Not For Lincoln ...Dr. Tom....I am your son....I am back from the West Coast Side....I can see the light...the light says....WE ARE NEBRASKA BABY!!!!! THAT FRIGGIN' STREET CAR YA HEARD THE LAST FEW YEARS IS NOW A FULL FLEDGED CORNHUSKER LOCOMOTIVE DIRECT FROM THE MOTHERLAND!!! THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN!! ALL IS WELL AND RIGHT AGAIN!!
With the exception of Pete Carroll at USC, who was a twice failed NFL headcoach, there really aren't any really successful NFL coaches who have come back to college. Weis still could be, his 1st 2 years were fine, this year is a huge step backward, and Wannstadt at Pitt isn't tearing it up...good god he was beaten by Navy and Chan Gailey is only modestly successful at Ga.Tech. Al Groh has again only had modest success at UVA. I think the point is that to be sucessfull in college you have to be a teacher and a motivator. In the pro's you essentially play the same offenses and same defenses every week it's a copy cat game. There is where scheming is important, playcalling is emphasised. In college you play a lot of different defenses/offesnses and the talent is quite varied from team to team. Different points of emphasis between the two games.
Callahan Walking papers comming soon with Charlie McBride finishing the season, heard anything like that AJ?
Heard the rumors Doc.....here's an interesting read that may let you know the direction we're going....from the good Dr. Himself..... Osborne returns to 'The Jungle' Dr. Tom spent a little time in "The Jungle" Wednesday. For those who don't have the foggiest idea about what "Jungle Karma" is or know that being "racked" is a good thing, new Nebraska interim athletics director Tom Osborne was a guest on the Jim Rome radio talk show where he offered several viewpoints of interest to Cornhusker fans. As was the case at Tuesday's press conference where Osborne was introduced as the interim AD, the former Nebraska coaching great was quick to mention the walk-on program and its significance in Husker history. The number of walk-on players in the program have been slashed dramatically since former AD Steve Pederson and current coach Bill Callahan first began their culture-flipping venture in 2004. Early in the Callahan era, Osborne said he spent two hours one day explaining all the things he thought would be important for the new coaching staff to know about Nebraska football, including the famous walk-on program. While Osborne placed great value on having a high number of walk-ons, he said he could certainly understand why Callahan, who came from the NFL, would want to work with a smaller number of players on a more intense basis. "So, I'm not sure that some of that really made sense to them," Osborne said on Rome's radio program. "It maybe makes a little more sense now, I don't know, but everybody's got to coach what they understand, what they know and how they want to approach it." During his 25-year run as Nebraska's head coach, Osborne posted a 255-49-3 record and won 13 conference championships and three national titles, finishing with a 60-3 mark over his final five years. During that time, Osborne said the Huskers normally had around 150 players in the program and nearly half of them weren't on scholarship. "The thing that it allowed us to do was get an awful lot of repetition in practice," Osborne told Rome. "We would have two offensive stations going at one time, two defensive stations going and so that was helpful." While those walk-on players came in all different sizes and shapes, many of them fit a certain profile. Whether they were from big cities or small-town Nebraska, most of them were hard-nosed, dedicated and were driven by the dream of being a Cornhusker. "They had grown up watching Nebraska football and probably from the time they were seven or eight years old, that's all they really wanted to do," Osborne said. "So you had kids that would come down here, pay their own way, maybe take out a student loan, get a Pell grant and make great financial sacrifice and they might be on the scouting team for two years, three years, maybe even four years just to get a letter and run down on a couple kickoffs and that attitude kind of permeated the whole program. "They still have some of those guys here. It's not all gone, but it was, I think, one of the major keys to the attitude that we had for a long time." Osborne said he thinks the opportunity to recruit those types of players to the program still exists. He added that he'd like to see more homegrown players on the roster. "Some of them weren't the most imposing physical specimens, but those guys would die for you," Osborne said. "You have to have a critical mass of those kinds of people and I think that will happen over time, so I think we can surface as a very good team before too long." Nebraska owns a 4-3 record after last Saturday's 45-14 home loss to Oklahoma State. The Huskers trailed 38-0 in the game that was watched by Osborne. "I wasn't mad, I just felt bad," Osborne said. "I thought that we certainly could be more competitive." Osborne said on Rome's nationally syndicated program that he spoke with Nebraska's coaching staff Wednesday morning and let them know that he would do anything he could to help in the next five games. "I told them 'I'm not going to try to micro-manage, I'm not going to try to tell you what to do, but if there's any support I can give you, I want to do that, and then, at the end of the season, we'll sit down and talk,'" Osborne said. "Of course, they're adults. They're realistic and so they understand it's a tight situation and hopefully they can turn things around here these last five games. "We still have a winning record. We're 4-3, so it isn't like things are just falling apart totally, but it is somewhat of a concern right now." While conventional thinking is that Osborne will be forced to clean house at season's end, the 70-year-old Hastings native said that isn't necessarily a given. "I've certainly not made up my mind on anything," Osborne said. Osborne offered some other "takes" as they're known in "The Jungle": & On the West Coast offense: "That term, West Coast offense, is so all-encompassing and sometimes people throw it around as if it's something mystical," Osborne said. "It's basically a short, ball-control passing game." & On schemes and systems: "There are lots of ways to win," Osborne said. "You can win with the West Coast offense. You can win with options. It's mainly technique, personnel and chemistry. Those are the things that have to be pulled together." & On his initial thoughts when Pederson was named AD in 2002: "The one thing I was really encouraged about was I thought, 'Well, Steve is going to understand some of the intricacies of Nebraska football the small population base, the walk-on thing,'" Osborne said. "So I said, 'Yes, Steve would be a great choice.'" & On if he felt betrayed by Pederson's firing of his hand-picked replacement, Frank Solich, after a 9-3 regular season in 2003: "I told people that I thought firing a guy who had won nine games when he was fired then, of course, his team won 10 that year sent a message, but that's all behind us," Osborne said. "I have always maintained a good respect for Steve. I really wish him well." & On his ability to turn Nebraska's struggling football program around: "The danger here is when I left here, we had won a lot of football games those last four or five years," Osborne said. "So sometimes, people think that I've got a magic touch, but there is no such thing in athletics. This is not going to be a quick fix, an overnight remedy and people have to understand that."
" The University of Nebraska Football Program was built by you and other players like you who made a lifelong commitment to play for and support the Big Red. Because of you, Nebraska has enjoyed a tradition of excellence over the past five decades that is unprecedented and unmatched by any other team or program. On behalf of the University of Nebraska and the Cornhusker Athletic Department, I want you to know that we appreciate your commitment and owe you our gratitude. Whether you were a walk-on or scholarship player, from Nebraska or another state, you are a valuable member of this family and a key factor in our school's storied history of tradition of excellence. We want you to know you are always welcome in your home. Please feel free to come visit us -- anytime. Just walk in our front door and say you are a former player and I promise you, you will be welcomed with open arms. My office is on the third floor, and as you know, my door is always open. The football coaches are on the second floor and the weight room and athletic medicine are just inside the front doors of the new north stadium complex. You are welcome to come see us at work, attend practice and join us for home games. Beginning immediately, a limited number of tickets and sideline passes will be made available for former football players. Additional tickets for guests will be available for purchase, but there will be no charge for these single-game tickets/passes for former players. Next year, we intend to again make available a limited number of season tickets for players to purchase with no donation required. Please contact Chris Anderson at canderson@huskers.com or at 402-472-7771 if you are interested. I know I speak for everyone here in the athletic department when I say we hope to see you soon. Best Wishes Tom Osborne "