Interview with Dr. Tom

Realfootball365's Marc Hudgens interviews Husker athletic director (and former coach) Dr. Tom Osborne.

Osborne's biggest moment? The big win in Miami in the 1995 Orange Bowl for his first National title. I have to say it was a pretty big deal to me and the rest of the state as well.

Lowest point? Having to deal with the Lawrence Phillips situation later that year.

Hudgens also asks about how it was following in the footsteps of the legendary Bob Devaney, and how Tom arrived at the decision to hire Bo Pelini. I thought the answer was a pretty good one.

"OSBORNE: We needed a lot of help on defense, and I didn’t know of anybody that had better defensive coaching credentials. The other thing he had going for him is [that] he had coached here in 2003 for one year, and had turned our defense around in that year into one of the top defenses in the country from a rather average defense in 2002. So I knew that he understood and could motivate players and communicate with players and (get them) to play with intensity and passion. The other thing that was in Bo’s favor was I was able to talk to a lot of players who played for him in 2003 and a lot of assistant coaches who worked with him on defense. And in his last month, he was named interim coach when (Frank) Solich was fired, so Bo coached the bowl game for about five weeks, [and] he acted as the head coach. All of the comments I got from the former players and former coaches, all of whom I knew well and trusted, were very positive. So I was able to get more information on him. In most other people, you would get information on simply by interviewing them. So that was the main decision on Bo."

Hudgens also asked about politics and some illuminating personal questions - apparently Tom's passion for fishing is partially due to the fact it's one of his favorite foods, particularly salmon, and that legendary Husker running back Bobby Reynolds was a boyhood hero.