Bo Pelini: Nebraska AD Eichorst is a 'f------ lawyer who makes policies'
Former Nebraska coach Bo Pelini criticized athletic director Shawn Eichorst and the school's administration in an expletive-laced rant during a 30-minute meeting with players a few days after he was fired late last month.
Nebraskadismissed Pelini after he led the Cornhuskers to a 66-27 record over seven seasons. The school replaced him with former Oregon State coach Mike Riley.
Audio of Pelini's rant was obtained by the Omaha World-Herald. Read a transcript of his comments here.
Pelini, who said he wanted to meet with players to tell them what "went down," called Eichorst a "f------ lawyer who makes policies" and said he "doesn’t even understand what a core value is."
Pelini said he approached members of the Board of Regents a week before he was fired and told them that if Eichorst was not going to support him and his players, "do me a favor and get rid of me."
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Pelini also described when he learned that he had been fired and spoke critically about high-ranking officials at the school.
“There were agendas and that goes all the way over to the chancellor's office," Pelini said. "And between the AD and the chancellor and they want their own guy in here, go ahead. Good luck to ya.”
After Nebraska beat Iowa on Nov. 28 to close the regular season, Pelini said he "saw anger in administrators’ faces."
Nebraska released a statement saying it received "what appears to be" a transcript of remarks from Pelini, but that the transcript could not be verified. Here is part of the statement:
"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," the statement reads. "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."
Youngstown Stateannounced on Tuesday that it had hired Pelini to replace Eric Wolford.
On Wednesday, Pelinidescribed Jim Tressel, the president of his employer, as a “a president who understands football, who's going to support me, something I don’t know if I've ever had.”
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