11/9/07

by Mike Osborne ( Tom’s Son )

Current Affairs

If you hate editorials, or if you are a fan of
basketball on grass - then you may want to skip reading this email. If not, read
ahead with the warning I am not very smart, I just try to observe things:
 

Let me begin this opinion bit by stating that the
following in no way reflects the opinions of anyone at the University. They are
solely my views. The current AD, and part-time professor, has consistently
warned me over the years people will think whatever I convey about the football
program is coming from him. That is not the case. He is not a big talker - so
what follows is all my own. I have no inside knowledge of what may or may not
happen in the next couple weeks, but I have some thoughts about what has gone on
the past few years.

Like most fans, I am overjoyed that situation has
changed, and coach Osborne is now very much involved in the program. You can
look at our football situation in baseball terms like we're down

3 runs in the bottom of the 9th. You want your best
batter up to bat in that situation. That doesn't guarantee anything, but it
gives you your best hope for a positive outcome. I am biased, but I think we
have our best batter up to bat. And he appears comfortable in the batters box.

After the leadership change was made, people at the
athletic department said they felt like they could breath again. The airwaves
buzzed around the state and everywhere you went people were celebrating. One of
the sports talk stations played the "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead" song from The
Wizard of Oz as they went into and out of breaks. Pretty harsh, but
representative of the spirit of the day.

It was like the iron curtain had been lifted from
Nebraska football and now
employees, media, players, coaches, and fans could say what they really thought
without fear of retribution from above. Have you ever been in an environment
where people in authority fed everyone a lot of baloney and you were expected to
smile and shake your head in agreement, and any questioning could lead to your
excommunication? That is what the athletic department had become.

It may take awhile for employee's nerves to settle.
Employees lower on the totem pole have described the situation as a
dictatorship. They have said that years ago, no one ever spoke about
accountability, integrity, teamwork, and tradition - but all those things were
there. Nowadays, there are signs and plaques and speeches everywhere around the
building referencing those attributes, but the qualities themselves were not to
be found. I think one measure of a person is how they treat those "beneath"
them. The key being, if you really think someone is "beneath" you, you already
have a problem. Suffice it to say the people in support positions at the
athletic department were feeling under foot.

Not more than a couple months after coach Solich was
fired I was taken to lunch by a high ranking athletic administrator and told in
no uncertain terms to "keep things positive" with regard to my remarks about the
program.

Earlier in the season a radio commentator (and former
player) was summoned to the north-end fortress and raked over the coals because
he dared state (on air) that the team lacked chemistry. He was certain his job
was in jeopardy and one more slip of the tongue would cost him his job. Kevin
Raemakers was pulled aside after making a remark during his Nebraska Hall of
Fame acceptance speech that was perceived as unsupportive of the regime. His arm
was tightly squeezed by a man half his size and was told firmly it was no place
for him to state his personal views.

The now notorious firing of head football trainer Doak
Ostergard was in my view completely related to Doak's natural instinct against
smiling and nodding when someone was telling him bold-faced lies. Doak was never
one to get animated or belligerent, but he never hesitated to call a skunk a
skunk. And he would not just shut up and go away when he thought he was being
treated dishonestly.

To be fair, Steve Pederson did some great things that
will serve Nebraska football well into the
future. The facilities he helped create are truly world class. Recruits for
years to come will be dazzled and persuaded by the impressive edifices of the
Athletic Department. But they will come to be better people because of the heart
of the department, and because of the innumerable good people who have dedicated
themselves to making Nebraska the special place it
truly is. A surprising thing about Pederson's tenure, a fellow Nebraskan, was he
did a lot of things we feared an outsider might do.

The toughest part of the current situation is the
sympathetic plight of the coaches children, especially the boys. I have a bit of
a bleeding heart for them because I think I have experienced a taste of what
they may be going through. Unlike the coaches and their wives or the players,
the kids do not control the environment they enter into every day. The coaches
get to work with each other, fellow commiserators and comrades-in-arms so to
speak. The wives can choose where they go and who they see. They certainly must
find comfort in each others company. Though the players may endure some
discomfort amongst their peers around campus, they come to practice everyday
with about

100 guys going through the same thing, and they are big
intimidating guys who probably find it hard to be too worried about what the
skinny kid in the business management class may be thinking.

