LSU Football: Is it fair to hate on Bo Pelini after tough 2020 season?
By Zach Ragan
LSU football underwent a lot of staff turnover this offseason, replacing two offensive assistants and three defensive assistants.
The changes on the defensive side of the ball didn’t exactly come as a surprise.
The Tigers had the No. 98 scoring defense in the nation in 2020 under defensive coordinator Bo Pelini.
In week one, LSU gave up 44 points in a loss to Mississippi State.
The Tigers ended up giving up at least 40 points in half of their games last season.
As a result, Pelini won’t be back in 2021.
But is it totally fair to judge Pelini after an underwhelming 2020 season?
Why former LSU football defensive coordinator Bo Pelini deserves some grace
There’s no doubt that the Pelini/Ed Orgeron marriage didn’t work out very well in 2020.
Though the fact that it didn’t work out ended up being a bit of a surprise.
Coach O was very complimentary of Pelini and the defense before the season, at one point saying the Tigers were better on defense in 2020 than they were at any point in 2019 (under previous defensive coordinator Dave Aranda, who is now the head coach at Baylor).
Ultimately, however, Pelini’s style of defense just didn’t mesh with Orgeron. On paper, it worked. In reality, it didn’t.
It happens.
The hate that Pelini has received, however, doesn’t seem fair to me.
Look, Pelini’s resume speaks for itself. He’s a solid coach. Pelini was successful at Nebraska before his time simply ran out. And he was great at LSU during his first stint under Les Miles.
Unfortunately for Pelini (and LSU), the 2020 season was the perfect storm of COVID-19 (no spring practice to install new defense) and the NFL draft (the Tigers lost a lot of talent from their 2019 team).
In retrospect, it was a hopeless situation for Pelini. I’m not sure anyone would’ve found much success as LSU’s defensive coordinator in 2020.
That’s not to say that Pelini deserved another season — I think Orgeron made the right move to part ways with Pelini.
LSU being smart with final scholarship. dark. Next
But I certainly feel that slamming Pelini as a coach is the wrong approach.
Pelini loves Baton Rouge. And he love LSU. Ultimately, that’s something we should appreciate about him, even if his second run as the Tigers’ defensive coordinator didn’t work out.