ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 27, 1996 TAG: 9612270050
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LINCOLN, NEB.
SOURCE: Associated Press
It has been a rough year for Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne.
For the first time in four years, the Cornhuskers will not be playing for the national championship.
The team lost the Big 12 Conference championship game, despite being heavy favorites.
Three players were suspended after being accused of drunken driving.
A veteran assistant coach is leaving for a head coaching job and others have interviewed.
Despite the problems, Osborne said as long as he enjoys his job, he will be back in 1997.
``I don't coach for championships,'' Osborne said after a recent practice. ``As long as I enjoy coaching I plan to stay with it.''
The year will end for Nebraska on Dec.31, when the No.6 Huskers play No.10 Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl in Miami.
Osborne, 59, entered his 24th year of coaching having won two national championships in a row and favored to be in contention for a third.
He's ending the year as runner-up in the Big 12 Conference. The Huskers' loss in the title game to Texas was their first to a conference foe in four years. It knocked them out of a chance to play for their third straight national championship.
Life was easier for Osborne in the Big Eight. The Huskers would have been champions in the old conference, Osborne noted after the loss to Texas.
There are a lot of things Osborne misses about the old Big Eight. One area that has drawn particular fire from the coach is academic eligibility requirements in the Big 12 that are stricter than NCAA standards.
It is questionable whether partial qualifiers like All-American Jared Tomich, a senior, would make the team under the new rules. In the Big 12, each school in the conference is allowed only one partial qualifier as a freshman. Schools did not have that restriction in the Big Eight.
After 1995 saw a number of player run-ins with police, Osborne entered the 1996 season hoping to see his players perform on the field, not in court.
But it was not to be.
Sophomore Lance Brown missed the preseason scrimmage and first game of the year because of a drunken driving incident in the spring. Brown is on probation for driving under the influence.
Osborne kicked defensive standout Terrell Farley off the team after his second drunken driving arrest. Farley was on probation for a previous drunken driving conviction when he was arrested a second time in November; he has a February trial date on a number of charges, including second-offense drunken driving and resisting arrest.
And just weeks before the team's Dec.31 Orange Bowl appearance, starting senior Jon Vedral was suspended after being arrested on suspicion of drinking and driving. He is scheduled to appear in court Jan.7 to face DWI and negligent driving charges.
While players were getting suspended from the team, Osborne's coaches were busy trying to find head coaching jobs.
Frank Solich, an 18-year veteran of Osborne's staff, wants a head coaching job.
Earlier this month Tony Samuel, an 11-year veteran of Osborne's staff, announced he will leave after the Orange Bowl to become the head coach at New Mexico State.
The 41-year-old Samuel was an integral part of Nebraska's defensive coaching and recruiting team. During Samuel's 10 years at Nebraska, the Huskers led the nation in total defense five times, led the country in pass defense three times and had the top defense against the run five times.
``I'm not trying to get rid of anybody,'' Osborne said when asked about the number of his aides interviewing for head coaching jobs.
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: APby CNBJohn Arthur, 3, shakes hands with Nebraska player John Gibson as
his father, Mike, assists in stretching exercises during a workout
Thursday in Miami. The Cornhuskers will face Virginia Tech in the
Orange Bowl on New Year's Eve.