Nebraska’s Bo Pelini addresses profane rant

Nebraska Coach Bo Pelini said Tuesday he doesn’t know if he’ll be disciplined for his profane rant about Cornhuskers fans two years ago, but that he expects most will continue to support him.

An audio of Pelini’s tirade from October 2011, after Nebraska’s come-from-behind 34-27 win over Ohio State, leaked to the website Deadspin this week and has Big Red fans buzzing. In the recording, which caught Pelini speaking off air with Husker Sports Network play-by-play man Greg Sharpe and an associate athletic director, the coach criticized fans who left the stadium in the third quarter, when the Huskers trailed 27-6. Nebraska’s comeback was the biggest in program history.

Pelini also used profanity while criticizing two Omaha World-Herald sports writers, one of whom he had dressed down in his postgame news conference that night for writing what he thought was an overly critical column about quarterback Taylor Martinez.

In the days before the Ohio State game, Pelini had faced withering criticism for the previous week’s 31-point loss at Wisconsin. In the audio, he repeatedly used expletives while talking on the audio about “fair-weather” fans and how the day is coming that he’ll be gone and that he wonders how the team will fare without him.

Pelini issued an apology in a statement Monday night and reiterated it during the Big Ten coaches’ teleconference on Tuesday. He said his comments on the leaked audio were made during what he thought was a private conversation before his postgame radio show. He also said he was shocked by the release of the recording, though he indicated he knew a potentially damaging audio existed.

Chancellor Harvey Perlman has expressed disappointment in Pelini but declined to comment when asked if the coach would be disciplined. Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst said he was “disheartened.”

The Huskers play South Dakota State on Saturday in Lincoln.

Vanderbilt dismisses Boyd

Suspended Vanderbilt receiver Chris Boyd was dismissed from the team following his conditional guilty plea for his role in attempting to cover up the rape of an unconscious student. The decision came after athletic administrators and Coach James Franklin reviewed information in the case from the Sept. 13 hearing where Boyd agreed to a plea deal lowering a felony to a misdemeanor.

Boyd was Vanderbilt’s second-leading receiver in 2012, catching 50 passes for 774 yards and five touchdowns.

Kill won’t discuss seizure

Minnesota Coach Jerry Kill declined to speak directly about his health at his weekly press conference, three days after suffering an epileptic seizure during halftime of a game against Western Illinois. It was his four seizure in three seasons, and the third time he hasn’t been able to finish a game because of it.

“I’ve done talked about all those other things enough,” said Kill, whose team plays San Jose State this week. “This game’s not about a head football coach. This game is about the players and that’s how we’ll approach it today.”