Sipple: Time to honor Frank Solich at NU, Osborne says

[Comish]

Yes, thank you for putting our program in the gutter. Just stay away Frank, you did enough damage.

 

Did you ever see him play? 158lbs at fullback and always left it all out on the field. We seem to have had quite a few great running backs, when he was coaching the r/b's position. He is a Husker through and through. You must be one of those "what have you done for me lately" guys.

 

GBR!!!

 

His playing days have nothing to do with his coaching at NU. If anything, it's more appalling that since he is one of us that he allowed the program to get lazy. I never understood why people don't hold that against him.

 

Interesting that you include yourself in the "one of us" cadre when I'm guessing your particular contributions to Husker football don't quite measure up to Franks.....................just a guess though.........

 

And regardless of what you think of his coaching abilities, thirty some odd years of service to the program as player, coordinator, and head coach probably deserve a modicum of respect from every Husker fan for longevity alone. (unless you think Pederson was "justified" in his adolescent behavior pulling all references to Frank from the football offices as if they never existed)

 

I'd bet that when they do honor Solich, Memorial stadium will respond with a thunderous and sustained ovation of respect.

[Polarhusker]

Yes, thank you for putting our program in the gutter. Just stay away Frank, you did enough damage.

 

Did you ever see him play? 158lbs at fullback and always left it all out on the field. We seem to have had quite a few great running backs, when he was coaching the r/b's position. He is a Husker through and through. You must be one of those "what have you done for me lately" guys.

 

GBR!!!

 

His playing days have nothing to do with his coaching at NU. If anything, it's more appalling that since he is one of us that he allowed the program to get lazy. I never understood why people don't hold that against him.

 

Interesting that you include yourself in the "one of us" cadre when I'm guessing your particular contributions to Husker football don't quite measure up to Franks.....................just a guess though.........

 

And regardless of what you think of his coaching abilities, thirty some odd years of service to the program as player, coordinator, and head coach probably deserve a modicum of respect from every Husker fan for longevity alone. (unless you think Pederson was "justified" in his adolescent behavior pulling all references to Frank from the football offices as if they never existed)

 

I'd bet that when they do honor Solich, Memorial stadium will respond with a thunderous and sustained ovation of respect.

 

good post.

[AFhusker]

Yes, thank you for putting our program in the gutter. Just stay away Frank, you did enough damage.

 

Did you ever see him play? 158lbs at fullback and always left it all out on the field. We seem to have had quite a few great running backs, when he was coaching the r/b's position. He is a Husker through and through. You must be one of those "what have you done for me lately" guys.

 

GBR!!!

 

His playing days have nothing to do with his coaching at NU. If anything, it's more appalling that since he is one of us that he allowed the program to get lazy. I never understood why people don't hold that against him.

 

Interesting that you include yourself in the "one of us" cadre when I'm guessing your particular contributions to Husker football don't quite measure up to Franks.....................just a guess though.........

 

And regardless of what you think of his coaching abilities, thirty some odd years of service to the program as player, coordinator, and head coach probably deserve a modicum of respect from every Husker fan for longevity alone. (unless you think Pederson was "justified" in his adolescent behavior pulling all references to Frank from the football offices as if they never existed)

 

I'd bet that when they do honor Solich, Memorial stadium will respond with a thunderous and sustained ovation of respect.

 

Your first sentence is pure retardation.

 

SP taking any reference to Frank away was stupid. As I said before I'm not a defender of SP. He totally botched Franks situation and screwed over the school, but that doen't hide the fact that Frank deserved to be canned.

 

And I'm sure they will give him an ovation, that's because we have a very dumb fan base that does't look at facts. Then you throw in arrogance in thinking that we are the best fans in the country on top of that and it gets worse. That's why I want to puke every time someone mentions that NU fans are "the best in college football" because this past decade proved otherwise.

[Rocketsocks]

Your first sentence is pure retardation.

 

SP taking any reference to Frank away was stupid. As I said before I'm not a defender of SP. He totally botched Franks situation and screwed over the school, but that doen't hide the fact that Frank deserved to be canned.

