[Husker] Pelini's Contract (fwd)

[Don Mares]

I like the incentives Bo will get because I believe that will give him
greater motivation to look for the academic all american / high gpa
recruit.  However, there are only so many of those guys and its not like
he's not already going after them.  Bo's first priority has been and will
continue to be to put the best athletes on the field, not necessarily the
best / smartest students.  Make no mistake, he is here to win football
games.  I do however expect to hear more about guys missing practice now
because they need to do some work academically.

I believe Nebraska has one of the best establishments for providing tutors,
aiding and creating a strong support structure for its student athletes.  In
fact we have more academic all americans than any other institution and
second place isn't even close.  Maybe Dennis Leblanc should be receiving the
bonus.  This bonus is just a sign the university is very proud of that fact
and expects it to continue.  It seems to me the volleyball program has been
kicking out several academic all americans recently, does Coach Cook have a
similar bonus structure?  If he received one would it change anything?

The bottom line is it comes down to the student as individuals and how hard
are they willing to work at it and how much effort will they put towards
it?  It appears to me Osborne has been stressing those dedicated individuals
are the guys we need in our program even if they don't run the fastest 40 in
the country.  In my opinion, college (at NU) is not hard, it just takes
effort and dedication.  Do your homework, get your reading done, pay
attention, take good notes, don't sleep in class (show up) and study hard.
Do all that and the grades will follow.  It's all there for you, just apply
yourself.  If anything its easier for the student athlete because of the
free tutors and regular study groups available to them.  Student athletes
are taught good note taking skills and proper time management, those are
services not necessarily available to most students at the university.

Most students not on scholarship need to work in addition to going to
school.  When I was a student at NU, I was taking 15 credit hours and
working 50 hours a week at two jobs to pay for books, housing, food and
fun.  Luckily my parents helped with the tuition or I would still be in
debt.  Spending time at a job versus in the weight room or on a practice
field, is it really any different than working at a job?  It's all competing
for time and energy to the student.  I did my work and still had to go to
the rec center for some release while student athletes were in study hall.

In my opinion, any business institution hiring a recently graduated student
is not going to look at just the grades.  Those are important but what other
factors were involved?  How many social groups were you a part of, were you
working, were you a student athlete?  In other words, what was your overall
college experience?