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Ohio Football Topic
Topic: Frank Solich Field
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Gman
5/20/2018 1:25 PM
Its time to honor a man that has done so much for Ohio Football, Frank Solich ! Leave the Peden Stadium but the field should be named after Frank, "Frank Solich Field" Frank has earned it so lets make it HAPPEN !!!!! It would be an awesome tribute to a man that has put Ohio Football back on the Map.

"Frank Solich Field"
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Doc Bobcat
5/20/2018 2:30 PM
Well said Gman.
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Kevin Finnegan
5/20/2018 5:55 PM
This is quite similar to what Virginia Tech did some time ago. They have Worsham Field at Lane Stadium, though neither are named after a coach, but rather donors. I love the idea of having both the stadium and the field named after coaches.
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Bobcat1996
5/20/2018 7:02 PM
This could very well become reality in the future, but after Frank retires. It should happen!
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BillyTheCat
5/20/2018 8:14 PM
Shouldn’t he become OHIO’s all-time winningest Coach first?
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Valley Cat
5/21/2018 7:18 AM
I'm not totally sure about the field name although I would not be opposed.There certainly will be a statue of the guy somewhere in or around Peden. Once he wins a MAC title and becomes the program leader in wins who could debate?
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Gman
5/21/2018 10:12 AM
Don Peden 121 Wins
Bill Hess 108 Wins
Frank Solich 97 Wins

Frank would have to Coach 2 more seasons after this year to pass Peden for all-time, but I can see him passing Hess, its that being here that 3rd year that has me worried. So if Frank ends up number 2 in wins, For what Frank Solich has done for Ohio Football, the field should be named after him. He has dedicated the last part of his coaching career to Ohio and its time we show him OUr appreciation, name the field after him.

"Frank Solich Field"
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L.C.
5/21/2018 10:22 AM
BillyTheCat wrote:expand_more
Shouldn’t he become OHIO’s all-time winningest Coach first?

The winningest Ohio Coaches are:
Peden 121-46-11 .711
Hess 108-91-4 .542
Solich 97-71 .577

Three more years like last year would put him at 124-83, .600. I figured he woud be retired already, but at this point, him coaching 3 more years isn't impossible. He obviously will never match Peden's winning percentages, but he's already at #2 among Ohio coaches with more than 9 games coached.
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bobcat695
5/21/2018 10:35 AM
Valley Cat wrote:expand_more
I'm not totally sure about the field name although I would not be opposed.There certainly will be a statue of the guy somewhere in or around Peden. Once he wins a MAC title and becomes the program leader in wins who could debate?
Peden won 6 conference titles, Hess won 4 MAC titles and a Small College National Title. I would support Bill Hess Field at Peden Stadium. If there is a statue of Solich, it should be in the East part of the stadium because he hasn't fared too well vs. the West.
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ShoreCat
5/21/2018 10:57 AM
I'm the biggest Solich homer in the world but lets slow down on this. Naming stadiums/field, building statues outside of stadiums should be reserved for those deserving the highest honor. He's made Ohio football relevant again, which is great, but in my opinion is not worthy of this. Ask me again after he retires so we can look at his entire body of work and I may have a different opinion.

Comparing apples to oranges, but I also don't think Jim Thome should have a statue outside of Jacobs Field in Cleveland either.
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OhioCatFan
5/21/2018 11:25 AM
As long as his health holds out, I don't see Solich retiring. I think his model is Amos Alonzo Stagg, who continued to serve as a head coach until he was 81, and last served as a position coach at age 96.
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Gman
5/21/2018 2:15 PM
After the Bill Hess years, Ohio Football went to the Toilet for 26 years with a record of 95 wins 199 losses and 6 ties over those 26 years. Ohio Football averaged a 4 and 8 record for 26 years, think about that for a moment. I was sitting in Peden Stadium watching this, was you ? It wasn't a lot of fun. Then enters Frank Solich, who changed the culture of Ohio Football. So you all now measure a coach on how many Championships he wins ? Frank has won Division Titles, Bowl Games and has winning seasons, today is a different era than when Peden and Hess coached, Most of you forget where Ohio Football was for 26 years before Frank, well I haven't, that's why I respect Frank Solich a little more than others I guess, Ohio Bobcat Fans just don't realize that for a quarter of a century Ohio Football was a laughing stock, then Frank Solich shows up changes the culture and turns Ohio Football in to a Winner and he will more than likely be Ohio's No. 2 all-time Winningest Coach when all said and done.

And that my friends is why "Frank Solich Field"
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rpbobcat
5/21/2018 2:53 PM
Gman wrote:expand_more
After the Bill Hess years, Ohio Football went to the Toilet for 26 years with a record of 95 wins 199 losses and 6 ties over those 26 years. Ohio Football averaged a 4 and 8 record for 26 years, think about that for a moment. I was sitting in Peden Stadium watching this, was you ? It wasn't a lot of fun. Then enters Frank Solich, who changed the culture of Ohio Football. So you all now measure a coach on how many Championships he wins ? Frank has won Division Titles, Bowl Games and has winning seasons, today is a different era than when Peden and Hess coached, Most of you forget where Ohio Football was for 26 years before Frank, well I haven't, that's why I respect Frank Solich a little more than others I guess, Ohio Bobcat Fans just don't realize that for a quarter of a century Ohio Football was a laughing stock, then Frank Solich shows up changes the culture and turns Ohio Football in to a Winner and he will more than likely be Ohio's No. 2 all-time Winningest Coach when all said and done.

And that my friends is why "Frank Solich Field"
Agree 100%.

I posted before that my wife and I met one of Frank's relatives,an uncle I believe, at a football game during his first or second season.
The guy told us that Frank came to O.U. "build a program".
He said that, give it a few years, and you won't recognize O.U. football.

