Osborne and Creighton

In Sunday's edition of the Omaha World-Herald, sports columnist Tom Shatel ran an interview with the former Nebraska head football coach and former U.S. Congressman Tom Osborne. One might ask, well what does that have to do with Creighton? Everything, actually. Since leaving office, Osborne has been serving as a consultant and advisor to the Creighton athletic department. Invited by Bruce Rasmussen and David Sokol, Osborne comes down weekly to speak with and advise both coaches and student athletes, especially Coach Altman and his team.

Osborne explained to Shatel that when he agreed to work with CU, he made it clear he didn't want this to be publicised as some sort of slap in the face at UNL, which is understanding considering his history with that institution. That said, the one line that popped out in the article was when Shatel asked, quite frankly, why working with Creighton instead of Nebraska: they didn't ask.

Now, for those of us that live here in Nebraska, the whole soap opera of Pederson-Solich-Callahan is a well known story, so I won't go into that here. Needless to say, it's no secret that Osborne was not pleased with both the changes that occurred in Lincoln as well as how they were handled and how those deeply involved with the history of their football program was treated. Dr. Osborne is not just a well regarded former coach, but he is a very adept politician. He's well aware of his "wise sage/elder statesman" position in this state and with the vast majority of Husker fans and he doesn't want to damage that. However, he knows how to get his point across subtly. He doesn't have to come out and slam Pederson and his cadre in public, but can select when he talks and to whom he talks to make his thoughts clear.

Rasmussen and Altman are both intelligent fellows and they've known what Osborne's agenda is from the beginning. That said, they're more than willing to gain the PR boost and especially at NU's expense. Osborne is so respected in this state that having him associated with the program will only serve to open some scarlet-colored eyes. It's not like he doesn't have anything to offer. Dr. Osborne has a long history of developing young athletes and getting the most out of his players. In the article, Nick Porter mentioned the talk that he gave to the seniors on the squad before the Missouri State game and said he believed that was a key in helping prepare the team for success.

One has to notice, though, the way this story was handled and how it's just another thrust in the side of Nebraska basketball. They have their biggest home game of the year tonight against Kansas on ESPN's Big Monday package, and the dominant story in the sports media is "Why has Nebraska alienated Tom Osborne from the program?" I think that the people around the UNL program are starting to realize that Creighton has had the opportunity to set down far more roots in the Omaha area than they believed and that's going to be a far more difficult task to overcome.