New book reflects on winning
By Mike Kluck
Staff Writer
When people reminisce about
Nebraska’s back-to-back national
championships, Tom Osborne hopes
they don’t just read newspaper clip
pings.
That hope is why the Comhusker
football coach decided to write “On
Solid Ground”, a book detailing his
viewpoint of the Husker’s last three
seasons on and off the field.
“Obviously there has been a lot of
things said about Nebraska football
over the last couple of years, particu
larly last year,” Osborne said. “Some
of it wasn’t entirely accurate and some
of it was deserved. So, I thought I
would provide at least a little bit dif
ferent perspective on it. Admittedly a
biased perspective.”
“On Solid Ground” goes on sale
Friday at Nebraska Bookstore loca
tions, and then goes nationwide the
week of Aug. 12. The book will sell
for $26.95 plus tax.
Osborne said he didn’t think it was
appropriate to prosper personally from
the sales of the book, so all proceeds
he receives will go to charity.
Osborne will be autographing
books tonight from 6-8 p.m. at the
Nebraska Bookstore for 1,500 buyers
who have pre-purchased tickets. He
previously autographed books on
Tuesday and Wednesday. Tonight’s
session is the only one Osborne said
he plans to have until at least after the
1996 season.
Osborne said “On Solid Ground”
helps explain on- and off-field deci
sions which were made last year and
haven’t been discussed before.
“Hopefully the average fan would
enjoy reading it,” Osborne said. “The
one thing I’m concerned about is that
20 years from now when someone
wants to look back on Nebraska foot
ball, they will have another resource.”
The book isn’t “ghost written,”
Osborne said, and 90 to 95 percent of
the words in the book are exactly as he
wrote them.
He also said 75 percent of the book
is a chronological history of the 1995
season in which the Huskers won their
second straight national title, but also
endured media scrutiny for off-field
problems. The rest of the book fo
cuses on the players and the 1993 and
1994 seasons.
‘The main reason I felt some need
to write a book was that I have been
very impressed by the attitude, the
commitment, the unity and the goal
centerdness of our football players the
last three years,” Osborne said. “I felt
as good about the team three years ago
as I did in ’94 and ’95. In any case, on
all three teams there was a lot of
focus.”
Many aspects of the 1995 season
are discussed in the book Osborne
said, including his handling of
Lawrence Phillips.
The former Nebraska I-back was
suspended for six games for an assault
of a former girlfriend in September.
But when Phillips returned to the team
in November, Osborne and the Ne
braska football program became la
beled as a win-at-all-costs program.
“I would want people to under
stand more why things were done,”
Osborne said. “It’s pretty much a pub
lic record of what was done, but noth
ing is as simple as it seems at first.
There’s a lot more that goes into col-,
lege athletics than what the casual
observer believes. It’s not quite as
simple as it sometimes seems.”
With the start of the football sea
son, Osborne said he doesn’t plan on
promoting the book too much.
However, Jim Cornell, general
manager of the Nebraska Bookstore,
said they have received 20 requests
from markets across the country or
dering the book. Cornell said he is
planning on running an ad in USA
Today this week to promote the book.
Cornell said “On Solid Ground”
has the potential to be a strong seller
nationally.
Osborne, who wrote “More Than
Winning” in 1985, said “On Solid
Ground” will probably be his last book.
“More Than Winning” sold ap
proximately 80,000 copies, while the
Nebraska Book Publishing Company
has published 50,000 copies of “On
Solid Ground,” with 25,000 more on
order.
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