Tom Osborne keeps it real

[hack]

another interview with oborne in which he confesses that he was DB Cooper.

 

...

 

nah. but still a good interview.

 

RF365 exclusive: Man-to-man coverage with Nebraska’s Tom Osborne

 

Monday, July 07, 2008 | Posted by Marc Hudgens

 

RealFootball365 would like to thank legendary Nebraska coach and athletic director Dr. Tom Osborne for taking time with us and reflecting on his career in Lincoln and sharing his thoughts on new coach Bo Pelini and the upcoming season in this exclusive interview.

 

***

 

Q: If you had to pick just one, what would be the highlight of your career at Nebraska?

 

OSBORNE: I suppose if it was one particular game or moment, it would probably be the Orange Bowl in January 1995 after the end of the 1994 season, where we were able to come from behind and beat Miami, in Miami. We had some trouble with Miami; playing them down there was always difficult. I think out of the previous 65 home games they only lost one time, and that’s what it was, it was a home game. (We) probably had more resolve than (any other Nebraska team), and we had some great ones. We had the Tommie Frazier injury, and Brook Berringer stepped in and played well. We were talented but not overly so, but it was just more chemistry and resolve that carried us through that year.

 

Q: What would you consider to be the lowest point in your career?

 

OSBORNE: Maybe the Lawrence (Phillips) situation, because we took a lot of pride in doing things the right way here. The NCAA rules of graduation, our players, being consistent in terms of how we enforce discipline. Obviously what Lawrence did was not right, and yet we were labeled as win-at-all-costs, that type of thing. Yet we just disciplined Lawrence in accordance with our discipline policy and code and we thought we did it fairly. So it was a difficult time because we had a great team in 1995, we had great players, undefeated and nobody came close to us that whole year. (It was) painful.

 

 

Q: How difficult was it for you to follow Bob Devaney after he won two national championships and then became athletic director after that? Did you feel more pressure than normal to win?

 

OSBORNE: I knew it would be very difficult, because if you look at the history books of intercollegiate athletics, particularly football, you realize that the person that follows (a very successful coach) oftentimes doesn’t last very long. You realize the bar has been set high. Bob won two national championships, and the (last) year we had we were 9-2-1 and beat Notre Dame badly in the Orange Bowl. I think he was 33-2-2 during those three years, and whatever has happened in the last few years is what people get accustomed to quickly. We had a couple of 6-4 seasons in 1967 and 1968, but they were pretty much erased by those great years. So the bar was set really high. And I think Bob’s being athletic director was very helpful to me, because he was supportive and didn’t interfere. And I think to some degree his presence buffered me a little bit, but I would have to say also I wasn’t a very popular guy for a number of years. The big bugaboo was from 1973, my first year, through 1977 we didn’t beat Oklahoma. We’d win nine or 10 games, but we’d lose to Oklahoma at the end of the year. (Because of that), we’d had a bad year. And we did beat them in 1978 and had a very physical game here in Lincoln, then played a very good Missouri team the next week and emotionally we were drained. We got beat 35-31. Then [we] went back and played Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, and to play Oklahoma twice late in the year. We (played) them well down there, but we lost by a touchdown. So even though we finally got over the hump and beat them, it still ended on a down note of losing.

 

 

Q: When you first became athletic director, you were involved in recruiting prior to hiring Bo Pelini. Are you still involved in recruiting in any way, or have you officially handed that over to Pelini?

 

OSBORNE: NCAA rules only allow you have nine assistant coaches recruiting and one head coach in football. Since the staff was not retained, I was able to step in and go out and recruit, then I backed off. I was only recruiting for seven or eight days. Actually, what I was doing was going around and seeing as many players as I could who had been good to us, prior to coach (Bill) Callahan’s being fired, and trying to hang onto as many as I could. We lost a number of them; I believe nine went to other schools, but overall we felt pretty good about it. We still held 14 (or so); we were able to land some really good players we had been recruiting hard.

 

Q: What was the No. 1 thing that separated Pelini from the rest of the coaching candidates during the interview process? What did he have the other candidates didn’t seem to have?

