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For Osborne, there is life after football
By Darren Ivy
When he retired from coaching after the Orange Bowl in January, he decided to return to a place he hadn't been in a long time - behind a desk in a University of Nebraska-Lincoln classroom. "It's kind of run a full circle," Osborne said. "That's where I started out, and that's where I am going to end up." Osborne's plans for the near future will consist of teaching two classes, working with University Foundations to raise money for a library addition, speaking at organizations, getting more involved with the Teammates Program and serving as a Cabelas consultant. Since retiring, Osborne said he hasn't felt any withdrawal symptoms from football. But that's because he has stayed busy with various functions. "I feel like I did during recruiting season," Osborne said. "But I never felt bad. I was never emotionally exhausted or so tired I couldn't function right. I feel good enough to coach some more. That's probably one of the problems. If I were exhausted and burned out, it would be easier to step aside. "I've deliberately kept myself pretty busy because I know it wouldn't be a good idea to all of a sudden start sitting and staring at walls. A little bit (of these activities) is filling the void, but sooner or later there is no question you will come face-to-face that you aren't coaching anymore, and I think that will be an adjustment and be difficult, but it's something that has to happen." To help keep himself involved with football and students, Osborne asked Chancellor James Moeser if he could return to the classroom in the fall. "I know I will miss contact with players and coaches, and I think that's part of my attraction to the teaching area because I was very much torn when I was 28 years old," Osborne said. "I really loved teaching and I loved the classroom, but I knew I couldn't do both coaching and teaching, so I chose coaching, but always in the back of my mind was the idea I would return to classroom." After getting Moeser's approval, he talked to Teachers College Dean James O'Hanlon, who told Osborne he would be happy to have him as a part-time teacher. Osborne will teach an undergraduate class about coaching football and a graduate class about issues in athletics. Osborne said he chose to teach coaching football because it's something he is interested in and because he thinks he can help young people with X's and O's and how to treat players. "So many times a young guy watches a movie where the coach breaks clipboards over a guy's head and rants and raves, and that's their idea of coaching," Osborne said. "I don't think it has to be that way." Osborne didn't rule out teaching other subjects, but he said statistics will not be one of them. When Osborne first started teaching, he taught statistics. "I really didn't want to do that at all," Osborne said. "But the teacher had quit, and the chairman of the department told me on the first of August that I was the replacement. "I was one day ahead of the class and book. I might say I was a pretty good teacher because I knew what their problems were because I'd just gone through it myself." With his new classes, Osborne will have more time to prepare. The final quarter of his responsibilities at UNL will be with University Foundation's fund drive. He said he will speak and make some appearances to help raise money for a library addition. "I feel the academic center of any university is the library, and it hasn't had much done to it for a long time," Osborne said. Broadcasting and politics are two areas Osborne probably won't be going into, but he never ruled out either one of them. Expanding the Teammates Program is another goal of Osborne's. The program has been successful in Lincoln, so Osborne wants to take it to other schools across the state. The program pairs adults with junior high students in a mentoring program. "This program makes a difference in the lives of kids," Osborne said. As for Saturdays in the fall, Osborne is not sure he will be at every game, but if he is, he is afraid of where they might put him. "I may be up there in the knothole section," Osborne said. "It's where I started out in the '50s." And in his spare time, he said, he will be found at a lake or stream doing some fishing. | |||
