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Aug 6, 2009
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My brother told me today that in his opinion, if Osborne were still AD, we would not have hired Hoiberg. Too expensive.

I think he is right. What say you all?
 

BHeinDaHuskers

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Oct 12, 2004
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Frost and his 5 Million a year contract is the one that would have been interesting.

I love me Tom as a coach, he is one of the best and when you add in his personal high moral character there is nobody I would take over him.

Tom as an AD? average at best. Great with people, administrative duties, and fund raising. Hiring quality coaches....:oops:

I am glad it has worked out the way it has. In 5 years when Frost & the mayor have some big ten championships Moos will be finding a place so others can build him a statue on campus.
 
Sep 29, 2001
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My brother told me today that in his opinion, if Osborne were still AD, we would not have hired Hoiberg. Too expensive.

I think he is right. What say you all?
Irrelevant at this point. Osborne is out of the decision making loop these days except for whatever advice Frost solicits.

But yes Osborne detested the salary escalation in the coaching profession and at least practiced what he preached, always remaining underpaid himself by his own choice. That's well known/documented. Now, on the other hand, Osborne wasn't so frugal when spending on facilities. He was a big proponent of having very good sports facilities. And, as I recall, he also was instrumental in getting the PBA done. Without the PBA, there would be no Hoiberg today.
 
Aug 6, 2009
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Woah their, he fired bill calahan. memba?
Callahan was Solich’s replacement. Firing him was Osborne’s way of sticking it to Pederson. Also... Perlman hired Osborne to fire Callahan and to right the ship. As soon as Pederson was fired everyone and their blind dog knew Callahan was next.

In contrast, Pelini was Osborne’s guy. His hire. No way he fires him after a nine win season.
 
Aug 6, 2009
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Irrelevant at this point. Osborne is out of the decision making loop these days except for whatever advice Frost solicits.

But yes Osborne detested the salary escalation in the coaching profession and at least practiced what he preached, always remaining underpaid himself by his own choice. That's well known/documented. Now, on the other hand, Osborne wasn't so frugal when spending on facilities. He was a big proponent of having very good sports facilities. And, as I recall, he also was instrumental in getting the PBA done. Without the PBA, there would be no Hoiberg today.
Great post. And his role in getting PBA built is an underreported element in this discussion. Thanks
 
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Redscarlet

Heisman
Jun 17, 2001
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Callahan was Solich’s replacement. Firing him was Osborne’s way of sticking it to Pederson. Also... Perlman hired Osborne to fire Callahan and to right the ship. As soon as Pederson was fired everyone and their blind dog knew Callahan was next.

In contrast, Pelini was Osborne’s guy. His hire. No way he fires him after a nine win season.

TO had no idea that Pelini would be such a prick and couldn’t handle the PR...He knew our defense needed fixing and he was sucessful here as a D- coordinator..

TO Had no idea he would be a horses Azz.
 

WoodRiverJennings

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Callahan was Solich’s replacement. Firing him was Osborne’s way of sticking it to Pederson. Also... Perlman hired Osborne to fire Callahan and to right the ship. As soon as Pederson was fired everyone and their blind dog knew Callahan was next.

In contrast, Pelini was Osborne’s guy. His hire. No way he fires him after a nine win season.

Exactly.
 

Husker.Wed._rivals

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I think Pelini and Miles were both decent hires at the time. People on this board were drooling all over Miles when he was hired, kind of like they are with Hoiberg now. Just because it didn't quite work out doesn't mean he's a bad AD.
I'm very excited about the Hoiberg hire, but wouldn't say I was drooling. I don't recall being real excited about the Miles hire, more like guardedly optimistic.
 

TheNewNU_rivals50820

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Tom gave us

Hires
Bo Pelini: fired. decent coach and psychopath.
Tim Miles: fired. .500 record with one NCAA tourney appearance in 7 years where we got blown out and largely only made it due to Terran Petteway playing out of his mind.
Darin Erstad: Probably his best hire, which isn't saying much. One conference championship in 9 years in a mid major conference with top notch facilities and a pretty good history of success. Writing could be on the wall if he doesn't make it past a regional soon.

