Most Nebraska Cornhuskers’ football fans know Tom Osborne as the coach of one of the most dominant eras of college football. From 1973-1997 Osborne manned the Huskers’ sideline, replacing the legendary Bob Devaney.
Throughout his career, Osborne compiled a record of (255-49-3). Still, there were highs and lows Osborne had to deal with. If it wasn’t for his calm demeanor, and leadership ability, the Hall of Fame coach wouldn’t have reached such storied heights.
After multiple close calls, Osborne finally won the first of three national championships in 1994. During the 1995 season, the Huskers had their best team ever. They were hardly challenged, earning a second straight title, after defeating the Florida Gators 62-24 in the Fiesta Bowl. The Cornhuskers captured their third title under Osborne in 1997, sending him off into the sunset as c0-national champions with Michigan. Unbelievably, Osborne won 60 games over the last five seasons of his coaching career.
During the interview with Michael Gervais of Finding Mastery, Tom Osborne talks about growing up, becoming a man, and how he almost didn’t become the Nebraska head coach.
Here are a few notable quotes from the Osborne Interview:
“I told [Bob Devaney] I could make $10,000 as a professor and I’d like to make that much as an assistant football coach and he said ‘ok’” – Tom Osborne
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Imagine Osborne not becoming the Nebraska head coach in 1973. How different would the program be today? The pressure of the head coaching position has taken its toll on multiple coaches since Osborne’s retirement in 1997.
“I didn’t particularly want to [become the next Nebraska head coach] because I thought following Bob Devaney would be the kiss of death, so I applied at Texas Tech.” – Tom Osborne
“We didn’t beat Oklahoma, so it kind of got to where it was a one game season…the noose got tight”- Tom Osborne
At heart, Tom Osborne was a football coach. There were moments where he always seemed to make the right decision. Even when the Cornhuskers went for the 2-point conversion in the 1984 Orange Bowl, Osborne’s decision seems on point.
“I liked the strategy [of football], I liked the players, I always felt the players were people who were risk-takers and lived life to the fullest and I liked the challenge of it.” – Tom Osborne
Remember, in the beginning, Osborne didn’t have complete success with the Huskers. At that time, the only big game for Nebraska was the game they lost. Osborne explained how he dealt with the backlash.
“For the first 10-15 years I was coach at Nebraska, people always tend to point to what you haven’t done. First it was well you haven’t beaten Oklahoma, then it was well you haven’t won a national championship, but I think as time went on, I wasn’t quite as driven to meet those expectations…I began to move from transactional to transformational leadership.” – Tom Osborne
Osborne had no problem accentuating the positive as a head coach. He consistently used the same approach on and off the field.
“The best way to change behavior was to catch somebody doing something right and to reinforce that.” – Tom Osborne
One way Osborne was different than many of his coaching peers had to do with his stoic behavior on the sideline. He proved, coaches don’t have to be a raving lunatic to win games, and championships.
“I was never a guy who hollered and screamed…never used profanity, that’s probably more of a personality trait than anything else. Some people, particularly early on in my coaching career, were upset with me because they didn’t feel I was emotional enough…didn’t holler and scream on the sideline. I always felt it was important to keep my head in the game and try to think one step ahead.” -Tom Osborne
In the end, Osborne was a players’ coach. His attitude toward the student athletes trickled down to the rest of the coaching staff. There needs to be more coaches like Tom Osborne in the future.
“One of the basic tenets [of the coaching staff] was that we were going to try to put the players at the center. We were going to truly try to serve them and have them be most important in what we were trying to accomplish and they weren’t to be used as pawns on a chessboard to get us what we wanted.” – Tom Osborne