With the retirement of Bob Stoops, Frank becomes third on the time spent with one team as the head coach currently. Only two ahead of him are Kirk Ferentz (Iowa) and Gary Patterson (TCU). Hopefully this doesn't become a place to bemoan what hasn't happened in his tenure. I just think it's great we've been able to have enough continuity that there is a face to the university.

Does anybody 'in the know' recall any of the other candidates when Frank was hired? Just curious as to where they are now.

I wonder how long before you know who ruins the discussion by complaining about MAC Championships.

At the risk of priming the pump, a USA Today article names six coaches who are in solid with their fan bases. Solich didn't make the cut, but was in the next six as Ohio's "coach for life." https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2017/06/07/pi... /

Good question. I tried to look up any public reports about it, but couldn't find anything. But I did find this Lincoln Journal-Star article about the hire that really helped me realize where Ohio Football was then:

Because it's winter break at Ohio University, there was little buzz in Athens, Ohio, about anything Wednesday night, including the impending hiring of Frank Solich as the school's new football coach.

However, Nathan Yates, a 22-year-old senior with two roommates who play for the Bobcats, had caught wind of the news and was pumped up about it, he said.

"I love it," Yates said in a phone interview from a local tavern. "I thought it was wrong that he got fired at Nebraska. What did he go, 9-3 in his last season?

"I'm glad we got someone who knows what they're doing."

The 60-year-old Solich, fired as Husker head coach last November, will be announced today as Ohio's new head coach, according to sources familiar with the situation.

A press conference has been scheduled for noon CST at the Convocation Center in Athens, a town of 21,000 in extreme southeastern Ohio.

Reached Wednesday afternoon in Athens, Solich said he had spent the day meeting various Ohio officials and boosters. He declined further comment.

Solich on Tuesday toured the campus with Ohio administrators after being interviewed for the position a second time. His first interview occurred Saturday morning, and he said that day that the interview went extremely well and that he was excited about the possibility of taking over the Bobcat program.

In his six years as Nebraska head coach, Solich was 58-19, including 9-3 in 2003.

When Solich was in the seventh grade, his family moved to Cleveland from a coal-mining town in Pennsylvania. So he knows the lay of the land.

"He's a pretty big name," said Jason Schrock, a 23-year-old Ohio student who also was at the tavern. "Around here, we haven't had a lot of excitement in football since Jim Grobe left."

Ohio, of the Mid-American Conference, had its last winning season in 2000, finishing 7-4. Grobe left after that season to become head coach at Wake Forest.

The Bobcats have been without a head coach since Nov. 18, when Brian Knorr was fired following a 4-7 season, including 2-6 in the MAC.

In four years as head coach, Knorr was 11-35. He had served as Grobe's defensive coordinator before being promoted.

"(Knorr) ran a class program," Schrock said. "He had good graduation rates. He just wasn't winning."

Among other things — including the lack of a major airport near Athens — Solich will encounter a degree of fan apathy at Ohio, Schrock said.

"I'm a pretty big Buckeye fan," Schrock said. "I usually stay home on Saturdays and watch Ohio State on television. But maybe this (Solich's hiring) will be a good change for everyone. Maybe it'll get people to the stadium."

Following his Saturday interview, Solich sat in a diner near Columbus, about 90 minutes from Athens. The waitress was wearing Ohio State apparel, he said. So was the patron sitting across from him.

"I have one question," Solich asked a reporter. "Where's all the Bobcat gear?"

It appears he'll see more of it in years to come.

I think that it has taken Frank longer than he thought it would to build a strong foundation for our football program. I believe that he has now done that. The last few recruiting classes are his best, according to those who follow this stuff much more closely than I do. Over the last few months I've had at least two occasions to talk to Frank personally. Combining these exchanges with some things he has said publicly, it's clear to me that Frank believes that the OHIO football is getting stronger and that his recruiting is getting incrementally better. It's also easy to pick up vibes that tell you Frank is not satisfied with plateauing but wants to take OHIO to new heights in the years ahead. Unlike some on this board, I would not bet against Frank achieving his new goals, as expressed on the Bobcat Caravan trail, of MAC championships and top 25 finishes.

Some fans believe that the factors you mention don't matter. They believe it's all in the intangibles, and in the play calling. They believe that the bad times from 1970 to Grobe were solely due to bad hires. Who is right? Perhaps the future will give us an answer. Or, maybe not.

If the next coach succeeds, will it be because the next coach is great, or because Solich set the table? If the next coach fails, will it be because Ohio is reverting to it's historical norm, or because of a bad hire? The arguments can go on forever.

