4. Comparing Bo Pelini's Record to the Current Gold Standard: Nick Saban

Bo Pelini is the first to tell you: he doesn’t want to win 9 and 10 games a year.  He wants and expects to win championships.  So measure him against the best.  By any measure of on-field success, Nick Saban is in a class by himself in the current crop of coaches.

        Saban is now in his 20^th season as a college or pro head coach.  Pelini is in his 6th season as a head coach.  Let's compare how they stood at this identical stage of their careers.

          After Saban’s first six seasons as a BCS-level head coach (5 in the Big Ten, then 1 in the SEC), Saban had a record of 42-28-1, for a winning percentage of .592.  Further, Saban had previously served as a head coach at a mid-major prior to stepping up to the BCS level. Saban learned and improved dramatically with experience.

           Coach Pelini is finishing his sixth season as a head coach.   As of today, Pelini has a record of 57-23, for a winning percentage of .713.

Most Pelini critics would be shocked, but the truth is this: Bo Pelini’s record at the six-year mark of his head coaching career is far superior to Nick Saban’s.