T.O.’s (non-football) legacy…..

[Comish]

Obviously, T.O. has established a lasting legacy in football.

 

However, how will he be remembered as an A.D….??

 

It’s kind of hard to realize that in just 5 years, he will have cut loose and found replacements for head coaches for the three major men’s sports. (Doesn’t quite jive with the image of the soft spoken grandfatherly type who just goes along with things)

 

Certainly, the facilities upgrade will be part of his legacy, but one might argue that a huge part of it will also be the success or failure of his basketball hire. Especially after publicly stating that they are willing to “pay” to get the right guy.

 

I just find it ironic that of ALL the things attached to his name at Nebraska, the final major decision of his A.D. tenure might hinge on basketball.

[The Dude]

It's hard to say as far as the basketball coach goes, to most people in Nebraska, basketball is an afterthought. He'll be remembered for the facility upgrades, helping getting the arena pushed through, stadium expansion, move to the Big Ten, ect. If Bo ends up being the guy that gets Nebraska back to the upper echelon of college football, he'll probably be most remembered as the guy who hired Bo. By and large, that's what Nebraska fans care about.

[flatwaterfan]

I consider him a great A.D. He repaired a fractured athletic department. Got new facilities going. That wrestling, mens & womens basketball can use. The balance sheet is good. Made some tough choices that I think will work out well. Time will tell. He was instrumental in the move from the b12 to the b1g. Regardless of how his hires turn out, I think he made a tremendous contribution to the University beyond football. Personally I think basketball is an afterthought because they are losing. If they get the right guy it won't be an afterthought. Look at Baseball, at one time that was an afterthought. Basketball is the same way.

[The Dude]

I think TO's in a good spot. If the next coach doesn't turn the program around, basketball will remain an afterthought - business as usual. If he does turn it around, TO wil definately be remembered for that.

[HuskerShark]

With the fires that he has made, there has been a lot of booster pressure to get those guys out, so I don't put the TO tag on the fires at all. I really think that Anderson should have been let go a year sooner, but maybe that's just me. It was obvious that the baseball team took about 5 steps back every single year with him as coach.

 

With his legacy as AD, if I had to describe it in one word, it would be stability. He gives support to the coaches until he needs to let them go, and when he does, it is handled with class. TO helped to upgrade our facilities to some of the nicest in the nation in basketball and football, and he seems to be really good at allocating the funds needed to take on those projects.

[T_O_Bull]

In addition to afterthought due to losing I think the fact that they were playing a boring brand of BB and weren't fun to watch.

T_O_B

G>B>R

[flatwaterfan]

The boring comment also relates to the Moe Iba situation. They brought in Nee who was uptempo and that energized the fan base a bit. Would also say that upgrading the non-con would also spark interest in the program.

[knapplc]

With the fires that he has made, there has been a lot of booster pressure to get those guys out, so I don't put the TO tag on the fires at all.

 

Boosters always have their favorites, and are always in the ear of the AD to hire this guy or fire that guy. The constant chatter from the boosters doesn't stop, so to pin this termination on the boosters is not correct. Osborne fired Callahan, Anderson and Sadler. Those decisions are entirely owned by him, and him alone. Not the boosters.

[HSKR]

Hiring/firing of particular program's coaches (even football) whether it was successful or not will be insignificant decades from now compared to getting Nebraska into the BIG. I have no doubt that will be TO's greatest accomplishment as AD, something I don't think would have happened without him being in that position. The new bball practice facility, arena, stadium upgrades, upgrades at the Bob for Volleyball would be enough in itself to give any AD a legendary status. Now throw in the fact that TO got us in the one conference every other school dreams of getting in and I challenge you to find any AD who has done better. Of course we all know that Tom could care less what his legacy will be. All he wants is what is best for the Athletic Department, University and State of Nebraska and has always done so with the utmost humility and that's why we love him.

[Comish]

Reading these pensive responses has me re-evaluating my original post.

 

I probably inarticulately framed the question since it’s pretty clear the change in conferences and massive facility upgrades cement a positive legacy.

 

What I should have posited is the query……….”Is it feasible a disastrous basketball hire could damage his A.D. legacy?”

[Omaha-Husker]

I will probably remember his A.D. stint for two things getting Nebraska in the B1G and as the best era for Husker facilities improvements ever.

[knapplc]

Reading these pensive responses has me re-evaluating my original post.

 

I probably inarticulately framed the question since it’s pretty clear the change in conferences and massive facility upgrades cement a positive legacy.

 

What I should have posited is the query……….”Is it feasible a disastrous basketball hire could damage his A.D. legacy?”

 

I don't think so, simply because we've been so bad for so long that another bad hire will just blend in with all the others.

 

Personally, I think he'll always be remembered for guiding us into the Big Ten. I'm betting any other accomplishment or failure of his tenure as AD will be overshadowed by that.

[HSKR]

 

What I should have posited is the query……….”Is it feasible a disastrous basketball hire could damage his A.D. legacy?”

 

First off, what is your definition of disastrous? Even another Sadleresque hire and I don't think it would be that bad. People would probably just think more of the same and remember him for everything else first. I guess it would take someone that would have losing seasons and then gets us in trouble with the NCAA, loss of scholarships, etc for it to really be a bad legacy for TO.

[HuskerShark]

With the fires that he has made, there has been a lot of booster pressure to get those guys out, so I don't put the TO tag on the fires at all.

 

Boosters always have their favorites, and are always in the ear of the AD to hire this guy or fire that guy. The constant chatter from the boosters doesn't stop, so to pin this termination on the boosters is not correct. Osborne fired Callahan, Anderson and Sadler. Those decisions are entirely owned by him, and him alone. Not the boosters.

 

Yes, they are owned by him in the fact that he has made the moves that are needed in order to keep the university moving forward. BUT boosters and regular fans in general play a huge part in TO's decisions, as they should. If there is little remaining support for a particular coach, he/she needs to go. And that's exactly what TO has done in his tenure as AD.

[Landlord]

Man...how can people seriously look at the list of his accomplishments in his short time as AD and not think of him as anything other than great? Seriously, he deserves an A+ mark for his work. Seriously, what other athletic director in the country, over a period of 5 years, has those kinds of accomplishments?

 

* Build a new state of the art basketball/wrestling practice facility - literally the best money can buy.

 

* Build a brand new basketball arena...top of the line

 

* Major Memorial Stadium expansion project

 

* Fire 3 bad coaches in major programs and (potentially) replace them with 3 really great hires

 

* Restore stability, unity and commitment within a fractured and distraught athletic department

 

* Getting out of a corrupt and unfair conference and moving into the best possible fit for our school.