Faith in the Game: Lessons on Football, Work, and Life [Hardcover]

Tom Osborne (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 7, 1999

In Nebraska, football is a religion and Tom Osborne is its patron saint. As head coach of the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers for 25 years, Osborne took his team to a bowl game every year, won three national championships in the last four years he coached, and ended his career boasting an 84 percent winning record. Now Osborne lets us in on the values it takes to achieve victory, on any field.

Both a memoir and a motivational guide, Faith in the Game discusses all the traits required for successful life management and teamwork--loyalty, perseverance, honesty, integrity, strategy, character, faith, and old-fashioned "sweat equity"--while tackling subjects such as his controversial 1995 season and his team's phenomenally successful Unity Council approach, in which representatives from each part of the team form problem-solving units. Conveyed in his own captivating, trademark tone, Osborne's messages will be cheered by readers from all walks of life. In the spirit of bestsellers by coaches Rick Pitino, Pat Riley, Lou Holtz, and Pat Summitt, Faith in the Game is destined to score high.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Osborne coached football at the University of Nebraska for 37 years, the last 25 as head coach. Always a powerhouse team, the Nebraska Cornhuskers won an impressive number of national championships in that time, and Coach Osborne finished with an 84 percent winning record. Now retired, the devoutly Christian Osborne wrote this book to describe his recipe for success on the field and off. Not surprisingly, the values espoused are traditional ones: character, honesty, loyalty, sacrifice, hard work, unity, perseverance, and teamwork. These are illustrated by anecdotes and examples from the coach's vast experience. In his later years of coaching, several Cornhuskers had well-publicized troubles with the law. It is interesting to read Osborne's version of these incidents and how he dealt with them in light of his values. Worthwhile to libraries with interests in college football or Nebraska.AJohn M. Maxymuk, Rutgers Univ. Lib., Camden, NJ
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Osborne was the head football coach at the University of Nebraska for 25 years, winning three national championships during that time. He applied the teachings of Christianity to his coaching technique, and now, as a motivational speaker and as the author of this memoir, he uses examples from his football career to illustrate Christian principles. Writing without a coauthor or ghostwriter, Osborne comes through loud and clear, but unfortunately, his prose is as stiff and monotonous as his football teams, whether he is describing offensive style or defending the university's handling of a series of controversies involving misbehaving players. Despite Osborne's success, he never cultivated a national profile with his low-key, self-effacing personality. This memoir probably won't change that, but just as opposing teams could never ignore Nebraska in the Osborne era, so college football fans shouldn't ignore the life story of one of the game's best coaches. As sports memoirs go, though, it's the football equivalent of a 6^-5 season with no trip to a bowl game. Wes Lukowsky

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Broadway; First edition. edition (September 7, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767904222
• ISBN-13: 978-0767904223
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,560,069 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

TOM OSBORNE was the head coach of the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers football team for 25 years. He was named "coach of the decade" by ESPN in 1999 and in 2007 was voted the "greatest college football coach of all time" in an online EPSN poll. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999 and is the recipient of the Jim Thorpe Lifetime Achievement Award and the Tuss McLaughry Award for distinction in service to others. Tom was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000 and served in Congress for 6 years. He is now the Athletic Director at the University of Nebraska.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Faith in the Game - East Coast Review, December 3, 1999

By 

Bob Johnson (Princeton, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Faith in the Game: Lessons on Football, Work, and Life (Hardcover)

I am not an avid reader. I read this book at a pace of 1-2 chapters per evening. I could not put it down. Very interesting perspective on coaching and college football. In spite of not having the most attractive location (Nebraska), not having the highest ranked freshman class recruits, and following the rules (as opposed to some other college football programs), Tom Osborne and Nebraska have been a major success story. They have managed a consistently winning record with a number of national championships in the highly competitive arena of division I college football.

Dr. Osborne has captured many practical insights that extend to areas far beyond coaching and football. The book is interspersed with interesting anecdotes and many references to his faith in Jesus Christ.

If the book has a weakness, it is in the style of writing. At times I felt I was reading the same material over again. Overall a four star rating.

I plan to buy a number of copies to give as Christmas gifts!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great read!, December 5, 1999

By 

John D. Hallgren - See all my reviews

This review is from: Faith in the Game: Lessons on Football, Work, and Life (Hardcover)

Dr. Osborne managed to combine his memoirs as a coach for the Cornhuskers and a sociology of college football (mainly the Cornhuskers) in a concise book. It will interest any enthusiast of college football and will be particularly engrossing for fans of Nebraska and Tom Osborne.

There were two strengths of the book: A style which enabled Dr. Osborne to meld his memories of coaching and an analysis of applying sound moral and Christian principles to coaching a team to elite levels of competition; a willingness to keep the book short, sweet, and to-the-point, without bogging down in minutiae which would detract from the message. The book touches on subjects ranging from goal-setting with the players to how the coaching staff kept the players' best interests at the fore even in the most trying circumstances. My only criticism of the book would be that the style was more fullback-up-the-middle than wingback-reverse, but I guess you dance with the one who brung ya.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Successful Person with Strong Values., October 25, 1999

By 

Husker Parrothead (Derbyshire, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Faith in the Game: Lessons on Football, Work, and Life (Hardcover)

Faith In The Game: Lessons on Football, Work, and Life, by Tom Osborne, (New York: Broadway Books, 1999

I must start this book review with an unqualified confession. Growing up I had a strong case of hero worship of Tom Osborne and as I have grown older this hero worship has grown into a feeling of deep respect for the man and a feeling of gratitude for what he has done for the state of Nebraska. So my reading the book objectively proved to be somewhat difficult.

Having said that Faith in the Game is not Osborne's best literary work, but it does prove that he is a man that has his foundations in an American past that we should all aspire to achieve. If one reads this book with out experiencing first hand the impact the Coach has had on the young people that make up the Nebraska Football team, the author leaves you with a state of disbelief that real people still have values that this book propels.

But for a coach, or a leader of any kind, this book should be a must read! I doubt if any person in the country has taken on a task like Tom Osborne's and been as successful over the last 30 years.