Pelini firing puts parody Twitter account in limbo

Published Dec. 1, 2014 12:33 p.m. ET

foxsports

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) The firing of Nebraska coach Bo Pelini has created an uncertain future for FauxPelini, one of the more entertaining Twitter accounts following college football.

Asked whether the parody account would live on, the man behind it tweeted to The Associated Press on Monday that "the short/honest answer right now is 'not sure.'"

FauxPelini has added 161,000 followers since being created in December 2010. The account spoofs and exaggerates the real Pelini's no-nonsense personality and is famous for its profile picture of a sweater-wearing Pelini holding a cat.

In a nod to FauxPelini, the coach walked out of the tunnel for the 2014 spring game hoisting a cat over his head.

The identity of the actual tweeter has not been revealed and he declined again Monday. He is known only as a Cornhuskers fan who lives in the Chicago area.

FauxPelini said in a telephone interview that it's doubtful he'll follow the real Pelini to his next job - unless it is at a specific school that he declined to name. He also said he probably won't start a parody Twitter account for Nebraska's next coach.

"That just feels like a lot of work," he said. "Someone else can do that. It takes a lot of energy to get it exactly right."

FauxPelini said probably 40 or 50 family and friends know his true identity and have done a good job keeping it under wraps. He said he started the account just for fun and never would have imagined how big a following FauxPelini would attract.

"It's bizarre," he said, "and funny."