Tom Osborne: I Never Offered Jim Grobe The Nebraska Football HC Job

There are many things to say about how the Nebraska Cornhuskers treated the 2007 search for a Head Coach, but one thing is for sure is that there was not much to think about Jim Grobe.

Let me take you back to December 2007, when Bill Callahan had just been dismissed by new Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne, who was taking over for Steve Pederson.

The sentiment was that it was a two-horse race between Turner Gill and Bo Pelini. Both prospects being former Assistants at Nebraska, while Turner was a player for TO, meant that it was between those two.

Or so we thought.

There was word that at the time HC of Wake Forest Jim Grobe had interest in the job. Matter of factly, somehow, someway, it portrayed into Grobe being offered the job by Osborne, and turning it down to stay with Wake Forest. This was after the two best seasons in Wake's time with Grobe, where they won 20 games in two years and just came off of an appearance in the Orange Bowl with an ACC title.

Interestingly enough, Grobe had signed a 10-year contract in 2007, which didn't help save him when the school accepted his resignation in 2013 after 5 straight losing seasons.

HOWEVER, if you ask Grobe about the Nebraska job, he's going to tell you that it's his biggest blunder to not take it. Matter of factly, he was asked about it yesterday in Dallas during Big 12 Media Days.

Grobe: Confirms he didn’t take Nebraska job years ago because Neb wanted to keep 3 assts. Grobe wanted freedom to shape staff.

— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) July 19, 2016

What's interesting enough is that this isn't the first time Grobe had mentioned he regretted not taking the job.

When asked if he regrets not taking the Nebraska job, Grobe doesn't hesitate. "I do now, I didn't at the time," he said. "I honestly took great pride in Wake Forest. I had some really good friends there. I trusted some people there. I thought Wake was a little different than other schools. I really, at the time, felt we were going to get a bigger commitment in terms of facilities and support for the program that never really materialized. We loved all 13 years we were in Winston-Salem, but I’m not real happy with the way things ended."

But the funny thing is this... Grobe wasn't even offered the job, and I would venture to say that Grobe may not have even been interviewed.

First thing is first, and that the Omaha World-Herald's Sam McKewon went to Osborne about it. And TO has a different recollection.

Osborne, reached by phone Wednesday, said he was "puzzled" by why Grobe keeps telling reporters that.

"I interviewed Jim Grobe and I think he's a good coach, but I never offered him the job and there were no stipulations on assistants," Osborne said.

Why did Grobe think there were?

"I have no idea," Osborne said.

Osborne said he talked to all potential candidates — including the eventual hire, Bo Pelini, and former Kansas and current Liberty coach Turner Gill — about who they might hire for their staff, but that's standard for any athletic director to inquire of a coach.

Now, I have been told that the Grobe to Nebraska rumor is nothing but a straight troll from a message board. I do not know if that's a time for here and now, but I would be surprised to know that Grobe actually talked to Osborne. The story about that will have to wait for another time, as I want to make sure it's true or not.

But, let's hope to show that maybe, just maybe, this ends the "Grobe didn't take the Nebraska job".