My take is that the AD purposely didn't meet with Pelini the past two years (or however long they were working together) because he didn't want to establish a relationship with him. The AD didn't respect Pelini and saw something in him he didn't like. The AD was wise enough to know that Pelini would would cause his own demise. The AD has probably been around unstable guys like Pelini before and knew exactly how to get to Pelini, destroy Pelini and drive Pelini practically insane....by avoiding him. The AD probably didn't care how good a coach Pelini was, how much his players liked him or how many games he won. The AD plain and simple didn't want a person like Pelini being the face of the program and representing the University. I give the AD credit for recognizing that Pelini is really an emotionally unwell man that shouldn't be running one of the most storied football programs in the country. However, if the AD had balls, he would've gone up to Pelini to tell him this whenever it was he came to that conclusion. Instead, the AD acted like most leaders (who are manipulative, scheming, smug and cunning) and wanted to watch Pelini sink his own ship.
Keep in mind, there are lots of guys out there that our kids would love to hang around and would love to play for that we probably wouldn't want associated with our kids. Just because the kids "loved" playing for him doesn't mean he's the right guy. That's one important quality in a coach, perhaps the biggest one, but it's not the only important one. Pelini demonstrated what kind of man he is in that meeting. He did not have the best interests of his players in mind during his rant. In fact, the only interest he really demonstrated was his own selfish interest. If you think that Pelini telling his players he would do anything for them makes him a good guy, then you haven't really been around much or experienced many people in life. Pelini is focused on himself first and foremost and that was evident from his tirade. I've been around guys like him a lot and I would say most of what comes out of his is mouth crap.