We should establish immediately that the Pelini brothers — Bo and Carl — operate well amid discomfort. Accomplished football coaches often possess that knack. After all, isn’t discomfort what defense is all about, especially causing it? Isn’t it all about making offensive players squirm in their cleats before de-cleating those players entirely?

At any rate, it’s hard not to admire the gamble Carl Pelini took back in 2003. He eschewed comfort. He left a safe path for a more challenging one. He received no guarantees when, at age 37, he chose to work for a pittance as a graduate assistant at Nebraska after spending three years as head coach at Fitch High in Austintown, Ohio.

“I lived a couple miles from our stadium (in Austintown),” says Pelini, who has master’s degrees in journalism and education. “The Fitch program was growing to where it was starting to run itself. I saw myself as being successful at what I was doing.”

However, “I also knew I could compete against anybody in terms of coaching ability. So the natural progression was to try to get somewhere to compete with the best against the best, right?”

If coaches are going to challenge their players in an intense manner, well, coaches had better extend themselves, too. Right? In effect, that’s what Carl Pelini was doing in 2003 at Nebraska. He craved the challenge of coaching at the highest level, even if getting there required a degree of risk for his family. Even if it required working 12-hour days for an annual salary of $12,000. It was a roll of the dice, and we now know the gamble paid handsomely.

Indeed, Carl Pelini’s path led to three seasons as a full-time defensive line coach at Ohio University. Of course, the path then led back to Nebraska, where earlier this month he was named defensive coordinator. A cushy, $190,000-per-year job working for his younger brother? Cushy? Well, think again. Yes, new Husker head coach Bo Pelini will call the defense. But Carl Pelini will have significant input. He makes that clear.

“My vision, as time goes on, is to take control more and more,” Carl Pelini says. “I think that’ll take time. But I do know Bo wants a role in the offense. And I know he has a tremendous amount of confidence in me and knows what I can do. I know he knows it because he’s said it for years. We’ve talked in great depth week in and week out through every season when we were together, and when we weren’t together. … He knows what I know.

“Right now, Bo’s love is defense, and he wants to maintain a role in running that defense. But as time goes on, and the program develops, and he’s wearing so many hats, I think eventually as he gets more comfortable he’ll welcome relinquishing more and more responsibility to our staff.”

Carl wasn’t expecting to be named defensive coordinator at Nebraska. However, “Whether I had that title or not, I was going to aggressively pursue responsibility because I’m confident in what I can do and what I know and how I can teach it. I knew eventually he was going to name me DC, but I didn’t pressure him. I didn’t ask him about it. I wanted him to do it because he was confident in me, and not because I’m his brother.”

Carl understands that people are wondering why Bo didn’t hire a defensive coordinator with more experience (Carl has one year as a college coordinator on his resume, in 2004 at NCAA Division II Minnesota State).

Carl’s response? “I know my stuff,” he says flatly. “I’m going to be a heck of a defensive coordinator. I don’t doubt it for a second, and Bo doesn’t doubt it for a second.”

It will be interesting watching the Pelini brothers put their stamp on Nebraska’s defense. They have a rugged-but-savvy quality to their personalities that seems well-suited for such employment. They will demand a “unique level” of effort from players, Carl says. To be sure, let’s not forget the role discomfort plays in the Pelini plan.

“When people walk off the field after playing us, I want them to be sore,” Carl says. “I want our defense to be very physical. The thing is, I think that mentality gets lost sometimes. I mean, with the spread offenses the way they are, I think a lot of defensive coaches have let that mentality go and said, ‘We’re just going to be more athletic and try to tackle people in the open field.’ To me, you can be physical defending an empty set just as much as you can be physical defending a three-back set.

“Every hit has to be a violent collision.”

So, look for Nebraska to mix and match coverages weekly and use an assortment of cantankerous blitzes to keep offenses off-balance and, ahem, uncomfortable.

Speaking of discomfort, former Nebraska head coach Frank Solich sought to ease the hardship for Carl Pelini and his family back in 2003. Solich helped Carl’s wife get “a great job” in Lincoln, Carl says. Meanwhile, Solich gave Carl duties similar to that of a full-time assistant coach. Carl coached the defensive ends on a daily basis while “gobbling up every bit of knowledge I could get,” he says.

“When we game-planned, my opinions and suggestions were weighted just as heavily as the other assistants.”

Pelini worked under Ohio defensive coordinator Jimmy Burrow, a student of the Tampa-2 system. In other words, ex-Husker assistant Monte Kiffin (who designed the system) has had significant influence on the Pelinis. They speak the same language, Carl says.

“Obviously, the majority of our scheme (at Nebraska) will come from Bo’s playbook,” Carl says. “But there’s going to be a lot of discussion as we tailor it to fit our personnel and coaches.”

The entire staff will contribute in that vein. It has to be that way, Carl says. But the Pelinis will lead the way. They complement each other well. Coaches that have worked with the brothers will tell you Carl likes to keep things light in the office. 

On the other hand, “Bo tends to get stressed,” Carl says. “Sometimes you have say, ‘Hey, let’s lighten up. It’s going to get done. It’s going to happen. Let’s enjoy the trip, too.’”

What an interesting trip it’s been.

Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.