Pelini Mellow Fellow at OU

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — You want to have some fun?

We’re talking to Bo Pelini at Orange Bowl media day. Pelini is standing in the end zone at Pro Player Stadium, looking spiffy in an Oklahoma golf shirt, pressed khakis and white sneakers. Well, until the volcano goes off, that is.

Pelini is chatting up various news media types about USC’s offense, the Syracuse job, the Pittsburgh job, life in Norman, Okla., yada, yada. Time to make this a party. Time to throw in the live grenade.

“Bo, is there any truth to these reports coming out of Pittsburgh that Steve Pederson tried to sabotage your candidacy for the Pitt job?”

OK, everyone. This is it. Duck. Mount Pelini is about to go off.

Hello? Anybody home?

“No comment,” Pelini says with a half smile.

Okay, who’s the impostor? Who is this calm, cool and collected stranger? This is not the Pelini we knew at Nebraska, the one who would have given you the Medusa stare and had steam shooting out of both ears. Who is this Bo Pelini?

Sooner or later, a head coach.

One year after being rebuked in his attempt to become Head Husker, and one week after falling short for the Pittsburgh job, Pelini is all the rage as a candidate for the vacancy at Syracuse, along with Texas Defensive Coordinator Greg Robinson.

This is one of the reasons Pelini went to work for his buddy, Bob Stoops — the other reason being that he was out of a job. Catching some of the rays from Stoops’ aura has put Pelini on the fast track to being a college head coach.

“I’ve heard a lot of speculation about it,” Pelini said of Syracuse. “But I haven’t talked to them nor have I called them. Who knows? Maybe things will pick up after the (Orange Bowl).

“You’re flattered to have your name there in the mix, but my mind is so consumed with USC. That’s all I’m thinking about right now.”

This mouth-watering Orange Bowl matchup could expedite the process for Pelini, especially if the Sooners win and Pelini and Brent Venables, the co-defensive coordinator, find a way to throw a blanket over USC’s Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush.

If that happens, buy stock in Pelini, Inc., if only for another reason: the man is beginning to look the part.

One year later, there’s an obvious difference in Pelini. At Nebraska, he was a little raw, a little wild, a little awkward in the spotlight. He cursed at Bill Snyder. He showed up for press conferences (including the Alamo Bowl) dressed like a high school gym teacher. He wasn’t comfortable in front of the cameras.

On Sunday, Pelini looked all grown up. He’s more polished. He sounds more confident and in control. He seems to understand that head coaches have a protocol and image to follow.

When Pelini left Lincoln, he looked like a bad job interview waiting to happen. Suddenly, he looks every bit the budding graduate of the Bob Stoops Finishing School for Coaches.

“It’s been an interesting year,” Pelini said. “My whole college experience has been interesting. I’ve grown a lot as a coach. I’ve had a lot of experiences, good and bad. I feel I’ve become a better coach for it.

“For one thing, I’ve been in two really unique situations. When I got to Nebraska, it was kind of a rebuilding effort on defense. I had to install a system and get it to work quickly. That was a lot of fun.

“Here, at Oklahoma, I walked into a totally different situation. They had a great defense. I had to fit in and just tweak some things. But it’s been great. I’ve learned a lot about coaching the last two years and a lot about dealing with different administrations, which I think will help me down the road.”

Different? How? (Stand back, please.)

“Oklahoma has a family-type atmosphere, from the top down, that is really neat,” Pelini said. “There’s a lot of trust on both sides, and the administration gives us whatever we need. It was a breath of fresh air.

“Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying it wasn’t like that at Nebraska.”

Pelini created enough of a family on NU’s defense that he heard from some of his former players this season, some who called frequently. To cry on his shoulder?

“A little bit,” Pelini said. “I felt for them, but it was such a different system. It happens. They’ll get it turned around.”

We had one more party favor left, so here goes: Bo, did you hear the comments by NU Secondary Coach Phil Elmassian at a Big Red Breakfast, where he said it was the worst secondary he’d ever coached?

“I read that,” said Pelini, shrugging his shoulders and making a face before adding, “That’s not even worth commenting on.”

Boy, this guy’s no fun anymore. Guess going undefeated and coaching the future Baltimore Ravens saps the bitterness out of a man.

“It’s over,” Pelini said of his Nebraska days. “I’m at a different stop. The day that Coach (Bill) Callahan was hired, I moved on. It’s not worth holding any grudges. I had a good experience there, it ended in a strange way, but you move on.”

Mount Pelini looked as cool as a palm tree, even when a scribe from Pittsburgh asked if he was disappointed about getting rejected at Pitt.

“It’s hard to say,” Pelini said. “You kind of read the writing on the wall. I see that all of the other guys are Pitt guys, and I’m the only one who’s not. I don’t know if that was it or not. But they hired a great guy.”

Poised, vanilla and boring. Yep, Pelini’s going to make a great head coach.