Tom Osborne short interview

[DaveH]

I can't quote the whole thing exactly. I should have written it down so I could post it, but the gist was that sometimes people get too caught up in streaks, how long this has been going on, how long that has been going on. He encourages fans to get behind the team and be patient because it "is a lot harder than it looks".

 

Anyone else catch it and can vouch for me not just making this up? Any comments? It was on the "Big Red Extra" on the 10 o'clock news this evening on WOWT. I figured a lot of people around here, including me, value his input.

[Utah_Husker]

I can't quote the whole thing exactly. I should have written it down so I could post it, but the gist was that sometimes people get too caught up in streaks, how long this has been going on, how long that has been going on. He encourages fans to get behind the team and be patient because it "is a lot harder than it looks".

 

Anyone else catch it and can vouch for me not just making this up? Any comments? It was on the "Big Red Extra" on the 10 o'clock news this evening on WOWT. I figured a lot of people around here, including me, value his input.

You know he has too much class to say what he really thinks in public and undercut the team. He cares about the kids and the program too much. But he made it quite clear in February that he does not agree with the direction the program has taken. Something like "I just don't see how you can fire someone with that many wins." Why do you think he wanted to get a corporate sponsor for the new complex so he could take his name off of it? Yes, it's about generating money, but its also a more than subtle slap in Petersen's face as well.

[DaveH]

I can't quote the whole thing exactly. I should have written it down so I could post it, but the gist was that sometimes people get too caught up in streaks, how long this has been going on, how long that has been going on. He encourages fans to get behind the team and be patient because it "is a lot harder than it looks".

 

Anyone else catch it and can vouch for me not just making this up? Any comments? It was on the "Big Red Extra" on the 10 o'clock news this evening on WOWT. I figured a lot of people around here, including me, value his input.

You know he has too much class to say what he really thinks in public and undercut the team. He cares about the kids and the program too much. But he made it quite clear in February that he does not agree with the direction the program has taken. Something like "I just don't see how you can fire someone with that many wins." Why do you think he wanted to get a corporate sponsor for the new complex so he could take his name off of it? Yes, it's about generating money, but its also a more than subtle slap in Petersen's face as well.

He may disagree with the firing and what Peterson did, but I doubt he actually disagrees with how the football team is being run. When the 94 team came back for the game against Missouri, he didn't want to lead the 94 team out of the tunnel because he didn't want to take anything away from Callahan as the head coach. I think that shows that he has some respect for the current staff, or at least the position.

 

Sure he's got class for miles. However, putting words in his mouth or assuming he has some secret agenda isn't something you do with a guy like Osborne. We have taken him at his word, or at least I have, for years and to start extrapolating things from them now is not cool IMO.

[Benard]

I can't quote the whole thing exactly. I should have written it down so I could post it, but the gist was that sometimes people get too caught up in streaks, how long this has been going on, how long that has been going on. He encourages fans to get behind the team and be patient because it "is a lot harder than it looks".

 

Anyone else catch it and can vouch for me not just making this up? Any comments? It was on the "Big Red Extra" on the 10 o'clock news this evening on WOWT. I figured a lot of people around here, including me, value his input.

You know he has too much class to say what he really thinks in public and undercut the team. He cares about the kids and the program too much. But he made it quite clear in February that he does not agree with the direction the program has taken. Something like "I just don't see how you can fire someone with that many wins." Why do you think he wanted to get a corporate sponsor for the new complex so he could take his name off of it? Yes, it's about generating money, but its also a more than subtle slap in Petersen's face as well.

yeah i agree with you.

[Utah_Husker]

I can't quote the whole thing exactly. I should have written it down so I could post it, but the gist was that sometimes people get too caught up in streaks, how long this has been going on, how long that has been going on. He encourages fans to get behind the team and be patient because it "is a lot harder than it looks".

 

Anyone else catch it and can vouch for me not just making this up? Any comments? It was on the "Big Red Extra" on the 10 o'clock news this evening on WOWT. I figured a lot of people around here, including me, value his input.

You know he has too much class to say what he really thinks in public and undercut the team. He cares about the kids and the program too much. But he made it quite clear in February that he does not agree with the direction the program has taken. Something like "I just don't see how you can fire someone with that many wins." Why do you think he wanted to get a corporate sponsor for the new complex so he could take his name off of it? Yes, it's about generating money, but its also a more than subtle slap in Petersen's face as well.

