Faith in the Game

This is a neat book. It is fascinating, it has scores of information about how the Huskers built their program, and it is written in exactly the right amount of detail, including the technical details.If you are a coach in any sport, if you are a Husker fan, or if you are a Tom Osborne fan, this book is a good read. It is also an excellent gift. It is one of the five best sports books I have read in the last few years. You can't miss with Faith in the Game.

When I began reading this book, I expected to read about the career of Tom Osborne. At first, I was a little disappointed. While the book contained passages that described some of the top games, and stories about some of the players who, for better or worse, made the Nebraska Cornhuskers what they are, it focused mostly on a philosophy of life that happened to take place on a football field. This is an inside look at what it takes to be a great leader. This book is a must for any coach of any sport. It shows what it takes to create quality student athletes. It is not about winning, even though Tom Osborne tells us that if you do all these things winning will occur anyway. It is really about creating quality-minded citizens who also have athletic abilities. I had the honor of speaking with Tom Osborne in 1984. He was an amazing man. I cannot attribute this to his being a famous person. He was amazing because he had a quality about him that very few people(particularly, college football coaches) have. This is a great book.

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

As a professional platform speaker and consultant I will undoubtedly quote the coache's comments often in years to come. In FAITH IN THE GAME I find his work to be very open, honest, and a breath of fresh air in the often murky atmosphere of big time college sports. This is an enjoyable, make sense and inspirational read. FAITH IN THE GAME should be required reading for young and adult alike. GREAT JOB! Thanks again Coach.

In this new book just released a couple days ago, Coach Osborne is able to distill-down into about 160 pages what he believes are the reasons for his success as a coach, father and human being. When he was being criticized by nearly EVERYONE for not being able to win the "big game" because he's too nice a guy, he stuck to his guns and eventually came out on top. He created a family atmosphere with his players and stood behind them when they won games, as well as when they were being hauled into court. He proves that you DON'T have to make a pact with the Devil to succeed in today's world. The book also outlines some principals that he believes could help to alleviate some of the problems caused by the morality vacuum in which today's youth are being raised. After hanging up his whistle and sideline headset, Dr. Tom continues to teach at the University and works with several organizations to improve young people's lives. Who could possibly want more from a man? This is a "must read" book for any coach, teacher or youth pastor.