Former Coach Osborne makes his return to the classroom By Eric Olson/The Associated Press LINCOLN - After six years in Congress and an unsuccessful gubernatorial bid, Tom Osborne has gone back to school. Osborne on Tuesday started teaching in the College of Business Administration at the University of Nebraska, where he became arguably the state's most revered man and a football icon for his many successes coaching the Cornhuskers. Osborne, who turns 70 next month, left coaching in 1997. He says he would have coached another five years if he hadn't made a promise to someone, whom he wouldn't identify, to step aside. While two of his older coaching cronies, Penn State's Joe Paterno and Florida State's Bobby Bowden, continue to patrol the sidelines, Osborne has chosen to remain active as a politician, a champion for youth mentoring and now as an educator. “I read the scriptures quite a bit, and I don't see anything in there about how at such-or-such an age you're supposed to shut it down,” Osborne said in an interview. “I'll try to stay active as long as I can make a contribution.” So Osborne has returned to his roots. “Dr. Tom,” as he's often called, has a doctorate of educational psychology and started his career in 1962 teaching the subject at NU before devoting himself full-time to coaching in 1967. About 60 students are in his undergraduate level Leadership in Organizations class. After he passed out a syllabus, he told the class in his typical unassuming manner: “My name is Tom Osborne.” That's one thing the class already knew, said Russell Williams, a senior business management major from Wahoo. “When I saw he was the one teaching it, I was pleasantly surprised,” Williams said. “It's great for someone as famous as him and someone who knows so much about leadership to be teaching the class. He's the closest thing to a celebrity that we've got in Nebraska.” Cynthia Hardin Milligan, dean of the business college, said she has wanted Osborne to rejoin the faculty for years. Osborne taught briefly in the College of Education in the late 1990s before running for Congress in 2000. “The business college emphasizes ethics and leadership, and we have strong programs in those areas,” Hardin Milligan said. “Tom is a wonderful example of both of those.” Osborne said he accepted the invitation to teach because of his concern about what he called a “crisis in leadership.” Osborne pointed to financial scandals involving Enron and Global Crossing and others he witnessed up close in Congress. “We continue to see people behaving in unethical ways,” Osborne said. “We can do better.” Osborne gave his class an overview of important characteristics of leadership, more often than not using his experience as a football coach to illustrate his points. “Forgive me for talking so much about athletics, but it's what I understand,” he told the students. He drew laughs when he added, “I'd talk about politics, but I've never understood politics.” The former 3rd District representative said that he had a good experience in Congress but believed he could better serve as governor. His popularity as the Cornhuskers former coach didn't carry over in a statewide race. In one of the great political upsets in state history, Osborne lost to sitting governor Dave Heineman in the Republican primary. Had he not run for governor, Osborne said, he would have tried for another term in the House. As it is, he said he has no regrets about his gubernatorial campaign and that he feels no resentment toward the citizenry that hailed his every football victory. “I don't feel that people owe me anything,” he said. “I wasn't interested in becoming governor just to become governor. I did it because I thought I could serve the people. They thought otherwise.” Considering his place in the storied history of Nebraska football, Osborne has been conspicuously absent from the program since stepping down as coach. This was a coach who won 255 games from 1973 to 1997. His last five teams amassed victories in 60 of 63 games, and the Huskers won all or part of three national championships his last four years in coaching. Still, Osborne forfeited his private suite in the press box when he entered politics and has paid for his tickets - he has four 40-yard-line seats - ever since. “I got to thinking after I was elected that somebody would have to pay quite a bit of money to have one of these,” he said, referring to the suite. “Someone would say this is an improper benefit even though it was in existence before I got elected. I'm sure I could have passed scrutiny. Even still, I didn't like the appearance.” Though the names of Osborne his wife, Nancy, are on the new athletic department headquarters, he has toured the building only once. He never attends practices, and has spoken with third-year coach Bill Callahan only a few times. “Philosophically, I don't feel right about going to practice or hanging around the offices and having people perceive that I'm trying to live my life in the past,” Osborne said. “It's a new day. It's a new staff.” Osborne said he does miss football, especially the players and coaches. He says he probably quit coaching too soon, but he had made a promise to someone in 1992 that he would coach only five more years. Osborne has never said whether that promise was made to his wife, his successor (longtime assistant Frank Solich), the former athletic director (Bill Byrne) or someone else. Osborne said he had the energy and passion to coach until he was 65. It was important, he said, to keep his word - perhaps a lesson he can teach to the future leaders he'll groom in the classroom. “I felt I would have broken a trust if I had not kept it,” he said.
I have always had a great deal of respect for Tom Osborn. While we are the same age, I think he a bit above me in stature and accomplishments. :lol: Don
He probably joined the faculty just to get football tickets I think it's great he's teaching. Hell, he probably was inspired by the birthday boy JO'Co.