10 seasons plus 2 weeks. That's how long Coach Solich has led Ohio. Three division titles. Good but, yes, I wish there would have been more. No conference title and, yes, I wish there had been one or more. 6 bowl games. Heck yes, I'd like more of those too. Have I ever felt frustrated by Frank's admittedly conservative approach? That was a rhetorical question. But fellow BA'ers, what I really like is knowing that in virtually every game Ohio has a legitimate chance to win. By contrast, during the Dark Ages (Cleve-Lichty), I often could see during the coin toss that Ohio had no chance; our captains looked like undersized kids to the opponents' men.

I was just looking at this year's Phil Steele's. Here is how MAC schools have faired - wins and losses - during the 10 "Solich seasons" plus the first two weeks of this season:

70-55 Toledo
88-47 NIU
60-65 WMU
65-61 Ball State
71-59 CMU
27-94 EMU
65-63 BG
37-86 Akron
74-56 Ohio
58-63 Mass
47-75 Kent
44-79 Buffalo
39-85 Miami

64-63 Our friends in Huntington

NIU is way more impressive than OU over that stretch. They have played a better non-conference schedule over those 10 years, as well as playing in the tougher MAC division. Ohio gets to play Akron, Kent, Buffalo and Miami every single year. I appreciate not being the same program as my student years in the early 90's, but not winning at least one MAC title is really disappointing. In 10 years the average annual record is 7-5 against some of the worst football teams in the nation.

What are you debating? Jim Grobe was solid and every other coach had pathetic results. Those results are pretty clear.

I'm amazed at the sector of the fanbase that lambastes those of us that prefer not to wildly cheer for mediocre, long-term results.

+1

It makes one wonder what will happen after Solich is gone. One way or the other he will most likely be gone within 5 years at the most. Will the next coach be able to continue to build on the progress that has been made? Or, will Ohio experience the far more common regression to the mean?

Grobe's 33-33 is "solid." Solich's 74-56 is "mediocre." There are those who focus on one drive from a victory over Marshall and decide to call out "someone needs to be fired." There are those of us who disagree with your assessment of Solich's results. I'm amazed at the sector that calls for firing coaches right after beating Marshall.

Though this has been said more by implication than direct statement, I get that same drift in some of the comments, too. And, like you, I sit here utterly amazed by it. Yes, Saturday's win over Marshall was one of the ugliest games I've ever witnessed in my many years of being a college football fan, but the end results was a win. Frank has a good record against Marshall -- undefeated in Athens -- so this win was no fluke. I'll bet anyone on this board that Marshall will be a bowl team this year and will be a contender for the C-USA championship. I'm mighty proud that we beat them -- as ugly as it was.

Now, I'll also be very proud if we beat Minnesota in an even uglier game. I'd prefer, though, to win pretty! ;-)

+1

I plead guilty!

Jim Grobe came in after 20+ years of one of, if not the absolute worst, football programs in the nation. His 33-33 record was solid based on what he started with. Solich came in after a 5-year departure from the temporary momentum that had been built by Grobe. The cupboard was relatively bare, but there had also been positive strides within the prior decade by a coach that was hired away to a bigger program.

74-56 is an average of 7-5 each year. Barely above 50% winning percentage is mediocre by definition. I'm not disgusted by the results. I'd like to see Ohio get over the hump. I've still shown up to every single game in the past 25 seasons. I cheer loud during the games. It just drives me nuts that our fans, as a whole, take such a passive stance towards expecting to be better than the other terrible programs in the MAC. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, though. Look at the thousands who sit quietly during each defensive 3rd down.

I'm completely in agreement here. When you've seen how bad the past has been, to call the current program is a little unfair. The only thing I think they've been mediocre at is being able to find "the guy" at QB. The rest of the Solich era has been better than mediocre in my mind.

Certainly the facilities upgrades such as the IPF and the Academic center will change the dynamics from the past. The same can be said for the fan-building efforts, which has spread Bobcat fandom to the north and west, and the closer ties to high school programs across the state.

That's why I've said that the contributions Solich have made go far beyond "coaching", and constitute "program building". To merely focus on what has (or hasn't been) achieved on the field significantly understates the contributions that Solich has made to Ohio long term.

Most MAC coaches come in with the plan to come in and coach for a few years, hopefully do well, and then move up and out. Maybe that was what Solich has in mind when he arrived, I don't know, but what he has actually done, from day one, is to constantly try to build the fan base, facilities, and ties to Ohio high school programs across the state, which is something only someone with a long term perspective would do. If you're only planning on being at a place 3-4 years, why worry about an IPF, which would take 5 years of lobbying to get started, a couple more years to raise money, and then another 1-2 years to build?

Because of where Ohio is, I agree, Jeff, I don't think that there is any chance that Ohio will regress to the extent that they were in the 90s. Yet, look at Ohio's history, and you see that after Peden came Widdoes who was pretty good, but not quite as good as Peden. Similarly, after Hess came Burke, who was pretty good, but not quite as good as Hess. (I know I skipped Wise and Kappes who were both very short term). That's more what I was picturing when I talked about regression to the mean, a coach who was close, but not quite as good. Another similar example from another school would be at CMU, where it took a few coaches for them to regress, but they regressed from the top of the MAC to the middle of the MAC West.

In any case, my point is, Ohio could continue to move up, but they could also go the other way. A move in either direction is certainly not a given, and it will be interesting to see how it develops.

How has no one gotten this yet? The answer is 12.