University of Nebraska Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst had seen enough of Bo Pelini in his short time at Nebraska. After evaluating where the program is and the direction of the program, Eichorst decided it was a time for a change.
That change would be made by firing head coach Bo Pelini, one of the most successful college football coaches in the last decade. Since being hired as the Cornhuskers' head coach in 2003, Pelini has led the Cornhuskers to a combined 67-27 record, including a 39-17 record in conference play.
While being a dominant regular season program, the Cornhuskers failed to win a conference championship during Pelini's tenure. They only appeared in a conference championship twice, their last coming in 2012 when they lost 70-31 to the hands of the Wisconsin Badgers.
The main reason for the firing of Pelini? The lack of big game wins. Under Pelini, the Cornhuskers had a winning percentage of .320 against Top 25 opponents, losing 17 of 25 total games. The 46-year old head coach also failed to lead the program to any BCS Bowl appearances and only led the program to a 3-3 bowl game record.
Before winning in overtime against Iowa this past Friday, the Cornhuskers were coming off two losses to then #22 Wisconsin and unranked Minnesota. Nebraska's loss to Wisconsin saw the Badgers put up 59 points while Heisman hopeful Melvin Gordon rushed for an FBS record 408-yards.
During a press conference following the immediate firing of Pelini, Eichorst told the media "I didn't see enough improvement in areas that were important for us to move forward and play championship-caliber football, we weren't good enough in games that mattered against championship-caliber opponents."
While he may not be their head coach any longer, Pelini is owed a guaranteed $7.65 million by the University through 2019, while his assistants currently remain under contract through next season. Assistant Head Coach Barney Cotton was announced as the teams interim head coach, and will coach the team during it's future bowl game.