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Ohio Football Topic
Topic: Coach Solich
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Mark Lembright '85
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Posted: 4/2/2014 10:05 AM
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While Coach Solich hasn't quite reached the MAC pinnacle yet by winning a MAC Championship (I still think he will get that done before he retires) I think we can all agree that he's been an asset to Ohio University for near a decade now.  What I appreciate most, given what's going on with the basketball team possibly looking for its 3rd coach in 4 seasons, is the stabilty Coach Solich has provided.  Say what you will, at least he's demonstrated a willingness to stay and see things through.  Maybe his options are more limited now than when he got the team to the GMAC Bowl years ago but he has stayed nevertheless and he genuinely appears to like it in Athens.  For his desire to stay and be a significant asset to Ohio University I thank him.
Casper71
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Posted: 4/2/2014 10:24 AM
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+1 on that one!
Pataskala
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Posted: 4/2/2014 11:57 AM
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Not only Coach, but the core of his staff, too.  For recruits and their parents, knowing that the guy you talk to will likely be there for all four or five years makes a huge difference. 
Sony7
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Posted: 4/2/2014 12:40 PM
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Agree 100%. Sometimes Bobcat fans forget what things use to be like before Grobe and Solich. A MAC Championship will come, and if it doesn't . . . I'll take bowl games every year instead of losing seasons year after year like we had when I was in school in the 80's. Coach Solich and his staff should be recognized for bringing this program back to respectability. Also hats off to President McDavis for supporting the athletic program. Without support from the top you will always be on the bottom.
cincybobcat99
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Posted: 4/2/2014 12:46 PM
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Sony7 wrote:expand_more
Agree 100%. Sometimes Bobcat fans forget what things use to be like before Grobe and Solich.
I think I speak for many when I say, we try to forget those years.
Last Edited: 4/2/2014 12:58:43 PM by cincybobcat99
L.C.
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Posted: 4/2/2014 12:53 PM
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I think one reason recruiting didn't take off as fast as some expected is that there was skepticism that Solich would stay. I think most people expected that Solich would get another BCS level job, and when he landed at Ohio, they figured he would stay a year or two and then move up. Instead, he stayed, and honestly, judging from what I see from press conferences, etc, he's much happier at Ohio than he ever was when he was at Nebraska. Thus, I suspect the relationship has been win-win for both Solich and Ohio.

Now the mystery is, how long he will continue to coach? Unless health becomes an issue, I suspect the answer is, he'll coach as long as he continues to enjoy it, which could be awhile.
Paul Graham
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Posted: 4/2/2014 1:11 PM
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Pataskala wrote:expand_more
Not only Coach, but the core of his staff, too.  For recruits and their parents, knowing that the guy you talk to will likely be there for all four or five years makes a huge difference. 


You would have thought...but apparently not true.
L.C.
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Posted: 4/2/2014 2:42 PM
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Paul Graham wrote:expand_more
Not only Coach, but the core of his staff, too.  For recruits and their parents, knowing that the guy you talk to will likely be there for all four or five years makes a huge difference. 

You would have thought...but apparently not true.

That was my point - At what point did you, as a fan, look at Ohio and say "Solich will surely be here for the next 4-5 years"? In 2005-2006 there was an expectation that he would pick up and leave after success. In 2007-2008, his marketability had declined, but the team was heading the wrong direction. In 2009-2010 he was approaching 65. Now he's past 65, and the question each year from here on out is "how many more years will he coach"?

The players that believed he would be here found that belief to be true, but it was never a given.
Athens
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Posted: 4/2/2014 8:49 PM
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L.C. wrote:expand_more
I think one reason recruiting didn't take off as fast as some expected is that there was skepticism that Solich would stay. I think most people expected that Solich would get another BCS level job, and when he landed at Ohio, they figured he would stay a year or two and then move up. Instead, he stayed, and honestly, judging from what I see from press conferences, etc, he's much happier at Ohio than he ever was when he was at Nebraska. Thus, I suspect the relationship has been win-win for both Solich and Ohio.

A vocal minority has always thought Solich in the back of his mind would be more comfortable at a BCS level job. I've heard it as recently as 3 years ago out of somebodies mouth "don't you think Solich would want to be at a bigger program". This was not a person from Ohio but had watched us play on ESPN. That's never been a widely held viewpoint because all one has to do is look at Frank's age and realize its a non-starter. At the time Frank was hired Miami was only one year removed from its Top 10 Big Ben year. This made recruiting the state difficult because Miami was so far ahead of Ohio in football reputation. Its taken a lot of wins over Miami and relationship building with the high school football coaches to turn the tables on recruiting. Miami's on it 4th coach since Frank has been here and they've conceded in-state recruiting to the Bobcats. The new Miami coach wants to recruit like a military academy taking a players across the country with strong academic qualifications. I say good luck to that because Oxford isn't exactly Evanston or Palo Alto. Its in the Princeton Review as one of the Top 10 most boring places to go to college.
GoCats105
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Posted: 4/3/2014 8:04 AM
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Mark Lembright '85 wrote:expand_more
While Coach Solich hasn't quite reached the MAC pinnacle yet by winning a MAC Championship (I still think he will get that done before he retires) I think we can all agree that he's been an asset to Ohio University for near a decade now.  What I appreciate most, given what's going on with the basketball team possibly looking for its 3rd coach in 4 seasons, is the stabilty Coach Solich has provided.  Say what you will, at least he's demonstrated a willingness to stay and see things through.  Maybe his options are more limited now than when he got the team to the GMAC Bowl years ago but he has stayed nevertheless and he genuinely appears to like it in Athens.  For his desire to stay and be a significant asset to Ohio University I thank him.


Just wondering if this is a reaffirmation of the sentiment most Ohio fans fell for Solich because of what's happening over on the basketball board right now?
L.C.
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Posted: 4/3/2014 10:10 AM
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GoCats105 wrote:expand_more
Just wondering if this is a reaffirmation of the sentiment most Ohio fans fell for Solich because of what's happening over on the basketball board right now?

No doubt that has something to do with it. As long as we're connecting dots and making comparisons, I'd like to point out the class that we saw from Gdowski, Grooms, and Lightner. While they took advantage of an opportunity to earn more, and move up in their profession, then didn't burn bridges and leave hard feelings by coming after players they had recruited to Ohio. In fact on the football side, of the Ohio Assistants that have during Solich's tenure, only one attempted to take a recruit with him, that being Carl Pelini who tried to move Zach Domicone of Beavercreek to Nebraska. Zach did decommit from Ohio, but ended up at Ohio State, where he was a three time Academic all-Big Ten, but recorded only 23 tackles in 33 games over 5 years.
Last Edited: 4/3/2014 10:19:00 AM by L.C.
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