re: Arkansas and the law of averages

I have a co-worker who play at Nebraska under Tom Osborne in the late 1980s. He was a ninth string defensive end who never played in games. He told me he was competitive in high school, but was shocked at the talent level when he got to NU. He said the boys from Texas & California elevated the speed and intensity.

For those old enough to remember, Osborne had a reputation in the 80s of being unable to consistently win the big games which all changed in the 90s. My friend explained NU was on the forefront of a lot of strength and conditioning innovations which were attractive to those with the potential to play at the next level, hence the ability to draw talent nationally at that time. Take it for what it’s worth.