Nixa Head Basketball Coach Jay Osborne has won more than 600 games during his 30-year career.
In recent years, Osborne has had a secret weapon on his bench.
“Having him on the bench keeps him from criticizing me in the stands,” said Jay Osborne.
You can call him a former high school official of 43 years. Or you can call him a Big 8 and Big 12 football official of 22 years. Jay Osborne just calls him dad.
“He does not let me call timeout,” said Duane Osborne, as his son nodded in agreement. “He does not let me substitute. And I can’t yell at the officials. So I just run a chart.”
That chart is where Duane Osborne shows Jay Osborne exactly what’s happening on every play. “It’s a chart that he kept when he was in high school,” said Jay Osborne. ” I kept it for him a few times for him when I was in junior high.”
It’s something not all coaches do. “I don’t know anybody else that does it,” said Jay Osborne. “I know some people chart games but I don’t know anybody that does it quite the way we do. So it’s pretty unique.”
Then again this whole situation is unique. Not all coaches are in the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and can lean on a Kansas Football Officials Hall Of Fame member for help. And if you ask Duane, he says he knew Jay would be a coach very early on.
“He would sit with strings on the carpet,” said Duane Osborne. “His mother would provide him with popcorn. He would put ten of them on there. Five of the kernels would be pointed in. Five would be pointed out. He was doing that at two and a half, three and a half years old.”
“I have no recollection of that,” responded the son.
After 39 years working in Kansas, about half of that as a high school principal and coach at Nickerson High where Jay played, Duane moved to Springfield in 2012. He slid right onto his son’s bench.
“It takes me back to good years growing up. A great life I had growing up with mom and dad,” said Jay Osborne.
