1st  recipient-Milt Tenopir

2nd recipient - Jim Ridlon

3rd Recipient - Barry Switzer

4th Recipient - Bobby Bowden

5th Recipient- Frank Solich

6th Recipient - Fisher DeBerry

7th Recipient -Bill Snyder

8th recipient -Will Shields

9th Recipient - Barry Alvarez

10th and 11th Recipients - Dan Young and Reese Morgan

Selection Criteria:
•Candidate predominately played, coached and/ or made extraordinary contributions to the interior line of college football; and/or made contributions to the Outland Trophy.
•Candidate exhibited the characteristics of integrity, sportsmanship and fair play associated with Tom Osborne.
•Candidate continues to demonstrate a record of leadership in the community and continues to hold a record of good citizenship within and beyond the athletic field that is consistent with one of the award sponsors, Rotary Club of Omaha’s primary motto, “Service Above Self”.

Tom Osborne Legacy Award is established to recognize an individual who is a:

“Winner On and Off the Field”.

While winning 255 games from 1973-1997, 13 conference championships and three national titles as the head man, Coach Osborne was equally concerned about his players’ development and life after the game. His teams produced more Academic All-Americans than any other in college football during his era. He emphasized the full development of his players’ lives – academic success, character development, a good spiritual foundation and involvement in the community.

Few if any coaches have impacted college football more than Tom Osborne when it comes to producing great linemen. His legacy of building a strong foundation in the trenches, whether it was on offense or defense, endures to this day.

Coach Osborne has been involved with the most Outland Trophy Winners in the 69- year history of the award. Starting with Larry Jacobson in 1971, Coach Osborne has been associated with all of Nebraska’s eight different Outland Winners, either as an assistant, head coach or athletic director. During Coach Osborne’s head coaching tenure, Nebraska’s ability to produce great linemen was unparalleled in major-college football. In only six of Tom Osborne’s 25 seasons as head coach did the Huskers fail to produce an All-American on the offensive line. His teams generated at least one first-team, all-conference offensive lineman every season.

Tom Osborne not only has enjoyed success as a player, coach and athletic director, but he also has made a positive impact during six years of service in the United States’ Congress and with the founding of Team Mates, one of the country’s premier mentoring programs.

The Outland Trophy – Tom Osborne Legacy Award is established to recognize an individual who is a “Winner On and Off the Field”. A national search is conducted and candidates are selected by the Outland Trophy Tom Osborne Legacy Award Committee.

2023 —  Young, Morgan Are Osborne Legacy Award Winners

           

Omaha – 2023 –  For the first time, the Tom Osborne Legacy Award will be presented to two men in the same year: Midwest men with virtually identical career tracks on their way to coaching six Outland Trophy recipients, three apiece.  They are the tenth and eleventh people who have claimed the coveted award which was established in 2015 and named after the Cornhuskers’ legendary head coach from 1973-97.

Dan Young of the University of Nebraska and Reese Morgan of the University of Iowa will be honored January 10, 2024, at the 78th Outland Trophy banquet, sponsored by Werner Enterprises at the Hilton Omaha Hotel.

The Osborne Legacy Award, with past winners such as Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden and Nebraska guard Will Shields, goes to honorees who were involved in promoting interior line play on the field and showed leadership and integrity off the field. 

Young, who passed away in 2010 at age 69, and Morgan, who retired in 2019 at age 68, had strikingly similar careers.

Both coached highly successful high school teams at a combined five schools. Young, a native of Primose, Nebraska was best known for his six seasons at Omaha Westside, winning large-school state championships in 1981 and 1982. Morgan, from Lorain, Ohio, spent eight years at Iowa City West, winning large-class state titles in 1995, 1998 and 1999.

Young and Morgan then left the high school ranks for assistants’ jobs at their state’s flagship universities. Young spent 20 years at Nebraska, Morgan 19 at Iowa.

 Young, as the assistant offensive line coach with former Osborne Award winner Milt Tenopir, was involved with three Husker national champions (1994, 1995, 1997) and three Outland Trophy winners (Dean Steinkuhler, 1983; Will Shields, 1992; Aaron Taylor, 1997). Nebraska had 11 first-team All-America interior linemen and 10 first-team academic All-America linemen during Young’s tenure.

Morgan coached tight ends for three years, the offensive line for nine years and the defensive line for seven years at Iowa. He coached three Outland winners (Chad Hennings from Benton High in Van Horne, Iowa, who won the award at Air Force in 1987; and the Hawkeyes’ Robert Gallery in 2003 and Brandon Scherff in 2014). Morgan had seven linemen named first- or second-team All-American and saw five of his pupils go in the first round of the NFL Draft.

Morgan will be in Omaha to accept his award, while Young will be honored posthumously with family members present.

