"Then Osborne Said to Rozier. . ."

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239 consecutive sellouts, 46 conference titles and 5 National Championships. Loyalty. Tradition.

No team in college football embodies those three concepts quite like Nebraska. Since its 1890 inception, the Cornhuskers have developed teams unmatched for talent and fans unmatched for zeal. Now, readers can get the insiders’ accounts of the men that have shaped this college football juggernaut in Steve Richardson’s “THEN OSBORNE SAID TO ROZIER…”: The Best Nebraska Cornhuskers Stories Ever Told (Triumph Books, August 2008).

The core of Cornhuskers’ history really can be told in the stories of just two men. Coaches don’t come more colorful than the legendary Bob Devaney, a fast-talking Irishman who charmed parents across the country into sending their boys to a little town called Lincoln, Nebraska and then taught those boys how to become the most fearsome football players in the league. His successor, Tom Osborne, shared none of Devaney’s expressiveness but plenty of his passion, and he, too, led legions of Cornhuskers to achieve more than they ever dreamed possible. Cast from a mold that is as rare today as it is missed, Devaney and Osborne not only built teams that won, they built men with character.

Richardson reveals the details of these winning coaches’ recruitment, training, and sideline styles, listening to the voices of colleagues, fans, foes, and former players. He also examines,

·               Devaney’s more colorful moments—like the halftime when he left his team in the locker room to sweat it out, only popping in to say at the end of the half, “Excuse me ladies, I was looking for my football team”

·               The innovative weight program that helped Nebraska get and stay at the top of the game

·               The details of the Oklahoma rivalry, pitting stoic Osborne against the demonstrative Barry Switzer

·               The importance of the walk-on system to the team and to the state

·               The story behind the development of arguably “the greatest college player of all time,” Johnny Rogers

·               The play-by-play for the Cornhuskers’ 1970 and 1971 back-to-back championships

·               An insiders’ sideline account of the 1971 “Game of The Century”

·               The chemistry between the unstoppable triplets—Irving Fryar, Mike Rozier, and Turner Gill

·               Osborne’s wily gadget plays—like the “bummerooskey” and the “fumblerooskey”

·               Troubled I-back Laurence Phillips and why the team gave him a shot at redemption in the Fiesta Bowl

·               The controversy behind the team’s reliance on QB legend Eric Crouch

Nor does Richardson shy away from discussing the questionable decision to let go winning coach Frank Solich, doomed to live in Osborne’s long shadow, or to dissect the disastrous 2004-2007 slump during the Callahan years. But with Tom Osborne back at Nebraska in the AD seat and coach Bo Pelini restoring Nebraska’s program to its earlier successful structure, 2008 could be the Cornhuskers year to return to glory. There is no better way to prepare for the beginning of this much-anticipated season than to spend a Saturday with Cornhuskers history in “THEN OSBORNE SAID TO ROZIER…”.

About the Author

Steve Richardson, a Dallas-based freelance writer, has covered college sports since the late 1970s. This is his seventh book. A 1975 graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism, Richardson collected writing awards while working in three states, including stints with the Kansas City Star and Dallas Morning News. In recent years he has been a correspondent for Sports Illustrated and written freelance articles for numerous publications, including USA Today. He has been executive director of the Football Writers Association of America since 1996.