He may disagree with the firing and what Peterson did, but I doubt he actually disagrees with how the football team is being run. When the 94 team came back for the game against Missouri, he didn't want to lead the 94 team out of the tunnel because he didn't want to take anything away from Callahan as the head coach. I think that shows that he has some respect for the current staff, or at least the position.

 

Sure he's got class for miles. However, putting words in his mouth or assuming he has some secret agenda isn't something you do with a guy like Osborne. We have taken him at his word, or at least I have, for years and to start extrapolating things from them now is not cool IMO.

Ok, I won't put words in his mouth. These are quotes from him in an article in the World Herald back in February. I know I posted this somewhere before, but maybe everyone didn't see it.

 

"I just couldn't believe a guy who had won that many games would be fired," Osborne said.

In a press conference just blocks from the university campus, Osborne said he had no warning from Athletic Director Steve Pederson that Solich would be fired.

And when new Coach Bill Callahan decided in January not to retain seven assistants, "that kind of pushed it over the top for me."

"We lost something in the process," Osborne said. "The program was built on a sense of loyalty and continuity. That sense of loyalty and caring permeated everything we did."

"I've listened to everybody," Osborne said. "I've heard all sides of the story. And I just don't see anything that maybe we couldn't have sat down in one room, maybe 45 minutes to an hour, hashed it out and had it back on track.

"But that's not my job. The only reason we're here today is because of the darned naming of the building and our name being on it."

When Osborne agreed to put his name on the facility, he said he did it in part to help Solich, his longtime lieutenant and handpicked successor. Now the congressman says a corporate sponsorship could be just what the university needs to jump-start fund raising.

Though no dollar figures have been given by Nebraska, Osborne said, "I think right now they're quite a ways short."

"The best way to get it done would be to get a major donor," he said. "We put our name on the building, and it probably isn't right to pull it off. But I didn't want to have people assume that what happened did so with our approval."

[Utah_Husker]

So I wasn't insinuating that he disagreed with the way the football team is being run. I think he's classy enough to give Callahan a chance. But it's clear that at least back in February he was chapped about how the program itself was run. The direciton of it when it comes to loyalty. And its clear he's no Steve Pedersen fan. I think a lot of us couldn't agree more with Tom on these points.

[Pedro Guerrero]

I've asked this before why didn't TO speak up when Frankie fired all of his ole'boys

[DaveH]

I've asked this before why didn't TO speak up when Frankie fired all of his ole'boys

Good question.

[Utah_Husker]

I've asked this before why didn't TO speak up when Frankie fired all of his ole'boys

Good question.

Which of Osbourne's 'ole boys' did Solich fire? I'll give you Darlington. He was here since '73. But Bohl? He got here in '95, spent only 3 years with Osbourne. Barnes? Even less. He was only here for T.O.'s last season. If you're referring to Tenopir and Young, they retired. And everyone around them indicates they had talked about retiring early in the 2003 season. The only ones besides Darlington, Tenopir and Young who spent any significant time with Osbourne were Gill and Brown. And Solich kept both of them.

[Pedro Guerrero]

I've asked this before why didn't TO speak up when Frankie fired all of his ole'boys

Good question.

Which of Osbourne's 'ole boys' did Solich fire? I'll give you Darlington. He was here since '73. But Bohl? He got here in '95, spent only 3 years with Osbourne. Barnes? Even less. He was only here for T.O.'s last season. If you're referring to Tenopir and Young, they retired. And everyone around them indicates they had talked about retiring early in the 2003 season. The only ones besides Darlington, Tenopir and Young who spent any significant time with Osbourne were Gill and Brown. And Solich kept both of them.

If they retired why were A.Taylor and a few other linemen so upset about? I thought the papers said they were asked to retire.

[Utah_Husker]

I've asked this before why didn't TO speak up when Frankie fired all of his ole'boys

Good question.

Which of Osbourne's 'ole boys' did Solich fire? I'll give you Darlington. He was here since '73. But Bohl? He got here in '95, spent only 3 years with Osbourne. Barnes? Even less. He was only here for T.O.'s last season. If you're referring to Tenopir and Young, they retired. And everyone around them indicates they had talked about retiring early in the 2003 season. The only ones besides Darlington, Tenopir and Young who spent any significant time with Osbourne were Gill and Brown. And Solich kept both of them.

If they retired why were A.Taylor and a few other linemen so upset about? I thought the papers said they were asked to retire.

