Articles by Paul Koch

Preface & Intro: Anatomy of an Era

3/16/18 | Paul Koch
Preface & Intro excerpted from No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Prelude to a Miss or A Providential and Fortuitous Confluence of Events   Place-kickers aren’t normally prone to run this fast. “Yeee-haaw! Shit-fire, you sonsabitches! Shit-fire!!” Adrenaline coursing, tongue cursing and legs furiously back-pedaling across the grass, Byron Bennett crosses the…

Anatomy of an Era: David Seizys

3/17/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 1, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 To kick these interviews off in proper fashion I sent former athletic trainer and NU player-liaison Doak Ostergard an e-mail requesting contact info for a number of people. He was kind enough to mass-mail it out to the players from that era to get me started,…

Anatomy of an Era: David Seizys Part 2

3/18/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 1, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1   David Seizys Part 2 Walk-on, Wingback, Seward, Neb. (Ft. Calhoun) Continued from previous…   Author: David, is there anything you wish you could do over again? David Seizys: It would have to be that field goal (to end the ’94 Orange Bowl). Q: Let me…

Anatomy of an Era: Matt Turman Part 1

3/20/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 2, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1   “We were that close to going out forever. But there was one man who taught us to fight, to storm the wire of the camps, to smash those metal mother%*ers into junk. He turned it around. He brought us back from the brink.” - The…

Anatomy of an Era: Matt Turman Part 2

3/21/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 2, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1   Matt Turman Part 2 Walk-on, Quarterback, Wahoo, Neb. (Neumann) Continued…   Q: Matt, is there anything you look back on today that makes you chuckle about that era? Matt Turman: Well, there was, I don’t know if you were familiar with the big meeting room…

Anatomy of an Era: Matt Turman Part 3

3/22/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 2, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1   Matt Turman Part 3 Walk-on, Quarterback, Wahoo, Neb. (Neumann)   Continued…   Q: Where were you for the ‘94 Orange Bowl versus Florida State? In the stands or on the sideline? MT: I was standing on the sideline. My redshirt freshman year. My redshirt year we…

Anatomy of an Era: Bryan Pruitt Part 1

3/24/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 3, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1   Chicago Police Officer Jim Malone: You wanna know how to get Capone? They pull a knife? You pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital? You send one of his to the morgue. That's the “Chicago Way”! And that's how you get…

Anatomy of an Era: Bryan Pruitt Part 2

3/25/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 3, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1   Bryan Pruitt Part 2 Walk-on, Offensive Guard, Midlothian, Illinois (St. Laurence)   Continued…..   Author: Bryan, let’s continue talking about Coach Osborne... Bryan Pruitt: Sometimes you’d try to make a name for yourself in practice and you’d get into a fight with Jason or Christian…

Anatomy of an Era: Bryan Pruitt Part 3

3/26/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 3, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1   Bryan Pruitt Part 3 Walk-on, Offensive Guard, Midlothian, Illinois (St. Laurence)   Continued…   Author: Bryan, anybody behind the scenes play a large role in your development? BP: From an academic standpoint, I’ll be the first one to say Dennis Leblanc in Academics. That guy…

Anatomy of an Era: Linda Ybarra

3/27/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 4, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1     "Courage; Generosity; Fairness; Honor; In these are the true awards of manly sport." -Inscription on the Northwest Corner of Memorial Stadium, Hartley Burr Alexander, former UNL professor of philosophy   Mama Husker Power: that’s Linda Ybarra. Though surrounded by alpha males in the confines…

Anatomy of an Era: Boyd Epley Part 1

3/29/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 5, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1   “Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored. It thirsts and burns for distinction; and if possible, it will have it…”     -Abraham Lincoln It’s a common misconception that Omaha’s airport was named after Boyd Epley, godfather of collegiate strength training. That honor…

Anatomy of an Era: Boyd Epley Part 2

3/30/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 5, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 Boyd Epley Part 2 The Godfather of Collegiate Strength & Conditioning/Husker Power Continued from previous… Boyd Epley: (Speaking about the pivotal 1991 Winter Conditioning program) It’s incredible the progress they made. Coach Osborne called me in when we lost the two players. He explained, he said,…

Anatomy of an Era: Boyd Epley Part 3

3/31/18 | Paul Koch
Boyd Epley Part 3 The Godfather of Collegiate Strength & Conditioning/Husker Power Continued from previous… Boyd Epley: (Reminiscing about Tom Osborne’s motivational powers) His greatest speech I ever heard was before a game versus Illinois. Nobody writes those things down. You’re in the locker room and he’s just talking, and years later I asked him about that speech, and he…

Anatomy of an Era: Boyd Epley Part 4

4/1/18 | Paul Koch
Boyd Epley Part 4 The Godfather of Collegiate Strength & Conditioning/Husker Power Continued from previous… Q: Who first came up with the 1:16 (on the stadium’s scoreboard during summer conditioning)? BE: It was my deal, we discussed it in the staff meeting and Randy Gobel had to go figure out how to do it. And Randy had to do it…

Anatomy of an Era: Mike “Biff” Roberts Part 1

4/3/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 6, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1                                                                    Butch Coolidge: (beating up Marsellus Wallace) You feel that sting, big boy, huh? That’s pride #%@in’ with you! You gotta fight through that shit!” -Quentin Tarantino, Pulp Fiction Do you remember those old Jiffy-brand peanut butter ads? To loosely paraphrase, “Choosy mothers choose Biff!” Jokes…

