How would things have gone if we had retained Solich as coach?

[TGHusker]

Here is another WHAT IF: What if Tom had allowed the process of hiring his replacement to be placed squarely in the hand of the AD and he remained neutral. Would the AD go after Bob Stoops a year before OU did?

Stoops may have been able to keep the winning ways going at NU. I'm not sure what other coaches might have been in the mixed at that time but I'm sure there were plenty with better skill set than Frank. We needed a

good recruiter as limits were placed on us on non-qualifier players (I believe that is what they were called - those academic borderline athletes that Tom took chances on) from joining the Big 12.

 

[Gobigred44]

The only reason why I wish he might have been kept for 2004 is because he would have gone 5-6 or 6-5 that year and nobody would have any nostalgia for him. That and maybe our AD hires someone other than Callahan for the 2005 season.

 

[dvdcrr]

Here is a better question, what would have happened had Solich's '01 team not lost to a Miami team full of future NFL players & a couple NFL All-stars? A team almost everyone ranks top 5 all-time. The last 2 games of 2001 were bad for Solich & Co. I really think Solich could have putted along with 9 win seasons had he been retained nothing great, but nothing as bad as Callahan/Cosgrove.

Or what if the timing of our games would have been different? What if our week 3 and week 9 games had been switched around?

In 2001 we didn't make it to the B12 CCG. Nonetheless, we got into the Rose Bowl with Miami because we were ranked so highly. But if our week 12 game (Colorado blowout) and week 3 game (Notre Dame win) had been switched around, we would have had an early loss and probably wouldn't have been ranked higher than 7th or 8th by the end of the year. We would not have gotten into the Rose Bowl, and would not have gotten creamed by Miami. And the blowout loss to Colorado would have been a distant memory followed by nine regular season wins. In that scenario there's almost no way Solich gets fired after the season. And as an added bonus, it would have been Colorado who got annihilated on national TV by the Hurricanes.

Agree if we win the bowl game. Also that Colorado squad was hot at the end. Whos to say they couldnt have beaten Miami.

 

[Gobigred44]

He inherited a program that had won 3 NCS in 4 years, which is something no program had done since 1946-49 Notre Dame. If it weren't for home team officiating vs FSU in the January 94 Orange Bowl, we would have had 4 titles in 5 years, which no team has done in the AP Poll era. (Maybe some ancient Minnesota Harvard or Yale teams did so before the polls.) In the 37 years before him we had gone .834 which is more than 50 points better than the next best team. (Penn State)

The posters on this website might have been able to start 42-7 taking over in those circumstances. I still am mystified by the 9-4 record in 98 though- I'd argue that was an even worse coaching job than 03 because it was right after the 94-97 stretch. The 17-12 stretch to end his career showed what kind of coach he was. I'll admit that I was fooled by the 36-3 stretch before the CU game. I came to believe that 98 was just a tough transition period where the players were getting used to a new coach and Solich himself was learning how to be a head coach. The CU and Miami routs to end the season put a bad taste in my mouth and I had some doubts about him by the time those 2 games ended. After 02 I and most fans wanted him fired. If he had been fired after 7-7 in 2002, I doubt very many people would be questioning his firing and feeling nostalgia for him. But he got another year and was routed in 3 games vs a weak schedule and managed wins in the other 9.

Since then he's been an 80-61 coach in the MAC. If he had gone .800 at Ohio with wins or at least appearances in BCS bowls maybe I'd think his firing was a mistake.

 

[NUance]

Here is a better question, what would have happened had Solich's '01 team not lost to a Miami team full of future NFL players & a couple NFL All-stars? A team almost everyone ranks top 5 all-time. The last 2 games of 2001 were bad for Solich & Co. I really think Solich could have putted along with 9 win seasons had he been retained nothing great, but nothing as bad as Callahan/Cosgrove.

Or what if the timing of our games would have been different? What if our week 3 and week 9 games had been switched around?

In 2001 we didn't make it to the B12 CCG. Nonetheless, we got into the Rose Bowl with Miami because we were ranked so highly. But if our week 12 game (Colorado blowout) and week 3 game (Notre Dame win) had been switched around, we would have had an early loss and probably wouldn't have been ranked higher than 7th or 8th by the end of the year. We would not have gotten into the Rose Bowl, and would not have gotten creamed by Miami. And the blowout loss to Colorado would have been a distant memory followed by nine regular season wins. In that scenario there's almost no way Solich gets fired after the season. And as an added bonus, it would have been Colorado who got annihilated on national TV by the Hurricanes.

Agree if we win the bowl game. Also that Colorado squad was hot at the end. Whos to say they couldnt have beaten Miami.

