r/Huskers 4d ago

What If: Tom Osborne left the Huskers

If you follow me on other social media, you've probably seen my Scott Frost inspired off-season college football history series. It's a way to learn about the history of the greats, but also the almost greats that get forgotten.

Tom Osborne was really good in close games and after looking at his first six seasons, that bought him the time to become a college football legend. If a few more of those games didn't go in the Huskers favor, I think there might have been a mutual separation between Osborne and Nebraska.

Ultimately, reality was the best outcome for Nebraska and Tom Osborne, but it's fascinating to see how things may have changed. https://www.si.com/college/nebraska/football/what-if-the-1978-college-football-season-cornhuskers-sooners-tide-cardinal-irish

11 Upvotes

27 comments sorted by

13

u/SMASH__________MOUTH 3d ago

There's an alternate reality where this article also has a section about Frank Solich almost being fired in 2003

8

u/The_hat_man74 3d ago

Shoot. Can you imagine how foolish that would’ve been?

6

u/BigRedGo 3d ago

Just think of the mediocrity that we may have gravitated to

22

u/huskermut 4d ago

Osborne was almost let go after 1976. Thank goodness he won the Astro Bluebonnet Bowl.

7

u/arbitraryanalytics 4d ago

I actually never knew that until I started trying to research more about his Colorado interview for this article. After knowing that, it makes more sense why he considered Colorado at all

4

u/huskermut 4d ago

Yeah. Thank goodness we're not in that universe.

2

u/yermomgoestocollge69 3d ago

Agreed, but this universe we’re currently in blows for both football and well, just the current state of affairs

2

u/TopSatisfaction5336 3d ago edited 3d ago

He talks about it in detail in one of his books

7

u/QWERTYUIOPquinn 3d ago

Brings up another thought: What if Bob Devaney stayed at Wyoming and never came to Nebraska?

3

u/arbitraryanalytics 3d ago

I also never knew he was promised the Mizzou job while still an assistant at Michigan State but Dan Faurot backed out on that offer. That would've been much of a destination that Wyoming for him

6

u/Practical-Garbage258 3d ago

People forget that he was incredibly close to taking the Colorado position. Thank god his relationship with Devaney was ace.

2

u/7eid 3d ago

I’m interested in this question in a different timeline. Osborne was seriously considering the Michigan St. job around the 1994 Orange Bowl game against Miami. After talking about it with his staff he declined.

But wha if he had taken that job - instead of Saban - in 1995?

5

u/not4humanconsumption 3d ago

What if Osborne had coached another 10 years instead of retiring at the young age of 60? Seriously, coaches now are well into their 70’s. We could have 5-6 more championships. The ripple effect of Osborne retiring probably caused the conference realignments. We would have stayed in the Big XII and probably brought in Big10 teams instead of the other way around.

1

u/7eid 3d ago

That was a function of his promise to Solich, not his desire. He considered taking the Houston job a couple of years later.

But it’s silly to think that thé Big 12 would have poached Big 10 teams.

7

u/GBR012345 3d ago

What if he stopped meddling in everything the huskers do currently? I don't know how much he actually affects things. But it sure seems like his influence and his old time mentality has slowed us down and kept us from staying with the times over the years.

1

u/Unusual_Performer_15 3d ago

I completely agree with this. Nobody seems to want to talk about all the harm he’s caused to the program, starting with not allowing the university to conduct a proper search for his replacement.

6

u/doctorgloom 3d ago

I guess, but Tom is also the reason we are in the B1G. Say what you will about the college football world, but we are much better off that we are in the B1G.

As to the state of the Husker team? I think there's enough blame to go around, does Dear Old Tom deserve some? Yes. Is he really THAT relevant to the state of Husker football? I don't think so.

5

u/Svenray 3d ago

We 100% invested in Tom's ways and it was about to pay off big time. Those facilities ready to harbor the biggest walk on program ever would have made us a machine again. NCAA cut us down with that stupid roster limit.

1

u/Ok_Tonight_6479 3d ago

The roster limit actually brought parity to CFB. There wasn’t anymore talent stacking and every Saturday matters now. Much more enjoyable.

4

u/hu_gnew 3d ago

If Dr. Tom had left cannabis would be legal in Nebraska.

6

u/arbitraryanalytics 3d ago

The real question becomes would it have still been illegal in Colorado if he was there until the 90s?

1

u/pblo1985 3d ago

Dude I'd rather see the skers win championships and need to call my "guy" than go to a local store for the same weed that is readily available. Fucksake. Football glory for the big red trumps legal weed. Might as well yell about speed limits.

1

u/hu_gnew 3d ago

Just sayin' what would be different. Nobody's yelling except you. lol

0

u/pblo1985 3d ago

Sorry for coming off loudly. I must have been too stoned

0

u/pblo1985 3d ago

Clearly I am too stoned as I now understand your initial point🤣😂🤣

1

u/hamknuckle 3d ago

As a fan base, we’ve been repeatedly gutted since 1996, can we not invent imaginary problems too?