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Osborne returns to familiar surroundings at Nebraska as interim AD Thursday, Nov 15, 2007 By Lee Warren |
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Osborne stepped down as the head football coach at Nebraska after the 1997 season saying that he wanted to leave the game while he was still in reasonably good health before anybody pushed him out. And he wanted to spend more time with his family. Then a position opened up in the 3rd Congressional District in Nebraska and he saw an opportunity to serve the people of his state, so he announced his candidacy, citing several concerns — including drug usage among young people and the breakdown of the family. He won a seat in Congress and served three terms in Washington, D.C. In 2006, he was unsuccessful in a gubernatorial bid. He didn’t fully retire then, but for the first time in many years, he wasn’t tied to any one institution. That didn’t last long. With the Nebraska football team suffering through an uncharacteristically poor season, University of Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman came calling a few weeks ago and asked Osborne to become the interim athletic director because he was replacing the current AD, Steve Pederson. Osborne decided to serve others once again. “This came out of the blue to me,” Osborne said. “I had no idea that anything was in the works. So, I told (Perlman) I’d think it over. Nancy (Osborne’s wife) and I talked it over. Usually I pray about any major decision and we decided that if there was some turmoil then we might be able to help and we should probably do that.” Osborne, who has been attending the same Fellowship of Christian Athletes group Bible study every Friday for the past 30-40 years and who spends 30-40 minutes a day in the prayer and Bible reading, said it wasn’t an easy decision because his life finally had some flexibility in it. But he said he involved a number of people in the decision-making process, many of whom are believers, and they encouraged him to take the position. Ron Brown, the former receivers coach under Osborne at Nebraska and the current state director of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, isn’t surprised to see Osborne back in a position of service. “In just talking with him over the years since his retirement in 1997, he’s wanted to make a difference,” Brown said. “When I talked to him about Congress, he said that one of the reasons he liked being there was he felt like he was making a difference. He really wants to contribute. “He always talked about two types of players,” Brown continued. “He said there are those who will say, ‘I’ll do everything you want me to do coach, but I want to know what’s in it for me.’” Brown said another group of players – few in number – would instead offer to do anything the coach asked in an effort to make the players around them better. “I think Tom has really striven to be that second kind of guy,” Brown said. “I think that probably had a lot to do with his decision to run for Governor. He loves the state. He wants to serve the state. It’s not a power trip for him. I think the same thing applies with the athletic director situation. I think he sees himself as a servant-leader who wants to contribute and make a huge difference.” In a consistent fashion to the way Brown describes Osborne, Tom and Nancy started a youth mentoring program called Teammates (www.teammates.org) back in 1991 with the hope of serving 10,000 youth by 2015. Mentors meet one-on-one with youth to give them a sense of hope, purpose and vision. Osborne said that 3,200 young people in Nebraska and Iowa are currently meeting with mentors. “I really feel that we are called to serve,” Osborne said. “If you look at the life of Jesus, he was all about servant-leadership. I think almost everyone, right up to the point of death, is able to serve in some capacity. It may not be in a formal position, but it may be service to one other person or to family members.” And now, at the age of 70, with a new opportunity to serve knocking on his door once again, Osborne has another opportunity to make a difference and he speaks about it in reflective terms. “There’s an old proverb that says you can’t step in the same river twice because it moves on, but still there is a note of familiarity here,” Osborne said. “I’ve always been interested in young people. I’ve always been interested in athletics. So, it’s nice to be back in that environment again.” --30--
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