Anatomy of an Era: Mike “Biff” Roberts Part 2

4/4/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 6, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1   Mike “Biff” Roberts Part 2 Walk-on, Rover, Omaha, Neb. (Central)   Continued… Q: Any of your teammates stick out to you from those days? MR: Oh, Christian Peter by far, is one. As far as leadership. His speeches prior to the game were tremendous. Just…

Anatomy of an Era: Mark “Zeke” Cisco Part 1

4/5/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 7, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1                                                           Don’t forget us, but don’t mope. Make lots of new friends. You’ll never be twenty again. Take a chorus girl out to supper – a pretty one, mind!   -Nebraska author & Pulitzer Prize winner Willa Cather, A Lost Lady, Courtesy of the Willa…

Anatomy of an Era: Mark “Zeke” Cisco Part 2

4/6/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 7, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1   Mark “Zeke” Cisco Part 2 Walk-on, Strong Safety, Monroe, Michigan (Jefferson)   Continued… Q: Any memorable off-field occurrences? MC: Boy, I tell you, I was part of the TeamMates program. That was special now that I look back on it. At the time I did…

Anatomy of an Era: Brenden Stai, Part 1

4/7/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 8, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch It’s often said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Take a quick look at the pencil drawing you see here, compliments of former Husker offensive lineman Mike VanCleave. Back now? Quick: what descriptive terms come to mind? Hulking.. Powerful? Annihilating &…

Anatomy of an Era: Brenden Stai, Part 2

4/8/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 8, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 Brenden Stai Part 2 Scholarship recruit, Offensive Guard, Yorba Linda, California (Anaheim Esperanza)       Continued… Q: So Brenden, you brought back ‘old school’ with the whole Socks Up Tuesday, huh? Now, Bryan Pruitt told me that he left his socks down just because he was little…

Anatomy of an Era: Brenden Stai, Part 3

4/9/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 8, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 Brenden Stai Part 3 Scholarship recruit, Offensive Guard, Yorba Linda, California (Anaheim Esperanza)     Continued ... Q: Were you on the field blocking for Byron’s last second kick versus Florida State the previous year? BS: No. What happened was, normally whenever you started at Nebraska you normally…

Anatomy of an Era: Dave Ellis, Part 1

4/11/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 9, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Pay close attention: this is good.... em-i-nence: high station, rank, or repute. out-li-er: a person or thing that lies outside. I’ve chosen to label a few select individuals a term I recently coined: Eminence Outliers. An Eminence Outlier –EO for short- is a…

Anatomy of an Era: Dave Ellis, Part 2

4/12/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 9, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 Dave Ellis, Part 2 Sports Nutritionist Continued… Q: 60 wins & 3 losses, Dave. Nebraska football from 1993 to 1997. Almost unheard of in modern day college football... DE: One of the strongest eras ever. Those were teams that ran the tables and won with style…

Anatomy of an Era: Dave Ellis, Part 3

4/13/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 9, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 Dave Ellis, Part 3 Sports Nutritionist #fuelingtactics Continued… Q: Dave do you have a favorite kid who blossomed right in front of your eyes? DE: Grant Wistrom was one of the case studies that I always showed recruits. Certainly any kind of rush end/outside linebacker recruit,…

Anatomy of an Era: Dave Ellis, Part 4

4/14/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 9, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1   Dave Ellis, Part 4 Sports Nutritionist #fuelingtactics Continued… Q: Any final thoughts on those championship Husker years? Anything behind the scenes you thought made a difference? DE: Well, you know, Steve Pederson, I’ll give him some props. I know he didn’t go out on a…

Anatomy of an Era: George Sullivan, Part 1

4/15/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 42 of No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Volume 1 by Paul Koch                                          A timeline: 1966: At the University of Florida, Dr. Robert Cade and Dr. Dana Shires create Gatorade for the university's football team, the Gators. 1966/1967: Dr. Cade comes to an agreement with Stokely-Van Camp, Inc.(S-VC) to produce the already patented product.…

Anatomy of an Era: George Sullivan, Part 2

4/16/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 42 of No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Volume 1 by Paul Koch George Sullivan Athletic Trainer Emeritus   Continued… Q: Any fond recollections of the assistant coaches? Any unique personalities? GS: I think it was strictly the togetherness and cohesiveness of the whole group there. They were so good to me that there’s not…

Anatomy of an Era: Zach Wiegert, Part 1

4/17/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 10, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig…I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen. -Epictetus, circa A.D. 60 Born in Fremont, Nebraska in 1903,…

Anatomy of an Era: Zach Wiegert, Part 2

4/18/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 10, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Zach Wiegert, Part 2 Scholarship recruit, Offensive Tackle, Fremont, Nebraska (Bergan) Continued… And I think when I played there -and it wasn’t just me, but a lot of guys, most of the guys in my class- but everything was a competition with us.…

Anatomy of an Era: Zach Wiegert, Part 3

4/19/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 10, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Zach Wiegert, Part 3 Scholarship recruit, Offensive Tackle, Fremont, Nebraska (Bergan)  Continued… Q: Any practice recollections that you’ll never forget? ZW: The best practice we ever had was when Christian Peter got knocked over the head with his own helmet down in ‘The…

Anatomy of an Era: Lorenzo Brinkley & Kenny Wilhite, Part 1

4/20/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 11, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch I am a border ruffian from the State of Missouri… In me you have Missouri morals, Connecticut culture; this, gentlemen, is the combination which makes the perfect man. -Mark Twain World War I’s General of the Armies John J. Pershing was born in…