The coaches kids however, must venture behind enemy
lines on a daily basis. And make no mistake, they are enemy lines. Most of the
kids in their schools are probably fairly well mannered. But that can't mask the
sense of "outsider" you feel every where you go. Kids who are sympathetic don't
know what to say and don't want to embarrass you. Most kids treat you like you
have a contagious disease and keep their distance. You can see the conversations
they are having while glancing your way. And then there are the few who think it
is their duty to tell you what is too painfully obvious, that things aren't
going well for the Huskers. It is difficult when you are at an age where you
want to fit in and find your niche with your peers, and there is this palpable
force-field around you that either repels people or twists their behavior toward
you. I remember being treated with hushed tones, long faces, or being quietly
ignored the day after a painful loss and maybe for a full week after a loss to
Oklahoma. It confuses you because
you can't really grasp why you are being treated like someone in your family
died. When peers act so strangely after a loss, you begin to wonder why they are
friendly when the team is winning - it can play with your mind if you think too
much. Hopefully most of the coaches kids are like me and aren't terribly deep
thinkers!

I have heard stories of some of the coaches kids going
through some really tough times. Can you imagine what it is like to be the
coaches kid sitting in the stands and a large portion of the student section is
chanting "Fire (YOUR NAME)" clap clap clap, "Fire

(YOUR NAME)." I can only imagine the comments that are
being made at school. One of the coaches wives contacted me last year about
speaking to some of the coaches kids and it didn't work out. I wish it had - I
could have told them some of my stories and some of my solutions. I would have
told them that it will all pass, and they'll learn who their real friends are
and it can make them better people. One thing I've learned is to be thankful for
the good and the bad, you learn from both.

I remember sitting in the stands and hearing the
comments about my dad. The first time I was in 5th grade and I took a friend to
a game. We were sitting by two older gentlemen who were long time fans. One
turned to the other a said, "I just haven't had any confidence in the team since
Osborne took over." It took the fun out of the day. As I grew older I became
more than a little agitated with the fickleness of some fans. One of my favorite
memories from the early 1990's was when a drunk fan called my mom and dad's home
number (they had it listed in the phone book) after the home loss to Washington
- eventual National Champs. I answered the phone, "Agghhh ish this Tom
Oshborn?", "Yes it is" I said. "Well you don't know a ***** thing bout coachin
football, what the h---l was that out there tonight..." etc. etc. After he
finished saying his peace, he heard some things come out of "Tom Osborne's"
mouth that left him in stunned silence. I also took the opportunity to point out
some of his personal flaws in less than polite terms. My sister and her friend
were standing nearby and fell over laughing.

I have always had a love-hate relationship with Husker
hysteria. It is fun when things are going well and everybody's happy. But like
Ernie Chambers points out, it has become like a religion to some. I used to
jokingly refer to myself as the son of the high priest of Nebraska during my dad's final
years, and not because my dad wanted to be considered as such. I thought some
fans had lost perspective. But what made it a positive was the way coach Brown,
my dad, and some others did an outstanding job of trying to redirect peoples
admiration and adoration to the higher power they strove to serve. That is why,
unlike some, I don't take offense when an athlete points to the heavens after
scoring or doing something great. I like to think they are redirecting peoples
affection to where it belongs. I don't necessarily think that athletes mean that
God personally allowed them or helped them to score - it is more like they are
giving back - pointing to Who really deserves the applause.

Personally, that is part of what has been missing for me
from the program in recent years, that sense of deeper meaning, the bigger
picture, the higher calling. It did not use to be so much about wins and losses
or money or the NFL. It was about teaching young men how to be real men. Men of
integrity, character, and humility. I think the current players are outstanding
kids. And the coaches are doing their very best. I believe some of the decisions
that were made to take the program away from what it was about were not made
with ill intentions - just mistaken priorities. You can't build a young man's
character when the sales pitch is based on "we're going to help you make it to
the NFL." All the while knowing you are selling him fools gold. That mode of
operation may work for a short time, but like all things built on shifting sand,
it will fall under its own weight. If you want to see and hear from the heart of
a Husker what I am talking about - listen to Jason Peter's speech to the

