Happy 88th Birthday, Coach Osborne!
- Thread starter king_kong_
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Mount Rushmore worthy, for sure. Best 25 year span of any coach ever.
Accomplished a lot at Nebraska. But the timing was right for him for sure. Not sure he would have survived the end of the 90's and transition into the BIG. He was nearly ran out of the state in the 80's. Honestly I would have guessed he was older than 88.
Thanks for posting Top Kong but yesterday was his birthday.
88 is getting up there... Would Love to see NU do something special before we lose that state treasure! gonna be a tough day when that happens
Not so sure about that. His offense towards the end was already experimenting with spread formations out of the shotgun. His offense would have easily evolved into what Meyer and Kelly did in the 2000’s
Im not saying that it wouldn't have. I'm saying he may not have gotten the chance.
His words.
Osborne interviewed with Colorado following the 1979 Orange Bowl, later saying "I thought there was enough unhappiness here that maybe I ought to look for a job."[20] CU offered a considerable salary increase and Osborne even traveled to Boulder to meet the team, but he ultimately declined the offer, not wanting the coach against the players he had recruited to Nebraska.[20]
I grew up in the 70's and 80's. Tom got a lot of heat and that was without the internet and chat sites.
A lot of the heat that Dr. Tom took was the timing of Barry Switzer and the amazingly fast athletes he was recruiting to Norman at the time. The Selmon brothers and the defenses of Larry Lacewell were stonewalling everyone. It was a frustrating time in the Big Eight for everyone else including Husker fans. And TO was receiving the backlash of it. That is why he interviewed with Colorado. The local media wasn't exactly kind to him at the time either. Husker fans at that point had been spoiled in the early 70's when Devaney was having his way with Chuck Fairbanks and the Sooners. Then Switzer and Larry Lacewell came along. The challenge was Nebraska couldn't cherry pick recruits out of Texas like Oklahome did. But TO figured out the speed thing in the long run.
His legacy at NU when he toyed with the CU idea was way different than by the time he retired after the '98 OB. He hadn't even won an outright conference title by '79. Are you saying he would have been forced out if he stayed on past '97 and went back to 9-10 win seasons like he had in the 70s?
No I was saying that he may not have made it through the 80's had the competition been what it was in the late 90's and into the BIG with fan expectations and the rise of chat boards and such. I recall him saying as much in an interview years ago. His main regular season obstacle was, as the post above indicated, Oklahoma. The rest of the Big 8 was crap until Colorado made a push in the late 80's and early 90's. Then you throw in the consistent bowl losses and you had a whirlwind of discontent through much of the 80's. Im glad we stayed the course and eventually enjoyed several years of complete dominance during the mid 90's.
I agree with much of what you are saying but the Huskers were still had the most D1 wins out of everyone in the 80’s.
NCAA Division I-A football win–loss records in the 1980s - Wikipedia
Even without the titles they were the team of the 80’s, according to a lot of people (just like a lot of folks think FSU was the team of the 90’s).
90s = Huskers, 80s = Hurricanes. The natty's (3 each team) don't lie.I agree with much of what you are saying but the Huskers were still had the most D1 wins out of everyone in the 80’s.
NCAA Division I-A football win–loss records in the 1980s - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
Even without the titles they were the team of the 80’s, according to a lot of people (just like a lot of folks think FSU was the team of the 90’s).
What color crayon did you eat today?
Good lord. Terrible take. Can’t never give one of the greatest his dues.
Has nothing to do with that. Quite the opposite actually. I was glad that he was given an opportunity to stay on long enough to win enough games to satisfy the fan base. He was a remarkable coach, perhaps the greatest ever.
I have no idea what your talking about. People are so emotional. He was a tremendous coach and ambassador for the university. But the timing was right and debating that is just silly. Again, he was nearly pushed out the door because of discontent fan base. Not sure why that is so hard for some of you to comprehend.
Everyone knows this. Sheesh you are trying to argue a moot point. I will give him more credit on adapting his team and winning at the highest level then to make some weak argument about how the schedule set up perfectly.
My favorite part of your idiocy is thinking TO couldn’t win in the B1G because the conference has won 2 of the last 27 national titles.
Classic stuff.
I didn't say that clown show. But Im not going to go through the whole thing again for you simpletons. Holy shit!
You’re a terrible communicator if you’re having to try this hard to make a point that seems so simple to you.
Yes, dipshit, I said that! What I didn't say was that he couldn't win in the BIG...That's your weak inference ability. I can't help you there.
No your a terrible reader and lack inference skills. Do better!
derp. Typical...got nothing else so you resort to ^^^^ this. Whatever clown!
you said you weren't sure TO would survive the transition to the B1G. an actual, literal quote.
if he'd have had no problem winning there, please tell us what exactly (be specific) would have caused the fanbase to sour on him following the conference realignment.
I'll wait, professor.
Yes I did. And that is not what you originally inferred that I said. You inferred....."My favorite part of your idiocy is thinking TO couldn’t win in the B1G" And I didn't say that nor infer that.
I think the odds were against continually winning 9+ games a year. That was the benchmark that did Frank in. TO said as much himself after Frank was let go. Hell Frank went 7-7 and everyone lost their minds. Then after a 10-3 season he was fired for Mediocrity. Do you seriously think that Tom would have continued to win 11+ games a year in the new age of parity and conference realignment?
I think TO would have done just fine in fact very well. What I'm saying is "Fine and well" might not have been enough at that time.
You forget how spoiled and self righteous this fan base had become by the end of TO's career and into Franks. Our expectation have been tainted by the failures over the last 20 years. Anything less than near perfect at one time wasn't enough.
So, my inference was correct. Thanks for that.
Yes, I think TO would’ve remained at the top of the sport for as long as he wished.
Whatever dude. Your inference was wrong but I wouldn't expect you to admit to that.
You're entitled to your opinion as am I. Carry on!
I inferred from your posts that you didn't believe TO would win enough to keep his job after the move to the B1G
here is what you posted in response:
and then you added this gem:
which is an absolutely hilarious assumption on its own
so, please, professor, tell me where my inference was incorrect? I said the exact same thing you did with many less words.
Whatever. I'll simplify it for you.
1. You made it sound like I said TO wouldn't win games in the BIG or basically after 97. Not at all what I said.
2.I stand by saying that the timing was right for TO to retain his job long enough to win big in the 90's. Had the expectations been the same in the late 80's as they were by 97 he would not have made it. (My opinion) And you can say you disagree without being a Dbag!
3. I stand by saying that NU fans had become spoiled babies especially after 97, and that their expectations had become borderline ridiculous. So much so that many relished in firing a productive (long time NU) coach who was following a legend in a much tougher era of football. Again my opinion but it is factually correct to assert that by the late 90's parity had led to tougher competition across the board. And I say this while freely admitting that I was still throwing shit at the TV when Frank got boat raced in his 7/7 campaign. I will also say that TO probably would not have had a 7/7 year but who really knows? There were a lot of factors at play.
here's the actually simplified version:
me: you don't think TO would win in the B1G?
you: Do you seriously think that Tom would have continued to win 11+ games a year in the new age of parity and conference realignment?
another L on your ledger, professor.
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