This week Ohio State plays host to the Bobcats of Ohio University, led by Head Coach Frank Solich. Unlike the two previous coaches featured in this series, this is not Solich’s first head coaching position. In fact, Solich is far more well-known for his past head coaching position than for his current post. For those who may not be familiar with the man once called Fearless Frankie, let’s take a look at some history.
Solich is an Ohio native, having grown up in Cleveland in the 40’s and 50’s. He was recruited to play at the University of Nebraska (who we will welcome to the Big “Ten” next season) and went on to achieve great success at running back for the Huskers. Post-graduation, Solich began his coaching career in the high school realm, where he stayed for over 10 years before making the leap into the collegiate ranks, signing on with the coaching staff at his alma mater.
Solich would serve under the legendary Tom Osborne until 1997, primarily as the running backs coach, and was chosen as the successor to the head coaching position upon Osborne’s departure. To say that Solich had big shoes to fill would be a vast understatement, as some would claim that Osborne, who took the Cornhuskers to great heights during his tenure, not only ruled the football field, but also ruled Lincoln or even the whole state of Nebraska. In a way, Solich was entering a no-win situation, and therefore was bound to arouse the ire of the Nebraska faithful as a controversial figure. In 2003, Solich’s time at Nebraska came to a close. While his accomplishments at Nebraska would be considered extremely successful by most measures, taking over a program with a slim-to-nonexistent opportunity for improvement requires something near perfection to stick around for the long-term.
After taking a year off from coaching, Solich found his way to quaint Athens, Ohio, and his next opportunity at leading a team. Solich’s arrival brought some buzz to the Bobcats, garnering the largest crowd ever for an OU home game is his first outing. However, on the newfound Athens scale, this meant that a grand total of slightly over 24,500 came through the stadium turnstiles. A bit of a different environment from Lincoln, to say the least. Solich’s first season at the helm of the green and white only resulted in a 4-7 record, but in the next season the team saw an improvement to 9-5, claiming the MAC East title and reaching its first bowl game since 1968. For a program that had only won 11 total games in four seasons prior to Solich, this demonstrated significant progress.
To revisit the comparison of Solich to our coaches from the past two weeks, Holliday and Shannon, it is fair to say that the task of giving a clear-cut profile of the man is significantly more challenging. Some would say that Solich’s coaching prowess is questionable at best. Others would say that he’s the most underrated college football coach in the history of the college game. On the one hand, some of the off-field stories surrounding Solich’s indiscretions are somewhat bizarre. On the other hand, he makes the right choices when it comes to classic TV characters. In the end, it’s probably safe to say that Solich has some legitimate coaching skill, and that includes his time in Athens. After all, it can’t be the easiest task in the world to recruit for a school that’s not that far away from a major in-state competitor that’s sucking in talent right and left, if you know what I mean. However, there is little doubt that, even now, there are far more people in Lincoln than in Athens who are concerned with Solich and what he means to their football program. As Solich continues to line up quality opponents like the Buckeyes, it will be interesting to see if he’s able to establish a stand-alone reputation with the Bobcats of Ohio.
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