Good point! CU early in the year was a different team than CU in December/January. The Buffs lost to Fresno first game of the year. Fresno! Then in October Texas wiped out Colorado 41-7. But after the Texas loss Colo ran the table all the way, until meeting #2 Oregon in their bowl. During that stretch CU beat Texas in the B12 CCG In December. Who knows, maybe we would have given the Buffs a run for their money back in September before they got hot? It certainly couldn't have been any worse than the beatdown that we took in November.

 

[RedSavage]

From Wikipedia

The following Nebraska players who participated in the 2002 season later moved on to the next level and joined a professional or semi-pro team as draftees or free agents.[3]

Name Team Demoine Adams Edmonton Eskimos Titus Adams New York Jets Ryon Bingham San Diego Chargers Josh Brown Seattle Seahawks Daniel Bullocks Detroit Lions Josh Bullocks New Orleans Saints Adam Carriker St. Louis Rams Josh Davis New York Jets Aaron Golliday Scottish Claymores DeJuan Groce St. Louis Rams T. J. Hollowell New York Giants Richie Incognito St. Louis Rams Trevor Johnson New York Jets Patrick Kabongo Detroit Lions Chris Kelsay Buffalo Bills Sam Koch Baltimore Ravens Kyle Larson Cincinnati Bengals Jammal Lord Houston Texans Jay Moore San Francisco 49ers Jerrell Pippens Chicago Bears Cory Ross Baltimore Ravens Barrett Ruud Tampa Bay Buccaneers Scott Shanle St. Louis Rams Le Kevin Smith New England Patriots Fabian Washington Oakland Raiders Demorrio Williams Atlanta Falcons

Frank took a team with that much talent and went freaking 7-7. That year was the icing on the cake that told me all I needed to know about Frank as a coach.

(It was a nice chart until I clicked post, ha)

 

[Gobigred44]

Here is a better question, what would have happened had Solich's '01 team not lost to a Miami team full of future NFL players & a couple NFL All-stars? A team almost everyone ranks top 5 all-time. The last 2 games of 2001 were bad for Solich & Co. I really think Solich could have putted along with 9 win seasons had he been retained nothing great, but nothing as bad as Callahan/Cosgrove.

Or what if the timing of our games would have been different? What if our week 3 and week 9 games had been switched around?

In 2001 we didn't make it to the B12 CCG. Nonetheless, we got into the Rose Bowl with Miami because we were ranked so highly. But if our week 12 game (Colorado blowout) and week 3 game (Notre Dame win) had been switched around, we would have had an early loss and probably wouldn't have been ranked higher than 7th or 8th by the end of the year. We would not have gotten into the Rose Bowl, and would not have gotten creamed by Miami. And the blowout loss to Colorado would have been a distant memory followed by nine regular season wins. In that scenario there's almost no way Solich gets fired after the season. And as an added bonus, it would have been Colorado who got annihilated on national TV by the Hurricanes.

Agree if we win the bowl game. Also that Colorado squad was hot at the end. Whos to say they couldnt have beaten Miami.

Good point! CU early in the year was a different team than CU in December/January. The Buffs lost to Fresno first game of the year. Fresno! Then in October Texas wiped out Colorado 41-7. But after the Texas loss Colo ran the table all the way, until meeting #2 Oregon in their bowl. During that stretch CU beat Texas in the B12 CCG In December. Who knows, maybe we would have given the Buffs a run for their money back in September before they got hot? It certainly couldn't have been any worse than the beatdown that we took in November.

So we might win the North Division and instead of getting routed by CU we might have been routed by Texas in the conference title game. Hooray! Under that circumstance Texas would have played Miami for the national title and we probably have lost badly in our BCS bowl to a team other than Miami. The good news under this circumstance is that then the Solich defenders wouldn't have the excuse of saying after the bowl rout "But they were playing an NFL team in the Miami Hurricanes." And 1995 Nebraska would have murdered that 01 Miami team. Heck that Miami team that routed Solich's NU almost lost 2 games. 2001 Miami beat Va Tech on an inexplicably dropped 2 point conversion pass that the posters on the site should have been able to catch and the Canes needed a 95 yard fumble return with under a minute left to clinch victory over Boston College.

 

[Landlord]

From Wikipedia

The following Nebraska players who participated in the 2002 season later moved on to the next level and joined a professional or semi-pro team as draftees or free agents.[3]

Name Team Demoine Adams Edmonton Eskimos Titus Adams New York Jets Ryon Bingham San Diego Chargers Josh Brown Seattle Seahawks Daniel Bullocks Detroit Lions Josh Bullocks New Orleans Saints Adam Carriker St. Louis Rams Josh Davis New York Jets Aaron Golliday Scottish Claymores DeJuan Groce St. Louis Rams T. J. Hollowell New York Giants Richie Incognito St. Louis Rams Trevor Johnson New York Jets Patrick Kabongo Detroit Lions Chris Kelsay Buffalo Bills Sam Koch Baltimore Ravens Kyle Larson Cincinnati Bengals Jammal Lord Houston Texans Jay Moore San Francisco 49ers Jerrell Pippens Chicago Bears Cory Ross Baltimore Ravens Barrett Ruud Tampa Bay Buccaneers Scott Shanle St. Louis Rams Le Kevin Smith New England Patriots Fabian Washington Oakland Raiders Demorrio Williams Atlanta Falcons

Frank took a team with that much talent and went freaking 7-7. That year was the icing on the cake that told me all I needed to know about Frank as a coach.

