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From the Omaha World-Herald:

LINCOLN — Tom Osborne returned to the NU athletic department Tuesday, charged with uplifting a Husker sports nation down and divided over firings and dismal results on the football field.

A day after axing controversial athletic director Steve Pederson, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Harvey Perlman turned to one of the state's most respected and beloved figures to run the department on an interim basis.

"I am very pleased that Tom Osborne has agreed to help bring some leadership and direction to our athletic program," Perlman said in a written statement.

"Tom is committed to making the entire program successful. He brings the right experience, an understanding of Nebraska and our aspirations. I look forward to working with him."

The statement said Osborne, the coach who won three national championships before retiring in 1997, agreed to take the position on an "open-ended arrangement" until Perlman names a full-time successor.

Perlman gave no timetable for his search.

The chancellor also gave no indication of whether Osborne's appointment would affect the status of current Husker coach Bill Callahan or his staff. Perlman was to say more in a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

Osborne, 70, who met with Perlman earlier in the day, said he looks forward to the challenge.

"I've spent the majority of my life working with the athletic department at the university and I want to do what I can at this point to continue in the pursuit of excellence that has been previously established," Osborne said.

The Osborne appointment would seem to have been a natural for Perlman.

Osborne, who spent three decades as a coach in Lincoln, obviously is familiar with the department and its functions. His integrity is unquestioned. And he likely would have success raising money for the athletic program, particularly for the $40 million new football complex that now bears his name.

But more than anything that he brings to the table administratively, the former coach gives all Husker fans someone to rally around.

He may be the only figure who can unite a state divided over Pederson's firing of Osborne's coaching successor, the transition to a new regime, on-field disappointments, Pederson's own firing, and questions over what should happen with the current coaching staff.

Osborne has been a fan favorite for the job — many even wanting him to take it on a permanent basis.

Since Osborne's retirement in 1997 at the end of a remarkable 60-3 run that produced three national titles in four years, both Osborne and the football program have had their share of ups and downs.

Osborne, who had retired for health reasons and to spend more time with his family, initially missed the game sorely and on more than one occasion was nearly lured out of retirement by other schools.

He found a new life in politics, elected three times as a Republican congressman from western Nebraska's 3rd District.

But in 2006, he sought to finish off his public career with a run for Nebraska governor. Challenging incumbent Gov. Dave Heineman, he lost in the GOP primary, effectively ending his political career.

He has been a senior lecturer in the UNL College of Business Administration, teaching leadership and business ethics, and worked as a consultant for local college athletic departments.

Over time, Osborne had also become somewhat estranged from the N.U. athletic department. He was particularly embittered with Pederson's November 2003 decision to fire Frank Solich, who in 1997 Osborne had picked as his successor.

YOU KNOW, Tom Osborne may be Bill Callahan's last chance as Husker coach. T.O. is nothing if not fair-minded, few (if any) people know more about football, and if the new boss thinks this coach can be saved . . . are you gonna argue with him? I'm not.

If Callahan is willing to become the student -- and become an attentive student, at that -- work hard at impressing the boss and at turning over a new leaf with his players, maybe he has a shot now that Typhoid Stevie is just a bad memory.

But if this coach can yet be saved, Callahan's going to have to do it the way Osborne's 1994, 1995 and 1997 football squads won national championships. He's going to have to earn it.