[/QUOTE]
Some fans believe that the factors you mention don't matter. They believe it's all in the intangibles, and in the play calling. They believe that the bad times from 1970 to Grobe were solely due to bad hires. Who is right? Perhaps the future will give us an answer. Or, maybe not.

If the next coach succeeds, will it be because the next coach is great, or because Solich set the table? If the next coach fails, will it be because Ohio is reverting to it's historical norm, or because of a bad hire? The arguments can go on forever.
[/QUOTE]Anyone who thinks these factors don't matter in the highly competitive world of D1 recruiting are simply not well enough informed then. These factors and more are absolutely involved in a potential recruits decision on where he will commit to play. In fact, to say these factors don't matter is laughable to anyone who has been through the recruiting process.

See above for recruiting comments....and as far as schedule, I will say they are slowly improving. You obviously can't control Kansas and Purdue totally sucking when you scheduled them years ago. So they get a pass there. But, UMass and the Texas State's of the world?!?! Boo. Those games need to go. I'd rather see them schedule WKU or other "mid-major" type teams that are typically bowl eligible. We've seen enough of the North Texas, Idaho, and New Mexico State's of the world. If you go back to Frank's early years, he was much more competitive in his scheduling...normally 2 "BCS" type games. Maybe those were scheduled during Knorr Era ... but they certainly scaled back. I hate the FCS game, but understand it's necessary. I see that are slowly going back to 2 "BCS" type games, which we should be playing. Look at other teams in our league and they play at least two of those a year. Seems like Frank Era started putting together a scheduled that nearly guarantees bowl eligibility every year, but rarely allows the team to make a splash nationally if they happen to be really good (except for that 2012 run) I'd like to see us schedule more like Toledo.

Not trying to imply it's easy. Never once did I imply it's easy. But we did play North Texas and Idaho on the road. Those were horrible home-and-home series with bad teams...just like UMass, NM State and Texas State.

So we are willing to go on the road. And I understand the 6 home-game wish.

But this falls squarely into what kind of program do you want to be?

Why is that Toledo has ZERO issue with playing better schedules and still maintaining six home games?

They still play their FCS trash game....but end up with Ohio State, Iowa State, Boise State, Arizona, Arkansas State, BYU, Arkansas, Cincinnati, Missouri, Florida and Navy on their schedules.

We have Texas State, UMass, North Texas, NM State to go along with Kansas and Purdue.

I know we have had the occasional VT, Northwestern, Tennessee, Ohio State games...which, like you, I love and wish we had more of. That's my point.

I'm not suggesting that Tennessee is going to come play in Athens.

But people are quick to say on this board "What has Toledo accomplished that Ohio hasn't? They don't have a MACC title in forever." So why can they schedule better? Is it all about their location? I know Toledo is easier to get to, but hell....the bus trip from John Glenn International in Columbus is less than an hour from Peden Stadium. Most teams spend the night in suburbs of larger cities where the drive isn't much different to the stadium. I know Athens is remote, but it's not the moon.

But I'm guessing if you reached out to maybe school like WKU, Memphis, Temple, UConn, Navy, Army, MTSU, Arkansas State, Old Dominion, Appy State, ECU....it would provide a better matchup than UMass or Texas State?

And maybe Ohio has reached out to those schools and gotten a NO. But it just seems that in the last 5-6 years, our schedule has resembled that of a program looking to lock up almost-guarantee-wins (unless you gag vs. TXSt) to ensure bowl eligibility instead of challenging yourselves against teams that win more than 2-3 games a year.

I honestly think we are in agreement that we'd like to see a better schedule. Just wanted to be clear, I'm saying it's easy. But it just seems like we've a somewhat long run of some real stinkers on our OOC schedule

Google says it takes 1 hour 20 minutes from John Glenn to Peden. Don't base your arguments on fabrication. It's a bad start.

I agree that Athens is not the moon, and I would further point out that a few years ago when we had a home game with Connecticut they flew a charter into PKB, not CMH, and it's only about a 45 minute trip from there to Athens. So, by way of Parkersburg, WV, we are not even the orbital space station. ;-)

It's ironic to complain about Texas State and U.Mass, and wish for WKy or ODU. Go back a few years and all of those were FCS schools. It's entirely possible that WKy and ODU could have turned out to be garbage today, and Texas State and U.Mass could have been the ones that improved. I actually tought Whipple was going to turn U.Mass around, but so far it hasn't worked out that way.

As far as the comment above that obviously recent recruiting classes are not better because Ohio is still 8-6, remember that last year's team was made up primarily of the 2012 and 2013 recruiting classes, while this fall's team will be mostly 2013 and 2014 recruits. Are the most recent classes dramatically better? Ask me in a few years. They look good now, but they have a lot of work to do to prove it on the field.