Osborne Again Cracks Down On His Misbehaving Players
Just when Nebraska coach Tom Osborne thought it was safe to talk about football, he found himself again sacked by his own players.
The two-time national champions open the season Saturday at home against Michigan State, but two Cornhuskers - star linebacker Terrell Farley and reserve wingback Lance Brown - won’t be around.
Farley, perhaps the Huskers’ best defensive player, was suspended by Osborne for at least two games following his arrest on suspicion of drunken driving. Brown was suspended Wednesday for what Osborne termed “disciplinary reasons.”
Sound familiar? It should.
Last year, running back Lawrence Phillips was suspended for six games after assaulting a former girlfriend. Several other players were entangled in serious legal problems, including Christian Peter, Riley Washington and Tyrone Williams.
The most recent suspensions came a few days after Osborne said he had grown weary of discussing last season’s problems. After all, he reasoned last week, those players were no longer on the team.
Now this. And Osborne was back answering the same old questions instead of discussing his team’s chances of winning an unprecedented third straight national title.
“We’ll give a guy a second chance,” he said. “We don’t give thirds or fourths, but I think everybody’s worth a second chance.”
He gave Phillips one last season, and he’s willing to do the same for Farley.
“When you have 100 to 150 young men, it’s hard to imagine all of them doing the right thing all the time,” Osborne said. “We’re certainly disappointed in this particular event, but once it happens, you have to deal with it and go on.”
He dealt with it last year, but his players are stilling getting in trouble. His critics argue he should hand out harsher punishment.
“Some people may say, ‘Well, if you take a harder line, it wouldn’t happen,” Osborne said. “We’re certainly taking a hard line in a sense (with Farley), but we’re also going to try to make the best out of it so he can remain on the team.”