1997 Team reunion banquet from a few weeks ago.

The team used to be an extension of us - it was like
they had come out of the stands and played from us and for us. The youthful
excitement at a big play was cheered as much by teammates on the field and on
the sideline as by the fans. Silly high fives, spontaneous joyous jumping and
always arms around each other as they came off the field into the embraces and
pats on the back spilling onto the field from the sideline. And there was no
fear of failure, only all-out reckless effort. We were all in it together, from
the clerk sitting in a gas station in Sidney listening to Lyell Bremser,
to the guy holding the down-and-distance marker on the sideline to Tom Sorley
standing at the line, looking across at Reggie Kinlaw. If we were gonna lose, we
were gonna go down fighting, and everyone was going to do their part. Many of us
could do little more than yell at the top of our lungs and make sure we had on
our lucky underwear. Some of us could get close enough to yell encouragement to
the players only a few feet away, and a few of us stepped onto the field wearing
a red jersey and played for the rest. If some of you are too young or if it has
been too long ago to recall the sense of unity we had, simply watch the 1978
Nebraska vs.
Oklahoma game with Lyell Bremser's
play-by-play and you'll be taken back. We can recapture that spirit and sense of
family. We need leadership that is sincere and that can be trusted with our
young men to hold true to the traditions of Nebraska football, and not just
pay it lip service.

A notable irony, coach Osborne, considered NU's greatest
leader, has never put Nebraska football first in his
life. His faith and his heartfelt responsibility to others to lead by example,
is what makes him who he is. In so doing, he has ensured the greatness of
Nebraska football. That is the
kind of leadership we will have again. It may not translate to instant National
Championships or 10 win seasons, but I think it will translate to the rebirth of
a sense of all-for-one and one-for-all, which will eventually culminate in
another National Championship.

Terms & Conditions in the Current
State of Affairs

The Good: Joe Ganz and the offense, and a chance at

2 wins to finish the season. Coaches and players caring
about each other in spite of the stress and criticism. And a truly excellent
recruiting job by coach Callahan and his staff over the past 4 years. The
cupboard is not bare.

The Bad: Everyone straining to keep their dignity in a
trying situation.

The Ugly: A potential for $10 million dollars in buyouts
to start with a clean slate.

Basketball: You've heard the term "basketball on grass"
when the 1990's blackshirts talked about passing teams, in particular Steve
Spurrier's Fun and Gun offense. It was not said as praise. Jason Peter, CU coach
Bill McCartney, and many other former coaches and players have concurred that as
your offense schemes, so goes your defense. The theory being that if your
offense is a cerebral finesse construct, then your whole team practices like
that. If that is all your defense sees in practice, then your defense becomes
soft and passive. An aggressive and physical offense breeds a like defense.

Karma: You eventually reap what you sow.

Hope: The return of an active fullback. The return of a
Nebraska born and bred backbone to
the team. The return of The Nebraska Way. An eagerness to see what all the
quality athletes in the program will do when coached up in a more aggressive,
smash-mouth style of football, Nebraska football. With the right
coaching, some insiders believe there is enough talent on hand for NU to be a
top 15 team next season. That may be a stretch, be we can Hope.

Cause for Concern: The dust is settling in North
Stadium. Everything is smooth with coach Osborne in charge. But he won't want to
stay forever, and what then? Several people in positions of authority at the
University hope he will stay at least 5 years in some official capacity - he is
like the wood in the bucket of water. On a farm, one way to keep water splashing
out of a pale when you are moving it around in a pickup or trailer is to put a
piece of wood in the pale. Coach Osborne has that calming influence.

Truth in Advertising: All the mandatory signs displayed
around the athletic department that said "Everyone is Accountable" have been
taken down, and accountability was sorely missing at the leadership level. No
signs will be around next year, but instead administrators, coaches, athletes,
and support staff will act accountably and do so cheerfully.

Truth in Advertising 2: It is doubtful future recruits
will be lured by a sales pitch of a fast track to the NFL. Instead, it is likely
they will come for an education and an opportunity to earn a place in the Husker
tradition.