 

And I'm sure they will give him an ovation, that's because we have a very dumb fan base that does't look at facts. Then you throw in arrogance in thinking that we are the best fans in the country on top of that and it gets worse. That's why I want to puke every time someone mentions that NU fans are "the best in college football" because this past decade proved otherwise.

 

With fans like these, who needs enemies?

[Comish]

Yes, thank you for putting our program in the gutter. Just stay away Frank, you did enough damage.

 

Did you ever see him play? 158lbs at fullback and always left it all out on the field. We seem to have had quite a few great running backs, when he was coaching the r/b's position. He is a Husker through and through. You must be one of those "what have you done for me lately" guys.

 

GBR!!!

 

His playing days have nothing to do with his coaching at NU. If anything, it's more appalling that since he is one of us that he allowed the program to get lazy. I never understood why people don't hold that against him.

 

Interesting that you include yourself in the "one of us" cadre when I'm guessing your particular contributions to Husker football don't quite measure up to Franks.....................just a guess though.........

 

And regardless of what you think of his coaching abilities, thirty some odd years of service to the program as player, coordinator, and head coach probably deserve a modicum of respect from every Husker fan for longevity alone. (unless you think Pederson was "justified" in his adolescent behavior pulling all references to Frank from the football offices as if they never existed)

 

I'd bet that when they do honor Solich, Memorial stadium will respond with a thunderous and sustained ovation of respect.

 

Your first sentence is pure retardation.

 

SP taking any reference to Frank away was stupid. As I said before I'm not a defender of SP. He totally botched Franks situation and screwed over the school, but that doen't hide the fact that Frank deserved to be canned.

 

And I'm sure they will give him an ovation, that's because we have a very dumb fan base that does't look at facts. Then you throw in arrogance in thinking that we are the best fans in the country on top of that and it gets worse. That's why I want to puke every time someone mentions that NU fans are "the best in college football" because this past decade proved otherwise.

 

So your contention is that if/when FS gets recognized and receives a standing ovation, it will only be because we have "a very dumb fan base" ? Could it conceivably be that (even among the FS haters), an ovation might just be civility ?

 

For what it's worth, I agree with you that the "best fans in the country" moniker gets a little shopworn (especially if used as a form of self-aggrandizement by ourselves). However, when "outsiders" choose to apply that label we ought to be proud of it.

 

Every fan base has it's passionate supporters who tend to miss the blind spots in their program. But, I don't think it's arrogance and/or ignorance to recognize someone who spent most of his life invested in Husker football and reward him with some gratitude and respect.

[irafreak]

This isn't hard to understand people. Frank Solich followed two of college's greatest coaches. He was hamstrung in his coaching hires as Osborne wanted the whole staff to remain intact. Choosing FS over other coaches caused some ruffling of feathers...it's only natural for people who coached as loyal as Solich and not get picked.

 

It was said that Charlie McBride was to retire after the 97 season but Osborne talked him out of it to help get FS off on the right foot. That's why the 99 team was FS best. We had a breakdown at the end of 01. This cannot be blamed on FS. Colorado gashed us over and over with a simple counter play and our LBs were out of position. This is a defensive issue. Miami had more team speed and overall talent and beat us.

 

Osborne created a machine that honestly couldn't last in this day and age. Bama even with Saban will not be in the title game talk every year. They will drop off from time to time.

 

I think it's unfortunate that FS is always judged by his failure to be as amazing as TO, a 7-7 season, and a final year in which we got beat soundly by one of the best teams in the country that probably would've been playing for a title had they not lost their qb for the beginning of their season.

 

He's a solid HC. In over his head at Nebraska? Who really knows. He wasn't given a fair shake. He couldn't just make up his own staff and it WAS his first HC gig. The hate directed at FS is done so out of ignorance and unrealistic expectations.

[skersfan]

Most Nebraska fans can be included in the greatest, others who have little appreciation in what a coach does for the program for more than 30 years, knowing that he loved this program more than anything on earth, and in end failing, in his mind the worst defeat imagineable, really do not understand the moto of Nebraska. Should have he been fired, most likely, but that does not take his love, dedication and loyalty away from the man. He gave more to this program than anyone around, more even than Osborne or Devaney. He played the game for Nebraska, and was inspirational to many home grown Nebraska players with that. He coached the program and developed some of the best running backs the game has ever known. His failure was tragic. His efforts should not be questioned for loyalty. Overwhelmed would be the problem, not ready to be a head coach possibly, but never in the slightest a desire to fail, to take Nebraska down. His only goal was to continue Nebraska's great history. Imagine what he felt when he realized he could not. He deserves our kind words, the great ovation that the Nebraska fans owe him.