Anatomy of an Era: Lorenzo Brinkley & Kenny Wilhite, Part 2

4/21/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 11, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Lorenzo Brinkley & Kenny Wilhite, Part 2 Scholarship recruit, Cornerback, St. Louis, Missouri (Hazelwood Central) & Scholarship recruit, Cornerback, St. Louis, Missouri (Oakville)   Continued… Q: Tell me, was there a change from the first day you were on campus to the last,…

Anatomy of an Era: Lorenzo Brinkley & Kenny Wilhite, Part 3

4/22/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 11, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Lorenzo Brinkley & Kenny Wilhite, Part 3 Scholarship recruit, Cornerback, St. Louis, Missouri (Hazelwood Central) & Scholarship recruit, Cornerback, St. Louis, Missouri (Oakville) Continued… LB: It’s about the players. Once it stops being about the players then you have to get out…

Anatomy of an Era: Chris Norris, Part 1

4/24/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 12, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch When things don’t go your way, never give up. Play the next play with all you have, from the time the ball is snapped until the whistle is blown. Play from sideline to sideline. Once your block is made, look downfield for someone…

Anatomy of an Era: Chris Norris, Part 2

4/25/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 12, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Chris Norris, Part 2 Walk-on, Fullback, Papillion, Nebraska (Papillion-LaVista)     Continued… Q: Going from being a player and then to the Coaches’ meeting room, anything stand out to you when you joined that side? CN: A lot more things made sense to me.…

Anatomy of an Era: Chris Norris, Part 3

4/26/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 12, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Chris Norris, Part 3 Walk-on, Fullback, Papillion, Nebraska (Papillion-LaVista)     Continued… Q: Any good stories about the athletic trainers? CN: Probably a hundred of them. Sully being that stereotypical gruff, old, grumpy, ‘you-can-play, rub-some-dirt-on-it’ kind of guy, and Doak was the guy who…

Anatomy of an Era: Dr. Jack Stark, Part 1

4/29/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 13 of No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Volume 1 by Paul Koch   Nothing is little to him that feels it with great sensibility. -Samuel Johnson, Boswell’s Life of Dr. Johnson   For 15 years Doctor Jack Stark plied his wares in the Athletic Department’s hallways, nooks and an astounding caseload of players’ crannies.…

Anatomy of an Era: Dr. Jack Stark, Part 2

4/30/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 13 of No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Volume 1 Dr. Jack Stark, Part 2 Team Psychologist Continued… Q: From the way you describe it, they were just guys who rose up regardless of position on the field. Were these leaders created or did they already have it, that leadership factor? JS: I think these…

Anatomy of an Era: Dr. Jack Stark, Part 3

5/1/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 13 of No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Volume 1 Dr. Jack Stark, Part 3 Team Psychologist Continued… Q: It appears that you and Coach Osborne were quite often of the same mind on a great number of things. Was there anything else you ever brought to him, anything interesting that we could share? JS:…

Anatomy of an Era: Gerry Gdowski

5/3/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 14, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   The man of the prairie is ready for action at home or abroad, balanced by a reasonable culture and poised by an experience whose lessons he does not leave to be learned by his grandsons. -Albert P. Brigham, Geographic Influences In American…

Anatomy of an Era: George Darlington, Part 1

5/5/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 15, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   These were my people. This was where I came from. They knew about hard work, bad harvests, and low prices. But they also knew about the importance of sticking together when times were tough. -Shane Osborne with Malcolm McConnell, Born To Fly…

Anatomy of an Era: George Darlington, Part 2

5/6/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 15, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch George Darlington, Part 2 Q: Did you ever ask Coach Osborne why he picked you from among the other candidates? GD: No, but I think one of the issues was recruiting. And Rick Duvall and I were both recruiting California, so that might…

Anatomy of an Era: George Darlington, Part 3

5/7/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 15, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch George Darlington, Part 3   Continued…. Q: The ’93 to the ’97 years, was there one year the staff did a better job than others? GD: Well, I think we just coached like we always coached. Like I mentioned, the ’95 team was…

Anatomy of an Era: Adam Treu, Part 1

5/9/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 16, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Andy Dufresne: [in a farewell letter] Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. -Stephen King & Frank Darabont, The Shawshank Redemption Peter Richmond, in his best-selling book Baddasses: The Legend of Snake,…

Anatomy of an Era: Adam Treu, Part 2

5/10/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 16, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Adam Treu, Part 2   Continued… Q: As far as motivation, how did you guys get motivated? Was it personal, was it the coaches? AT: It started with the coaches, and I think through the recruiting and the homework they did, making sure…

Anatomy of an Era: Joel Wilks, Part 1

5/12/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 17, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Is it or is it not a matter of importance that a young man starts out in life with an ability to shut his jaw hard and say "I will," or "I will not," and mean it?  -John Heisman Perhaps the most…

Anatomy of an Era: Joel Wilks, Part 2

5/13/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 17, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Joel Wilks, Part 2   Continued… Q: And when you say ‘The Pit’, we’re talking about the lower room down in the old North Fieldhouse, right? Where they used to store the blocking dummies? JW: Yeah, we used to live down there! Q:…

Anatomy of an Era: Joel Wilks, Part 3

5/14/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 17, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Joel Wilks, Part 3   Continued… Q: Anybody else in your O-line group stand out to you from those days? JW: One guy, Bryan Pruitt, he had a really intense personality and intense work ethic on the field. He was the kind of…