Facilities
Hendricks training complex - Got Howard Hawks to fund a still state of the art practice facility. Kudos
East Stadium Expansion - beautiful renovation and well done on that part.
Devaney Center redesign - best venue in college volleyball.

The Big Ten money printing machine.

Tom Deserves a ton of credit for what he accomplished as AD. Yeah he made some mediocre hires but he put us in a position that has allowed us to embark on a new golden era of Husker athletics. He was far from perfect but he was still pretty damn good. I'd rank him 3rd behind Moos and Byrne as AD's and above the Bobfather.
 

jolley

Senior
Oct 7, 2012
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Callahan was Solich’s replacement. Firing him was Osborne’s way of sticking it to Pederson. Also... Perlman hired Osborne to fire Callahan and to right the ship. As soon as Pederson was fired everyone and their blind dog knew Callahan was next.

In contrast, Pelini was Osborne’s guy. His hire. No way he fires him after a nine win season.
TO as I recall was becoming frustrated with pelini's bad behavior and was reportedly talking to bp about that more than once and put bp on notice
 

SeaOfRed75

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Dec 5, 2010
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Irrelevant at this point. Osborne is out of the decision making loop these days except for whatever advice Frost solicits.

But yes Osborne detested the salary escalation in the coaching profession and at least practiced what he preached, always remaining underpaid himself by his own choice. That's well known/documented. Now, on the other hand, Osborne wasn't so frugal when spending on facilities. He was a big proponent of having very good sports facilities. And, as I recall, he also was instrumental in getting the PBA done. Without the PBA, there would be no Hoiberg today.
He was AD when Pinnacle was being voted on. Obviously said bball teams would be tenants. The taxpayers and voters of Lincoln were instrumental in getting PBA done.
 

dinglefritz

Heisman
Jan 14, 2011
51,592
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TO had no idea that Pelini would be such a prick and couldn’t handle the PR...He knew our defense needed fixing and he was sucessful here as a D- coordinator..

TO Had no idea he would be a horses Azz.
That is just not correct. Frank warned Tom about Pelini and Frank had seen Bo chase down Snyder and confront him after that KSU game during Frank's tenure. I have very good info from one of Frank's family on that. Tom bent over for two very generous boosters in hiring Bo. Tom I'm sure thought he could work with Bo on the finer points of being a head coach. To some degree he did help Bo but once Tom retired, the demons came out of the cage.
 

dinglefritz

Heisman
Jan 14, 2011
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He was AD when Pinnacle was being voted on. Obviously said bball teams would be tenants. The taxpayers and voters of Lincoln were instrumental in getting PBA done.
I'm not sure the voters would have approved it without Tom's vocal support.
 
Aug 6, 2009
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TO as I recall was becoming frustrated with pelini's bad behavior and was reportedly talking to bp about that more than once and put bp on notice
Yep. Not sure I completely buy into the “Osborne would never have fired Pelini” narrative.
 
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SeaOfRed75

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I'm not sure the voters would have approved it without Tom's vocal support.
Are there morons that didnt realize that Pershing auditorium was a dump and Lincoln was losing musical acts to Grand F-ing Island? Yep. And are there morons that would sacrifice their first born son if Tom asked? Yep.

So I guess TO helped. Just not a fan of people giving him credit for SO many things besides football wins.
 
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Redscarlet

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That is just not correct. Frank warned Tom about Pelini and Frank had seen Bo chase down Snyder and confront him after that KSU game during Frank's tenure. I have very good info from one of Frank's family on that. Tom bent over for two very generous boosters in hiring Bo. Tom I'm sure thought he could work with Bo on the finer points of being a head coach. To some degree he did help Bo but once Tom retired, the demons came out of the cage.

So you're telling us 2 boosters twisted TO arm in hiring Pelini...

I also do remember the majority of the fan base hinted and was speaking out they also wanted Bo Pelini to replace Bill Callahan..

Osborne even mentioned his reasoning for hiring Pelini was because the offense wasn’t broke but the Defense was believe he said that during the announcement when hiring BP..
 

BuckysBoys1

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Tom Osborne not taking actuall top level pay to coach the Huskers actually hurt the basketball program. Pelini and Callahan were only making what? $2 million. You cant pay your basketball coach more than the football coach at Nebraska. So Moos giving Frost $5 million opened the door to actually pay a real salary for a top tier D1 coach.
 