 

Thank You Frank, you were my high school idol, you gave me the tools to play the game, when all said I was too small, but you showed everyone that it is the size of the fight in the dog, not the size of the dog in the fight.

 

So as one of the dumbest fans of Nebraska, I certainly hope we find a way to make this happen.

[VectorVictor]

This isn't hard to understand people. Frank Solich followed two of college's greatest coaches. He was hamstrung in his coaching hires as Osborne wanted the whole staff to remain intact. Choosing FS over other coaches caused some ruffling of feathers...it's only natural for people who coached as loyal as Solich and not get picked.

 

It was said that Charlie McBride was to retire after the 97 season but Osborne talked him out of it to help get FS off on the right foot. That's why the 99 team was FS best. We had a breakdown at the end of 01. This cannot be blamed on FS. Colorado gashed us over and over with a simple counter play and our LBs were out of position. This is a defensive issue. Miami had more team speed and overall talent and beat us.

 

Osborne created a machine that honestly couldn't last in this day and age. Bama even with Saban will not be in the title game talk every year. They will drop off from time to time.

 

I think it's unfortunate that FS is always judged by his failure to be as amazing as TO, a 7-7 season, and a final year in which we got beat soundly by one of the best teams in the country that probably would've been playing for a title had they not lost their qb for the beginning of their season.

 

He's a solid HC. In over his head at Nebraska? Who really knows. He wasn't given a fair shake. He couldn't just make up his own staff and it WAS his first HC gig. The hate directed at FS is done so out of ignorance and unrealistic expectations.

 

IRAFreak, I think you give Frank too much credit. Granted, I understand this is to counter the derp being thrown his way, but you're going a *wee* bit overboard IMO...

 

Granted, I'm not trying to **** on Frank--he did a lot right while he was a head coach.

 

But when Frank was able to start installing his staff, we got hits (Pelini, Sanders) and misses (Barney Cotton, Craig Bohl). We got perhaps one of the most memerable OU/NU matches and one of the most enigmatic QBs to receive a Heisman under Frank...but we also got the Colorado debacle and Jamaal Lord. While Osborne and, most of the time, Devaney were able to have their successes outweigh their miscues, Frank wasn't so lucky--his miscues were just as signifigant, if not moreso (considering the state of the program) than the successes he achieved--this is the problem with romanticizing the Solich era, IMO.

 

Aditionally, during Solich's tenure, we got a signifigant dropoff in recruiting activity--it was discussed ad nauseum how recruiting suffered at the hands of Frank, mainly because he had coaches, including himself, that didn't hit the road nearly as much as it was necessary.

 

Plus, the rumors of alcohol and co-ed problems are still whispered here and elsewhere--I have no idea if they're true, but I do recall that one of Frank's first gaffes at Ohio was (IIRC) driving intoxicated the wrong way on a one-way street, which does substantiate the rumor, to some degree, that there may have been problems with Frank at DoNU.

 

Having said this, no one among us is perfect or a saint, and Frank did give us some of the best years of his life as a player, an assistant, and as a head coach. Frank isn't deserving of the hate and vitroil that is being slewn his way...nor is Frank deserving of a ticker-tape parade, a memorial bust, or a building named after him.

 

And it's not fair to judge DoNU against an SEC program--Nebraska, for the most part, plays by the rules. The SEC, historically, has viewed the rules as mere suggestions that otherwise keep a good program from becoming great. It's no coincidence that the SEC's best decade in history comes during the decade in which the NCAA has been repeatedly (and willfully) negligent in their duties. From paying players off (via Parental units), oversigning players, and recruiting violations that only get a slap on the wrist, it's no wonder why Saban or the SEC doesn't experience the lulls that the rest of the programs do--their success is artifical at best.

