Monday, August 16, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section B·Page 21
Retired Osborne still coaches
Nebraska great turns attention to younger kids
The Associated Press
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Tom Osborne still has the itch to coach. He's just not doing it on a football field anymore.
Osborne, who was enshrined Friday in the College Football Hall of Fame as one of the winningest coaches in Division I-A history, is using his retirement to teach at-risk middle school students in Nebraska through a mentoring program he created while he still was coaching the Cornhuskers.
"We feel that someone who affirms them, supports them, has a vision of what they might become and is there and is concerned is very important," Osborne said.
Osborne was inspired to begin the program after he saw more and more troubled players come into the Nebraska program. Some, like Lawrence Phillips, grabbed headlines with their problems. But others were heavy on emotional baggage and low on parental support.
"These were young people who were screened. They had decent grades. They were recommended highly by their teachers and coaches, so we were dealing with probably the upper 25 percent of high school graduates," Osborne said. "I began to realize a lot of things were falling through the cracks for young people."
The Teammates Mentoring Program, which Osborne founded in 1991, has chapters in 17 Nebraska cities and has a goal of having a presence in every school district
in the state.
While it may seem a daunting task, after crafting the Cornhuskers football program into a perennial powerhouse with a 255-49-3 record during 25 years, if anybody in Nebraska can do it Oshorne
Osborne: Mentors students
do it, Osborne can.
People still regard him as a larger-than-life figure in Nebraska, where he won national titles in 1994 and 1995 and split the crown in 1997, his last season.
"So many people are willing to work with the program because of how highly people think of coach Osborne," said Shauna Valentine.
who coordinates the Lincoln chapter of the Teamsmage program.
Osborne began the program after asking players if they were interested in mentoring middle school children. Six years later, he expanded it to match students with adult mentors rather than football players.
"We didn't go to him with an idea. It was his idea, and he was doing it," Valentine said. "Beyond being the founder, he's been the cheerleader for the rest of us. He's the leader. He's the director in many ways, not only in the example that he sets but what he does."
Osborne, who along with his wife, Nancy, serves as a mentor in the program, said he hopes to reach 1,400 kids by next fall, with hopes of doubling the enrollment each year until the program reaches 10 percent of Nebraska middle school students, about 17,000 kids.
"We're limited only by the number of people who volunteer to be mentors," he said. "It's been probably the most meaningful thing that I've done."
That's saying something, considering Osborne led the Cornhuskers to an NCAA-record 25 straight bowl appearances, reached the 250-win plateau quicker than any other Division I-A coach and averaged more than 10 wins a season for 25 years.
Friday night, he'll be enshrined
"These were young people who were screened. They had decent grades...I began to realize a lot of things were falling through the cracks for young people."
Tom Osborne
Former Nebraska coach
into the Hall of Fame after the National Football Foundation Honors Court waived its customary three-year waiting period.
Others to be enshrined include Division I players Al Brosky, Brad Budde, Bill Fraly, Randy Gradishar, Bo Jackson, Mel Long, Jim McMahon, Jerry Rhome, Jim Richter, Johnny Roland, Alex Sarkisian and Bill Stanflay. They were elected to the hall last spring and inducted during a December ceremony in New York.
The Divisional Class includes players George Bork, Teel Bruner, George Floyd, Willie Galimore, Jim LeClair and Randy Trautman, along with coaches Don Coryell, Billy Nicks and Jim Sochor. They were elected this spring.
Conference coaches tap Benedictine to win title
The Associated Press
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Benedictine has been picked by the Heart of America Athletic Conference football coaches to repeat as champions in 1999.
Coaches did not vote for their own schools.
With eight of 10 first place votes, Benedictine was followed by Lindenwood, while Baker and Missouri Valley tied for third and Evanuel placed fifth.
Lindenwood, (8-3, 7-2) lost in the first round last year to Southwestern in Kansas.
Benedictine, 8-1 in the HAAC and 9-2 overall in 1998, lost in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics playoffs in the first round to TriState in Indiana.
The poll's bottom five were MidAmerica Nazarenc, William Jewell, Graceland, Culver-Stockton and Central Methodist.
Nebraska coach Frank Solich recovers from rookie jitters
The Associated Press
LINCOLN, Neb. — Frank Solich didn't forget the whistle this time.
Nebraska's second-year coach enters the 1999 season wiser — and less antyz — than last year, when he was so nervous he forgot to bring his whistle to the first practice.
One could forgive his jitters last season, when Solich replaced the legendary Tom Osborne, who retired after winning three national championships in his last four years.
Solich said he learned several things during his inaugural season that have caused him to tweak the way he does things.
"I didn't see an area that I felt that I really hurt our football team," he said. "But one thing that needs to improve is communication. Period."
While a slew of injuries to key players contributed to Nebraska's 9-4 record last year, communication problems plagued the team at times during games.
That, he said, was partly due to his trying to call all the plays after spending years high
above the field in the press box during games.
"We were meshing together a little differently than we had in
me on the field and coaches who had been out on the field up in the press box," Solich said.
There were times when plays were slow in being called and signals got m i x e d between play
"When you send in a play, how that play ends up from what you said, to what the quarterback gets and the quarterback calls in the huddle and what you see run can be a far cry from what you expect when the ball is snapped," Solich said. "Some of that came down to inexperience on my part."
Solich said he will allow quarterbacks Bobby Newcombe and Eric Crouch — who both started games for the first time
in their careers last season more leeway in changing plays at the line of scrimmage.
Solich will continue his role as offensive coordinator but will not try to call every play.
"I will probably not coach as much on the field as I did last year," he said. "That will probably be appreciated by a couple of coaches."
He also will try to move around more during practices rather than concentrating on one or two positions on offense.
"Sometimes when you're a head coach and offensive coordinator you get so offensive-oriented that your defense kind of looks at you and wonders why you're the head coach," he said.
Solich said he's always willing to learn and change.
"I've never been involved in this game yet where I haven't constantly been in a learning process," he said. "We're always looking for better ways to do things. We've worked hard at criticizing ourselves as a staff ... to make sure we're giving our team the very best chance to win."
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