Anatomy of an Era: Troy Dumas, Part 1

5/17/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 18, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along? -Rodney King, 1992 On campus and around America, 1993 was a year of turbulence and change. January began rather calmly, ushering in a new U.S. President: Hope, Arkansas’ William…

Anatomy of an Era: Troy Dumas, Part 2

5/18/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 18, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Troy Dumas, Part 2   Continued… Q: What differentiated us from the other great teams of the time? TD: Well, we talked it, so we were gonna walk it. That was huge. I’ll be frank about it: if you’re gonna put it out there,…

Anatomy of an Era: Coach Tony Samuel

5/20/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 21, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch “Coaches have to watch for what they don't want to see and listen to what they don't want to hear.” – John Madden The second man from the coaching staff to respond to my query, I corralled Tony Samuel on his home phone…

Anatomy of an Era: Coach Tony Samuel, Part 2

5/21/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 21, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Tony Samuel, Part 2 Continued… Q: At that time did you assistants pay much attention to the pay at other schools? TS: To be quite honest, I never did, but I can’t speak for anybody else. I didn’t know what other schools were…

Anatomy of an Era: Coach Tony Samuel, Part 3

5/22/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 21, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Tony Samuel, Part 3 Continued… Q: Anything really stand out about that Florida State national championship game in particular? TS: One, I remember Corey Dixon returning the punt that gets called back, and then I also remember Florida State taking a timeout late…

Anatomy of an Era: Athletic Trainer Doak Ostergard

5/24/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 22, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul J. Koch   “Prevalent agriculture and the absence of mountains do not mean sordid purpose or narrow vision. The prairies have their own expansiveness and may lure the eye to the horizon when older countries are looking at their own garden patch.”     …

Anatomy of an Era: Athletic Trainer Doak Ostergard, Part 2

5/25/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 22, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul J. Koch Doak Ostergard, Part 2 Continued… Q: You always had a great relationship with Coach Osborne. DO: Yes. Well, I think. Maybe you’d have to ask him. When I started in the ’80’s and he’d walk into the training room there was this…

Anatomy of an Era: Athletic Trainer Doak Ostergard, Part 3

5/26/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 22, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul J. Koch Doak Ostergard, Part 3 Continued ... DO: And a couple broader things people should know about the ’90’s: unless people were here and viewed it and experienced it during that time, they can’t understand how physical practices were.  Just like conditioning yourself…

Anatomy of an Era: Trev Alberts, Part 1

5/29/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 23, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Across the river from Iowa is Nebraska, and Omaha … the second tier of states beyond the Mississippi, prairie on the east and arid on the west. It is like its eastern neighbor in its soil – fine, deep, level, and easily…

Anatomy of an Era: Trev Alberts, Part 2

5/30/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 23, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Trev Alberts, Part 2 Continued… Q: Coach Tony Samuel… how would you describe him? TA: I think what made him special was the fact that he played the game and it was his credibility from that perspective, he started as an outside…

Anatomy of an Era: Trev Alberts, Part 3

5/31/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 23, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Trev Alberts, Part 3 Continued… Q: Any favorite or most memorable play? TA: I remember a play against Kansas, my junior year. I believe Chip Hilleary was at quarterback, I remember a pretty good left tackle and we were really concerned about the…

Anatomy of an Era: Brian Nunns

6/1/18 | Paul Koch
IN MEMORIAM   Excerpted from Chapter 78, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   *A slight chronological departure from release of my book’s excerpts, this interview is posted today in memory of Brian Nunns and his recent passing.  I loved this guy: for his wit, his spunk, his verve, his pluck...and his total…

Anatomy of an Era: Keith Zimmer, NU Life Skills, Part 1

6/2/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 24, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   “But one day, when across the Field of Fame the goal seemed dim, The wise old coach, Experience, came up and spoke to him. "Oh Boy," he said, "the main point now before you win your bout Is keep on bucking Failure…

Anatomy of an Era: Keith Zimmer, NU Life Skills, Part 2

6/3/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 24, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Keith Zimmer, Part 2 Continued… Q: Harkening back to those mid-’90’s, what stands out to you about those athletes? KZ: There were a lot of great players in those years, those were some of our best years. And you look at some…

Anatomy of an Era: Kareem Moss, Part 1

6/5/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 25, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   “You may my glories and my state depose, But not my griefs; still am I king of those.” -William Shakespeare, King Richard II English Theologian John of Salisbury wrote in 1159’s Metalogicon, "We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants.…

Anatomy of an Era: Kareem Moss, Part 2

6/6/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 25, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Kareem Moss, Part 2   Continued… Q: Were you always pretty goal-oriented? KM: Yeah, somewhat. I set goals and worked my way toward them. There’s always certain goals I set for myself, you know. I think once you do that, success will…

Anatomy of an Era: Kareem Moss, Part 3

6/7/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 25, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Kareem Moss, Part 3   Continued… Q: Kareem, earlier you spoke about the focus of winning every game. I’m of the opinion that it’s very difficult for a bunch of college kids to maintain focus for 11-12 consecutive weeks. There is usually…

Anatomy of an Era: Matt Vrzal, Part 1

6/9/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 26, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   “Remember when life’s path is steep to keep your mind even.” -Horace, Odes. Book II   Matt Vrzal, investor & entrepreneur, has forever been a buy & holder of Cornhusker Class A shares. Perhaps today he uses the technical analysis tools of Bollinger…

Anatomy of an Era: Matt Vrzal, Part 2

6/10/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 26, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Matt Vrzal, Part 2   Continued… Q: Tell me more about Coach Osborne. You get older and you get more comfortable talking to him, what stands out now? MV: I’m still not comfortable talking to him. (laughs) Coach is Coach. At the end…

