After one of the worst seasons in Nebraska football history, Husker fans were searching for some solid ground, and they found it in a familiar face.

Six months ago, Chancellor Harvey Perlman fired NU Athletic Director Steve Pederson. Perlman turned to the past to build what he hopes will be a bright future.

A decade after he finished his coaching career with his third national championship, Tom Osborne returned to familiar territory. When Grant Wistrom introduced his former head coach to a packed house at the NU coliseum on Saturday, the passionate roar of the athletic department donors said it all.

"It feels very familiar. I always liked student-athletes," said Tom Osborne, Nebraska Athletic Director.

Osborne has brought back the Nebraska way.

"The reason the change was made, as I understand it, is that there was some concern about management style over here and we had some unrest and some people leaving. The early activity was to try to get everybody on the same page and to reduce the tension level, and I think that we have accomplished that to some degree," he said.

From the smiles on the faces of Broderick Thomas and many other former Huskers, everyone is feeling good about Osborne's first six months on duty.

"The first couple of months were kind of bumpy with the change in coaching staff, and since then I feel comfortable," Osborne said.

Ten years after winning his final national championship, Osborne is OK supervising the football program from a distance.

"The first two or three first years out of football it was very difficult. It had been such a big part of my life to all of a sudden not to have any input was very strange, and I think most coaches will tell you that they go through that period. Now, ten years removed, that's not as strong a pull," he said.

The healing process for Husker Nation will take some time, but a Spring game sellout speaks volumes.

"Some of it's just let's see what the new guy is going to put on the field. But I do think there is a renewed sense of optimism -- a little bit more of a renewed sense of unity within the state," Osborne said.

Osborne back on the field that bears his name is a reason to believe again for many fans in scarlet and cream, but there are no certainties.

"My coming back here doesn't guarantee that that's going to happen, because I am no longer calling the plays. I'm in more of a removed position, and so I hope it will work out well and I hope people will trust my judgment. But again, it will play out on the field. We'll see how people feel a year from now," he said.

Osborne was quick to remind Husker fans of what they are already well aware of: The financial future of 23 other sports at Nebraska rests squarely on the shoulders of the football program. Big Red football generates about 90 percent of the money that comes into the athletic department.

Osborne has committed to a two-year deal that runs through June of 2010.