From Nebraska to Youngstown State - What was Bo Pelini Thinking?

Your initial reaction to the news that former Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini has signed on to coach at Youngstown State, an FCS school, after leading the Cornhuskers to 67 wins in seven seasons may be ... confusion? Surely being fired means the next job will be a step down. But why did one of the best coaches in college football go a whole level down?

Further research illuminates the emotional and polarizing Pelini's choice. Turns out, Bo went to high school in Youngstown, Ohio, where Youngstown State is located. And it's not as if the school is a perennial pushover devoid of talent. Youngstown is where former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel got his start, and where Tressel is back now as school president (albeit, after shooting through the flames at OSU amid a rules violation scandal).

Pelini is not the only FCS coach with FBS head coaching experience, according to ESPN.

Liberty coach Turner Gill has previous experience at Buffalo and Kansas. Dartmouth's Buddy Teevens came from Tulane and Stanford. Harvard's Tim Murphy was previously employed at Cincinnati. Meanwhile, Watson Brown of Tennessee Tech sports Cincinnati, Rice, Vanderbilt and UAB on his resume.

Furthermore, Youngstown State has produced 20 NFL players in the past.

With Pelini and Tressel together, the school is bound to be able to recruit more NFL-worthy talent. The school is starving for success after making the FCS playoffs only once since 2000.

Pelini often enraged and amused Nebraska fans, one of which even set up a faux Twitter account of the rambunctious coach. He weathered multiple minor scandals at Nebraska, where he was hired after working as defensive coordinator at LSU. Bo played college football at Ohio State from 1987-1990.

"He is a dedicated family man who wants to be part of our community and make an impact in his hometown," Youngstown State athletic director Ron Strollo told Yahoo! Sports. "He has been a successful coach throughout his career and our student-athletes will have the opportunity to play for a tremendous individual."

Perhaps the hometown fans will be more forgiving.