1. Pelini's Win-Loss Record is in the Elite Status

Since Bo Pelini was hired in 2008, there have been 130 head coaches at the BCS Conference schools (the BCS conferences plus Notre Dame).  Only 6 of those 130 coaches have won more games than Pelini. 

Since Pelini was hired, he and Alabama’s Nick Saban are the only two BCS coaches to win at least 9 games in each season since. 

Pelini is one of just four coaches in college football history, along with Tom Osborne, Barry Switzer, and Larry Coker, to begin their head coaching careers at a power conference school and win nine or more games in each  of their first five seasons.

Pelini has, by far, the most wins of the 18 head coaches hired before the 2008 season.   Of those 18 coaches hired in 2008, 12 have already left their position.

        Pelini has the 7^th highest winning percentage of all coaches who have coached a BCS team during each year of this span.

  

Of the list of the winningest BCS coaches since 2008, Alabama’s Nick Saban has a sizeable lead over the rest.  Trailing Saban is a group of 10 coaches who are within 7 wins of each other during this six-year time span.  In order of wins, this tightly-packed group of successful coaches consists of: Bob Stoops, Mike Gundy, Les Miles, Brian Kelly, Urban Meyer, Bo Pelini, Frank Beamer, Mack Brown, Mark Dantonio, and Steve Spurrier.  

  

The 20 winningest BCS coaches since 2008:

1.     Nick Saban (Alabama) 72

2.     Bob Stoops (Oklahoma) 61

3.     Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State) 59

4.     Les Miles (LSU) 59

5.     Brian Kelly (Cincinnati 08-09, Notre Dame 10-) 59

6.     Urban Meyer (Florida 08-10, Ohio State 12-), 57

7.     Bo Pelini (Nebraska), 56

8.     Frank Beamer (Va Tech), 56

9.     Mack Brown (Texas), 54

10. Mark Dantonio (Michigan State), 54

11. Steve Spurrier (South Carolina), 54

12. Mark Richt (Georgia), 53

13. Gary Pinkel (Missouri), 51

14. Dabo Swinney (Clemson), 50

15. Brett Bielema  (Wisconsin 08-12, Arkansas 13-), 50

16. Chip Kelly (Oregon 09-12), 46

17. Kirk Ferentz (Iowa), 46

18. Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern), 44

19. Jimbo Fisher (FSU 10-), 42

20. Art Briles (Baylor), 42

      Simply put, Bo Pelini is winning at an elite pace - which is a historically improbable feat given (1) his lack of experience and (2) the condition of the program he inherited.