Anatomy of an Era: Matt Vrzal, Part 3

6/11/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 26, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Matt Vrzal, Part 3   Continued… Q: Anything else about the process, team building, that stands out that drove the team? You said Strength Coach Bryan Bailey made that comment. Wasn’t he in charge of working with the O line at that…

Anatomy of an Era: Strength Coach Bryan Bailey, Part 1

6/13/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 27, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   “There is no great genius without some touch of madness.” -Seneca, Moral Essays. On Tranquility   This interview had me catching up with a notoriously evasive man: my good friend Bryan Bailey. It’s hard to not like ‘Beetle’ Bailey, as many players…

Anatomy of an Era: Strength Coach Bryan Bailey, Part 2

6/14/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 27, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Bryan Bailey, Part 2 Continued… Q: What stands out to you as far as turning the corner? I’m sure you remember the meeting a week or two after the Citrus Bowl when Boyd walked into our Strength Staff meeting, screamed out some…

Anatomy of an Era: Strength Coach Bryan Bailey, Part 3

6/15/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 27, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Bryan Bailey, Part 3 Continued… Q: Any other coaches, special relationships, recollections? BB: Turner Gill. Turner was a protégé of Coach Osborne as a player, a coach. His coaching style was real direct. Some of us, we have to be real dramatic…

Anatomy of an Era: Brett Popplewell

6/17/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 28, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   “Football is the ballet of the masses.” ― Dmitri Shostakovich   Starting from 1682 to 1763 and again from 1800 to 1803, France owned the Louisiana Territory. In the process of traversing the great, watery divide to the New World that country’s…

Anatomy of an Era: Brett Popplewell, Part 2

6/18/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 28, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Brett Popplewell, Part 2 Continued… Q: What about Coach Osborne? BP: Everybody respected him and wanted to play for him. He was such a revered person in terms of his influence, his talent about his business, what he stood for. With him…

Anatomy of an Era: Kevin Ramaekers, Part 1

6/20/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 27, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Making its way towards Japan over the vast Pacific Ocean in 1945, the battleship USS Pennsylvania carried a particular soldier tasked with decoding encrypted enemy messages. Though fully up to the challenge, his true talents lied in performing magic tricks and an engaging,…

Anatomy of an Era: Kevin Ramaekers, Part 2

6/21/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 27, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Kevin Ramaekers, Part 2 Continued… Q: Was that team cohesiveness/togetherness encouraged by the staff, the coaches? KR: No, it was just something you did. And you always looked out for each other, whether it be on campus or at the local watering…

Anatomy of an Era: Kevin Ramaekers, Part 3

6/22/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 27, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Kevin Ramaekers, Part 3   Continued… Q: Dr. Jack Stark once mentioned a big moment may have been halftime of the Citrus Bowl, where Kenny Walker got up and gave Coach Osborne a big hug and begged him not to retire. Another…

Anatomy of an Era: Al Papik, Part 1

6/24/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 28, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Sweet are the dreams of college life, before our faith is nicked- The world is but a cherry tree that's waiting to be picked; The world is but an open road-until we find, one day, How far away the goal posts are…

Anatomy of an Era: Al Papik, Part 2

6/25/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 28, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Al Papik, Part 2 Continued… Q: I’m sure you knew better than most what was going on every Saturday, Al! I wasn’t even aware of your coaching exploits. What was your career record? AP: I don’t really have that. I was there 18…

Anatomy of an Era: Al Papik, Part 3

6/26/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 28, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Al Papik, Part 3 Continued... Q: And the personalities of the coaching staff, who stands out to you? AP: Well, Bob Devaney, of course, was a unique individual. Bob Devaney could have been the CEO of General Motors or any major corporation. A…

Anatomy of an Era: Barron Miles, Part 1

6/28/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 29, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   “The more we love our friends, the less we flatter them; it is by excusing nothing that pure love shows itself.” -Jean Baptiste Moliere, Le Misanthrope   If you’re the least bit familiar with the U.S. Armed Forces’ elite special ops Navy…

Anatomy of an Era: Barron Miles, Part 2

6/29/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 29, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Barron Miles, Part 2 Continued… Q: Speaking of differences, did anything about the people of Nebraska stand out to you as compared to back home? BM: Yeah, everyone was white. (laughs) That was the biggest difference, just dealing with people that aren’t like…

Anatomy of an Era: Barron Miles, Part 3

6/30/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 29, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Barron Miles, Part 3 Continued… Q: Do you have a most memorable play or game? BM: Yes, I actually have two. That would be the national championship game that we won against Miami, but the other one was the Thursday night game against…

Anatomy of an Era: Barron Miles, Part 4

7/1/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 29, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Barron Miles, Part 4   Continued… Q: Tell me about meeting your wife. A Nebraska girl from …? BM: Schuyler. She was from Schuyler. I met her the first day of my math class my freshman year at 8 o’clock in the morning.…

Anatomy of an Era: Rob Zatechka, Part 1

7/3/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 30, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   “Equidistant from the atoms and the stars, we are expanding our exploratory horizons to embrace both the very small and the very large.” -Carl Sagan, Introduction to Stephen W. Hawking’s A Brief History of Time  As man stumbles through the domain of…

Anatomy of an Era: Rob Zatechka, Part 2

7/4/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 30, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Rob Zatechka, Part 2 Continued… Q: What about Milt Tenopir and his methods? RZ: (Laughs) You know, great guy. I truly believe that Tenopir was one of the few guys on that coaching staff who truly -honest to goodness- was one of the…

