Bo Pelini was introduced Wednesday as the new head coach at Youngstown State, where he was hired by former Ohio State head coach and current YSU president Jim Tressel.
In his first public appearance since being fired as head coach at Nebraska, Pelini wasted no time taking a shot at his former chancellor, Harvey Perlman, per Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.com:
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Pelini was fired in November after seven seasons with the Cornhuskers, all of which were more or less the same.
An optimist would argue that he never won fewer than nine games. A pessimist would counter that he never lost fewer than four.
Regardless, the move was met with mixed reviews, especially once Nebraska hired former Oregon State head coach Mike Riley. Riley won nine or more games just four times in the past 11 seasons.
Pelini is a divisive figure who at one point dared Nebraska to fire him. His playful, charming, cat-loving persona is contrasted with his sometimes-hot temper. He is not afraid to say what's on his mind, which in many cases makes him more endearing.
But it also sometimes lands him in trouble.
One has to wonder, then, if this jab will play a role in Pelini's coaching future. Nothing he said is factually untrue—Tressel won a national title with OSU and almost certainly knows more about football than Perlman—but he still probably shouldn't have said it.
Youngstown State is a not a destination coaching job, even for a Youngstown, Ohio native such as Pelini. One has to assume he plans on coaching at the FBS level in the future.
The question is whether any FBS president will ever want to hire him.
If he wins at YSU, it might cure everything.
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