Great new Husker Football Book coming out soon

[Count 'Bility]

 

Either your story is exaggerated, or Brown threw a ball as hard as he could at a six year old from 5 feet away while the child was running towards him and got "dinged up"...

Whether it's exaggerated or not, you had to be there to understand the moment. If he really did do it, and no one who was there was worried, then you had to be there to understand. I dont get it either it that's the case. It does sound bad. But again, I wasnt there, so I cant fully comprehend the moment either. I'll take Landlord's word for it for now.

[funhusker]

Sorry, Landlord. I'm rereading my quotes and I don't see the "couple yards" in your post. For some reason that what I had pictured in my mind. My apologies, my reading skills need some work....

[NoPlaceLikeNebraskaPKoch]

Here is a little piece from my book's interview with Coach Tom Osborne:

 

"Q: And I have to ask, do you have any memorable or comical moments that make you giggle to this day?

 

TO: Well, I thought we tried to have a fair bit of fun playing football. It wasn’t all strictly business. I remember Christian Peter and I threw our trainer Doak Ostergard into the pool down at the Fiesta Bowl one year, and a few things like that that happened that were kind of interesting, kind of fun.

 

Q: And if one were to invest in a time machine, is there anything you wish you had the chance to do over again? Tweak? Change? Do differently with the knowledge you have now?

 

TO: Well, I think that probably my leadership style evolved and changed over the years, which is natural. The more you do something the more you reflect on it, and probably I was a little bit different coach and leader in the ‘90’s and ‘80’s than I was in the ‘70’s. When I started out in 1973 I was 35 years old and there was a lot of pressure to come somewhere close to what Bob Devaney had done. And Bob had set the bar very high, so there was a natural tendency to focus on performance and winning, and I think as time went on I focused more and more on the process. I probably got better at listening to people and understanding people better. But that’s just sort of a natural evolvement over time, I think."

[Flood]

Amazing stories here, for sure. I will be getting this for my Kindle when it is released. 800 pages, you say? Or did I misread that? Wow, this should be as thorough of a look at the Huskers as has ever been done.

 

Also, I love the timing of it. To speak with these folks a decade or two after the spotlight seems perfect. They've all had time to move on and reflect on what those days really mean. Very different, say, than interviewing them in the weeks or months directly after the MNC teams, or huge victories.

[NoPlaceLikeNebraskaPKoch]

It'll be closer to 1,600 pages. Think of it as the War & Peace or the Holy Bible of Nebraska Football. Nothing like it has ever been published.

[Flood]

1600 pages?

 

No wonder a printed version is a challenge. That would bust most coffee tables I have owned. It would be magnificent, however!

[NoPlaceLikeNebraskaPKoch]

A snippet from Zach Weigert talking about some special Cornhusker fans:

 

"And another thing that happened was the Washington game my sophomore year where we played at Washington and got beat. We got back to Lincoln at about four in the morning and there’s like 150 to 200 fans at the airport cheering for us, saying, “Hey, you guys fought hard.”

 

You know, it’s easy to get people cheering for you when you’re winning all the time, but to have these people there cheering for us? Those are the kind of things I remember. You can’t get that somewhere else. It’s easy for people to be out there cheering when you just won the national championship, but where are the guys cheering for you when you lost?"

[husker rob]

One more "No Place Like Nebraska" sniooet about Ron Brown from former walk-on Darren Schmadeke (Do you notice how I slyly market the book's name like that? LOL):

 

"I want to tell you a story, which I think is pretty funny: at the time we were doing one-on-one drills where I was on the receiver’s side and we would run routes. (I never really had great hands at catching the ball, okay?) I was a running back in high school and I never really was thrown the ball that much, but I remember I’d get a little nervous with Coach Osborne standing there and watching with Mike Grant or another one of the quarterbacks throwing to us as one of the defensive backs would cover us. Well, I’d always get nervous for that, for whatever reason, and sometimes I’d drop the ball or whatever.

