The opportunity to play for a perennial Football Championship Subdivision title contender – and attend a school with "a lot more girls" than your average service academy – made Colin Osborne's decision to commit to James Madison last August an easy one.
Backing out of that commitment to attend the Naval Academy, however, proved nearly as simple. Osborne, a 5-foot-10, 190-pound running back from Glenelg, switched from the Dukes to the Midshipmen last week – a decision he made based primarily on education.
"I want to be sure I'm guaranteed a job after college," Osborne said. "I want to make sure that I'm set. With Navy, I knew that I'd be set when I graduate with some type of job. … My head wasn't really into education [at first]. It was more into JMU and living the free life. But then I had to get my head on straight. It's more about education, and Navy offered that. I knew I would have a better opportunity there than at JMU because the job economy today isn't that great."
Osborne, who rushed for 1,885 yards and 18 touchdowns on 246 carries as a senior, started hearing from the Navy coaches on a regular basis shortly after the conclusion of his season. With a brother currently serving his plebe year at the academy and a father that's a 24-year veteran of the Navy, it didn't take much convincing for Osborne to schedule an official visit to Annapolis."It came down to the family destiny," Osborne said. "I just knew. I knew all along. I just had a feeling that I was going to get an offer, and then I was going to commit there, even though I was happy with JMU. The college life that I thought I would receive at JMU, I was very excited about that. I'm not really excited about my college life at Navy at all. But I know in four years, I know I'll have made a good decision."
A Baltimore Sun first-team All-Metro selection, Osborne expects to play a role for the Mids similar to what he did for the Gladiators – serving as an every-down back with excellent speed that's not afraid to be physical. After a year at the Naval Academy Preparatory School, Osborne hopes to contribute to Navy sooner rather than later.
"They've seen my film and know that I'm versatile," Osborne said. "I'm able to get in the open field and that's pretty much what they do. You get the ball in the open field and they let you do something with it. I think I'll be able to get acclimated and hope I'll be very successful running the ball. I just want to be successful and one of my goals is to start. I don't want to wait until senior year to do it."
Osborne is considering a major in either aeronautical engineering or economics, with some thoughts of pursuing a career as a pilot. His family and friends couldn't be more excited about his decision.
"They are pumped," Osborne said of his classmates. "[They've said], 'You're going to Navy? I'm going to every game.' It's really an exciting time for me, just to be fortunate enough to get a scholarship to a Division I program. At Glenelg, not a lot of kids that come here go to that level. The last to go D-1A was 20 years ago. I want to be the guy out there that actually makes it and has success and has stories to tell. So everyone's excited. It's a great time."
Baltimore Sun photo of Colin Osborne by Jerry Jackson / Dec. 1, 2010