Osborne's Impact Beyond Football
Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne will retire at the end of the year, but his legacy won't.
Osborne has made an impression, not only in sports, but in ways that impact so many Nebraskans away from campus. 25 years as head football coach and 5 years as athletic director are coming to a close for Tom Osborne. He keeps the same humbling presence Nebraskans have come to know.
"That legacy question is a tricky one and I'd rather you guys wrote it than me," Osborne explained.
Former players say Coach Osborne emphasized academics and community involvement even after their playing careers were over. Osborne wrote books about his faith and being a coach in life. He served three terms in the US House of Representatives from 2000-2006. He also ran for governor. Osborne now wants to focus on Teammates, the mentoring program he and his wife Nancy started in 1991. Former Husker defensive lineman, Chad Kelsay's been involved since 2000.
"Quite frankly, I got involved with teammates simply as a way to say how could I give back to Coach Osborne and to Nancy?" Kelsay described. "When you look at the role Coach Osborne played with all of us players in essence he was a mentor to every one of us.”
Right now Teammates has about 6,000 matches between mentors and kids in 110 chapters. They hope to reach 10,000 matches in the next 3 years.
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