 

Again--if we truly want to honor Frank, then schedule the Ohio Bobcats for next year and for as long as he's head coach and willing to come to Lincoln. Frank was a feisty fullback warrior who wasn't afraid of a scrap, and what better way to honor him than to give him a chance to prove his legacy within Memorial Stadium again with a team that is entirely his own creation, for better or worse.

[Goal-line]

Yes, thank you for putting our program in the gutter. Just stay away Frank, you did enough damage.

Sorry, you are full of the same BS as Stevie (Wonder Boy) Pederson. Yes, we should honor Frank Solich. He gave a lot of his life to this state and to Nebraska Football. Anyone who does not recognize that is just plain ignorant of the facts. Steve Pederson is the one who ruined Nebraska Football. Again, your ignorance is epic.

 

Read here!

He was a part of Bob Devaney’s first recruiting class at Nebraska, and became a standout for the Huskers in the mid-1960s, 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 returned to college football at his alma mater in 1979, spending 19 seasons at Nebraska as an assistant coach under Tom Osborne, four as the freshman team coach, and 15 seasons as running backs coach. In Solich’s 19 years as an assistant, the Huskers captured three national championships, and 11 conference titles. He was the position coach for many of Nebraska's standout running backs of the 1980s and 1990s, including Tom Rathman, Calvin Jones, Ahman Green, and Lawrence Phillips.

 

Osborne retired after the 1997 national championship season and named Solich as his successor. Solich directed the Huskers to six consecutive bowl games. Solich did win 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 (.753) at Nebraska.

Solich's 1999 Huskers defeated the Texas Longhorns for the Big 12 championship. Solich was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2001, and was one of seven finalists for the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award in 2001.

 

For the first five years as head coach, Solich served as his own offensive coordinator, as Osborne had for most of his tenure. His offenses centered on the option. He also utilized such plays as the Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass which became a highlight of Eric Crouch's Heisman Trophy-winning season in 2001.

 

The Huskers slumped to 7–7 in 2002, their worst record since 1961, and Solich shook up his staff.

Solich's 58 wins during his first six seasons as Nebraska's head coach exceeded those of his predecessors, Bob Devaney (53 wins) and Osborne (55 wins), both of whom are in the College Football Hall of Fame.[1]

[clyde_40]

If Solich was the one that drove our program into the ground than what role did Callahan play in all this?

[zoogs]

If Solich was the one that drove our program into the ground than what role did Callahan play in all this?

I think there are distinctions to be drawn there.

 

Bill Callahan raised the talent level of a barren team while he was here, and stockpiled the roster pretty well in a short turnaround. He was about to add his best ever class when he was fired. He committed the egregious error of losing his team and overseeing a collapse. But it was a collapse of a talented bunch of players - just ones that, on one side of the ball, were very poorly coached.

 

On the other hand, Frank Solich had overseen the erosion of talent from the NU roster. The cupboard was thinning fast, and his attitude towards recruiting did not change. Nothing was being done to stop the bleeding. He left the talent level of this program in a bad place, poorly set up for the future.

 

Bill Callahan surely deserved his firing and had many, many failings in 2007. However, he did not drive the talent level of the team into the ground, and we saw what a good coach was able to do with that.

 

Frank was a Husker for so long, it is certainly fitting that he should be honored. He gave so much to the program, whether or not it worked out in the end.

[Blaze1up]

He rode a dead horse with Jamal Lord and ended up a loser nobody liked that bad decision cost him all he had.

[Joe_5700]

If Solich was the one that drove our program into the ground than what role did Callahan play in all this?

I think there are distinctions to be drawn there.

 

Bill Callahan raised the talent level of a barren team while he was here, and stockpiled the roster pretty well in a short turnaround. He was about to add his best ever class when he was fired. He committed the egregious error of losing his team and overseeing a collapse. But it was a collapse of a talented bunch of players - just ones that, on one side of the ball, were very poorly coached.

 

On the other hand, Frank Solich had overseen the erosion of talent from the NU roster. The cupboard was thinning fast, and his attitude towards recruiting did not change. Nothing was being done to stop the bleeding. He left the talent level of this program in a bad place, poorly set up for the future.

 

Bill Callahan surely deserved his firing and had many, many failings in 2007. However, he did not drive the talent level of the team into the ground, and we saw what a good coach was able to do with that.