 

OSBORNE: We needed a lot of help on defense, and I didn’t know of anybody that had better defensive coaching credentials. The other thing he had going for him is [that] he had coached here in 2003 for one year, and had turned our defense around in that year into one of the top defenses in the country from a rather average defense in 2002. So I knew that he understood and could motivate players and communicate with players and (get them) to play with intensity and passion. The other thing that was in Bo’s favor was I was able to talk to a lot of players who played for him in 2003 and a lot of assistant coaches who worked with him on defense. And in his last month, he was named interim coach when (Frank) Solich was fired, so Bo coached the bowl game for about five weeks, [and] he acted as the head coach. All of the comments I got from the former players and former coaches, all of whom I knew well and trusted, were very positive. So I was able to get more information on him. In most other people, you would get information on simply by interviewing them. So that was the main decision on Bo.

 

 

Q: Given your political experience in Washington as a congressman, what are your thoughts on the upcoming presidential election between Barack Obama and John McCain?

 

OSBORNE: I’m in a position now [where] being partisan is not very beneficial. What I can say is [that] I do know John McCain fairly well. In the House of Representatives , you introduce new legislation, you get it passed in the House then you have to get it passed in the Senate. And there were three or four different things John and I that worked with on a (regular) basis. In the House on a boxing bill that we needed passed, because boxing is about the only major sport that has really no significant (individual) agency. So we were concerned about that. We were also involved in gambling in Las Vegas, Nevada. Some of the gambling scandals, we felt was not a healthy thing. And some other issues. He was always someone who, if I needed to talk to a Senator, I could call him. Barack Obama, I’ve only met one time and that was on an airplane in Chicago, where we shook hands and said hello. So I really don’t know him.

 

 

Q: What are your expectations for the football program this year? Five years from now?

 

OSBORNE: I think that Nebraskans have grown somewhat accustomed to a fairly physical style of football and are fairly into it, and (want teams that) would really play hard, that would be well-organized. Teams that will represent, that we can be proud. Doesn’t mean we’ll win every game, but at least be a very competitive football team that people don’t look forward to playing very much.

 

 

***

 

 

"Off The Field" with Dr. Tom Osborne, a questionnaire concept derived from French television personality Bernard Pivot and the Proust Questionnaire.

 

What revs you up in life?

 

I’m very devoted to my family, my children and my grandchildren. Fishing, probably more than anything, as far as recreational activity.

 

What turns you off in life?

 

Posturing and showboating, where players engage in theatrics to call attention to themselves. In the political (arena), partisanship. Or extreme partisanship, which is usually self-serving or party-serving. In the culture, I’m really concerned about some of the violence, sexual explicitness and vulgarity on some of what’s on television and in movies.

What is the loudest stadium you've ever been in?

I think maybe when we played Clemson in the Orange Bowl that year (January of 1982). It was really loud. It was almost impossible to communicate with a player standing right next to you. Clemson was playing for a national championship. If we’d have won, we might have won the championship too, so it was very intense. Clemson managed to get the majority of the seats in the Orange Bowl that night, and so it was very loud.

 

What school other than Nebraska would you like to have coached?

 

I really don’t know. The only college job I that I ever looked at besides Nebraska was Colorado. That was at the end of the ’78 season. They had had a coaching vacancy, and contacted me and I went out there and interviewed, but I decided to stay here. And I’ve never had any (interest in) coaching somewhere else. I had some chances to go back in after I had gotten out in 1997, and just didn’t feel right about coaching someplace other than Nebraska.

What profession would you never want to do?

 

I can’t think of anything I just wouldn’t do, but I would not want to be in the gambling industry. I think it causes a lot of problems and a lot of heartache. I wouldn’t feel good about that.

What is your favorite food and drink?

 

I eat quite a bit of salmon. I’m a salmon fisherman, so I enjoy that.

Growing up, who was your all-time favorite sports hero (coach or player, any sport)?

 

Bobby Reynolds was a halfback here at the University of Nebraska. He was from Grand Island, Nebraska, which was a town (about 20) miles from Hastings (Neb.), where I grew up. And Bobby -- it was around 1950 -- he was one of the best in the nation in scoring. And then he was quite a bit injured in his junior year. But I think probably that one year I was quite enthused with Bobby’s performance.

