Photos: Legendary Nebraska coach Tom Osborne through the years
Here's a look at legendary Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne through the years.
1952-1958
1952-1958: Tom Osborne was named The World-Herald's high school athlete of the year after starring in three sports at Hastings High School. He enrolled at Hastings College and spent four years playing football and basketball. He turned down an offer from Nebraska so he could play both sports.
1959
1959: Tom Osborne became the first person to be named both The World-Herald's high school and state college athlete of the year. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in history. Tom McLaughlin, the Hastings College Athletic Director and football coach, said Osborne was "a privilege and pleasure to coach." Osborne was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the 19th round (222nd overall).
1960-61
1960-1961: Tom Osborne played for the Washington Redskins for two seasons, catching 29 passes, including two for touchdowns. He would join the Nebraska Army National Guard in 1960 and serve for the following six years.
1962
1962: After retiring from his playing days, Tom Osborne joins Bob Devaney's staff as a graduate assistant in 1962. He would marry Nancy Tederman on Aug. 8, who he'd have three kids with — Mike, Ann and Suzanne.
1970
1970: Tom Osborne, as an assistant to then-Nebraska coach Bob Devaney, showed his ability to recruit early. In this story, published July 23, 1970, Osborne showed his attention to detail in recruiting, even to something as small his seating placement.
1972
1972: New Husker football coach Tom Osborne.
1973
1973: Bob Devaney congratulates his successor, Tom Osborne, after Osborne's first game as head coach. The Huskers beat UCLA 40-13. Osborne helped Devaney win national championships in both 1970 and 1971 as an assistant.
1975
1975: Nebraska went 10-2 and shared the Big Eight title. It would be the first of 13 conference titles won or shared by an Osborne-coached Husker team.
1981
1981: A year after NU completed its conversion to the option, Osborne turned the season around with a quarterback change in the second half of the fourth game. Sophomore Turner Gill, pictured, helped lead the Huskers to Osborne's first undisputed Big Eight championship in 1981 — capped by a 37-14 road victory over Oklahoma — and got a shot at the national title. However, NU lost 22-15 to Clemson in the Orange Bowl.
1983
1983: Under the coaching of Tom Osborne, Mike Rozier ran for a school-record 2,148 yards and 29 touchdowns en route to claiming the Heisman Trophy.
1993
1993: Tom Osborne's team switched to an attacking 4-3 defensive scheme, resulting in an 11-0 regular season. However, a missed last-second field goal resulted in No. 1 Florida State, a heavy favorite, to hang on to a 18-16 victory and claim the national title.
1994
1994: The Huskers claimed the Tom Osborne's first national championship in the 1994 season. On Jan. 1, 1995, the Huskers defeated Miami 24-17 in the Orange Bowl to claim the title.
1995
1995: On Jan. 2, 1996, Nebraska capped a perfect 1995 season with a 62-24 victory over Steve Spurrier's Florida squad in the Fiesta Bowl, claiming Tom Osborne's second national championship in as many years. The Huskers trailed by a combined 12 minutes all season and won with an average margin of 39 points.
1996
1996: Tom Osborne, and all of Nebraska, mourned the death of quarterback Brook Berringer. Osborne published his memoir "On Solid Ground" and led NU into the new era of the Big 12.
1998
1998: Tom Osborne left the Husker sideline in style. He capped an undefeated season with a 42-17 win over Tennessee in the Orange Bowl, gaining a split of the national title with Michigan. He retired with a 255-49-3 record as NU's head coach.
1999
1999: Talk about having some big shoes to fill. Tom Osborne's successor as Nebraska football coach was longtime assistant coach Frank Solich.
2000-2006
2000-2006: Tom Osborne announced his candidacy for the 3rd District Congressional seat at a press conference in Hastings. He'd go on to win and serve three terms before losing a bid for governor in 2006, ending his career in politics.
2006
2006: A statue was unveiled featuring Tom Osborne and Brook Berringer outside the Tom and Nancy Osborne Athletic Complex. The statue was created by local sculptor Fred Hoppe.
2007
2007: Nebraska Athletic Director Steve Pederson received a five-year extension in July. By early September, Pederson gave football coach Bill Callahan a five-year extension as well. The Huskers' season goes south, and Pederson is fired. He was replaced by interim AD Tom Osborne, who fired Callahan after the season ended. The interim tag on Osborne's title is soon removed.
2007
2007: Just eight days after the firing of Bill Callahan, new Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne introduced former defensive coordinator Bo Pelini as Nebraska's new head football coach.
2011
July 1, 2011: Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne and Chancellor Harvey Perlman navigate the university into the Big Ten. "In athletics, stability is something that whenever you see it, you want to grab onto it," Osborne said.
2012
2012: During a press conference during which both men were visibly upset, Tom Osborne announced the firing of men's basketball coach Doc Sadler. "I've had to do some difficult things over my lifetime," Osborne said. "I'd say this may be as difficult as any of them."
Osborne would then hire Tim Miles.
2012
2012: Tom Osborne announced he would retire as Athletic Director on Jan. 1, 2013, but remain in a role that allowed his to ease the department's transition. When asked about his legacy, Osborne said "that legacy question is a tricky one. I'd rather you guys wrote it than me. I don't have any particular thoughts on that."
2012
Nov. 17, 2012: Fans spelled out "Thanks Tom" to honor Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne prior to the start of the Nebraska vs. Minnesota football game.
2012
Dec. 13, 2012: Retiring Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne was named The World-Herald's Midlander of the Year. He also received the honor in 1997 and 1979.
2013
2013: Despite Tom Osborne being opposed to the idea, NU regents named the playing surface at Memorial Stadium "Tom Osborne Field." With the change to field turf in 1999, the field lost any mention of Osborne's name at his request — until 2013, when "Tom Osborne Field" was written on the sidelines.
2013
2013: Recently retired Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne was chosen alongside 12 other people to be a part of the College Football Playoff Committee to determine what teams should compete for the national title.
2017
Oct. 7, 2017: Nebraska's 1997 national championship team, led by former coach Tom Osborne, participates in the tunnel walk prior to the Wisconsin game.
2017
2017: UNL Chancellor Ronnie Green, Athletic Director Bill Moos, Nebraska President Hank M. Bounds and Tom Osborne pose for a photograph with Scott Frost after Frost was officially introduced as the Huskers' new head football coach.
2018
2018: Tom Osborne looks on from the sideline at as the Huskers take on Colorado at Memorial Stadium.
2018
2018: Former Nebraska football player Mike Rozier and Tom Osborne pose in front of the plaque honoring the 2018 University of Nebraska Athletics Hall of Fame Class. Both were inductees.
2019
2019: Tom Osborne autographs a football during a fundraiser that supports patients and families receiving care at the Fred and Pamela Buffet Cancer Center.
2020
2020: Tom Osborne is one of dozens who made appearances for the UNL graduation celebration. The university hosted a virtual commencement for the class of 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
2021
2021: Tom Osborne delivers the commencement address “Begin With The End in Mind” to University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduates.
2021
2021: Tom Osborne shakes hands with Trev Alberts before Alberts was introduced as Nebraska's new athletic director.
2023
2023: Osborne stands alongside Frank Solich during Nebraska’s spring game where Solich was honored.
2022
2022: Tom Osborne and Johnny Rodgers talk during halftime of the Oklahoma vs. Nebraska football game.
Former Omaha Central and Nebraska star running back Ahman Green said he was diagnosed in January 2025 with Parkinson's disease, a movement disorder affecting the nervous system.