(It was a nice chart until I clicked post, ha)

wait so was he a bad recruiter or not lol

 

[hskrpwr13]

The only reason why I wish he might have been kept for 2004 is because he would have gone 5-6 or 6-5 that year and nobody would have any nostalgia for him. That and maybe our AD hires someone other than Callahan for the 2005 season.

No chance. We lost a lot of games in 04 to lesser teams because the available talent didnt fit Mr. "I'm not gonna put square pegs in round holes" scheme.

 

[ColoradoHusk]

Here is a better question, what would have happened had Solich's '01 team not lost to a Miami team full of future NFL players & a couple NFL All-stars? A team almost everyone ranks top 5 all-time. The last 2 games of 2001 were bad for Solich & Co. I really think Solich could have putted along with 9 win seasons had he been retained nothing great, but nothing as bad as Callahan/Cosgrove.

Or what if the timing of our games would have been different? What if our week 3 and week 9 games had been switched around?

In 2001 we didn't make it to the B12 CCG. Nonetheless, we got into the Rose Bowl with Miami because we were ranked so highly. But if our week 12 game (Colorado blowout) and week 3 game (Notre Dame win) had been switched around, we would have had an early loss and probably wouldn't have been ranked higher than 7th or 8th by the end of the year. We would not have gotten into the Rose Bowl, and would not have gotten creamed by Miami. And the blowout loss to Colorado would have been a distant memory followed by nine regular season wins. In that scenario there's almost no way Solich gets fired after the season. And as an added bonus, it would have been Colorado who got annihilated on national TV by the Hurricanes.

Agree if we win the bowl game. Also that Colorado squad was hot at the end. Whos to say they couldnt have beaten Miami.

Good point! CU early in the year was a different team than CU in December/January. The Buffs lost to Fresno first game of the year. Fresno! Then in October Texas wiped out Colorado 41-7. But after the Texas loss Colo ran the table all the way, until meeting #2 Oregon in their bowl. During that stretch CU beat Texas in the B12 CCG In December. Who knows, maybe we would have given the Buffs a run for their money back in September before they got hot? It certainly couldn't have been any worse than the beatdown that we took in November.

To be fair to Colorado, Fresno State was pretty salty that year. David Carr was their QB that year, and they also beat #10 Oregon State (under Erickson at the time) and #23 Wisconsin early in the season. Colorado started out slow and then went on a run the last half of the season when Bobby Pasavento took over as QB and they focused on running the ball.

 

[Gobigred44]

Was the Colorado game originally scheduled to have been played the Saturday after September 11? That might be the case but I doubt it since CU capped our regular season almost every year after the Big 12 separated into divisions. I'm not sure why else people would be talking about changing the date 2 games were played- that's one of the oddest hypotheticals I've ever heard.

If we're on those types of hypotheticals, 1983 Nebraska would have beaten 1983 Miami on almost any date if that date hadn't been January 1,1984. Even if the game were played in the Orange Bowl, Nebraska would have won if the game were on 1/2/1984, 12/31/1983, or any of the 12 dates in the regular season. Osborne wouldn't have had to coach for more than 20 years before getting a national title. But the only results that count are the results from January 1,1984.

And guess what? The only NU-CU result from 2001 that counts is the result from 11/23/2001. Colorado 62 Nebraska 36. Not what would have happened if a bunch of Muslim terrorists hadn't crashed into NYC and Washington DC buildings and caused CFB games for 9/13/2001 to be postponed.

 

[NUance]

Was the Colorado game originally scheduled to have been played the Saturday after September 11? That might be the case but I doubt it since CU capped our regular season almost every year after the Big 12 separated into divisions. I'm not sure why else people would be talking about changing the date 2 games were played- that's one of the oddest hypotheticals I've ever heard.

If we're on those types of hypotheticals, 1983 Nebraska would have beaten 1983 Miami on almost any date if that date hadn't been January 1,1984. Even if the game were played in the Orange Bowl, Nebraska would have won if the game were on 1/2/1984, 12/31/1983, or any of the 12 dates in the regular season. Osborne wouldn't have had to coach for more than 20 years before getting a national title. But the only results that count are the results from January 1,1984.

And guess what? The only NU-CU result from 2001 that counts is the result from 11/23/2001. Colorado 62 Nebraska 36. Not what would have happened if a bunch of Muslim terrorists hadn't crashed into NYC and Washington DC buildings and caused CFB games for 9/13/2001 to be postponed.

