NU Football: Osborne is interim head coach
BY MITCH SHERMAN
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN Â Make sure that you're sitting down for this one: Nebraska has a new head football coach.
It's Tom Osborne.
The 70-year-old interim athletic director appointed himself Wednesday as interim head coach.
Make no mistake, Osborne is not about to reappear on the sideline. His new title is only temporary. NU made the move, informing the Big 12 in a letter written by Compliance Director Gary Bargen, so Osborne would be able to recruit away from campus.
Osborne, who won 255 games and three national titles as NU coach from 1973 to 1997, passed the NCAA certification test  a series of multiple-choice and true-false questions  on his first attempt Wednesday.
Osborne plans to hit the road today and Friday.
NCAA rules stipulate that the head coach is allowed only one in-home visit to a potential recruit. But a provision allows the coach Osborne hires to visit any recruit whom Osborne visited as interim head coach.
In addition, Osborne could remain on staff, technically as an assistant, to visit recruits after the head coach is named.
Presumably, that's coming soon. The fifth day of Nebraska's coaching search produced no names of additional candidates.
Osborne and UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman interviewed Louisiana State defensive coordinator Bo Pelini on Sunday in Baton Rouge. University of Buffalo coach Turner Gill and Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe reportedly also have met with Nebraska officials.
In a radio interview Wednesday night on the Husker Sports Network, Osborne said the search was "pretty much on track."
He said he expects it to near an end by next week. He also confirmed that he had interviewed multiple candidates.
"I'm not saying that we're done yet, but I think we're really in pretty good shape," Osborne said.
He said all of the candidates understand the game. All have experienced success in coaching, he said, and are "very passionate about football."
None appeared driven by money.
"Now having said that, it does seem the going rate on salaries has really gone through the roof a little bit," Osborne said. "A little bit amazing."
Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly on Wednesday denied any contact with Nebraska. Kelly also said UC Athletic Director Mike Thomas had not been asked permission by NU to speak with him.
That's contrary to a report by rivals.com on Tuesday.
"Just another one of those Internet stories," Kelly told Cincinnati radio station WCKY. "I think a lot of these things are generated by who you think the best candidate is, and those Internet stories start to run and get twisted around."
Pelini continued to prepare LSU's defense for its meeting Saturday with Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference championship game. Gill, meanwhile, also may be a candidate for the vacant coaching job at Washington State.
Gill, the 45-year-old former Nebraska quarterback and assistant coach, was named in an Associated Press story as an option to replace Bill Doba, who resigned Monday.
In other news, defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove and cornerbacks coach Phil Elmassian are no longer recruiting for Nebraska, according to Associate A.D. for Communications Randy York. Osborne asked the NU assistants who wished to be considered for positions by the next head coach to help with recruiting after coach Bill Callahan was fired Saturday.
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