Of course, there's the down side.

Fiami:
2006: 2-10 (5th in the East)
2008: 2-10 (7th)
2009: 1-11 (7th)
2011: 4-8 (4th)
2012: 4-8 (4th)
2013: 0-12 (7th)
2014: 2-10 (6th)
2015: 3-9 (5th)
2017: 5-7 (2nd)

For every year they get into the MACCG, they've had three where not even competitive. They've been last in the weaker East division four times.

CMU has been much more consistent, but as you mentioned the West is traditionally stronger than the East. And actually CMU has been more like Ohio -- competitive every year with the occasional MACCG appearance.

The only one that got away was 2011. We had NIU 20-0 at half.
Every other time, 2006, 2009, 2016 we were playing a clearly better team.

I definitely want a title but I'll never call for this coaching team
to be fired. This is the golden time of Ohio football. I believe it!

I like the comparison of APSU and Ohio but I think the big difference between the two schools is that APSU is much more of a football school than Ohio will ever be. Their fanbase and alumni overall are much more into football than Ohio's. Consequently their school is willing to devote more resources than Ohio. Not making any sort of judgment, just pointing out the emphasis each school places on football.

And I'm not so sure the facilities are similar or equal. APSU's football stadium is newer, and looks fantastic! It's sweet! And they're building an endzone addition with loges. I'm not sure there's really much of a comparison with Peden.

The stadium App State has in Boone is phenomenal. They have what could have be done to Peden had they had a master plan rather then piece mealing things here.

They are more of a football school and town, but how much of that is simply due to a winning tradition?

Lastly, and these in my opinion are key: 1) Boone is a bigger town with more going on that Athens has in general, though it is more remote than Athens. That has to help recruiting, along with facilities and winning. They probably have more money from sponsors that Ohio has, if I were to guess. 2) They are, by my estimate, in their immediate region the biggest show in town in terms of sports. Especially with football.

I must say ... I did not expect a rational conversation in this thread. So kudos to everyone who posted. All very good and well thought out comments.

What I'll say is this ... I do NOT think Ohio should fire Solich & Co. No way, no how. I've stated that about a million times on here. He's done waaaaaay too much to be fired.

I'm just mystified that after 15 years, we watch teams go from 1-11 (0-8 in the MAC) to playing for a league title in one year?!?!?! And Ohio has played in one title game in 8 years?!?!! How is that?!?!?!

How does Miami have a title (maybe two after this weekend) before Solich brings one to Athens?!?!?

It's super frustrating. And there hasn't been much in the last few years that has raised an ounce of confidence that it's going to happen. And it goes without saying (but I'll say it) ... with no title, the program will remain in neutral.

I LOVE the comparison to App State. It's amazing how they've excelled since going FBS. It certainly didn't hurt that they had a really strong winning tradition that included National Titles while they were FCS.

But to come in and do what they've done is very similar to what Marshall did in the 1990s. They bumped up to FBS and joined the MAC and then ran roughshod over it until they got a little too big-headed and jumped. They haven't been the same dominant program ... but have had they moments. They, understandably, struggling to remain dominant in a much more competitive landscape than the MAC.

App State can stay in the Sun Belt and dominate that league forever ... will be interesting to see if they get that itch to leave like Marshall did?

But yes .... back to the point .... what Solich & Co have done at Ohio is tremendous ... they've given a dead program a pulse and a solid foundation. They've just taken it as far as they can. It's time to hand off the keys and let someone come in and build off that foundation and see what they can do with the IPF and other things the program has acquired over the Solich era .... which includes some brand recognition.

The program is stuck on the MAC Interstate going 60mph while others are zooming past from time to time. Ohio gets from point A to point B (which is essentially bowl eligibility) ... but they do it with no flare and in a very stale way.

It just sucks watching two programs that I thought Ohio was above play for a MAC title this weekend .... especially when I think Ohio can beat both of them. And this doesn't even scratch the surface of the last two years of disappointment.

It just sucks. Plain and simple.

It's been difficult for a lot of MAC programs to sustain success. At Fiami, Shane Montgomery inherited Terry Hoepner's excellent team, had a good first year then bombed. Mike Haywood went from 1-11 to 10 wins, moved on to Pitt but was undone by off-field problems. Don Treadwell did nothing there. Martin has steadily built the program but will likely be gone after this season.

Darrell Hazell had one spectacular season of the two he coached at Kent, moved on to Purdue and had six wins in 3 1/2 years.

Turner Gill had a MACC but it was the Bulls' only winning season of the three he coached there. Jeff Quinn followed up with one winning season in the 4+ he was there. Leipold has done better.

BG had three straight division titles and two MACCs under Clawson and Babers. They've been 12-36 since.

There are stories like this all over the G5 landscape. Fact is, younger coaches get success and move on. We had a stroke of luck getting Solich. I still think we can get over the hump with him.

Oddly, I'm thinking that the next Ohio coach might've been standing on the sideline at the BG game. Jim Burrow is 66 but looks like he'll be ready to get back into it after Joe is done at LSU.

Boone’s population is under 20000 so not so sure about local help there.

Wow - lots of good stuff here, a very content-rich thread. Bshot - I cannot argue with anything you have said here. I am utterly baffled (and frustrated to no end). Our program is the class of the conference; consistency, quality coaching, best fan support, apparently clean. The only program item that's not top-notch for the MAC is our stadium, but I don't think that is holding us back to any significant degree. It has character(?!?), butts in the seats, and is in a setting that none of the other conference members can duplicate.

I think the App State comparison is valid. I totally agree with Country's comment and I believe that WE would be just as much of a football town if we had their record of success.

So what is it then? HOW do we lose three critical conference home games by a total of nine points? Should we have lost at Buffalo? Yes. Should we have beaten NIU, WMU, and Fiami in Athens? Yes, yes, and hell yes. The scary answer is that it's gotten into their heads. Is there any empirical evidence which could prove or disprove that? No. The 2nd half MACC collapse in 2011, the 2012 Fiami brain fart and the massive swoon afterwards, the almost yearly November missteps. Of course, the team is completely different from 2011 and 12, but when it happens annually, it could become ingrained in the culture (what's going to go wrong this time...). I really hope I'm wrong about that, because I don't know how you would fix it.

I really want for Frank to go out on a high note - with a MACC. He deserves that - but he's running out of time. Maybe 2020? I hope so. I like the idea of Burrow coming in after Frank retires. Not sure how likely that is, but our defense needs him. Can Kurtis do what his older brother couldn't? His skill players will all be back and more experienced - some losses on the O-line, but they had some pretty mediocre showings at times this year, so maybe some turnover is not the end of the world.

We won't be picked to win it next year - based on experience, that's only good news.

The MAC will be a lot better next year, it almost has to be. NIU, Toledo, Bugs and Akron have to be better.. CMU, Miami, Kent St and Ball State are all pretty young. Buffalo is reloading. We’ll have to find a QB quickly.

What makes everyone think/believe that Jimmy is not enjoying watching his son, and spending time with his family. I am sure Jimmy would like to follow an NFL son as well.

I guess it's my perception that it's a larger community. Maybe the mountains make it more spread out and just seem that way? It's a regional draw more than Ohio is based on what I saw around there in the 2-3 years we've vacationed in the area. It's only drawback is getting there from the north, which isn't ideal at all.

Guessing Appy State has a bigger stadium and nicer facilities than Ohio. Not being in Boone, I'm not for certain, but just a guess. They do love there football in Boone.