Bo Pelini

Head coach

Headline rating: as head coach. Every role he has been rated in is below.

Chemistry

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index in development

Seasons here—

Programs2

Stints3

Career path

Head-coaching stints since 1936; assistant roles since 2016

2020LSUDefensive Coordinator

2008–2014NebraskaHead Coach

2003NebraskaHead Coach

As head coach

Rating74Peak74Career72

2003–2014 · 8 seasonsRecord 67-27National titles 0Great seasons 0 (top ~7% of all teams that year)

Rating 74: his whole career, recent seasons weighted most, measured as how far his teams stood above their era, crediting him with half of what each program already was when he arrived (about the share that, historically, follows a coach to his next job), fading as the program becomes his own.
Peak 74: best five-season stretch, 2003–2010 at Nebraska (30-12), taking over already a national power.
Career 72 (#157 since 1936): total accomplishment over 8 seasons (67-27), 0 national titles, 0 elite seasons; full credit for the program he inherited.
All of it at one program (Nebraska) — unproven elsewhere; historically about half of a coach's lift carries to a new job.

Rating = who he is: his whole head-coaching career (since 1936), weighted toward recent years — how far his teams stood above their contemporaries, how much he lifted programs, his great seasons and titles. Form = the last two seasons. Career = the all-time ranking number.

Season	Team	Record	Season rank	vs contemporaries
2014	Nebraska	9-3	#23	+1.07 SD
2013	Nebraska	9-4	#51	+0.31 SD
2012	Nebraska	10-4	#35	+0.62 SD
2011	Nebraska	9-4	#25	+0.69 SD
2010	Nebraska	10-4	#13	+1.25 SD
2009	Nebraska	10-4	#11	+1.27 SD
2008	Nebraska	9-4	#23	+0.81 SD
2003	Nebraska	1-0	#25	+0.92 SD

Season rank = his team among all major-college teams that year; vs contemporaries = how far above the average team (in standard deviations).

As defensive coordinator

Rating55Peak55

His defense against its preseason projection (value over expectation) and the unit's opponent-adjusted quality.

Season	Team	Unit (EPA/play)	Over expectation	Season score
2020	LSU	0.01	-0.11	-0.93

Season score: 0 = an average season in this role; positive = better.