Dan Wolken

USA TODAY Sports

Nebraska has fired Bo Pelini after seven seasons, the school announced Sunday morning.

Pelini never finished with fewer than nine wins at Nebraska, but he never lifted the Cornhuskers into the national championship discussion. His tenure was marked with tension over those expectations, and Pelini's inability to win games against top competition ultimately doomed him.

"I didn't see enough improvement in areas that were important for us to move forward and play championship-caliber football," athletic director Shawn Eichorst said at a news conference. "We weren't good enough in games that mattered against championship-caliber opponents."

Associate head coach Barney Cotton, a Nebraska alum, will be the interim head coach for the Cornhuskers' bowl game.

Nebraska was 8-1 this season with a chance to win the western division of the Big Ten but got embarrassed 59-24 at Wisconsin on Nov. 15, then followed it up with a 28-24 loss at home to Minnesota the next week.

Even though Nebraska came back to beat Iowa in overtime Friday to finish the regular season 9-3, the school decided to go in a different direction.

Asked for comment, Pelini wrote in a text to The Associated Press, "I'm good. Thanks for asking!"

Pelini finished with a 67-27 overall record. ​

Nebraska quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. tweeted this in response: "Biggest mistake you ever made.... Bo was the best coach I've ever had and I'll always appreciate the things you taught me."

Under the terms of Pelini's contract, Nebraska will owe him as much as $7.65 million over the remaining term in an agreement that runs through Feb. 28, 2019. The deal paid Pelini a base salary of just under $3.1 million for the current contract year, and that amount was scheduled to increase by $100,000 next year.

Pelini is owed $150,000 for each of the 51 full months remaining on the deal ($1.8 million a year), according to his contract, although "within a reasonably brief period following termination," he is required to use his best efforts to find "substantially comparable employment" that generates income to offset Nebraska's obligation to him. Pelini's contract with another employer must be "without structuring or timing (of) compensation to avoid mitigation."

Contributing: Steve Berkowitz; the Associated Press