Just in case you thought Bo Pelini was the kind of guy to put a more positive spin on the Nebraska football program for national media outlet, the second-year head coach preached the same message Monday on the Jim Rome radio show that he has throughout fall camp.

“We made some progress last year,” Pelini said on Rome’s program. “And that’s about it. Around here, we measure being back by championships…you’ve got to earn that respect on the field.”

Asked if Nebraska could consistently compete for conference and national championships, Pelini said: “That’s why I came back here.”

Pelini was asked specifically by Rome what running back Quentin Castille did to get dismissed from the team. The coach declined to name any.

“When you’re setting up a program and you’re forming a culture, in my world it’s pretty black and white. There’s not a lot of gray. You’re going do what’s asked of you. There’s going to be repercussions when you screw up. Unfortunately for ‘Q,’ he made some mistakes and he made one too many…one thing our kids understand here is it’s not about any one person, it’s about the “N” on the side of your helmet…our players understand why the decision made.”

Among Pelini’s other comments:

On Zac Lee: “He’s a leader, he’s really talented, he can run, he can make all the throws. The only thing he’s lacking is game experience right now, and that’ll come with time.”

On the state of NU when he took over: They had made some changes in the culture where the overall culture had changed dramatically. Probably for the first time in the history of program, there was some division with the fans. There was some unrest in the program…you also had to do everything you could – myself, Coach Osborne, everybody that came back - to help heal some of the wounds that had been created over the last few years. Not so much with the old coaching staff, but some of that was created by the old administration. It took some work.”

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