In the third episode of their deep dive into Tom Osborne’s career, the Common Fans talk to Husker legend Steve Taylor and former Lincoln Journal Star sportswriter Ken Hambleton about TO’s teams of the 1980s.

• TO takes things to another level.
• With five conference titles from 1980 to 1989, Nebraska had more wins than any other college football team in the decade.
• Huskers come agonizingly close to two national championships.
• Starting to beat Oklahoma.
• The crew discusses the famous 1984 Orange Bowl and Osborne’s decision to go for two, the infamous 1982 Penn State game, and much more.

Plus, Steve shares some illuminating insights into his time as a recruit and a player:

• A hilarious recruiting trip to Minnesota involving Lou Holtz and Dave Winfield.
• Other recruiting shenanigans.
• TO’s standards.
• Steve’s outstanding playing career.
• The challenging non-conference schedules in those days.
• Falling behind the speedy Florida schools.
• Lessons from Coach Osborne.
• Plus much more!



Thanks to Steve Taylor and Ken Hambleton for joining us for this conversation. GBR for LIFE!

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In the second episode of the Common Fans’ deep dive into Tom Osborne’s career, the boys look at TO’s early days as Nebraska’s head coach in the 1970s.

• Husker legend Tom Ruud discusses his days playing for both Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne.
• Long time sportswriters Mike Babcock and Brandon Vogel also join the conversation.
• Changing of the guard from Devaney to Osborne.
• Early struggles to beat Oklahoma.
• Storyline that TO “can’t win the big one” begins to emerge.
• After the pressure cooker of his first several years, Osborne actually interviews for the head coaching job at Colorado.
• By the end of the decade, TO is firmly in place in Lincoln, and has established himself as an excellent head coach with a program on the rise heading into the 1980s.

Thanks to Tom Ruud, Mike Babcock and Brandon Vogel for joining us for this conversation. GBR for LIFE!

Subscribe on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@commonfanGBR

Check out our website: www.commonfan.co

Our Partners:

You can now find all Common Fan videos and articles on www.huskermax.com as well as www.si.com/college/college-football/team/nebraska-cornhuskers.

For more Husker coverage, check out Carriker Chronicles: https://carrikerchronicles.com/

For more college football coverage, check out The College Huddle: https://thecollegehuddle.com/

The Common Fans launch their new summer series focused on Tom Osborne’s coaching career with a look at his time as an assistant to Bob Devaney.

• If you wanted to make the case that God’s a Cornhusker, there might not be a better place to start than here: Tom Osborne arrived on Nebraska’s campus as a young graduate student in pursuit of a PhD within a month of Bob Devaney taking over as the Huskers’ head football coach.
• Osborne would spend several years straddling the fence between doctoral studies and helping out in various roles as an assistant on the football team.
• Thankfully for all of Husker Nation, he ultimately chose to pursue football full time.
• After two sub-par seasons in 1967 and 1968, Devaney completely overhauls the program. Among many other changes, TO is installed as offensive coordinator.
• That one decision arguably did more to impact the future of Nebraska football than anything else.
• Osborne would play a central role in reimagining Nebraska’s offense, creating Husker Power (the nation’s first ever collegiate strength and conditioning program), emphasizing coast-to-coast recruiting, and ultimately turning the program around.
• A direct line can be drawn from the changes Devaney implemented after 1968 (with TO’s promotion arguably being the most consequential) to Nebraska’s first two national championships in 1970 and 1971.
• All this and much more about Osborne’s days as an assistant to Devaney in this first episode of our summer series about TO!



Thanks to Omaha World Herald writer Henry Cordes along with Brandon Vogel of the Counter Read newsletter for joining us for this conversation. GBR for LIFE!

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