Frank Solich
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Frank Solich | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Title | Head Coach | |
| College | Ohio | |
| Sport | Football | |
| Team record | 19-18 (10-6 MAC) | |
| Born | September 8, 1944 | |
| Place of birth | Johnstown, Pennsylvania | |
| Career highlights | ||
| Overall | 77-37 | |
| Coaching stats | ||
| College Football DataWarehouse | ||
| Playing career | ||
| 1962-65 | Nebraska | |
| Position | Fullback | |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | ||
| 1998-2003 2005-Present |
Nebraska Ohio |
|
Frank Solich (born September 8, 1944 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, U.S.) is the head football coach of the Ohio Bobcats. He also was once a fullback and later the head coach for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Contents |
[edit] Background information
A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Solich prepped at Holy Name High School where he earned all-state, All-America and all-scholastic honors. He was a part of Bob Devaney’s first recruiting class at Nebraska, and became a standout for the Huskers in the mid-1960’s, where he earned the nickname "Fearless Frankie". An All-Big Eight fullback and co-captain of the Huskers’ 1965 team, his playing career earned him induction into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 1992. In NU's 27-17 win over Air Force in 1965, he ran for 204 yards on 17 carries, becoming the first Husker to run for 200 yards in a game, and subsequently the first Husker to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Solich is married to the former Pamela Wieck, of Beatrice, Nebraska, and they have two children, Cindy and Jeff. Cindy and her husband, Jon Dalton, have a daughter, Catherine, and two sons, Aaron and Jacob. Jeff and his wife Chara have a son, Cade.
[edit] High school coaching
He began his career in the Nebraska prep ranks, as head coach at Holy Name High School in Omaha in 1966 and 1967. His 1967 team was state runner-up. Solich then moved to Lincoln Southeast. In 11 years at Southeast, he compiled a record of 66-33-5 while capturing back-to-back Class A state titles in 1976 and 1977.
[edit] Nebraska roots
Solich later spent many more years back at the University of Nebraska as an assistant coach and later the head coach.
Solich spent 19 seasons as an assistant under Tom Osborne. In Solich’s 19 years as an assistant, the Huskers captured three national championships. Nebraska also won 11 conference titles.
Solich coached the Nebraska Cornhuskers from 1998-2003. He directed the Cornhusker program to six consecutive bowl games, including the national championship game in the Rose Bowl following the 2001 season. Nebraska won at least nine games in five of those six seasons, and finished among the top 10 teams in the nation three times. Solich compiled a 58 - 19 record at Nebraska.
Solich's 1999 Nebraska team defeated the University of Texas for the Big XII Conference championship. Solich claimed Big 12 Conference Coach-of-the-Year honors in both 1999 and 2001, and was one of seven finalists for the Paul "Bear" Bryant National Coach-of-the-Year Award in 2001.
For the first five years as head coach, Solich called all offensive plays. His offenses centered on the option. He also devised such plays as the Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass which became a highlight of Eric Crouch's Heisman-winning season in 2001.
After a 7-7 season in 2002, the Huskers' worst record since 1961, Solich shook up his staff. He gave up offensive play-calling duties to newly hired offensive coordinator Barney Cotton and brought in Bo Pelini, the linebackers coach for the Green Bay Packers, as defensive coordinator. 2003 began with Nebraska starting out 5-0, before suffering three key losses later in the year; 41-24 to Missouri, 31-7 to Texas and 38-9 to Kansas State. After the final game of the regular season, Solich was fired by new athletic director Steve Pederson, who justified the move by stating he would not "let Nebraska gravitate into mediocrity" and would not "surrender the Big 12 to Oklahoma and Texas"[1]. Pederson was ultimately fired four years later, largely as a result of the direction the football program took following the hire of Bill Callahan as Solich's replacement[2]. Six weeks after the firing of Pederson, Callahan was also dismissed.
