Why was Frank Solich fired?
- Thread starter DelK
- Start date
Street Novelist
Active member
HuskerfaninOkieland
New member
Malth
New member
The only reason Solich had 9 wins in his last year was because of Bo's defense. I don't know about you guys, but I remember seeing a crappy offense being propped up by a good defense.
I think firing Solich was probably the right move, but hiring Callahan was the worst decision ever.
I think firing Solich was probably the right move, but hiring Callahan was the worst decision ever.
Count 'Bility
Banned
Solich's first 3 seasons of success (4 if you count 2001, tho i consider that season the beginning of the end) were mostly due to the talent remaining from the Osborne era. 98 was a mediocre season due to youth, inexperience and some key injuries, new qb etc etc. Remember the 99 and 2000 recruiting classes were not particularly impressive and quite a downfall in the talent coming in. Many scholarships were used up on walk on caliber talent cuz Solich could not "seal the deal" with top notch talent. By the end of 2001 and into the 2002 season, this lack of talent adn depth began to rear it's ugly face. I think some of the older coaches were beginning to struggle with the lack of talent (darlington, bohl, etc.) and the time came for them to go. Solich made the necassary changes after 2002 and 2003 showed a re energized coaching staff and team. Tho 2002 was doomed fromt he get go with a very VERY young team, it meant the 03 shoulda been better. I believe under Solich that what was a veteran 04 team woulda been a top ten team all year long, however that team looked horrible under a new system. Bottome line is we'll never what woulda been under Solich to this day. With Pelini as D.C. i think we woulda been a top 10 team consistently.
Very good summary that squares with comments expressed to me although nothing about improprieties which is just as well if there were none. It's too bad Pedersen didn't ask Solich "What can WE do to improve recruiting?" He didn't seem to have the team concept or mentality though. Strange interlude. Which, I just learned is from Eugene O'Neill's play with this line: "Our lives are strange dark interludes in the electrical display of God the Father!"
whateveritis1224
New member
I think one of the biggest reasons Solich was fired is that when he lost that year, it wasn't even close. Something like 38-10 against KSU, and 2 other 20+ point losses is what did him in.
SUPERBUNNY
New member
Not a complicated answer. Solich was a first time head coach that wasn't getting the horses in recruiting and he wasn't Pederson's guy. That's it. It's over and done with and Franky ain't coming back!
SUPERBUNNY
SUPERBUNNY
deedsker15
New member
motorboatjonesNU
New member
1. Going 7-7 in 2002 (including a$$-whoopings at Penn St and AMES, IA and losing -at home- vs. Ok St. for the first time since 1961)
2. All three losses in 2003 were lopsided: Texas, Kansas St and Mizzou
3. Aging staff; several of which no longer went on the road to recruit over the last few years
3A. A few bad hires. Well one in particular: DC Craig Bohl, who replaced Charlie McBride and then got booted after 2002
4. Poor game planner; DeAngelo Evans who played under both Oz and FS said this: "With Osborne, football was chess. With Solich it was checkers." Say what you want about Evans, but he's right.
5. Felt a sense of entitlement at NU. Remember him complaining after the '98 season about being at the Holiday Bowl? That's what 3 losses gets your team.
6. Poor communicator. Every hear one of his sound bites during games? 60 seconds of saying nothing but cliches and empty statements. Enough to make top recruits cancel their visit.
7. Steve Pederson. With the sourness of 2002 not entirely washed away by 2003, SP got trigger-happy. Why? He wanted to greatly lessen the emphasis of walk-ons and make NU a "destination" school for blue chips. Problem is we have corn, cows, pigs and lots of dirt roads rather than mountains, oceans, or both.
Now... While I realize we are much better off now, FS probably did deserve at least one more year. It would have been a matter of time before he was canned anyway, but getting fired after going 9-3 made NU quite unattractive to anyone but an egotistical NFL coach looking for a gig.
I appreciate all the responses but just now wish I had a ten dollar bill for all the wishes that Coach Osborne would retire so Coach Solich could take over the team. Remember? LOL.
And NOW, I remember grumbling to any would listen that Osborne had taken a national championship team and turned it into a pretty good team. I embarrass myself.
Last edited by a moderator:
knapplc
Active member
Ummmm.... what? Nobody was hoping that Osborne would retire in favor of Frank. The whole state was in shock when TO announced his retirement in 1997. Nobody wanted him to go, everyone wanted to see the ship keep sailing right along.
junior4949
New member
So let me get this straight. It was the right move to fire Solich because he inherited talent from a NC team? If memory serves me correctly, TO inherited much the same as Solich. By TO's fourth year, 1976, Nebraska finished middle of the pack in the Big 8. Up to that point, he hadn't finished any higher than second in the Big 8. Solich won the Big 12 in year two and played for a NC in year four. TO had been head man for nearly a decade before he won his first conference title.
I doubt we'll ever really know the real story behind Solich's firing, but I don't think his on the field performance was the reason given the fact that he did better than TO did. Given today's coaching carousel and win now attitudes, TO would have more than likely been fired sometime in the 70's. What's the most interesting to look at is comparing the first five years of TO's career and Solich's career. Solich won 75.4 percent of his games even when putting his 7-7 season in there. TO won 78.7 percent of his games, but he had two ties. If TO had lost those two games where there was a tie, he would have had an identical 75.4 percent winning percentage as Solich. However, Solich in those first five years won a conference title and played for a NC while TO did neither of those in his first five years. In TO's first five years, there was an average of 3.2 conference teams ranked in the top 25. In Solich's first five years, there was an average of 4.4 conference teams ranked in the top 25. The level of competition Solich faced was tougher than the level of competition TO faced. When looking at the data, it just doesn't appear Solich was fired for on-the-field performance. However, we're about as likely to know the real reason of his firing as we are to know the real reason Cody Glenn's dismissal from the team in 2008.
I doubt we'll ever really know the real story behind Solich's firing, but I don't think his on the field performance was the reason given the fact that he did better than TO did. Given today's coaching carousel and win now attitudes, TO would have more than likely been fired sometime in the 70's. What's the most interesting to look at is comparing the first five years of TO's career and Solich's career. Solich won 75.4 percent of his games even when putting his 7-7 season in there. TO won 78.7 percent of his games, but he had two ties. If TO had lost those two games where there was a tie, he would have had an identical 75.4 percent winning percentage as Solich. However, Solich in those first five years won a conference title and played for a NC while TO did neither of those in his first five years. In TO's first five years, there was an average of 3.2 conference teams ranked in the top 25. In Solich's first five years, there was an average of 4.4 conference teams ranked in the top 25. The level of competition Solich faced was tougher than the level of competition TO faced. When looking at the data, it just doesn't appear Solich was fired for on-the-field performance. However, we're about as likely to know the real reason of his firing as we are to know the real reason Cody Glenn's dismissal from the team in 2008.