 

What’s next for you after Nebraska?

 

We do have a mentoring program I started in 1991, and it’s currently over 3,000 kids from Nebraska and Iowa. And I know I will continue to defend the program’s TeamMates (Mentoring Program). It’s near and dear to me, my wife and my grandkids. And I’m sure I’ll try to do a lot of fishing as much as I can.

[huskernumerouno]

Nice interview

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

Q: What are your expectations for the football program this year? Five years from now?

 

OSBORNE: I think that Nebraskans have grown somewhat accustomed to a fairly physical style of football and are fairly into it, and (want teams that) would really play hard, that would be well-organized. Teams that will represent, that we can be proud. Doesn’t mean we’ll win every game, but at least be a very competitive football team that people don’t look forward to playing very much.

 

That sums it up for me

[Guy Chamberlin]

Who knew he ate that much salmon?

 

Very revealing interview.

[ray233]

"Teams that will represent, that we can be proud. Doesn’t mean we’ll win every game, but at least be a very competitive football team that people don’t look forward to playing very much."

 

That is why I love Tom Osborne. That humble ferocity is one in a million.

[admo]

Pretty straight forward. Good read.

[hack]

Who knew he ate that much salmon?

 

but *how* serious is he about it?

 

FARnbRBWKGg

[Huskerballz]

^^ Haha! Now that's a funny quackin' clip Hack.

 

Who do you guys think were the other schools that Osborne was courted by after '97?

 

I can't believe that he went and interviewed with Colorado. I never knew that! Also, he said that was the only other school he flirted with in his career, but wasn't he very very serious about going to Michigan St. and almost did if he hadn't of had a meeting with his staff? I don't know, just thinking out loud.

 

Overall though, this was a great article. As long as teams don't look forward to playing us I'm happy!

[huKSer]

^^ Haha! Now that's a funny quackin' clip Hack.

 

Who do you guys think were the other schools that Osborne was courted by after '97?

 

I can't believe that he went and interviewed with Colorado. I never knew that! Also, he said that was the only other school he flirted with in his career, but wasn't he very very serious about going to Michigan St. and almost did if he hadn't of had a meeting with his staff? I don't know, just thinking out loud.

 

Overall though, this was a great article. As long as teams don't look forward to playing us I'm happy!

Believe it or not, it was kind of a pre-emptive move before he was FIRED! People were up in arms because NU kept losing to Oklahoma. I remember reading Sporting News (no internet then) and they had it as a done deal. Must not have talked to the aquarium guy a la Pelini.

[hack]

^^ Haha! Now that's a funny quackin' clip Hack.

 

Who do you guys think were the other schools that Osborne was courted by after '97?

 

rumor was in the late eighties, michigan state was interested in hiring osborne. at least, that's what i read some place. colorado of course was interested. i also believe the buffs aslo courted solich at one time, but that's a bit off topic.

[cornhuskers4ever]

Could you imagine if Osborne would have gone to Colorado? Imagine how much nicer the fans would have become.

 

Excellent interview. His statement about the Cornhuskers 5 years from now kind of sums up The Cornhuskers when Osborne was Head Coach. Nebraska didn't win every game, but it was a team you didn't look forward to playing. I simply want a team where the opposition knows they are in for the fight of their lives. They need to know that the Cornhuskers aren't going to implode. Tom Osborne gives that calming effect that everything is going to be alright again.

[Guy Chamberlin]

In fairness to those Osborne critics of yesteryear, his teams did have a way of imploding in the big games.

[AZ4NE1]

Pretty straight forward. Good read.

http://scfootball.blogspot.com/2005_07_17_archive.html

[zE bOp]

"Teams that will represent, that we can be proud. Doesn’t mean we’ll win every game, but at least be a very competitive football team that people don’t look forward to playing very much."

 

That is why I love Tom Osborne. That humble ferocity is one in a million.

 

Yeah, that's Osborne: understated. But we all know inside he, like the rest of us, wants Big Red to be a feared and dominant team--an 'elite' team--year in and year out.

 

And that's what we call: