I think everyone knows my vote...

I just find it humorous that people think if a new coach came in and led Ohio to MACC that he'd A) immediately leave or even more hilariously B) suddenly lead Ohio to losing seasons right after and run the program into the ground.

Or buy a lottery ticket ... win ... and then watch all your money catch on fire, get hit by a bus and your life is just awful for the rest of time.

Because success can only be followed with nothing but failure.

+1

What amazes me is that,for such a critical issue (sarcasm intended),as of now,only 18 people voted.

Ah, the old "Would you rather be the 1997 Florida Marlins or the 1990s Cleveland Indians" quandary....

It's not often I'm called sweetheart so I'm just going to take that compliment and leave the polling to you.

The Grass is not always Greener...Ohio is 100% a Different program without Solich and it really could be feast or famine...Ohio history say FAMINE sooooo...

Ok ... now look at the foundation that was built by Haywood at Miami ... or Brookhart at Akron or Gill at Buffalo.

Nowhere near what Solich has built at Ohio. Ohio is on solid footing. Much like NIU who has seen Novak, Kill, Doeren & Carey .... and haven't missed much of a beat.

Similar to Toledo with Pinkel, Amstutz, Beckman, Campbell & Candle. Solid foundation built. 12 bowls since 2000. Pinkel laid the foundation & the rest help strengthen it. Yeah ... they had a few down years just like Solich did early while building Ohio.

The jury is still out on WMU after Fleck ... but I still don't think he built what Frank has.

Not many programs can survive what BG ia going thru ... four head coaches in seven years.

My point is we should trust what Frank has built. It's not a house of cards. I really think when the time comes for him to pass the baton, the right person should be able to come in and continue to elevate things. And, for the record, I don't think that person is currently on staff.

The fear of this thing deflating like a balloon is kind of funny to me. All these Solich fanatics ... quick to defend him ... but tentative to trust in what he's built.

New coaches are not famous for building on the old coaches work, but, for bringing in what they know which got them the opportunity. Case in point in 2003 this Big 12 school let go a coach at 9-3, 58-19, with one championship expecting new coaching to bring more/better. Fifteen years, four coaches and no championships later later they are 4-8 to Ohio's 8-4. So no, "past performance is no indication of future performance." This salesman was once obligated to share this with me.

Take a breath. Not about the letting go part. Point is about the success of next coaches even if they are following success. Really, take pill or something. Fourteen year fan, no, not as long as many here.

It's difficult to know what will happen. Solich has definitely done far more "program building" than most coaches in the MAC. Most coaches come to the MAC looking to win, and move up, and aren't as interested in building something that lasts. Solich has been an exception. Novack did the same thing at NIU. NIU built on that, and has continued to win afterwards, and perhaps that will be Ohio's future.

On the other hand, the big negative for Ohio is one that Solich can do little about. The local area is SE Ohio, and SE Ohio produces less Division I athletes than the other parts of the state. This, in turn, means that Ohio has to recruit almost all it's players from either other parts of the state, or from out-of-state. My opinion is that it was this disadvantage that led to the problems between the Hess years and Grobe.

By improving facilities, especially the IPF and the Academic Center, perhaps after Solich is gone, the new coach will have no trouble recruiting the talent he needs to win. Or, perhaps he will. Note that Akron has pretty great facilities, and they continue to have bottom-of-the-MAC recruiting most years, so you never know.

My opinion is that we really don't know what will happen after Solich is gone. It might be better, or it might be worse. As far as I'm concerned, the present isn't bad, good teams that get better every year, more wins that losses, and being competitive for a MACC every year. The recruiting class this year is the best yet, and two years ago wasn't far behind it, so the next few years promise to be even better, with hopefully a MACC or two. In the meantime, I'm content to enjoy the present, and hope for continued improvement, and in no rush to get to a future that might be a little better, or might be a lot worse. We'll get there soon enough, anyway, and then we will find out what happens.

I see a lot of parallels to NIU's program here at Ohio. Good APR rates. New found consistency after mediocre decades. Consistency on national TV and going to bowls pulls in a different type of recruit.