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

[BRV920]

Destroyed Husker football? That statement is laughable.

 

[cm husker]

Who is "Mickey Flowers"?

 

[Gobigred44]

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.

Saban was on[SIZE=10pt]ly .750 at [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]LSU. Certain[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]ly good but not anywhere c[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]lose to as he's done at Bama. Mi[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]les did not inherit anywhere c[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]lose to as great of a situation as So[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]lich did. P[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]lus Mi[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]les is competiting against the SEC West division whi[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]le So[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]lich was in the Big 12 North. [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]Peop[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]le a[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]lways underrate Mi[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]les because he does some seeming[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]ly goofy moves that genera[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]l[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]ly wor[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]k out. Mi[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]les is a great coach no matter how unconventiona[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]l he is.[/SIZE]

 

[Gobigred44]

So peop[SIZE=10pt]le are defending So[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]lich by saying some of his teams were better than Osborne's 1990 c[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]lub. Which was by far the worst team Osborne coached. Two of the 1990 team's [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]losses were to Ga Tech and Co[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]lorado who sp[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]lit that year's nationa[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]l tit[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]le. Those are far better than the teams the 2003 team [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]lost to. Rea[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]l[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]ly the #24 fina[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]l rating that team got was too [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]low- around #15-17 wou[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]ld have been more reasonab[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]le. [/SIZE]

And the bottom [SIZE=10pt]line is that year was the [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]low point of Osborne's tenure. Honest[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]ly I be[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]lieve that Osborne's second worst team was better than every sing[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]le So[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]lich team except 1999. I'd have to [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]loo[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]k for a bit to even figure out what Osborne's second worst team was.[/SIZE]

 

[flfmrredfan]

Miles is a great coach no matter how unconventional he is.

Never stated one way or another. I was merely pointing out to a poster (in a round about way) that talent alone does not guarantee a run like NU had in the mid to late '90s.

 

[flfmrredfan]

So people are defending Solich by saying some of his teams were better than Osborne's 1990 club. Which was by far the worst team Osborne coached. Two of the 1990 team's losses were to Ga Tech and Colorado who split that year's national title.

No, I was not. I was pointing out how Osborne's tenure did NOT always consist of teams like those he had in the mid to late '90s. Reading comprehension people. Learn it, use it.

According to some, Osborne's whole career was like the mid to late '90s with talent laden teams. Yet they conveniently skip years like I point out. In fact, his 1977 team wasn't that good either, talent wise, and ended up in the Bluebonnet Bowl. He was given the proper support by a much smarter AD than NU has now, and as a result, the mid to late '90s happened, with some other highlights, like 1981-1983, mid '80s, and of course, the lows. All thanks to Devaney. Because if some of the fans on this forum were around then, they would have screamed for Osborne to be fired several times.

 

[flfmrredfan]

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.

Outside of results like the mid to late '90s, SPEM would not have retained Solich.

 

[NUinID]

Lots of interesting talk here. Well, here is my 2 cents.

I would have retained him for the simple fact I wanted to see what his new staff could do as far as recruiting goes. The staff he put together in 2003 was really good and may have ended up great. If it didn't work out he could have been fired in 2005.

Comparing what he has done at Ohio vs.Nebraska is laughable. He has turned them into a consistant player in the MAC conference. In the MAC you are going to be up and down record wise, because it is hard to recruit consistantly. You really can't just reload, you have to rebuild. Ohio was perpetually one of the worst teams in the MAC before FS got there now they are contenders about every 3rd year and generally around .500 in off years.

Personally I don't think FS would have stayed at NU that long if he would have been successful after the staff changes. I think if he could have won a couple of conference titles from say 03-09 I think he would have retired. He would have done a decent job and left on a high note.

No one was going to be happy with FS unless he had anything close to TO success from 93-97. No one, do you understand what I am saying. No one was happy with TO for the first 5 years he was head coach either.

 

[Joe_5700]

He has to be close to retirement at Ohio? Has he done anything of significance there?

3 MAC East Championships when prior coaches had 0. He got them to a bowl for the first time since 1968 in 2007. Considering how bad Ohio Bobcat football was, Solich has definitely made them competitive. I don't think it is easy to win there.

 

[Enhance]

Frank Solich is a good coach and he probably didn't deserve being let go in '03. But, it is incredibly easy to play the hindsight game with Solich given that he's gone on to have success at Ohio and Nebraska has been an above average team. The climate around Nebraska football was so much different at the time. Heck, in '03, the prior ten years dating back to '93 included five times they competed for a national title and three times they won. The last 10 years of Husker football from 2016 to 2006 include four conference title appearances with no victories and two below .500 seasons.

My point is our expectations and success were on a different level, and when you throw on the way '01 ended, a bad '02 season, questionable recruiting and some other concerns... his firing was reasonably justified.

That said, given the way the '03 season went, it would have been interesting to see what happened in the next couple seasons.

 

[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)

wait so was he a bad recruiter or not lol

TO recruited majority of those players

 

[dergibog]

Probably FS biggest deficiency was his inability to recruit a great QB. Actually Jamal Lord deserves a ton of thanks for carrying the team on his shoulders for a couple of years and sacrificing his career as a safety.

Heisman trophy winner Eric Crouch comes to mind. Frank had to recruit him twice, to keep him in Lincoln.

 

[Gobigred44]

He should have been fired after 02. There are 2 reasons why I still wish he had been dumped after 02.

1. If he had ended at 7-7 rather than 9-3, nobody would miss him. Nobody would argue his firing was unfair.

2. I have no idea who the new coach in 03 would have been. But hopefully his name wouldn't have been Bill Callahan.

 

[Gobigred44]

Who in the world can take a team with 3 titles in 4 years and go 9-4 in year 1? That is just astoundingly awful. Opponents of Solich mostly cite the 7-7 season but I want to cite the 98 season as well. If there ever has been a season where it was justified to fire a coach after 1 year this might have been it.

 

[cm husker]

Losing 5 of top 6 linemen, an all pro level back, and starting freshman QBs (who got injured as I recall) is a decent reason to go 9-4 that year. 2 of the losses were to top 10 teams (that finished #4 and #10). Another was to an 18th ranked team that finished #11 and a Texas team that finished #15.

Each of those losses were by 10 or less and 3 of them were by a score or less.

People are pretty unfair when evaluating Frank, especially as a first time HC.