Looks like he was right.

I remember the bad old days days quite well,including when O.U. had the longest losing streak in what was D1.

Back then,the words O.U. and Bowl Game weren't used in the same sentence.

No Frank,no IPF.
No Frank,no new Academic Center.

Frank Solich Field sounds good to me.
Last Edited: 5/21/2018 2:55:12 PM by rpbobcat
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Kevin Finnegan
5/21/2018 5:18 PM
rpbobcat wrote:expand_more
After the Bill Hess years, Ohio Football went to the Toilet for 26 years with a record of 95 wins 199 losses and 6 ties over those 26 years. Ohio Football averaged a 4 and 8 record for 26 years, think about that for a moment. I was sitting in Peden Stadium watching this, was you ? It wasn't a lot of fun. Then enters Frank Solich, who changed the culture of Ohio Football. So you all now measure a coach on how many Championships he wins ? Frank has won Division Titles, Bowl Games and has winning seasons, today is a different era than when Peden and Hess coached, Most of you forget where Ohio Football was for 26 years before Frank, well I haven't, that's why I respect Frank Solich a little more than others I guess, Ohio Bobcat Fans just don't realize that for a quarter of a century Ohio Football was a laughing stock, then Frank Solich shows up changes the culture and turns Ohio Football in to a Winner and he will more than likely be Ohio's No. 2 all-time Winningest Coach when all said and done.

And that my friends is why "Frank Solich Field"
Agree 100%.

I posted before that my wife and I met one of Frank's relatives,an uncle I believe, at a football game during his first or second season.
The guy told us that Frank came to O.U. "build a program".
He said that, give it a few years, and you won't recognize O.U. football.

Looks like he was right.

I remember the bad old days days quite well,including when O.U. had the longest losing streak in what was D1.

Back then,the words O.U. and Bowl Game weren't used in the same sentence.

No Frank,no IPF.
No Frank,no new Academic Center.

Frank Solich Field sounds good to me.
I also think that naming the field after the current coach makes players feel like they're playing for a legend. This could only help recruiting, as players would be able to say that they played with Solich, whom the field is named after. I know that would've meant something to me as a kid. I just don't see the downside at all. I (along with others) thought Grobe was good. Then you see what Frank has done and it's pretty remarkable.
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L.C.
5/21/2018 7:29 PM
I'm in the "after he retires" camp. That said, naming rights are normally sold these days, not honorary. Thus, if there is a move to rename it to Solich Field, it should coincide with a fund raising campaign, perhaps to do some stadium upgrades (not necessarily to make it bigger) to freshen it up. No, I've not seen it on person yet; I'm going based on comments here over the years that updates are needed. I will definitely make a game this fall, by the way. I look forward to meeting some of you.
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TWT
5/27/2018 1:27 PM
Gman wrote:expand_more
Don Peden 121 Wins
Bill Hess 108 Wins
Frank Solich 97 Wins

Frank would have to Coach 2 more seasons after this year to pass Peden for all-time, but I can see him passing Hess, its that being here that 3rd year that has me worried. So if Frank ends up number 2 in wins, For what Frank Solich has done for Ohio Football, the field should be named after him. He has dedicated the last part of his coaching career to Ohio and its time we show him OUr appreciation, name the field after him.
Has Solich done more for Ohio football than Hess? I'm of the opinion that Frank's 4 MAC East titles cancel out Hess's MACCs because when Hess was coach the MAC only had 6 or 7 teams in it. Hess to his credit had 2 undefeated regular seasons. Did the 1968 season ensure Ohio football would stay at the top level long term? Hess wasn't able to get a new stadium built for Ohio in his time at the helm or make any physical improvements to the stadium. Frank's tenure has coincided with $25 million in facility upgrades. He won 3 bowl games at the school and will end up having taking the Bobcats to 10+ bowls. No matter how his time is viewed its great that Ohio is going to have 3 different 100+ win coaches from 3 completely different eras of the game.
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TWT
5/27/2018 2:05 PM
OhioCatFan wrote:expand_more
As long as his health holds out, I don't see Solich retiring. I think his model is Amos Alonzo Stagg, who continued to serve as a head coach until he was 81, and last served as a position coach at age 96.
He's hitting a couple of milestones this year. One milestone is 100 wins at Ohio which he might do by the time of the UMass game. A second milestone is 20 years as an FBS head coach. A third is the academic performance center is going to be complete this season, the last big facility project. He might decide to go out on top with a MAC title this year and a school record for wins. A 12-2 season puts him at 109 wins #2 all time behind Don Peden.
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TWT
5/27/2018 2:29 PM
The 3 HC in FBS are #1 Bill Snyder K-State (78), #2 Frank Solich Ohio (73) and #3 Nick Saban (66). Frank is 7 years older than Nick Saban, the third oldest FBS coach. Once Bill Snyder retires Frank is going to be the oldest coach in the FBS by at least 7 years.
Last Edited: 5/27/2018 2:29:40 PM by TWT
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allen
5/27/2018 6:46 PM
If he wins a MAC maybe, right now, no way. The thought of it is crazy, what would recruit think? We named a field after someone who never won a championship. It is time to take the next step, we have to give the fans more to look for.
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Diamond Cat
5/27/2018 7:08 PM
Considering what Frank has done in the modern era of $$$, this is a no brainer. I support 100%.
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allen
5/27/2018 8:27 PM
Diamond Cat wrote:expand_more
Considering what Frank has done in the modern era of $$$, this is a no brainer. I support 100%.
You don’t get a field named after you for being a nice guy for 15 years, that is legendary status, reserved for legends. Solich is not a legend if he was not at least won a MAC
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OhioCatFan
5/27/2018 9:17 PM
He'll be a legend by the time he retires at age 96! Have patience, grasshopper. ;-)
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