Tom Osborne He was the head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team for 25 years from ( 1973 to 1997 ) , succeeding Bob Devaney . After coaching , Osborne was elected to Congress in 2000 and served six years in the U . S . House as a Republican from Nebraska ' s 3rd district . Early life . Born and raised in Hastings , Tom Osborne was a star athlete at Hastings High School in football and basketball , and won the state discus throw in track . As a senior in 1955 , he was awarded the Nebraska High School Athlete of The Year by the " Omaha World Herald . " He then stayed in town to attend Hastings College , the same college his father and grandfather had attended . During his time at Hastings College , Osborne played football quarterback and basketball . He graduated with a B . A . in history in 1959 , and was awarded the Nebraska College Athlete of the Year . He was the first male Nebraska athlete to win both the high school and college athlete of the year awards by the Omaha World Herald . Osborne was drafted into the NFL by the Washington Redskins , for whom he played two seasons as a wide receiver , before playing one season for the San Francisco 49ers . Osborne earned a M . A . in educational psychology from Nebraska in 1963 and a doctorate in educational psychology there in 1965 . He also served in the Nebraska Army National Guard from 1960 – 66 . Coaching career . In 1964 , Osborne joined the Cornhusker coaching staff as an unpaid offensive assistant to head coach Devaney ; his only compensation was being able to dine at the athletic training table . After two disappointing 6 – 4 seasons in 1967 and 1968 , Devaney named Osborne as offensive coordinator for the 1969 season . Osborne immediately overhauled the offense , switching to a balanced attack operated from the I formation . The revamped offense sparked the Huskers to the national title in 1970 . The Huskers defeated LSU 17 - 12 in the 1971 Orange Bowl and finished first in the post - bowl AP poll , but third in the final UPI coaches ' poll . ( Through the 1973 season , the final UPI coaches poll was released before the bowls , making it a " regular season " title . ) UPI awarded its title to Texas , which lost to Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl ( # 2 Ohio State also lost , to Stanford in the Rose Bowl ) . Nebraska was 13 - 0 in 1971 and a consensus national champion , defeating the next three teams in the final AP poll : Oklahoma , Colorado , and Alabama . Devaney announced he would step down as head coach at age 57 after the 1972 season to concentrate on his duties as athletic director , and named Osborne as his successor . Following a convincing win over Notre Dame in the 1973 Orange Bowl ( NU ' s third straight in that bowl ) , Osborne , age 35 , took over as head coach . He was head coach for 25 seasons , through the 1997 season , serving for most of that time as his own offensive coordinator . Legacy . In his quarter - century as head coach , Osborne was a model of consistency . His teams never won fewer than nine games in a season , finished in the top 15 of the final AP poll 24 years out of 25 ( having finished 24th in 1990 ) , and were ranked in every single weekly AP poll barring one week in 1977 and two in 1981 . Osborne ' s teams won outright national championships in 1994 and 1995 , and a share of another in 1997 . Osborne ' s Huskers also won or shared 12 Big Eight Conference titles and one Big 12 Conference title . His 255 – 49 – 3 record gave him the best winning percentage ( 83 . 6 % ) among active NCAA Division I - A coaches at the time of his retirement and the fifth - best of all time . As of 2006 , only Joe Paterno of Penn State has reached 200 victories in fewer games . But Osborne , who went on an NCAA record 60 – 3 run over his final five seasons , won 250 games faster than any coach in Division I - A history . Osborne finished his coaching career with a bowl record of 12 - 13 . Osborne ' s teams were known for their powerful rushing attack and strong defense ( also known as the Blackshirts — referring to the black jerseys that are worn in practice by the defensive starters and certain selected special teams players ) . Nebraska led the nation in rushing several times in the 1980s and 1990s , due to the efforts of men like Jarvis Redwine , Heisman Trophy winner Mike Rozier , Calvin Jones , Ahman Green and Lawrence Phillips . After struggling to defend Oklahoma ' s wishbone option in the 1970s , Osborne switched from a balanced attack to an option offense in 1980 in order to utilize the versatility of dual - threat quarterback s , such as Turner Gill , Tommie Frazier , and Scott Frost . Entering the 1984 Orange Bowl , the 1983 Cornhuskers were 12 – 0 and ranked # 1 in the country for the entire season . Nebraska scored a late touchdown against the # 5 ranked Miami Hurricanes to narrow the score to 31 – 30 . Rather than attempt an extra point to tie , Osborne opted to attempt the 2 - point conversion and go for the win . However , Gill ' s pass attempt was tipped away in the end zone , giving hometown Miami the victory and the national championship . In 1993 , the Huskers again narrowly lost a national championship . Having gone into the 1994 Orange Bowl as a 17 - point underdog to Florida State , Nebraska fought back from a 15 – 7 deficit to take a 16 – 15 lead with less than two minutes remaining in the Orange Bowl . After Florida State drove to retake the lead 18 – 16 , Nebraska managed to hit a quick downfield pass in order to get one last field goal attempt as time ran out , which sailed wide . It was the last bowl game Osborne ever lost . The next year , however , Osborne earned his first title as head coach , defeating Miami in the 1995 Orange Bowl . The Huskers , who initially trailed , rallied to win 24 – 17 . The next year , the Huskers roared through the regular season , stayed atop the rankings for all but one week , and crushed the Florida Gators 62 – 24 in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl , earning Osborne his second national championship . The 1995 team was voted as the greatest college football team of all time in an ESPN poll . His 1994 and 1995 teams still stand as the only undefeated , consensus back - to - back national champions in Division I - A college football since Oklahoma in 1955 - 56 . Osborne announced his retirement as head coach late in the 1997 season , selecting Frank Solich , his longtime running backs coach , to succeed him . In his final five seasons , Osborne ' s record was a staggering 60 – 3 ( . 952 ) , the strongest finale to any coaching career in college football history . His final game as head coach came in the 1998 Orange Bowl with a 42 - 17 victory over Tennessee , also the final NCAA game for Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning . Osborne was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999 , and in 2000 , he received the Jim Thorpe Lifetime Achievement Award . In 1999 , ESPN honored Osborne as the coach of the decade for the 1990s . This honor is even more impressive considering the fact that he did not coach for 20 % of the decade . In a 2007 online ESPN poll , Osborne was voted the " greatest college football coach of all time " . Head coaching record . Through the 1973 season , the final UPI coaches ' poll was released < br > at the end of the regular season , before the bowl game s . Athletic director career . Osborne and the 1997 national championship team were the guests of honor at the Huskers ' 2007 Homecoming game on October 13 . Just two days after the resulting 45 – 14 loss to Oklahoma State – Nebraska ' s worst home loss since being shut out 31 – 0 by Missouri on November 1 , 1958 – athletic director Steve Pederson was fired . On October 16 , 2007 , Osborne was announced as the interim athletic director , following Pederson ' s departure . On November 24 , 2007 , Osborne fired head coach Bill Callahan following a 5 – 7 season . Osborne appointed himself the interim head coach so that he could perform recruiting duties while remaining in compliance with NCAA rules . On December 2 , 2007 , Osborne named Bo Pelini the new head coach of Nebraska . In 2010 , Osborne ended Nebraska ' s long - standing relationship with the Big 12 Conference and accepted an invitation for Nebraska to become the twelfth member of the Big Ten Conference . On December 19 , it was announced that Osborne would remain as athletic director through June 30 , 2010 , effectively moving him from interim status to permanent . Osborne will be paid $ 250 , 000 per year and will manage Nebraska ' s 23 - sport program . Osborne later agreed to continue as athletic director after 2010 , with his position to be reviewed annually . On September 26 , 2012 , Osborne announced his retirement as Athletic Director , effective January 1 , 2013 . Political career . House of Representatives . Early in 2000 , Osborne announced that he would run in Nebraska ' s 3rd District as a Republican . He had grown up in Hastings , one of the larger cities in the sprawling district , and claimed a home in Lemoyne , near North Platte , as his district residence . However , he hadn ' t lived regularly in what is now the 3rd since at least 1964 ; for most of that time he ' d lived in Lincoln , the heart of the 1st District . Nonetheless , due to his wide popularity in the state , he easily won the Republican primary , which was tantamount to election in what has long been one of the most Republican districts in the nation . He breezed to victory in November with 83 percent of the vote . He was reelected with no major - party opposition in 2002 and against an underfunded Democrat in 2004 . In Congress , Osborne ' s voting record was moderate to conservative . He garnered a lifetime rating of 83 from the American Conservative Union . At one point , Osborne teamed up with Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers , normally his political adversary , to oppose efforts to expand gambling in Nebraska . 2006 governor ' s race . In 2006 , Osborne ran for Governor of Nebraska , challenging Governor Dave Heineman and Omaha businessman Dave Nabity in the Republican primary . Osborne was initially thought to be the favorite in the race , given his tremendous popularity in the state . However , Heineman took 49 percent of the more than 197 , 000 votes cast while Osborne took 45 percent . The Lincoln Journal Star analyzed the race : While Osborne captured populous Omaha and Lincoln , Heineman sealed his victory in rural counties and key population centers in western and central Nebraska ’ s critical Republican battleground . . . < br > < br > . . . it was the political impact of two gubernatorial vetoes that appeared to lift [ Heineman ] into a late surge , especially in Osborne ’ s congressional district . < br > < br > Heineman ’ s opposition to Class I rural school reorganization and the granting of resident college tuition rates to the children of illegal immigrants cut into Osborne ’ s support . < br > < br > Osborne declined to sign referendum petitions seeking voter repeal of the rural school legislation and said he would have signed the resident tuition bill . "