Anatomy of an Era: Rob Zatechka, Part 3

7/5/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 30, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Rob Zatechka, Part 3 Continued… Q: Speaking of stepping stones, the Florida State game when you were a junior, any recollections of that game? RZ: We don’t talk about that, Paul. (laughs) You know what, it was one of those things where a…

Anatomy of an Era: Rob Zatechka, Part 4

7/6/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 30, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Rob Zatechka, Part 4 Continued… Q: Rob, do you remember the first game you played in? RZ: It was the opening game of the ’91 season. I’d have to go look it up. One of those mildly nondescript -and I hate saying that-…

Anatomy of an Era: Tony Veland, Part 1

7/8/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 31, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Look at a football field. It looks like a big movie screen. This is theatre. -Steve Sabol   Any writer worth his salt will tell you that the greatest dramatic literary arches rely not in the accurate telling of the protagonist’s highest…

Anatomy of an Era: Tony Veland, Part 2

7/9/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 31, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Tony Veland, Part 2 Continued… Q: So before the switch from QB to defense, any impressions of Coach Turner Gill? TV: Old T.G. (laughs) Coach Gill was just a great individual. There were lots of people on that coaching staff who really left…

Anatomy of an Era: Tony Veland, Part 3

7/10/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 31, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Tony Veland, Part 3 Continued… Q: Do you have a favorite game? TV: Oh, it would be the Miami game, no doubt. Because it’s amazing: when you see big competition, most people always inwardly root for the underdog. So we were that underdog,…

Anatomy of an Era: Diane Yeutter, Unsung Hero, Part 1

7/12/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 32, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   “I didn’t even know this lady and she wrote me a letter. She was just encouraging me and giving me words of comfort, and for some reason the words that she said really touched me and opened my eyes as to what…

Anatomy of an Era: Diane Yeutter, Unsung Hero, Part 2

7/13/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 32, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Diane Yeutter, Part 2 Continued… DY: I have to tell you -and this is rather sad- my father was killed in 1973 in a very tragic way on the night of my brother’s high school graduation... very tragic, in a twelve car pileup.…

Anatomy of an Era: Curt Thompson, Strength Coach/Football Ops, Part 1

7/15/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 33, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch                                          A (family is a) moving, changing collection of objects constantly in motion... Every individual is growing, changing, developing, or declining – intellectually, emotionally, spiritually, physically, psychologically. No two years, two months, or no two days is there the exact same…

Anatomy of an Era: Curt Thompson, Strength Coach/Football Ops, Part 2

7/16/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 33, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Curt Thompson, Part 2 Continued… Q: What was the biggest challenge for you in doing your job? CT: Recruiting changes. You know, I’d have stuff set up and Saturday morning would come and they’d want to change something, wanted to give a recruit…

Anatomy of an Era: Dennis Leblanc, Exec. Assoc. AD for Academics, Part 1

7/19/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 34, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   A University should be a place of light, of liberty, and of learning. -Benjamin Disraeli, Speech to the British House of Commons, March 11, 1873   The University of Nebraska leads the nation’s Division 1 colleges and universities with 65 CoSIDA First-Team…

Anatomy of an Era: Dennis Leblanc, Exec. Assoc. AD for Academics, Part 2

7/20/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 34, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Dennis Leblanc, Part 2 Continued… Q: What kind of hours would you put in, Dennis? DL: Oh, I don’t know. More than I’d want to admit, probably. (laughs) Q: Surely more than you were paid for, eh? (laughs) DL: Yeah. But again, I’m…

Anatomy of an Era: Clinton Childs, Part 1

7/22/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 35, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Sport, that wrinkled Care derides, and Laughter, holding both his sides. Come, and trip it, as you go, on the light fantastic toe. -John Milton, L’Allegro Have you ever wondered what it might feel like to be trampled by a raging &…

Anatomy of an Era: Clinton Childs, Part 2

7/23/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 35, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Clinton Childs, Part 2   Continued… Q: What was it like playing behind the Pipeline? CC: It was a bond between us, such a big trust there with everyone knowing their job and getting things done. We were told in the huddle that…

Anatomy of an Era: Clinton Childs, Part 3

7/24/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 35, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Clinton Childs, Part 3 Continued… Q: Do you have an all-time favorite or most memorable play? CC: The fastest touchdown in Nebraska History. Q: Tell me about it. Refresh my memory. CC: Arizona State game, it was the only game I started down…

Anatomy of an Era: Randy Gobel, Strength Coach, Part 1

7/26/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 36, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   It was better, he thought, to fail in attempting exquisite things than to succeed in the department of the utterly contemptible. -Arthur Machen, The Hill of Dreams I’m not sure who first coined the phrase ‘speed kills,’ but if it’s true, then…

Anatomy of an Era: Randy Gobel, Strength Coach, Part 2

7/27/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 36, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Randy Gobel, Strength Coach, Part 2   Continued… Q: Any memorable game on the sidelines stands out to you more than another? RG: Obviously the Orange Bowl against Miami stands out. It was huge. Huge, just because we finally…

Anatomy of an Era, Coach Ryan Held, Part 1

7/28/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 37, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   The harvest of old age is the recollection and abundance of blessings previously secured. -Maruc Tullius Cicero, De Senectute   When the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 opened up the conjoined territories to settlement it allowed the new settlers to determine whether the states…