Sep 29, 2001
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He was AD when Pinnacle was being voted on. Obviously said bball teams would be tenants. The taxpayers and voters of Lincoln were instrumental in getting PBA done.
Well he had a leadership role in getting Pinnacle done.

Yes of course, the voters and taxpayers were instrumental in approving the final plan but they would have had nothing to vote on if there hadn't been some leadership from the University AD in putting Husker Basketball front and center.

Regents also have to approve every University building plan so do they get all the credit for leading those efforts too? And the AD in turn gets none in your mind?
 

Larry Hagman's Liver

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TO was instrumental (along with Perlman) in getting us into the B1G, which made it possible to afford really nice things. That's the single biggest thing he ever accomplished as AD. He also got PBA built, which wasn't just putting a vote out there and letting the people apply a rubber stamp.

It wasn't an overwhelmingly popular proposal initially. A lot of people didn't understand the vision for the Haymarket development or why a new arena was necessary. The vote was actually delayed due to the recession and still only passed with 57% approval. TO did a lot of the groundwork to rally support and get it through. Those two things clearly made it possible to land a big-time coach.

On the other hand, if TO were still AD, it's highly doubtful that he would have replaced Miles. Even if he had, I couldn't see him upping the salary to the level of FH. It's possible he would have approached FH since he knew him personally from his HS recruitment, but I can't see TO signing off on a 50% increase in base salary for NU hoops.

TO's coaching hires weren't as bad as Eichorst's one main blunder, but they weren't great. Bo and Erstad were "his" guys and Miles was another mid-major guy that followed NU's basic MO of going cheap on hoops. With PBA already drawing great attendance numbers and Miles being generally popular, TO likely would have let him do his thing. Or he would have replaced him with someone/something similar.

So, while acknowledging that TO helped NU acquire many of the key pieces necessary to land FH, I do not believe we would have FH if he were still AD.
 
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Aug 6, 2009
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TO was instrumental (along with Perlman) in getting us into the B1G, which made it possible to afford really nice things. That's the single biggest thing he ever accomplished as AD. He also got PBA built, which wasn't just putting a vote out there and letting the people apply a rubber stamp.

It wasn't an overwhelmingly popular proposal initially. I lot of people didn't understand the vision for the Haymarket development or why a new arena was necessary. The vote was actually delayed due to the recession and still only passed with 57% approval. TO did a lot of the groundwork to rally support and get it through. Those two things clearly made it possible to land a big-time coach.

On the other hand, if TO were still AD, it's highly doubtful that he would have replaced Miles. Even if he had, I couldn't see him upping the salary to the level of FH. It's possible he would have approached FH since he knew him personally from his HS recruitment, but I can't see TO signing off on a 50% increase in base salary for NU hoops.

TO's coaching hires weren't as bad as Eichorst's one main blunder, but they weren't great. Bo and Erstad were "his" guys and Miles was another mid-major guy that followed NU's basic MO of going cheap on hoops. With PBA already drawing great attendance numbers and Miles being generally popular, TO likely would have let him do his thing. Or he would have replaced him with someone/something similar.

So, while acknowledging that TO helped NU acquire many of the key pieces necessary to land FH, I do not believe we would have FH if he were still AD.
This. Great post
 

jolley

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Oct 7, 2012
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That is just not correct. Frank warned Tom about Pelini and Frank had seen Bo chase down Snyder and confront him after that KSU game during Frank's tenure. I have very good info from one of Frank's family on that. Tom bent over for two very generous boosters in hiring Bo. Tom I'm sure thought he could work with Bo on the finer points of being a head coach. To some degree he did help Bo but once Tom retired, the demons came out of the cage.
bp showed his volatility in that bowl game against msu, I think, he coached after fs got fired, also, when he blew up at the refs and got a 15 yarder, or did he get 2?
 

oldjar07

All-Conference
Oct 25, 2009
9,472
2,013
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TO was instrumental (along with Perlman) in getting us into the B1G, which made it possible to afford really nice things. That's the single biggest thing he ever accomplished as AD. He also got PBA built, which wasn't just putting a vote out there and letting the people apply a rubber stamp.