 

One time during practice -and this was my second season as a wingback- Coach Brown pulled me aside and said, “You know Darren, I’d like to make a suggestion to you and kind of get your thoughts on this, but it might be a good move,” and he told me, ”Darren, the thing is… you’ve got hands like feet.” (laughs) I’ll never forget that! “I think I’d like to propose to you that you move over to the defensive side and be a cornerback.” And I kind of looked at him and said, ‘I thought you’d never ask.’ (laughs) So that’s really the transition of when I went over to the defensive side, and that was really a much better fit and role for me. I was much happier swatting the ball versus catching the ball and I got to play a lot more and everything. I’m glad that he as a coach recognized that and switched me over."

"Hands like feet"

 

love it

[HUSKER 37]

One more "No Place Like Nebraska" sniooet about Ron Brown from former walk-on Darren Schmadeke (Do you notice how I slyly market the book's name like that? LOL):

 

"I want to tell you a story, which I think is pretty funny: at the time we were doing one-on-one drills where I was on the receiver’s side and we would run routes. (I never really had great hands at catching the ball, okay?) I was a running back in high school and I never really was thrown the ball that much, but I remember I’d get a little nervous with Coach Osborne standing there and watching with Mike Grant or another one of the quarterbacks throwing to us as one of the defensive backs would cover us. Well, I’d always get nervous for that, for whatever reason, and sometimes I’d drop the ball or whatever.

 

One time during practice -and this was my second season as a wingback- Coach Brown pulled me aside and said, “You know Darren, I’d like to make a suggestion to you and kind of get your thoughts on this, but it might be a good move,” and he told me, ”Darren, the thing is… you’ve got hands like feet.” (laughs) I’ll never forget that! “I think I’d like to propose to you that you move over to the defensive side and be a cornerback.” And I kind of looked at him and said, ‘I thought you’d never ask.’ (laughs) So that’s really the transition of when I went over to the defensive side, and that was really a much better fit and role for me. I was much happier swatting the ball versus catching the ball and I got to play a lot more and everything. I’m glad that he as a coach recognized that and switched me over."

"Hands like feet"

 

love it

I thought Coach Brown was gonna suggest a Hand/Foot transplant.

[NUance]

Here's a question for everyone before I post a little something for today: Would you also think of ordering a copy of the book as a Christmas/birthday gift for someone in addition to one you buy for yourself? Just wondering.

Sure, it'd make a great gift. Are you going to get a stack of books yourself that you'll be able to sell on your own? Or will they only be available through the publisher and bookstores/on-line sites?

[HUSKER 37]

1600 pages?

 

No wonder a printed version is a challenge. That would bust most coffee tables I have owned. It would be magnificent, however!

Hmmmm..

 

Suddenly, I'm thinking up plans for some of those ~48" 4X6s "No Cull lumber" pieces I bought at Home Depot for 51 cents a piece over the years..

 

I was originally thinking "Rocket Launcher"

[HuskerPowerVA]

Really looking forward to this book. As a Husker Power fan and given your background, will this book have stories about weightroom and strength and conditioning history?

[NoPlaceLikeNebraskaPKoch]

For the most part the book (two volumes) will be available online through the publisher/printer , though I'll likely have some for possible signing events. Who knows? I guess it will depend on people's interest.

[NoPlaceLikeNebraskaPKoch]

There are some strength program tidbits and appendix info that will blow you away, though the overarching theme is the confluence of leadership elements, personalities, motivations and talents all coming together in a grand crescendo of college football excellence. I'm not over-hyping it when I say it'll be the best, most complete and entertaining football book you've ever read. I'm really proud of it and you that you guys will be proud to be Husker fans because of the part you played, also. I'm just waiting for some photography issues to be completed before formatting for its release. GBR!

[NoPlaceLikeNebraskaPKoch]

...."hope" that you guys will be proud to be a Husker fan...