30 best college football coaches of all time, ranked

3. Tom Osborne, Nebraska 1973-1997

Tom Osborne is the reason Nebraska football has a complex. They need greatness now because that is what Tom Osborne brought them for more than two decades. He led Nebraska to their best seasons, and they really haven’t been the same since.

Osborne has a rare career. He started at Nebraska and ended at Nebraska. He joined the college in 1964 as an offensive assistant. He was promoted to offensive coordinator in 1969. His offense in the I-formation helped them win back-to-back national championships. The head coach was Bob Devany, but he stepped down as head coach to focus more on being the school’s athletic director. Osborne kept the winning ways alive, although it took him a long time to get back to the national championship.

Nebraska became known as a bruising team. Their power running attack was hard, if not impossible to stop. Their dominance in the Big Eight/Big 12 was second to none. No other team could stop them in this era.

His teams in the 90s were phenomenal. The Cornhuskers won three national championships in the decade as one of the most dominant runs in college football history. Osborne won 250 games faster than any coach in history, and he finished his career with a top-five winning percentage in the history of the sport.