Trev Alberts: Why Tom Osborne's Staff Worked

Nebraska's athletic director talks about what makes a coaching staff great.

I was lucky enough to grow up in Lincoln, Nebraska in the 1980s and '90s. I got to see a majority of Tom Osborne's career and the plethora of talent that migrated through Memorial Stadium over those two decades. One of my favorite players was Trev Alberts. He was tough as nails. Like played with a broken arm tough. Like your mom when someone says something about her kids tough. Like Blackshirts in the '90s tough.

While the defenses and O-lines were great, the real man behind the W's was Dr. Tom Osborne. A quiet, even-tempered man who was a student of the game and a professor of psychology. He had his moments where he might ragefully yell out "dadgummit, dadgummit, dadgummit," but compared to some of our more recent head coaches (I'm looking at you, Bo Pelini) he was a giant-headphone wearing Mother Teresa.

In this video, Trev (we're on a first-name basis now) explains what qualities make a great head coach in his opinion and extrapolates that to the success of Dr. Tom. It wasn't just Osborne either - he had McBride, Tenopir, Brown and Young, to name a few, pulling the tractor in the same direction. (If Ol' Peej can talk about boats, I can make tractor metaphors). 

It was a really special time in Lincoln when I was a kid, and I think if we mine the archives for what they did to succeed, we can create it again. What do you think? Can Scott Frost have another dynasty in the greatest state in the union? Tell me in the comments. You know, for the algorithm.

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