98 NU wasn't 9-3, it was Solich's first year and they lost 5 games! 00 USC was not Carroll, why would you count the coach that was fired?
Heh. It actually was 9-4. If you count the bowl game loss. And of course he would count the coach that was fired because he is comparing two programs over the course of a decade (albeit different decades).
4 games which was the most since the 1960s. That was a hint of things to come. You intentionally didn't put in the bowl game loss, because you have the bowl games in the other seasons!
Solich had the same regular season record his first year as TO did. Solich played for a NC in his 4th year. It took TO what 8-10 years? Depending on how you regard ties back in the day, TO really never had a stellar first 8 years as HC. In his first 6 years coaching, he lost at least 2 games and the majority of the time lost 3 games per season. Yep, it sure was a hint of things to come.
I love when people post and get the facts wrong. Osborne was 9-2-1 his first year - Solich won off Osbornes recruits until 2001 when they lost to miami in the rose bowl. solich's 1st year with his own guys he was 7-7. There's not a f**king person in this world that can convince me solich was a good coach.