Scalzo:
Ten thoughts on Carl Pelini being added to Youngstown State’s football staff:
1. When Bo Pelini decided he wanted to add his brother Carl to his staff, he knew the biggest hurdle would be explaining Carl’s messy exit from Florida Atlantic midway through the 2013 season.
Carl Pelini resigned as FAU’s head coach on Oct. 30, 2013, amid reports that he and assistant coach Pete Rekstis had used marijuana and cocaine. One of Carl’s assistants, Matt Edwards, had signed an affidavit that he saw both coaches use the drugs and another woman, Allison Stewart, said she not only saw Pelini use marijuana, but that Pelini confirmed as much in a text message to her.
FAU athletic director Patrick Chun told reporters that when he confronted Pelini with the evidence, Pelini admitted it was true and resigned.
Carl, however, paints a very different picture of that meeting. He has repeatedly denied using drugs and YSU sources told me he passed three subsequent drug tests, including a hair follicle test. (I’m told Rekstis, a YSU graduate and former assistant coach for the Penguins, failed the drug test. He is now the defensive coordinator at Rhode Island.)
2. Pelini told Sports Illustrated that Edwards and Stewart were having an affair — I was told the same thing — and that he confronted them about it multiple times.
Carl claims they used the drug allegations as a way of trying to smear him. Carl also claims Chun double-crossed him during the meeting, with Chun originally telling him he was getting fired but promising to take care of him if he resigned, then telling a very different story in the press conference.
3. The unanswered question here is, why did Carl resign without at least having a lawyer look at what he was signing?
When I asked a YSU source that question, he said simply, “He made the biggest mistake of his life.”
When I asked why Carl didn’t immediately sue FAU or Edwards following Chun’s press conference, the source said, “Because he got very, very bad advice.”
Someone in Carl’s inner circle thought his being involved in a lawsuit would only hurt his chances to find another job.
4. That, obviously, was a colossal blunder. Pelini waited a week to refute the drug rumors — that’s WAY too long in the age of social media — and he hasn’t been hired since. He even got turned down for a high school job in Des Moines a few weeks ago.
Even worse, FAU interim coach Brian Wright (a former YSU assistant) led the Owls to a 4-0 record to finish the 2013 season after Pelini had gone just 5-15 during his tenure.
Pelini requested his resignation be changed to a firing and the school complied in late November, with FAU’s interim president Dennis J. Crudele saying he was fired for “termination with cause based on our finding that you failed to timely report certain conduct of a member of your staff, as required by your contract.”
Crudele also said Carl wasn’t fired for drug use.
But by then, the damage was done.
5. YSU’s other problem, at least from a public relations standpoint, is that Carl already had some baggage before the firing.
While YSU sources insist Carl does not have a drug problem — and never did — they admit he hasn’t been a choirboy over the last decade, either.
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His personality doesn’t help. Carl can be rude and unprofessional, something I learned firsthand when he was the head coach at Austintown Fitch. His final two seasons (2001-02) overlapped with my first two years at The Vindicator and he might be the single-most unpleasant coach I’ve ever dealt with. I think hiring him is a mistake.
6. That said, you either believe people can change or you don’t.
Bo believes Carl’s firing was the best thing that could have happened to him and that he’s in a much better place now. I’ve also been told that Bo has made it very clear that Carl has no room for error — anything more than a parking ticket and he’s gone.
Bo also thinks Carl is an excellent football coach who deserves another chance. He’s told people that Carl is the best defensive line coach he’s ever worked with, which is saying something considering his resume.
I’ve also been told that Carl chose YSU over an offer from an NFL team, with Bo telling Carl that this is the best option for him, personally and professionally.
7. One clarification about the defensive line position: I’m told Pelini retained Tom Sims, who spent the last five years coaching the defensive line under Wolford. But Sims left to take that same position at Pitt, his alma mater. A few other Eric Wolford assistants did the same, with safeties coach Mike Zordich leaving for Michigan and potential secondary coach Ross Watson leaving for Northern Illinois.
8. With Carl’s hiring, YSU is quickly developing a reputation as Redemption U.
Eric Wolford helped Mark Mangino rebuild his reputation, hiring him as tight ends coach in 2013 after a three-year layoff following his firing at Kansas. After a drama-free season, Mangino left to become the offensive coordinator at Iowa State.
Jim Tressel was hired as YSU’s president even though he is still operating under the NCAA’s show-cause penalty following his departure from Ohio State.
And Bo Pelini certainly made his share of enemies at Nebraska, including the athletic director.
9. As anyone who has lived in Youngstown more than five minutes knows, if the Pelini brothers win (and stay off the front page of The Vindicator), nobody in Youngstown will care what happened at Nebraska, FAU or anywhere else. Bo was hired to win football games and he believes Carl helps him do that. Period.
10. Still, it’s a risk. If Carl gets into trouble here, the criticism won’t stop with Bo. Tressel and athletic director Ron Strollo are also accountable, since they’re the ones who have to sign off on this deal.
Carl’s hiring sends a message that Bo, Tressel and Strollo believe Carl will have a positive influence on YSU’s players — and not just when it comes to football.
They’d better be right.
Joe Scalzo covers YSU athletics for The Vindicator. Write to him at scalzo@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @JoeScalzo1.
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