As Lyle Sittler stood there with his former teammates at Nebraska’s football practice Friday morning, the conversation invariably turned to an old NU coach, Bob Devaney, and the current one, Bo Pelini.

Sittler was the starting center on Devaney’s first three teams, 1962-1964, and was on hand for the unveiling of the throwback jerseys NU will wear for its 300th consecutive sellout. But first he watched the Huskers work out, and, of course, kept an eye on Pelini, the second-year head coach trying to pull a Devaney, if you will, and turn around a struggling program.

“They’re very much the same, in the little things,” Sittler said.

Then Sittler described what I’d consider a very big thing – Pelini, pulling a player aside, coaching him briefly, and that player responding with a passionate hit. The key, Sittler said, is that “No. 46” – linebacker Eric Martin - wasn’t from Nebraska. He’s from Mission Viejo, Calif.

Devaney could do that, too, Sittler said. He pointed to 1962 starting quarterback Dennis Claridge, from Minnesota, and native Texan Willie Paschall.

“Die-hard Nebraska people (now),” Sittler said. “That kind of atmosphere is identifying itself with Nebraska once again.”

Paschall was more to the point: “Coach Pelini is like the reincarnation of Coach Devaney. He keeps the guys focused. He cares about them. He knows when to get them loose, and he knows when to keep them to the grindstone.”

Can NU just take that line and use it on the recruiting trail?

I didn’t know Bob Devaney. Never interviewed him. Heard stories, almost all of them involving Devaney’s later years, his fondness for a good joke. Watched his picks show as a kid. He seemed to favor UCLA quite a bit, as I recall. He laughed a lot on the show.

But the man who coached for Devaney, Tom Osborne, sees similarities in Pelini. And in the 1962 players, in their brief time around Pelini see the same. They see the humor. They see a guy who trusts his coaching staff. They see the gameday fire. They see a guy with clear expectations. And I think they see a guy who’s getting the players to buy in, to believe, to make plays.

I say “I think” because, of course, the results remain to be seen. Pelini built a strong 9-4 foundation in year one But what Devaney did was nothing short of amazing.

He took over a team that went 15-34-1 under Bill Jennings - losing five straight to Missouri by a combined score of 92-13 – and finished 47-8 in his first five seasons at NU. Five straight bowls, after the Huskers had played in two in their entire history. Played for the national title, essentially, in 1965. Chew on that for a second. And he did it, essentially, by working his players less, not more. He threw in the option, and a pass every now and then. Claridge called the plays.

Pelini could squeeze every ounce out of these Huskers and not achieve that by 2012. May not achieve Devaney’s 101-20-2 career record. It took Tom Osborne until the last five years of his career – you know, that 60-3 stretch – to surpass Devaney’s .829 winning percentage.

And yet you sense Pelini expects that kind of excellence of himself and the team. We’ve heard the line already around fall camp quite frequently – “You don’t come to Nebraska to win nine games.”

Back in 1962, nine wins suited the Huskers just fine. But Devaney’s success upped the ante. Then Osborne’s last five seasons shot it into the stratosphere. Just imagine if the Huskers had closed the deal in 1965, 1983 and 1993. Pelini would probably have to part the Platte River.

“That’s part of the deal here,” Pelini said. “You have to live up to the tradition every day.”

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