NAIA names trophy for Tom Osborne

Published Nov. 6, 2013 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is renaming its national football championship trophy for Tom Osborne, the former Nebraska coach and three-sport NAIA star at Hastings College in his Nebraska hometown.

Osborne was in Kansas City on Wednesday to give the keynote address at the NAIA's Champions of Character Foundation awards luncheon. NAIA officials surprised him by announcing the football trophy will now be called the Tom Osborne National Championship Trophy.

NAIA president and CEO Jim Carr says Osborne embodies the association's commitment to balancing character and leadership development with athletics.

Osborne retired in January 2013 as athletic director at Nebraska, where he led the Huskers to three NCAA national titles and a record of 255-49-3 in 25 seasons as head coach.