When UNL Chancellor Graham Spanier threw Bob Devaney under the bus in ‘94 when he hired Bill Byrne to replace Devaney as the UNL Athletic Director, few could have known the rippling effects his decision would have on the future of the Husker football program.

Despite strong opposition from Husker head football coach Tom Osborne, Spanier put an end to doing things the “Nebraska Way”. Even worse, Devaney was replaced by an “outsider”. Understandably, Devaney was devastated by the way he was treated.

How could Spanier be so heartless by dismissing the legendary coach?

Easy. Spanier wanted to move the Husker football program into the 21st century, and to do so he was going to need someone much younger and more energetic than Bob Devaney who was almost 78 years old at the time. To be sure, Devaney’s best years were behind him.

Spanier risked alienating Husker fans when he brought in Bill Byrne and although they regretted the loss of Devaney, what mattered more to Husker fans was that Tom Osborne and his staff remained in tact.

At the end of the ’93 season, the Huskers had given heavily favored Florida State all they wanted as they nearly upset them in the ’94 Orange Bowl. A minute and some change was all that kept Tom Osborne from getting his first national championship. By taking the vaunted Seminoles to the wire, the Huskers let it be known that Nebraska football would soon be returning to the college football elite.

To be sure, from ‘93 to ‘97, the Huskers would post an amazing 60-3 record. During those five years, the Huskers would play in four national championship games, winning three.

With all the success the Huskers enjoyed on the football field, Spanier’s gamble with Bill Byrne seemed to be paying off big time. To be sure, during Byrne’s first year as A.D. the Huskers won their first national championship since 1972. And to top it off, Husker fans were treated to the Tunnel Walk tradition and HuskerVision screens.

The only concern Husker fans had during those five years was how long would the winning last, how long would Tom Osborne continue to coach and who would succeed him when he did decide to step down?

Husker fans held their collective breath on that fateful day in December of ‘97 when Tom Osborne announced that he was retiring from coaching. Frank Solich was introduced as Osborne’s hand-picked successor. There were many (including me) at the time who questioned Osborne’s decision.

But really, who could possibly fill Tom Osborne’s shoes? At least with Solich, many believed, the staff and coaching philosophies would remain the same, making the coaching transition as smooth as possible.

Osborne’s retirement was based on his promise prior to the ’97 season to Frank Solich that he was going to hand the reins over to him. Solich had been a loyal Husker, both as player under Devaney and as a long time assistant under Osborne.

What caused many Husker fans to doubt Osborne’s decision, was that several years earlier, Solich had interviewed for the head coaching positions at Minnesota and Kansas. Neither of which had offered him a job. Maybe they knew something that Osborne didn’t.

By appointing Solich, Osborne could assure his assistants that they would all have jobs and that the Husker football program would continue to flourish for years to come.

Osborne did what he thought was best for the future of Husker football. But in the land of unintended consequences, he had saddled him with an aging staff that was badly in need of updating. But by making sure Solich wouldn’t make any personnel changes, Osborne almost certainly sealed the fate of not only the Husker football program, but of the eventual demise of Frank Solich as well.

In Part III, we’ll examine what went wrong during the Frank Solich Era at Nebraska.

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