Hall of Fame Coach Tom Osborne

The words were inscribed on Memorial Stadium’s northwest corner some 14 years before he was born; "Courage; Generosity; Fairness; Honor; In these are the true awards of manly sports." How fitting then, that the field inside that historic stadium is now called Tom Osborne Field, in honor of a man, who in 25 seasons on the Husker sideline built a total program based on more than winning.

His era of excellence receives another lasting tribute when the new Tom and Nancy Osborne Athletic Complex opens in 2006.

Osborne’s coaching career came to a poetic end in the 1998 Orange Bowl. In his final game, the Huskers defeated No. 3 Tennessee, 42-17, giving him a share of a third national title in his final four seasons. The victory left Osborne as the first coach in college football history to retire as a reigning national champion, along with the nation's best active winning percentage (.836, 255-49-3), which ranked fifth all-time among Division I coaches.

Osborne guided the Huskers to back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995, then capped his career by sharing the 1997 title with Michigan. Nebraska's back-to-back national titles in 1994-95 made Osborne the first coach to accomplish that feat since Bear Bryant led Alabama to titles in 1978-79. Under Osborne, NU became just the second school all time and the first since Oklahoma in 1955-56 to post back-to-back perfect national championship seasons. In fact, Osborne's last five Nebraska teams put together the best five-year run in collegiate football history with an amazing 60-3 record, including five consecutive 11-win seasons.

Osborne-coached Nebraska teams captured 13 conference crowns, including six of his last seven seasons on the sideline. All 25 of his Husker teams won at least nine games and went to a bowl, while 15 won 10-or-more games. Achievements of that magnitude earned Osborne an immediate ticket to the College Football Hall of Fame in December of 1998, after it waived the customary three-year wait for entrance into the hall. He is one of only two coaches (along with Eddie Robinson of Grambling) to have the three-year waiting period waved.

A Hastings, Neb., native, Osborne served Nebraska for three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives as a congressman from the third district.

Tom Osborne Record

Year

Won

Lost

Tied

Pct.

Bowl

Highlights

1973

9

2

1

.792

Cotton

1974

9

3

0

.750

Sugar

1975

10

2

0

.833

Fiesta

Big Eight co-Champs

1976

9

3

1

.731

Bluebonnet

1977

9

3

0

.750

Liberty

1978

9

3

0

.750

Orange

Big Eight co-Champs

1979

10

2

0

.833

Cotton

1980

10

2

0

.833

Sun

1981

9

3

0

.750

Orange

Big Eight Champions

1982

12

1

0

.923

Orange

Big Eight Champions

1983

12

1

0

.923

Orange

Big Eight Champions

1984

10

2

0

.833

Sugar

Big Eight co-Champs

1985

9

3

0

.750

Fiesta

1986

10

2

0

.833

Sugar

1987

10

2

0

.833

Fiesta

1988

11

2

0

.846

Orange

Big Eight Champions

1989

10

2

0

.833

Fiesta

1990

9

3

0

.750

Citrus

1991

9

2

1

.792

Orange

Big Eight co-Champs

1992

9

3

0

.750

Orange

Big Eight Champions

1993

11

1

0

.917

Orange

Big Eight Champions

1994

13

0

0

1.000

Orange

National Champions

1995

12

0

0

1.000

Fiesta

National Champions

1996

11

2

0

.846

Orange

Big 12 North champs

1997

13

0

0

1.000

Orange

National Champions

Totals

255

49

3

.836

25 straight

13 conference titles

Bowls

12

13

0

.480

three national titles

Tom Osborne's Honors and Accomplishments

• University of Nebraska Head Coach (1973-97)
• Three National Titles (1994-95-97)
• 1999 College Football Hall of Fame Inductee