It wasn't an overwhelmingly popular proposal initially. A lot of people didn't understand the vision for the Haymarket development or why a new arena was necessary. The vote was actually delayed due to the recession and still only passed with 57% approval. TO did a lot of the groundwork to rally support and get it through. Those two things clearly made it possible to land a big-time coach.

On the other hand, if TO were still AD, it's highly doubtful that he would have replaced Miles. Even if he had, I couldn't see him upping the salary to the level of FH. It's possible he would have approached FH since he knew him personally from his HS recruitment, but I can't see TO signing off on a 50% increase in base salary for NU hoops.

TO's coaching hires weren't as bad as Eichorst's one main blunder, but they weren't great. Bo and Erstad were "his" guys and Miles was another mid-major guy that followed NU's basic MO of going cheap on hoops. With PBA already drawing great attendance numbers and Miles being generally popular, TO likely would have let him do his thing. Or he would have replaced him with someone/something similar.

So, while acknowledging that TO helped NU acquire many of the key pieces necessary to land FH, I do not believe we would have FH if he were still AD.
Both Pelini and Miles were doing very well while TO was here. To judge him after that and what he might or might not have done is silly. Eichorst had a couple of chances to fire Miles and didn't do it. TO very well could have fired both Pelini and Miles when things started turning south.
 

Larry Hagman's Liver

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Both Pelini and Miles were doing very well while TO was here. To judge him after that and what he might or might not have done is silly. Eichorst had a couple of chances to fire Miles and didn't do it. TO very well could have fired both Pelini and Miles when things started turning south.

That was really your only takeaway from all of that? Only you, jar.

I said they weren't great. You say they doing "very well." I would still strongly disagree with your assessment, but I'm not interested in splitting hairs over semantics.

What's truly silly is that you 1) opened a thread whose entire premise revolves around the exploration of a hypothetical scenario, 2) called out a poster for questioning what TO "might or might not have done" in proposing a theory that answers the OP's original question about what TO "might or might not have done" in regards to FH, and then 3) you throw out opposing ideas of what TO "might or might not have done" two sentences later in the very same post.

I'm not even upset with you, jar. My feelings have moved on to legitimate concern.
 

Truehuskerfan

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May 1, 2003
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Are there morons that didnt realize that Pershing auditorium was a dump and Lincoln was losing musical acts to Grand F-ing Island? Yep. And are there morons that would sacrifice their first born son if Tom asked? Yep.

So I guess TO helped. Just not a fan of people giving him credit for SO many things besides football wins.
Did TO help in getting PBA built? Yes. Was he the critical element in getting it approved by Lincoln voters? I don't think so. It was sold just as much if not more to voters as a needed replacement for Pershing Auditorium than it was as a new home for Husker basketball. As a resident of Lincoln, it has always bugged me that with PBA(and Haymarket Park too) that a lot of people outside of Lincoln think that people in Lincoln only support new sports facilities because the Huskers will be using it. That's just not true. In both cases, there were local reasons for getting them built that had nothing to do with Husker teams using them.
 

bigRed-no-BiilyC

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May 12, 2005
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A whole lot of koolaide is being poured out here. Starting with Moos. He made the best hire imaginable with Hoiberg? Let's give it 2 years. If he isn't going deep in the tournament in a couple of years, it will get grim among us greatest fans. Moos is being given credit for bring in Scott Frost. Do you think maybe Tom Osborne could have been the man Frost listened to? Frost might not have paid much attention to who was the AD. Coach Frost has had more power than Bill Moos from the day he walked in the door. Frost wanted a character assessment on the NU big honchos. Hank Bounds is gone. Hopefully Osborne's advice was good. Let's give Bill Moos a couple of years before we make a call on him. If Tom Osborne thought basketball at Nebraska was always going to be second fiddle - let's not blow an enormous amount of money on it. Could be he is right?
 

Black5hirt

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Jun 27, 2016
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TO had no idea that Pelini would be such a prick and couldn’t handle the PR...He knew our defense needed fixing and he was sucessful here as a D- coordinator..

TO Had no idea he would be a horses Azz.
Or that he wouldn't adapt his defense to the game. I think Wisconsin just scored again.
 
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