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2022 Recipient of Tom Osborne Legacy Award

Barry Alvarez – former Husker and past Wisconsin Athletic Director

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The Tom Osborne Legacy Award presented  — by Osborne to Will Shields— at the Outland Trophy Award Dinner Sponsored by Werner Enterprises at the downtown Hilton Omaha.

If you’re a college football fan, or even a sports fan in general, it is a remarkable scene, One you will not forget!

Will Shields

     

Will Herthie Shields is a former professional football player who was an offensive guard in the National Football League. He played his entire professional career for the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs, and never missed a game in 14 seasons. Shields was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015. with Kansas City Chiefs. He played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, earning consensus All-American honors and winning the Outland Trophy.Will Shields will be in Omaha to accept the award from Tom Osborne, Nebraska’s legendary coach, at the 25th annual dinner.

This is the eighth year for the Tom Osborne Legacy Award, which goes to a player, coach or a person who has made an extraordinary contribution to the interior line of college football; and/or has made contributions to the Outland Trophy. The recipient must exhibit the characteristics of integrity, sportsmanship and fair play associated with Tom Osborne and demonstrate a record of leadership in the community, Furthermore the person must continue to hold a record of good citizenship within and beyond the athletic field that is consistent with the one of the award’s sponsors, Rotary International’s primary moto, “Service Above Self.”

Previous recipients of the Tom Osborne Legacy Award: Milt Tenopir (2015), Jim Ridlon (2016), Barry Switzer (2017), Bobby Bowden (2018), Frank Solich (2019), Fisher DeBerry (2020) and last year Bill Snyder (2021).

Honors

  •  In 2003 Shields was the recipient of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, for his work in The “Will to Succeed” Foundation, the charitable organization he started in 1993.
  • In 2011, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
  • Shields was selected as a first-ballot finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012.
  • In 2012 Shields was inducted into the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame.
  • Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015

College career

While attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Shields played for the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team from 1989 through 1992. Shields was a consensus first-team All-American and Outland Trophy winner during his final year at Nebraska. He is one of eight Cornhuskers players to win the Outland Trophy. In 1999, he was selected to the Nebraska All-Century Football Team via fan poll and to the All-Century Nebraska football team by Gannett News Service. In 2002, he was named to the Athlon Sports Nebraska All-Time Team. He is one of only 16 Cornhuskers to have his jersey retired by the team. In 1999 Shields was selected as an offensive guard to the Walter Camp Football Foundation College Football All Century Team. The other offensive guards selected were John Hannah of Alabama, Aaron Taylor of Nebraska, Brad Budde of USC, Dean Steinkuhler of Nebraska and Jim Parker of Ohio State. Shields was one of six Nebraska Cornhuskers selected to this team; the others being Johnny Rodgers, Dave Rimington, Steinkuhler, Tommie Frazier and Taylor.

Professional career

Shields was the third-round (74th overall) pick of the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1993 NFL Draft, after signing now Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren to be his agent. Shields played for the Chiefs from 1993 to 2006.[6] Beginning with a September 12, 1993 game against the Houston Oilers, he was in the Chiefs’ starting lineup for every game, a team record and at the time, the second longest active consecutive starting streak in the NFL behind Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers. He started 231 straight games (including playoffs) at the right guard position; an NFL record. He went to the Pro Bowl every year from 1995 to 2006, a total of 12, a Chiefs team record, and having played in all of them, he is tied with Champ Bailey and Randall McDaniel for most Pro Bowls played. He was an important part in the Kansas City Chiefs offensive line that consistently led the team to a top 5 finish in rushing offense.

Shields blocked for Marcus Allen, Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson during his career. He had blocked for 1,000-yard rushers for five seasons. He blocked for 4,000-yard passers for five seasons while Elvis Grbac did it in 2000 and Trent Green in 2003, 2004, and 2005. In 14 seasons, Shields never missed a game, and he failed to start only one contest, his first regular-season outing, as a rookie in 1993. On April 15, 2007, following 14 seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, he announced his retirement from football.

Life after football

Shields currently owns and operates 68 Inside Sports, a gymnasium and sports facility, in Overland Park, Kansas. Shields is married to his wife Senia (a native of Denmark); they have one daughter, Sanayika, and two sons, Shavon and Solomon. The Shields family resides in Overland Park, Kansas. Shavon played basketball for the University of Nebraska and currently plays professionally in Italy for Olimpia Milano, while Sanayika is a former basketball player for Drury University.

 

 

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ABOUT US

The Greater Omaha Sports Committee, a Non-Profit 501(c)3 organization founded in 1977.  The Committee consists of more than 1300 men and women. The membership includes key executives in all areas that involve Sports.

CONTACT INFO

GREATER OMAHA SPORTS COMMITTEE
Bob Mancuso Jr – Chairman
7015 SPRING ST * OMAHA, NE 68106
Phone: (402) 346-8003
Fax: (402) 346-5412
Email: bmancuso@showofficeonline.com