Frank has been known to do all of those things in the past. At Nebraska he replaced several assistants when they failed to perform, and had star players that he kicked off the team (e.g. Richie Incognito, DeAngelo Evans). As for the specific question regarding assistants, I think you could ask the same questions about Jim Grobe, who also kept his same assistants, year after year.

Frank did not kick Richie Incognito or DeAngelo Evans off the team. Bill Callahan indefinitely suspended Richie and he eventually quit and DeAngelo quit too. He asked to come back but the team voted to not let him return.

Frank did fire Craig Bohl, but only after he was told to make some changes or lose his own job. And while a few coaches like Milt Tenopir and Dan Young "retired", the fact was, they quit because they couldn't stand working for him anymore.

This still begs the question, has he made any tough decisions at OHIO? Honestly, I don't care about Nebraska. We have the second-highest paid coaching staff in the conference (behind Akron, who made a splash with Bowden and Amato). Are we getting our money's worth? Our two assistant coaches are among the highest paid in the conference at over $125,000/yr (not to mention their car allowance). For what it's worth, the average professor at OHIO makes $103,757 (2013 numbers).

Are we getting our moneys worth? I have to laugh when I read this kind of stuff. Just enjoy the games, as it is a way to pass the time, not life and death. I'd like to see how many would hold up if their boss started asking the same questions about them. These guys can coach and have proven it.

Frank won 66 games in his first 9 seasons at Ohio. Here's how that win total compares to other teams in the MAC (plus Marshall) during that time frame-

9 Seasons (2005-2013)
75 NIU
66 Ohio
63 CMU
60 Toledo
59 Ball St
56 BGSU
52 WMU
50 Marshall
44 Kent St
38 Buffalo
36 Miami
32 Akron
24 EMU

and here's how Ohio compared to the same group for their previous 65 wins.

21 Seasons (1984-2004)
153 Toledo
136 BGSU
134 Miami
121 WMU
107 CMU
106 Ball St
103 NIU
101 Akron
85 EMU
79 Marshall
65 Ohio
59 Kent St
9 Buffalo

Ohio won more games in Frank's first 9 seasons than they won in the previous 21. Is that a satisfactory level of improvement? In the 9 seasons Frank has been at Ohio only NIU has had more wins, is being second in the MAC in wins satisfactory to you? Of course we all want to win every game and we all desperately want to win a MACC, but overall, are you satisfied with the work Frank and his staff have done over the past 9 seasons? If not, what would the win total have to be to change your opinion of Frank and his coaching staff?

And specifically in regards to this season- knowing the number of record setting starters we were replacing on offense what was your expectation of our record after playing a Kent St team that had beat us 4 of the previous 5, a much improved SEC team, and a 10 win Marshall team with a 4 year starter at QB, all on the road? Did you expect a record greater than 1-2 and if so what was your expectation?

There is definitely a difference between the recent classes under Haines as compared to the earlier classes under Germano. The classes under Germano had only a few players recruited by other schools, and a lot of under-the-radar players. Under Haines most players are recruited by other schools as well, some by many schools, and only a few are totally under the radar. Under Germano there were few early commits, and the classes were assembled from around the country in December and January. Under Haines most of the verbals are early now, and most of them are from Ohio.

Will there be a difference? Will the difference be an improvement, or will it be worse? That remains to be seen. The teams from 2009-2013 were made up primarily from Germano recruits. The 2014-16 teams will be Haines recruits. (There are still a handful of Isphording recruits this year, too, Carpenter, Cochran, Ingol, and Kristoff.) On paper, the Haines recruits look better, but they need to prove it on the field.

I think Frank and Company have done a heck of a job coaching...I still remember the lean years in the early 90's. :) But I also think recruiting is part of the game in college football, I don't believe you should separate the two. Honestly, I think the quality of the recruits are getting better (for both Ohio and MAC), but a couple playmakers would make this team look a lot better. Hopefully, the indoor practice facility will help with recruiting.

To look at this more in-depth, we are one of six schools who have not won a MAC Championship during the past nine years. Go back one year further, Toledo won in 2004, so that would just leave Ball St, WMU, Kent State and EMU in our company.

I, too, think Frank has done a fantastic job during his time here. That's not the question I posed. I wondered, instead, if he can make difficult decisions. There's nothing in his past (here) that shows he can, or will.

ok, so let's look at the last 9 years like this-

# of appearances in the MACC since 2005-

5 NIU (2005 L, 2010 L, 2011 W, 2012 W, 2013 L)
3 CMU (2006 W, 2007 W, 2009 W)
3 Ohio (2006 L, 2009 L, 2011 L)
2 Miami (2007 L, 2010 W)
1 Akron (2005 W)
1 Ball St (2008 L)
1 BGSU (2013 W)
1 Buffalo (2008 W)
1 Kent St (2012 L)

Ohio is 0-3 in the MACC, but they also faced the other two most successful programs over the last 9 years in the title game. So are you saying Frank not winning a MACC shows he can't make tough decisions? If so then what does it say about Frank that he's tied for 2nd with most Division championships? Did he do that 3 times without having to make a difficult decision?

If you feel winning a MACC trumps total wins then how many of our total wins would you sacrifice for a MACC. Would you give up 28 wins to be like Buffalo? Would you give up 30 wins to be like Fiami? What's your price?

Personally, I give FS&Co the benefit of the doubt. I really think they can coach and develop players. Heck, they've been to the National Championship level. My knock on them is they cannot recruit enough "star guys" to Athens to win a championship...at least they have not in the first 9 years. You can only go so far with under the radar overachievers and late bloomers in my opinion. To get to that next level we need more better players.

From 1984 through 1996 Marshall had 125 wins. I assume that 79 total only includes their time in the MAC from 97-2004. From 84 to 96 Marshall also had a 3-1 record vs the Cats. Didn't check all the schools records but did look at Marshall's because I remember hearing they were suppose to have been the winningest team in college football in the 90's and 79 seemed low for a total from 84-2004.

But I agree with the point I think you are trying to make. Would you rather have the OHIO of today or the one before Frank. Thats obvious I would take Franks teams everyday of the week. Some people don't remember the past. Some years you have more experienced players and some years there is a learning curve. I think this team will be fine and grow alot over the next several weeks and still be in there competing for an EAST title.

Without a doubt Coach Solich is a loyal guy, and he puts faith in his guys to do their jobs, and for the most part they have been very successful at that over their tenure here. As for the next level though, that has been elusive.