Anatomy of an Era, Coach Ryan Held, Part 2

7/29/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 37, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era, Ryan Held, Part 2 Continued… Q: What about Coach Osborne? RH: I remember this, (and he came in on Monday, and we always had 8 or 9 new offensive plays that week) we’re getting ready to play Colorado and…

Anatomy of an Era, Coach Ryan Held, Part 3

7/30/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 37, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era, Ryan Held, Part 3 Continued… Q: Now tell me, how did you hook up with Tennessee after ’97? RH: We had beaten Florida in ’95, so the Tennessee coaches came up and became friends with the Nebraska coaches. Well,…

Anatomy of an Era: Chad Stanley, Part 1

7/31/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 38, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   WANTED Young, skinny, wiry fellows not over eighteen. Must be expert riders, willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred. Wages $25 per week. -Pony Express job advertisement, 1860   Although it lasted for only nineteen months' duration from April 1860 to November…

Anatomy of an Era: Chad Stanley, Part 2

8/1/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 38, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Chad Stanley, Part 2 Continued… Q: Can you delve a little more into the staff dynamic in the meetings? CS: That was an education for a young man who was only 25-27 years old. I consider these guys to…

Anatomy of an Era: Chad Stanley, Part 3

8/2/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 38, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Chad Stanley, Part 3 Continued... CS: There was another Coach Osborne story: this is in the early ’90’s and Ryan Held likes to tell this one. You know they used to put these trash cans around Memorial Stadium there…

Anatomy of an Era: Darren Schmadeke, Part 1

8/4/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 39, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Great hopes make great men. -Thomas Fuller Heading southbound on two-lane Nebraska Highway 14 on an early summer day, airborne cottonwood seeds can be seen wafting past your windshield just a mile before you cross the Beaver Creek bridge and curve past…

Anatomy of an Era: Darren Schmadeke, Part 2

8/5/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 39, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era, Darren Schmadeke, Part 2 Continued… Q: Any other coaches stand out to you? DS: I would say Coach McBride. I’ll never forget him, the Defensive Coordinator and D-line Coach. He’d always meet with the D-line in the shower stalls.…

Anatomy of an Era: Damon Schmadeke, Part 1

8/6/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 40, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Harry Arms Stricken while at work in a house at Springfield, Nebr., Harry Arms, 54, said to have been Nebraska’s only one-armed paperhanger, died Tuesday. He lost his arm in a shooting accident when a youth. He had followed the paperhanging trade…

Anatomy of an Era: Damon Schmadeke, Part 2

8/7/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 40, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era, Damon Schmadeke, Part 2 Continued… Q: Any fond recollection of those games as a Student Coach? DS: I remember Lamar Thomas was one of the Miami receivers who was very proud of himself. I don’t know if you knew…

Anatomy of an Era: Jack Nickolite, Athletic Trainer, Part 1

8/9/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 41, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   The difficult we do immediately. The impossible takes a little longer. -Motto of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during World War II Doctor Who, the long-running BBC television program about a mysterious time- and space-traveling adventurer who finds himself in the…

Anatomy of an Era: Jack Nickolite, Athletic Trainer, Part 2

8/10/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 41, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Jack Nickolite, Athletic Trainer, Part 2 Continued… Q: Do you have a favorite game? JN: I don’t think I have favorite game. I’d say they were all memorable and I enjoyed every single one of them. It’s the opportunity,…

Anatomy of an Era: Jerry Weber, Athletic Trainer, Part 1

8/12/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 43, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   We have not lost faith, but we have transferred it from God to the medical profession. -George Bernard Shaw   Bringing it all together for the full-time Athletic Training staff of the 60 & 3 era, we finish with the one man…

Anatomy of an Era: Jerry Weber, Athletic Trainer, Part 2

8/13/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 43, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Jerry Weber, Athletic Trainer, Part 2 Continued…. Jerry Weber: (Tom Osborne) surrounded himself with great coaches and great people. He certainly led the way, set the tone as far as how you’re supposed to treat people. It isn’t just…

Anatomy of an Era: Clayton Carlin, Grad. Asst. Coach, Part 1

8/14/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 44, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   If you don't invest very much, then defeat doesn't hurt very much and winning isn't very exciting.   -Dick Vermeil, Football Coach of the Year at the High School, Junior College, NCAA Division I and Professional Football level.   Nebraska is the second-ranked…

Anatomy of an Era: Clayton Carlin, Grad. Asst. Coach, Part 2

8/15/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 44, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Clayton Carlin, Part 2 Continued…. Q: Can you take me into some staff meetings? What was the dynamic there? CC: Well, it actually worked very smoothly. Coach Osborne at that time pretty much spent all his time on offense,…

Anatomy of an Era: Doug Colman, Part 1

8/17/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 45, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Fletcher Christian: [to Captain Bligh] But I assure you, sir, that the execution of my duties is entirely unaffected by my private opinion of you.   - Mutiny on the Bounty, Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall with Charles Lederer   We…

Anatomy of an Era: Doug Colman, Part 2

8/18/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 45, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Doug Colman, Part 2 Continued…. Doug Colman: (On joining the coaching profession) For me, I had that opportunity and went on and started doing the high school thing after the pros, and my next job after the freshman job…

Anatomy of an Era: Doug Colman, Part 3

8/19/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 45, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Doug Colman, Part 3 Continued…. Doug Colman: I can’t remember, it might have been ’91 or ’92 and you were there at the time, but I think it was after the Scotty Baldwin thing where Coach Osborne actually called…