 

Frank was a Husker for so long, it is certainly fitting that he should be honored. He gave so much to the program, whether or not it worked out in the end.

 

It did not matter who Callahan recruited. As you just said, one side of the ball was poorly coached. I will also argue that player development stunk on both sides of the ball. Frank hired Bo as D-coordinator and the future was looking MUCH brighter. . Bo would have stuck around for a while unless the team was getting conference championships or more. I think if we kept Frank, we would definately have more wins than we got between 2004 and 2011.

 

On a side note I think the Bo haters are also Solich haters as well. Afterall who first brought Bo to Lincoln in 2003...

[zoogs]

Right, I get all his failings as a coach, and I think the 2007 fiasco was a very serious one that goes back to the Head Man. However, that was 2007. He was the captain of a crash-and-burn plane for one season, but Callahan did not drive the program, long-term, into the ground. Not with the talent that he brought here. It wasn't the best, but it was a solid.

 

Bo was a great, very promising DC. Let's not forget he also hired Barney Cotton as the OC. The talent level was down and FS generally didn't really get after recruiting until the season was over. That was hurting us big-time, and that was a case where the talent level of the program was really headed off a cliff.

 

I am not trying to argue about their merits as coaches or their successes and failures while here - just talking about the level of talent on the roster and where it was headed.

 

 

[AFhusker]

Yes, thank you for putting our program in the gutter. Just stay away Frank, you did enough damage.

Sorry, you are full of the same BS as Stevie (Wonder Boy) Pederson. Yes, we should honor Frank Solich. He gave a lot of his life to this state and to Nebraska Football. Anyone who does not recognize that is just plain ignorant of the facts. Steve Pederson is the one who ruined Nebraska Football. Again, your ignorance is epic.

 

Read here!

He was a part of Bob Devaney’s first recruiting class at Nebraska, and became a standout for the Huskers in the mid-1960s, 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 returned to college football at his alma mater in 1979, spending 19 seasons at Nebraska as an assistant coach under Tom Osborne, four as the freshman team coach, and 15 seasons as running backs coach. In Solich’s 19 years as an assistant, the Huskers captured three national championships, and 11 conference titles. He was the position coach for many of Nebraska's standout running backs of the 1980s and 1990s, including Tom Rathman, Calvin Jones, Ahman Green, and Lawrence Phillips.

 

Osborne retired after the 1997 national championship season and named Solich as his successor. Solich directed the Huskers to six consecutive bowl games. Solich did win 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 (.753) at Nebraska.

Solich's 1999 Huskers defeated the Texas Longhorns for the Big 12 championship. Solich was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2001, and was one of seven finalists for the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award in 2001.

 

For the first five years as head coach, Solich served as his own offensive coordinator, as Osborne had for most of his tenure. His offenses centered on the option. He also utilized such plays as the Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass which became a highlight of Eric Crouch's Heisman Trophy-winning season in 2001.

 

The Huskers slumped to 7–7 in 2002, their worst record since 1961, and Solich shook up his staff.

Solich's 58 wins during his first six seasons as Nebraska's head coach exceeded those of his predecessors, Bob Devaney (53 wins) and Osborne (55 wins), both of whom are in the College Football Hall of Fame.[1]

 

How dense are you? This was already covered in past posts, but I'll try to make it easy for you so I'll say it again.

 

Who couldn't win with Tom's talent that he left him. It's the failure of recruiting that lead to the downfall of the program in 2002. And 2003 was a mirage that was going to show itself in 2004 no matter who was the coach. Bo's defense set an NCAA record of getting turnovers that couldn't be matched. And that defense covered up an offense lead by Frank and Barney that was statistically WORSE than the crappy offense that we hand in 2002. That's why SP failed in firing Frank so uneducated fans like yourself wouldn't have the mental capacity to understand that whoever took the job after him (and you wonder why nobody wanted this job? Look at the roster and you will find out) was set up to fail with the talent that was left and the expectations that are here at NU. That's why Frank should have been allowed to coach in 2004 and complete his failure.

 

The rest of that crap that you posted is irrelevant to the topic. Nobody gives a rat's @ss about him hanging around the program and riding Tom's coattails. As I stated before, by him being a Husker, it makes what he did to the program that much more of a travesty.