[edit] Solich's time at Ohio University
After taking one season off, Solich was hired at Ohio University, and his impact on the football program was immediate. Plans were quickly put in place to renovate the football facilities and increase financial support for the football program. Also, Ohio was selected to appear on national television 6 times for the 2005 football season, a record for the program. Frank Solich's first home game as coach of the Ohio Bobcats was a memorable one, as Peden Stadium brought in its largest ever crowd on September 9, 2005, when 24,545 fans were in attendance to watch the Bobcats defeat the Pittsburgh Panthers 16-10. The Pitt-Ohio game also ranks among the most viewed regular season college football games ever on ESPN2. While the Bobcat's 2005 record under Solich (4-7) was the same as the team's record in the previous year under Brian Knorr, in 2006 Solich led the Bobcats to a 9-5 record including a MAC East Division Title and a GMAC Bowl bid. The bowl game, which Ohio lost to Southern Mississippi, 28-7, was the program's first bowl appearance since 1968.
In the 2007 season the Bobcats took a step backward and finished with a record of 6-6. Two of those losses were by less than three points, and a third was a close game with nationally ranked Virginia Tech. The Bobcats were one of 6 bowl eligible teams that missed the post-season.
[edit] Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nebraska (Big Twelve Conference) (1998 – 2003) | |||||||||
| 1998[3] | Nebraska | 9-4 | 5-3 | 2T ‡ | L 23-20 Holiday Bowl | 20 | 19 | ||
| 1999 | Nebraska | 12-1 | 7-1 | 1 ‡ | W 31-21 Fiesta Bowl † | 2 | 3 | ||
| 2000[4] | Nebraska | 10-2 | 6-2 | 1 ‡ | W 66-17 Alamo Bowl | 7 | 8 | ||
| 2001 | Nebraska | 11-2 | 7-1 | 1T ‡ | L 37-14 Rose Bowl † | 7 | 8 | ||
| 2002 | Nebraska | 7-7 | 3-5 | 4 ‡ | L 27-23 Independence Bowl | NR | NR | ||
| 2003 | Nebraska | 9-3* | 5-3 | 2 ‡ | W 17-3 Alamo Bowl* | 18 | 19 | ||
| Nebraska: | 58-19 | 33-15 | * DC Bo Pelini coached bowl game after Solich was fired.
‡ Big 12 North Division |
||||||
| Ohio (Mid-American Conference) (2005 — present) | |||||||||
| 2005[5] | Ohio | 4-7 | 3-5 | 4 | NR | NR | |||
| 2006[6] | Ohio | 9-5 | 7-1 | 1 | L 28-7 GMAC Bowl | NR | NR | ||
| 2007[7] | Ohio | 6-6 | 4-4 | 4T | NR | NR | |||
| 2008 | Ohio | 0-0 | 0-0 | ||||||
| Ohio: | 19-18 | 14-12 | ◊ Mid American East Division | ||||||
| Total: | |||||||||
| National Championship Conference Title Conference Division Title | |||||||||
| #Rankings from final Coaches Poll (started in 1950) of the season. °Rankings from final AP Poll of the season. |
|||||||||
[edit] External links
- Frank Solich Page on Ohiobobcats.com
- Ohio Bobcats Football
- December 16 Press Release Announcing Solich's hire at Ohio
- Frank Solich Instrumental in Husker Success Steve Hanway, bigrednetwork.com, July 5, 2006
| Preceded by Tom Osborne |
Nebraska Cornhuskers Football Coach 1998–2003 |
Succeeded by Bill Callahan |
| Preceded by Brian Knorr |
Ohio Bobcats Football Coach 2005– |
Succeeded by Current |
[edit] References
- ^ Pederson fired; Nebraska chancellor cites lack of football progress
- ^ Pederson lacked support to keep him in power
- ^ HuskerPedia Nebraska Cornhuskers results 1990-1999
- ^ HuskerPedia Nebraska Cornhuskers results 2000-2009
- ^ Vandelay Sports Ohio Results 2005
- ^ Vandelay Sports Ohio Results 2006
- ^ Vandelay Sports Ohio Results 2007
|
|||||
|
|||||
