9. Bring in Tressel? Pelini Runs a Clean Program. Cherish it.

Look again at the tiny group of BCS coaches who have won more than Pelini since 2008: Saban, Stoops, Gundy, Miles, Kelly, Meyer.  

Do any of those programs carry themselves with the character that has defined the Nebraska program?

Saban is at an Alabama program that has been on probation three separate times in the past 20 years.  Under Saban, Alabama is a flagrant violator of recruiting scholarship limits, chronically guilty of the unethical practice of oversigning recruits (granting one-year scholarships instead of four-year, then cutting players NFL-style to make room for the newest crop of recruits).  Former Alabama players and recruits have tweeted and admitted on multiple occasions to receiving cash payments while at Alabama, only to later attempt to delete or weakly retract their comments.  Alabama had to fire a coach just this month after he was caught giving money to a top player.  It’s no secret: the $EC buys its recruits and plays by different ethical rules than Nebraska does.

Oklahoma has never won a national championship without immediately finding itself on probation for recruiting violations.  That is hardly a coincidence.  OU has a long line of major infractions, and its most recent probation, for major violations on Stoops' watch, just ended in 2009.  In the meantime, OU has been struggling with an epidemic of player drug arrests, failed drug tests, and drug-related suspensions.  And, of course, OU continues to be near the very bottom of the NCAA graduation rates.  But... Stoops has won about a game per year more than Pelini. 

Oklahoma State has had two bowl bans in the last 35 years, and is reportedly under investigation again after a Sports Illustrated report alleged a wide variety of NCAA violations under both Les Miles and Mike Gundy.

Speaking of Miles, LSU hasn’t been on probation under Coach Miles since… 2011.

Urban Meyer left an ugly legacy of player violence, drugs, and dozens of arrests at Florida.  His current program, Ohio State, is on another probation now, fresh off its last probation from way back in… 2008.  Where Meyer goes, so does women-beating, drugs, guns, and arrests.  But, he wins.

Brian Kelly’s career will always be shadowed by the ghost of the student killed when the coach required him to dangerously attempt to videotape a practice on a shaky lift in extreme weather. 

By comparison, Pelini has emphasized recruiting character, and demanded the same in his program.  He has displayed a near zero-tolerance level for misbehavior, benching players for classroom issues and permanently dismissing talented players for violating his rules of behavior.  The team boasts a high graduation rate and team GPA, and continues to produce Academic All-Americans and winners of national scholar-athlete awards.  Pelini’s version of NCAA trouble was this: the athletic department self-reported to the NCAA that its bookstore inadvertently distributed “recommended” books to its student-athletes in addition to the “required” books.   That’s a report you won’t hear from an SEC team.

While the few programs with more wins than Pelini have generated off-field headlines with scandals, Nebraska has generated them under Pelini with the team’s touching embrace of a young boy fighting brain cancer.  ESPN crowned the boy’s spring game touchdown run as the national “sports moment of the year” at its most recent ESPY’s, and the boy and his family have publicly lauded Pelini and his program for exemplifying the right character and priorities. 

While Saban cuts players to the harm of their college education, Pelini is honoring his four-year scholarship offer to recruit Zack Darlington - despite the risk that Darlington may never take another step due to concussions.

Which type of program do Nebraska fans want?

Tellingly, and sickeningly, critics of Pelini have been clamoring for the program to be handed over to Jim Tressel – man who resigned in disgrace and scandal just two years ago.  Numerous reports link Tressel to a long-running pattern and practice of recruiting and ethical violations throughout his career, from Youngstown State to Ohio State.  Tressel is in fact under a “show-cause” order until 2017, and any program risking a Tressel hire would face severely heightened NCAA penalties should Tressel resume his ways at his next coaching stop.  (What do they say about old dogs again?)  But tune in to any Nebraska radio show or internet site where the critics have a voice, and you’d be hard-pressed to go 20 minutes without some alleged ‘fan’ lusting after Jim Tressel, willing to sell the program’s soul and heritage, and risk the inevitable debilitating sanctions … for another 1.3 wins per season. 

      Sick.