LINCOLN, Neb. -- The tears didn't come until the day Tom Osborne decided to walk away from college football.

The Nebraska coach stalked the sideline for 25 years with barely a wince or a smile over a win or a loss. On Wednesday, he was clearly choked up as he announced an end to one of the most successful careers in the sport.

Osborne's Cornhuskers have gone 59-3 in the past five years. (AP)

"I think it's wise to back off before you leave feet first or somebody tells you it's time to go," Osborne said.

The 60-year-old coach said he was retiring because of health problems and to spend more time with his family and at church. He had heart bypass surgery 13 years ago and was hospitalized with an irregular heartbeat last month.

HE WILL COACH HIS FINAL game when the No. 2 Cornhuskers play No. 3 Tennessee in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 2. If he wins -- and top-ranked Michigan loses to Washington State in the Rose Bowl -- his reign almost certainly will end with a national championship.

A team meeting for the game began like any other, quarterback Scott Frost said. Then Osborne broke the news.

"Everybody was totally quiet and you could hear a pin drop," Frost said. "Coach Osborne doesn't usually show any emotion ... but there was a tear in his eye."

At the crowded news conference, the coach once again showed his emotions. Usually stoical and composed, his eyes welled up as four of his players took the podium in front of about 300 people to offer their thanks.

"I care very much about those guys so that's what's been most difficult," Osborne said. "I hope at some point they will realize that I'm trying to do what's the best thing for them."

OSBORNE REJECTED THE IDEA OF CONTINUING to coach while delegating duties to top assistants. He said he didn't want to become a "figurehead coach." Longtime assistant Frank Solich, the running backs coach, will take over the team.

For a quarter-century, Osborne and Nebraska have been perennial powers, winning national titles in 1994 and 1995 and making 25 straight bowl appearances, including the upcoming Orange Bowl game.

But Osborne also had to weather his share of criticism in recent years for allowing players facing criminal charges to remain on the field. In 1995, he reinstated star tailback Lawrence Phillips to the team even after Phillips pleaded no contest to charges he assaulted an ex-girlfriend.

Osborne retires as the sixth winningest coach in NCAA Division I-A history, behind Bear Bryant, Pop Warner, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden.

Bowden, coach at Florida State, said he was "saddened" by Osborne's retirement.

"I just hate it," he said. "Tom Osborne is one of the good guys in coaching and in any profession. He's an icon in Nebraska and in this nation."

THE CORNHUSKERS ARE 59-3 over the past five seasons and have won at least 11 games in each of them, an NCAA record.

Osborne also is the winningest coach in the history of The Associated Press football poll. Since he took over in 1973, his teams have been ranked in 396 of 399 polls. Of those rankings, 327 have been in the top 10, including a current streak of 86 weeks.

Osborne's announcement follows the recent retirements of two of the most prominent coaches in college sports -- Eddie Robinson of Division I-AA Grambling, the winningest coach in college football; and Dean Smith of North Carolina, the winningest coach in college basketball.

Despite all his accomplishments, Osborne perhaps will be best remembered for his gutsy decision to go for two points and a win over Miami in the 1984 Orange Bowl.

After the Huskers pulled within 31-30 with 48 seconds left, they needed only a tie for the national title. The 2-point conversion pass was incomplete and Miami ended up with the championship.

"HE ACCOMPLISHED IT ALL," SAID DALLAS Cowboys coach Barry Switzer, who as coach of the rival Oklahoma Sooners battled Osborne for years in the old Big Eight Conference.

"No one won as consistently as Tom did," Switzer said. "He won every year and a lot of times he was undefeated. What more could he do?"

But with 15-hour days routine for many coaches, Osborne said it was time to slow down.

"What I've come to realize over the last three months is that I'm not going to sustain that pace for any length of time," he said.

He was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, which can produce varied and irregular heartbeats, and Osborne said patients are sometimes at risk for strokes.

Osborne predicted the Huskers won't change much under Solich, a 19-year assistant who has worked closely with the coach in designing Nebraska's offense.

"I don't know how you replace Tom Osborne as much as you follow him," Solich said. "In his 25 years, nobody has equaled him."

OSBORNE HAS A 254-49-3 CAREER RECORD -- and hopes to finish with win No. 255.

He said he didn't think his decision to retire would affect the resolve of the Cornhuskers (12-0) to beat Tennessee (11-1) in the Orange Bowl. Nonetheless, he said he hasn't even thought about strategy.

"My mind's kind of a blank slate right now," he said.

Osborne was an assistant coach to Bob Devaney's team that won titles in 1970 and 1971. Much like Solich taking over for Osborne, Devaney picked Osborne as his successor in 1973.

Osborne grew up in Hastings, the son of a minister, and showed talent in football, basketball and track.

After his 1959 graduation from Hastings College, he played three seasons in the NFL -- two with the Washington Redskins and one with the San Francisco 49ers -- as a reserve wide receiver.

OSBORNE RETURNED TO NEBRASKA AS A graduate assistant to Devaney in 1962. He became a part-time coach in 1964, full-time receiver coach in 1967 and later offensive coordinator under Devaney, who saw something special in the tall, thin, mild-mannered assistant.

Osborne had trouble beating rival Oklahoma early in his career, drawing the ire of some Nebraska fans. He ended a five-game losing streak to the Sooners and Switzer in 1978, only to have Oklahoma selected as Nebraska's Orange Bowl opponent. Switzer won the return match 31-24.

Osborne later used his early experiences with Oklahoma to reflect on struggles to win bowl games. Seven straight bowl losses from 1987 through 1993 gave him a label of being unable to win the big games.

That ended Jan. 1, 1995, with the Huskers' second-half dominance of the Hurricanes on Miami's home field at the Orange Bowl.

"He didn't just teach us football," Frost said. "By the example he sets, he teaches us how to be grown-ups, to be men. We're just going down to the Orange Bowl to make sure he goes out a winner."