Pelini for the first time in 4 years on Thursday.  Pelini took the head coaching job at Florida Atlantic on Monday. With him gone the current Huskers are still getting used to not seeing him at practice.

“Coach Carl is a great football coach, and we knew it was going to come sooner or later, because he’s a great football coach,” senior linebacker Lavonte David said. “I know a lot of people were probably gunning for him. You just have to take your hat off to him. He worked himself to get that opportunity, and he took advantage of it.”

David feels the thing that will bring his former defensive coordinator the most success is his ability to develop a strong relationship with his players.

“He was the defensive coordinator, and defensive coordinators have to have leadership,” David said. “I think he was ready to take leadership over a whole team on his own. He was a great motivator, and just a great coach as a whole. He looks out for his players, and he puts you in the best position to succeed.”

Pelini and David had a rare relationship. Carl was the one who spotted Lavonte in Fort Scott, Kansas Community College and he was also his recruting coach.

“I was very close with Coach Carl,” David said. “He helped recruit me, he’s a very good football coach and he helped me get to where I’m at right now. That’s what I like about him so much. He put his players in a great position to succeed and I take my hat off to him.”

Senior safety Austin Cassidy was a redshirt freshman when the brothers Pelini showed up in Lincoln four years ago. He learned under Pelini for all four of those years, and expects nothing but great things for Pelini’s FAU Owls.

“I expect him to have quite a turnaround down there,” Cassidy said. “This kind of challenge I know is right up his alley. He’s the kind of guy who loves something like this, and he’s going to hit it head on. I’m excited to see how he does down there. I know he’s going to have a lot of FAU fans in the Midwest now.”

Carl and Bo Pelini along with Bob Stoops are all natives of Youngstown, Ohio, and are now all head coaches. Junior wide receiver Tim Marlowe is also from Youngstown.

“There’s only 120 head coaching jobs out there and to have him and his brother have two of them, that’s a great a thing for the family and a great thing for Youngstown and our high school Cardinal Mooney,” Marlowe said. “It’s an exciting time for them. We’re obviously going to miss them here, but I’m excited for him and who knows, he might bring so more of our coaches down there.”

Coach Ron 

With the majority of the Husker coaching staff on the road recruiting right now, running backs coach Ron Brown ran practice on Thursday. Senior offensive linemen Jermarcus Hardrick said it has felt kind of like playing back yard football.

“There really haven’t been very many coaches here, so it’s really been a backyard fight,” Hardrick said. “The last couple of days it’s just been a fight and back yard football. We are just having fun and we are out there competing. We are just out there running practice and competing.”

As for the schedule ahead Nebraska is scheduled to practice on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Bo Pelini will send his team home on Dec. 20 after a practice in Lincoln, and they will report back again on Dec. 25.

The Huskers will leave for Orlando on Dec. 26 and begin practices at the bowl site on Dec. 27. In all, the Huskers will conduct around eight or nine bowl practices in Lincoln and five practices in Orlando.

-By Jimmie Allen

Picture provided by SI.com