But isn't that the whole point of this thread? What would have happened if (insert alternative universe occurrence here).

Of course there's no right answer. Just opinions. And we all know what those are like.

 

[Stumpy1]

The difference is that Miles knew the importance of recruiting and is good at it. It can be argued that he just continued the Saban way of SEC $$$$ recruiting, but either way he still got the athletes there.

So, where are all of Miles' National Championships? I mean, he does have all that talent. At least, according to you.

Also, Elf's point still stands, the players in 2003 didn't look anything like any team during the TO era.

You are either too young to remember, willfully ignorant of Osborne's career (outside of the mid to late '90s), a BRBer, or a troll, because your posts are chock full of Solich hate.

The players of the 1990 team, didn't look like anything resembling the '93 through '97 teams. And that 1990 team was preseason #1 in at least one of the polls. They ended the year with two consecutive blowouts, albeit, to at least one who won a share of the MNC. And, if it wasn't for Bienemy's gifts in the form of 4 fumbles, CU would have blown them out in Lincoln.

Solich's 2003 team would have defeated that 1990 team pretty easily.

For those who still think Solich couldn't recruit, does the name Mike Rozier mean anything to you?

Even a blind squirrel will find an acorn every once in awhile.

 

[AFhusker]

The only reason why I wish he might have been kept for 2004 is because he would have gone 5-6 or 6-5 that year and nobody would have any nostalgia for him. That and maybe our AD hires someone other than Callahan for the 2005 season.

No chance. We lost a lot of games in 04 to lesser teams because the available talent didnt fit Mr. "I'm not gonna put square pegs in round holes" scheme.

You do realize that Joe Dailey who is the worst QB in modern NU history was the only scholarship QB on that team. Can you imagine him trying to run the option? The point is that he was so bad it didn't matter what offense we had, we were going to suck with him at QB. Not to mention we only had three DL on the team. 44 is right, SP screwed up by not letting Frank fall on his own sword in 2004 and then we "shouldn't" have all of this uneducated love for him for killing the program.

 

[AFhusker]

The difference is that Miles knew the importance of recruiting and is good at it. It can be argued that he just continued the Saban way of SEC $$$$ recruiting, but either way he still got the athletes there.

So, where are all of Miles' National Championships? I mean, he does have all that talent. At least, according to you.

Also, Elf's point still stands, the players in 2003 didn't look anything like any team during the TO era.

You are either too young to remember, willfully ignorant of Osborne's career (outside of the mid to late '90s), a BRBer, or a troll, because your posts are chock full of Solich hate.

The players of the 1990 team, didn't look like anything resembling the '93 through '97 teams. And that 1990 team was preseason #1 in at least one of the polls. They ended the year with two consecutive blowouts, albeit, to at least one who won a share of the MNC. And, if it wasn't for Bienemy's gifts in the form of 4 fumbles, CU would have blown them out in Lincoln.

Solich's 2003 team would have defeated that 1990 team pretty easily.

For those who still think Solich couldn't recruit, does the name Mike Rozier mean anything to you?

Even a blind squirrel will find an acorn every once in awhile.

The difference is that Miles knew the importance of recruiting and is good at it. It can be argued that he just continued the Saban way of SEC $$$$ recruiting, but either way he still got the athletes there.

So, where are all of Miles' National Championships? I mean, he does have all that talent. At least, according to you.

Also, Elf's point still stands, the players in 2003 didn't look anything like any team during the TO era.

You are either too young to remember, willfully ignorant of Osborne's career (outside of the mid to late '90s), a BRBer, or a troll, because your posts are chock full of Solich hate.

The players of the 1990 team, didn't look like anything resembling the '93 through '97 teams. And that 1990 team was preseason #1 in at least one of the polls. They ended the year with two consecutive blowouts, albeit, to at least one who won a share of the MNC. And, if it wasn't for Bienemy's gifts in the form of 4 fumbles, CU would have blown them out in Lincoln.

Solich's 2003 team would have defeated that 1990 team pretty easily.

For those who still think Solich couldn't recruit, does the name Mike Rozier mean anything to you?

Even a blind squirrel will find an acorn every once in awhile.

You are correct about that. I guess because he apparently recruited Rozier, that means that he didn't suck at recruiting as a Head Coach? Makes perfect sense to me.

Miles does have a National Championship in 2007. IMAmaRedfan or whatever his name is has to then resort to call people who give facts as "ignorant" then makes a guarentee that one of the worst teams in NU history in 2003 would beat the 1990 NU team which was not preseason #1 and got as high as #3 before losing three of their last four games. Mainly because of Micky Flowers injury. But I am not supposed to know that because I am ignorant because I am willing to tell the truth that Frank destroyed NU football as we knew it.