Anatomy of an Era: Mike Babcock, Part 1

8/21/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 46, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   On the trail of another man, the biographer must put up with finding himself at every turn; any biography uneasily shelters an autobiography within it. -Paul Murray Kendall   For any journey other than the usual neighborhood streets and thoroughfares of daily…

Anatomy of an Era: Mike Babcock, Part 2

8/22/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 46, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Mike Babcock, Part 2 Continued…. Q: As a sportswriter, what was your main aim? Was it to inform, to entertain, to set policy? How did you envision the main gist of your role as writer? Mike Babcock: My aim…

Anatomy of an Era: Mike Babcock, Part 3

8/23/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 46, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Mike Babcock, Part 3 Continued…. Mike Babcock: And this was the worst moment for me: I was two weeks into my working at the paper… and about two weeks into it Nebraska had a scrimmage, the last major scrimmage…

Anatomy of an Era: Tom Osborne, Part 1

8/25/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 47, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   In addition to all the engineering and business courses, I also studied four years of psychology and abnormal psychology ….I’m not being facetious when I say that these were probably the most valuable courses of my college career. -Lee Iacocca, Iacocca: An…

Anatomy of an Era: Tom Osborne, Part 2

8/26/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 47, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Tom Osborne, Part 2 Continued…. Q: I talked to Al Papik recently and he talked about coaching against you when you were a college player. I told him I would love to see some of that game film. (laughs)…

Anatomy of an Era: Cory Schlesinger, Part 1

8/28/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 48, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   You have to play this game like somebody just hit your mother with a two-by-four. -Dan Birdwell   When most folks hear the name ‘Cory Schlesinger’ they recall the vision of a muscled, dirtied and grass-stained number 40 tumbling for six points…

Anatomy of an Era: Cory Schlesinger, Part 2

8/29/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 48, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Cory Schlesinger, Part 2 Continued…. Q: What could you tell me about Coach Solich? CS: Well, what I liked about him? For being a smaller in stature he was very intense. He could definitely get very intense. That’s one…

Anatomy of an Era: Cory Schlesinger, Part 3

8/30/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 48, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Cory Schlesinger, Part 3 Continued…. Q: What drove you and motivated you in the weight room? CS: I never even dreamt of getting that (Lifter of the Year) award. I guess my teammates saw me differently…they saw how hard…

Anatomy of an Era: Milt Tenopir, Part 1

9/2/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 49, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Our entry song started playing, our fans erupted and the stage was set. Miami’s players looked around in a daze. After all, this was their home stadium.”You aren’t supposed to upstage our entrance.” The 60 minutes of football that followed was a…

Anatomy of an Era: Milt Tenopir, Part 2

9/3/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 45, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Milt Tenopir, Part 2 Continued…. Milt Tenopir: The (offensive line) were aggressive football players and our whole offense was built around them. It didn’t center around the receiver or center around the quarterback, necessarily (even though it’s nice to…

Anatomy of an Era: Lee Barfknecht, Part 1

9/6/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 50, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   I don’t agree with everything they report, but in general find (reporters) to be people who do their homework and try to be fair. I can honestly say that there are very few sports reporters, local or national, that I don’t like…

Anatomy of an Era: Lee Barfknecht, Part 2

9/7/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 50, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Lee Barfknecht, Part 2 Continued…. Q: Any particular visiting press box location other than that game stand out to you?  I know you’re supposed to be neutral in the press box, but was there ever any occasion where that…

Anatomy of an Era: Terry Connealy, Part 1

9/10/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 51, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch    It is in games that many men discover their paradise. -Robert Lynd   As you wend your way through a vast sea of wildflowers, switchgrass & big bluestem, past the windmills and scattered clusters of Black Angus on the gently undulating plains…

Anatomy of an Era: Terry Connealy, Part 2

9/11/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 51, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Terry Connealy, Part 2 Continued... Q: Speaking of goals, it seems earlier on there wasn’t as much of a focus on winning the national championship than there was in later years. Does that ring a bell? Do you recall…

Anatomy of an Era: Terry Connealy, Part 3

9/12/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 51, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Terry Connealy, Part 3 Continued… Q: Any memorable off-field occasions worth sharing? TC: (laughs) The ‘worth sharing‘ is the tough part there. All kinds of great off-field memories. Gosh, you didn’t just spend your days on the practice field.…

Anatomy of an Era: Mary Lyn Wininger, Part 1

9/13/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 52, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Sharing the limelight may mean working behind the scenes – in effect, not getting any “light” at all. Team players… handle a myriad of other things required for accomplishment of a team’s task. -Glenn M. Parker, Team Players and Teamwork, 2008     …

Anatomy of an Era: Mary Lyn Wininger, Part 2

9/14/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 52, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Mary Lyn Wininger, Part 2 Continued…. Q: What time did you usually begin your workday? MLW: It was usually 8 o’clock in the morning and sometimes we had summer hours, 7:30-ish or whatever. And then it always wasn’t a…

Anatomy of an Era: Mary Lyn Wininger, Part 3

9/15/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 52, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Mary Lyn Wininger, Part 3 Continued…. Q: Were you ever (Coach Osborne’s) fail-safe so he didn’t forget wedding anniversaries, birthdays, things like that? MLW: I kept a calendar. (laughs) We’ll put it that way: we had a calendar. Say…

Anatomy of an Era: Chris Dishman, Part 1

9/17/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 53, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch   Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected. -Steve Jobs In his ’99 travel tome The Distance to the Moon, James Morgan writes, “The Nebraska plains pack a cumulative power… and I knew that…