The people that Nebraska coach Tom Osborne touched the most were the thousands of players who passed through his program on their way to either professional careers or even pro football careers.

For Osborne, the hardest part about announcing his retirement was telling those players.

"It was hard (telling the current players) because I care very much about those guys and so that's been the most difficult thing. But hopefully at some point they'll realize I've tried to do what I thought was the best thing for them, long term." Osborne said. "I really believe that's what I'm doing."

For former Husker players like quarterback Steve Taylor the news came with mixed reaction.

"It's a sad day because a person is moving on, and he's done so much for the University of Nebraska. But it's exciting to see he's going to spend some time with his family and to see Frank Solich get a chance to be the head coach."

Taylor played for coach Osborne from 1985-88 and quite often interacted with Nebraska's new head coach Frank Solich. Taylor says that Solich's personality tends to resemble more that of former coach Bob Devaney than Osborne's.

"He probably leans more in that direction, but then he has a lot of qualities as far as being in unique situations and not getting too frustrated. He's going to bring his own style."

Taylor noted several strong points that will aid Solich in his head coaching duties.

"His ability to motivate players. Obviously coach Osborne had that type of charisma too, and (Solich) has it in a different way. He speaks his mind and is firm when he's speaking. He's going to bring his own poersonality. I don't think you're going to see a lot of change as far as the product."

Former Husker quarterback Craig Sundberg agrees that having Solich move in to the job will only be a plus.

"There's no question that it's very important to coach Osborne to have this continuity of coaching staff continue." Sundberg said.

Sundberg played for Solich at Lincoln Southeast as well as at Nebraska between 1982 and 1984 and says he sees a lot of similarities between Solich and Osborne. "(They both have a lot of) attention to detail, they don't leave any stone unturned. He commands respect and he has the utmost level of repect from the players who played for him."

Sundberg says he will always remember his senior season and the opportunity it brought to see Tom Osborne that many others don't get to see. "If coach Osborne wasn't your position coach you might feel like he always kept you at a distance just a little bit. But that senior year I really got to know him and have a relationship just like I would with any other adult"

Taylor says his clearest memories of Osborne will be the way he handled his players.

"Beyond all the wins and all the games, (I remember) sitting in the quarterback meetings and he would always pat me on the back and say 'Steve, you know people love you when things are going great and they pick on the quarterback when things are going bad.' He always kept me humble and he always let you know that no matter how good you are there are going to be some rough times. Just try and be a consistent as you can in your life."

Dave Humm quarterbacked the Huskers from 1972-74. In an earlier interview with the Husker Press Box Humm remembers Osborne's first season as head coach in 1972. "Tom, I think, was only 33 years old. I'm a young quarterback and he's a young coach and we're both getting some heat following some great people that made a difference before." Humm was following in the tracks of national championship quarterback Jerry Tagge, while Nebraska was still basking in two national championships under Bob Devaney. "There was a lot of pressure there."