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A recent editorial in The Daily Nebraska, the University's student newspaper rised the ire of first year Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini. So much so, that Pelini banned the newspaper from attending practice for a few hours on Monday. The op-ed, which ran in Monday's paper, centered on Pelini's handling of disciplinary problems amongst team members. More specifically, it criticized Pelini for downplaying incidents involving current players and refusing to comment about the recent arrest of an incoming recruit.

"Josh Williams, a highly-ranked defensive end recruit out of Denton, Texas, was arrested last week for assault and robbery. He stands accused of approaching a Denton man as he sat in his pickup, punching him in the face and then robbing him of $900.

Despite Williams being released from jail Thursday, Pelini has had no comment on the situation."

The piece continues by noting:

Pelini began his trend of downplaying altercations involving football players early on in his tenure when quarterback Patrick Witt was arrested after showing up in a dormitory intoxicated and belligerent, shoving an RA and then fleeing from police.

A follow up from Tuesday's edition of the Daily Nebraskan highlighted Pelini's reaction to the original criticisms.

"After seeing the staff editorial, Pelini called our office and berated one of our board members so loudly that he was heard clearly from across the newsroom. There's no real point in printing the choice phrases he used during that first phone call.

But Pelini informed us the Daily Nebraskan's relationship with the football program would be severed unless an exhaustive retraction was published on today's front page. Athletic Department personnel confirmed Pelini's decision later in the day, and asked that our reporters and photographers not show up at Monday's practice while politely asking the one writer who did to leave."

The ban was later lifted, but not before the story began to make the rounds across Nebraska message boards. This seems like the first public misstep in Pelini's career as a head coach. Failing to ignore the piece, which was nothing more than your typical college journalism op-ed, reeks of thin skin on the part of Pelini. In addition, his act of retribution, as brief as it may have been, could be indicative of a chink in the defensive artisan's mental armor. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time this side of Pelini has appeared at Nebraska. The first time was in 2003, when Pelini, then the Huskers' defensive coordinator berated Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder for running up the score in a 38-9 Wildcat victory.

As a Nebraska fan, I expected Pelini to falter some under the leering eyes of the media. I just didn't expect it so soon, and in reaction to such a trivial matter. It's obvious the guy just doesn't yet have the polish of a seasoned head coach. That will come, and I imagine Pelini will get a great deal of assistance from athletic director Tom Osborne in situations such as this. However, it's interesting to note the Osborne also banned the Daily Nebraskan once during his tenure following a series of cartoons, which criticized two of his players for their own legal troubles.