OMAHA — The interim tag has been removed. Tom Osborne is committed to being Nebraska’s athletic director for 2 1/2 more years.
Chancellor Harvey Perl-man announced Wednesday that the 70-year-old Osborne would remain on the job until June 30, 2010.
Ten years removed from his celebrated coaching career, Osborne returned to the university in an interim capacity Oct. 16, the day after Steve Pederson was fired.
Since, Osborne has fired Bill Callahan as football coach, hired Bo Pelini and helped the Huskers in football recruiting.
“When chancellor Perlman asked me to lead the athletic department and to help unify the state, he gave me the responsibility and the authority to do whatever needed to be done,” Osborne said in a statement. “We’ve made some great strides over the last two months, but the chancellor and I agree that these next two years are crucial to keep our program moving forward.”
Osborne, whose annual salary is $250,000, oversees a 23-sport program that runs on a $66.7 million budget. When he took over in October, he said he had no timetable for how long he would keep the job.
In subsequent interviews, Osborne said he would stay at least through the 2008 football season.
In his first two months on the job, Osborne’s focus has been on rebuilding the football program he coached to its pinnacle in the mid-1990s.
The Cornhuskers are coming off their second losing season in four years, and Osborne fired Callahan on Nov. 24. He introduced former Nebraska defensive coordinator Pelini as the Huskers’ new head coach Dec. 2.
Between Callahan’s firing and Pelini’s hiring, Osborne named himself interim head coach so he could keep recruiting efforts going. He even offered a scholarship to a player an hour after Pelini was named coach. That week, Osborne and Pelini spent a couple of days recruiting together.
Osborne said he wants people associated with Nebraska athletics to know he’s committed to the job.
“I have never been enamored with titles,” he said. “At the same time, I think it’s important for our entire department to realize that we will continue moving down the same path we’re already going. Change always breeds at least some uncertainty, and if removing ‘interim’ from my title helps everyone understand that we’ll continue to be consistent in our approach, I’m all for that.”
Perlman said a search for Osborne’s successor would begin in early 2010 and that Osborne would assist in the search and transition.
