There’s certainly nothing wrong with drawing praise for being a defensive guru. Nothing at all.

But you can be certain Bo Pelini is excited at the opportunity to show he’s more than that.

Given his defensive background, there’s been some question as to exactly how much input the new Nebraska head football coach might have with the offense.

Shawn Watson will be calling the plays next season, but it seems that Pelini’s voice will be a strong one in any offensive discussions.

“I’ll know exactly what’s going on on the offensive side of the ball,” Pelini said. “That’s one of my strengths. I’ve always been looking forward to that. One of my strengths as a coach is my overall knowledge of the game.

“To be a good defensive coach you better understand offense. I do. I have ideas. I will give my input, throw out ideas. Some things stick, some things fit, some things won’t. We’ll talk it through. But I’ll be familiar with everything that is going on on the offensive side of the ball.”

Pelini said even as a defensive coordinator, he was constantly interacting with offensive coaches about what they’re doing.

Back in 2003, when he was at Nebraska as the defensive coordinator and Barney Cotton was the offensive coordinator, the two would often discuss each other’s schemes.

“You like to hear the offensive perspective,” Pelini said. “Anybody worth their salt wants to get as much information as they possibly can.”

On Friday, Husker receivers coach Ted Gilmore said he expects Watson’s offense to not be drastically different than Bill Callahan’s was this past season.

Though Watson was the offensive coordinator, Callahan called almost all the plays.

“There will be some common ground,” Gilmore said. “Obviously, there are some things we might do a little differently, but the foundation will be the same.”

There will be some lofty expectations for Nebraska’s offense. Though the Huskers lose key receivers like Maurice Purify and Terrence Nunn, the PlayStation-like numbers quarterback Joe Ganz produced in the season’s last three games have many fans optimistic. Nebraska ranked 11th in the country in total offense in 2007.

Only when you begin to talk about the Husker defense do the clouds come out. That group ranked 112th nationally in total defense and 116th in rush defense last season.

“I haven’t watched an ounce of film yet,” Pelini said last Thursday. “I have a series of ideas (about what went wrong). The same things always equate to playing good defense and obviously they were lacking. The first thing we have to adjust is the attitude.

“Playing good defense isn’t about X’s and O’s and having the blitz of the week, anything else. That’s part of it, but it’s about your culture, about playing with a passion. It’s about how you do it, and doing it as a group that believes in each other. There’s so much attitude that goes into playing defense. If you don’t have that, you don’t have anything.”

Pelini has met individually with players, but he said one thing not talked about with any of them was what they thought went wrong during last year’s 5-7 season.

“It doesn’t really matter what’s gone on in the past,” Pelini said. “I didn’t concern myself last time I was here with what happened here before. And I’m not going to concern myself with what happened this previous year.”

In 2003, Pelini inherited a mediocre Husker defense. He turned it into one that ranked 11th in the country, one that feasted on turnovers, leading the country in turnover margin.

“Certain things I have belief in. I believe I know what it takes to have success, I know what it takes to play good defense,” Pelini said. “I’m going to build it the same way I did whether I was here, whether I went to Oklahoma, whether I went to LSU, it didn’t matter. The same things need to be addressed and they need to become a part of what you do on a daily basis.”

Pelini has spent the last three years coaching LSU’s defense, and still has one game left with the Tigers — the Jan. 7 national title contest against Ohio State.

Pelini said on Thursday that he expected to leave early this week to finish his duties with LSU. He said the timing of it works out well since a recruiting dead period begins today — coaches can’t visit recruits — and runs through the bowl season.

Though Nebraska marks Pelini’s first head coaching job, he isn’t running empty on confidence about turning the program around.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge,” he said. “We’ll get it done.”

Briefly

Speculation that Shawn Simms will be Nebraska’s new running backs coach is inaccurate, according to Pelini.

Pelini said on Sunday that he will name the coach after the bowl season because that coach’s team is involved in a bowl game.

Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7439 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.