That was papers doing what papers do. This was in the Daily Nebraskan:

 

Rumors had been swirling recently that while Young wished to retire, Tenopir wanted to stay on and coach for another year.

Tenopir dispelled such rumors and announced he had decided to leave because of unspecified health problems he has dealt with since 1997.

"I don't feel like I'm retiring, I feel like I'm stepping aside because of health reasons," he said. "I can't do things on the field that I've been able to do. It's not an easy decision to make, but it's the right decision."

He also announced that the decision to retire did not come as recently as had been reported.

"You guys wore yourselves out trying to speculate," Tenopir said to the gathered reporters. "I'm sorry I didn't return your calls."

Solich said Tenopir had approached him early in the season concerning that Tenopir was considering retirement.

"That was fairly early in the season," Solich said. "He mentioned he still loved the game."

According to Solich, Young also talked to him early in the season about retirement.

 

 

Chances are, they were both thinking about retirement and decided this was a good time to do it together and give Solich a chance to save his job.

[Pedro Guerrero]

I've asked this before why didn't TO speak up when Frankie fired all of his ole'boys

Good question.

Which of Osbourne's 'ole boys' did Solich fire? I'll give you Darlington. He was here since '73. But Bohl? He got here in '95, spent only 3 years with Osbourne. Barnes? Even less. He was only here for T.O.'s last season. If you're referring to Tenopir and Young, they retired. And everyone around them indicates they had talked about retiring early in the 2003 season. The only ones besides Darlington, Tenopir and Young who spent any significant time with Osbourne were Gill and Brown. And Solich kept both of them.

If they retired why were A.Taylor and a few other linemen so upset about? I thought the papers said they were asked to retire.

That was papers doing what papers do. This was in the Daily Nebraskan:

 

Rumors had been swirling recently that while Young wished to retire, Tenopir wanted to stay on and coach for another year.

Tenopir dispelled such rumors and announced he had decided to leave because of unspecified health problems he has dealt with since 1997.

"I don't feel like I'm retiring, I feel like I'm stepping aside because of health reasons," he said. "I can't do things on the field that I've been able to do. It's not an easy decision to make, but it's the right decision."

He also announced that the decision to retire did not come as recently as had been reported.

"You guys wore yourselves out trying to speculate," Tenopir said to the gathered reporters. "I'm sorry I didn't return your calls."

Solich said Tenopir had approached him early in the season concerning that Tenopir was considering retirement.

"That was fairly early in the season," Solich said. "He mentioned he still loved the game."

According to Solich, Young also talked to him early in the season about retirement.

 

 

Chances are, they were both thinking about retirement and decided this was a good time to do it together and give Solich a chance to save his job.

I just remember Taylor talking on Big Red Wrapup that he was never going to step foot in South Staduim again because of how Solich let Milt go. He must of got over it though because I saw at a couple games last year.

[Utah_Husker]

I just remember Taylor talking on Big Red Wrapup that he was never going to step foot in South Staduim again because of how Solich let Milt go. He must of got over it though because I saw at a couple games last year.

Yeah, he was probably just upset that his mentor was leaving the program. Honestly, what would he know about weather or not Tenopir wanted to retire. It's not like he's going to call all his former players and ask what they think about it. If he says he had health issues since '97 and it was time to step down, I believe him.

[DJR313]

Honestly, who cares what Osborne thinks at this point? He no longer works for the university. He is actually the person that is responsible for setting the wheels of chaos in motion. If Osborne would have just stepped aside after '97 and let Bill Byrne find a worthy replacement, Callahan probably wouldn't be here, Solich would have never been coach, and this program might have not seen some of the low points that have come since then. Osborne took the easy route and had a stand-in that he knew would not make any drastic changes, eventhough TO knew some changes would have to be made eventually. I blame the current situation on TO. The university and football program had such endearment and respect for TO that he was allowed to select his successor. No one may agree with me, but if you can tell me Byrne would have picked Solich amongst candidates that would have come calling, I think you are fooling yourself.

[Solich Needed]

I will say this again for the SuperTards amongst us...Solich didnt let his assistants go...The adminstration once again was the culprit and the screwballs in this mess. They told Solich let go and make changes or your gone. He complied and even improved his record from 7-7 to 10-3 and was still freaking let go. Now tell me where any of this B.S is right. All you Pederson blow hards are complete super-tards for defending this crap !