Pelini assembles coaching staff

New crew a mixture of old faces, Callahan hires

A brother, a bunch of former Huskers, two holdovers from the Bill Callahan era and a couple young upstarts from Louisiana State.

Bo's got his crew. Well - most of it.

After two weeks of speculation since his Dec. 2 hiring, Nebraska football coach Bo Pelini announced his entire coaching staff Monday - with the exception of a running backs coach, who will join NU after the bowl season.

Here's the official lineup:

Barney Cotton: Associate head coach/offensive line coach

Shawn Watson: Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach

Ted Gilmore: Assistant head coach/receivers coach

Ron Brown: Tight ends coaches

Carl Pelini: Defensive coordinator/defensive line coach

Mike Ekeler: Linebackers coach

John Papuchis: Defensive ends coach

Marvin Sanders: Secondary coach

Jeff Jamrog: Director of football operations

Said Pelini: “I was asked about the qualities I look for in assistant coaches, and I mentioned teachers, communicators and high-energy. I think this group of coaches will be great teachers for the young men in our program, and they are a good fit for Nebraska football.”

The extra title added to Cotton's name, Pelini said, will involve "key administrative duties" while Gilmore's additional credential includes remaining as Nebraska's recruiting coordinator.

Pelini's staff has a distinct Nebraska flavor. Brown coached for 17 years under Tom Osborne and Frank Solich. Jamrog, Cotton, Sanders and Carl Pelini all coached at NU in 2003; Jamrog, Cotton and Sanders are former players. Gilmore and Watson coached together in Colorado, and under Callahan for the last two seasons. Only Papuchis and Ekeler have no playing or coaching ties to the Huskers, although Ekeler played at Blair High School and coached for a stint at Omaha Skutt High School.

Bo Pelini announced at his Dec. 2 press conference that he'd still be calling the defensive plays for Nebraska, so his brother's title is about as nominal as Watson's was as offensive coordinator this season. Bo Pelini will coordinate LSU's defense in the BCS National Championship game against Ohio State.

In retaining Watson and Gilmore, it's fair to expect Nebraska's offense to resemble Callahan's version of the West Coast Offense, with some possible twists. Watson favors more of a power running game than Callahan, and played a hand in developing the spread offense used (and abandoned) in NU's season-ending 65-51 loss to Colorado.

“Offensively, there has been good success here recently,” Pelini said. “I think we can add some wrinkles to what has worked well the past few years.

Cotton, meanwhile, replaces Dennis Wagner as offensive line coach. After he wasn't retained by Callahan following Solich's firing in 2003, he spent three seasons at Iowa State coordinating the Cyclones' offense. In his time at ISU, Cotton favored a shotgun offense that featured read option plays, quarterback draws, and sprintouts.

Brown was NU's receivers' coach during the Huskers' glory days, and a key spirtual advisor for many players, including former NU quarterback Brook Berringer. He's spent the last four years as Nebraska State Director for Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which he was involved in for several years while coaching at Nebraska.

Pelini has yet to name a running backs coach because, he says, that guy is coaching another team in a bowl game.

On defense, Pelini retained none of Callahan's defensive staff and recruited two guys off of LSU's staff who have never been full-time position coaches before.

Papuchis worked as an intern at Kansas for three years, then moved to LSU in the same role, starting under Nick Saban. He didn't play college football, and graduated from Virginia Tech in 2001.

Ekeler played at Kansas State from 1991-1994, the first years in which Bill Snyder's program showed true signs of life. For the Wildcats, Ekeler was a special teams dynamo. In 2003, he joined Oklahoma's staff as a graduate assistant, spent two years there, then moved on to LSU, where he spent the last three seasons.

Carl Pelini coached Ohio's defensive line for Frank Solich during the last three seasons. Sanders spent three seasons coordinating North Carolina's defense after his stint at NU.

“Our defensive coaches will all have equal input on what we are doing, regardless of titles or positions,” Pelini said. “Our defensive coaches are outstanding teachers who will bring great energy to the practice field. I have worked with each of them during my career and have great confidence in this group. This staff plans to build on the tradition of hard-nosed Blackshirt defenses at Nebraska.”

 

Email Samuel McKewon at sam@ne.statepaper.com

 

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