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Tom Osborne was born in Hastings, Nebraska, near where his grandparents and great-grandparents homesteaded. He was a star athlete, particularly in football, in high school and at Hastings College. After graduating from college, he spent three years in the National Football League as a member of both the San Francisco 49ers and the Washington Redskins. He then went to graduate school at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he received a M.Ed. and Ph.D. in Educational Psychology. While a student at Nebraska, he became a graduate assistant and then assistant coach for the Nebraska Cornhuskers footballteam.


During Osborne’s tenure as an assistant coach, Nebraska won two national championships (1970 and ’71). Legendary head coach Bob Devaney retired after the second national championship season and tapped Osborne as his replacement. Over the next 25 years, Osborne led the Cornhuskers to a bowl game every season and three national championships (1994, ’95, and ’97). He retired after the 1997 season with a career winning percentage of 84 percent.


In 2000, Osborne was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives to represent Nebraska’s Third Congressional District. He remained in Congress until 2006, when he unsuccessfully ran for governor of Nebraska. Today, he is still widely respected by college football fans everywhere and promotes volunteerism through the Tom and Nancy Osborne Foundation.