Sipple: Time to honor Frank Solich at NU, Osborne says

[NUance]

I remember always cutting through his backyard and his frickin Dobermans charging the fence at me.

Hopefully you didn't knock *that* fence down. /jk :lol:

 

[AFhusker]

Yes, thank you for putting our program in the gutter. Just stay away Frank, you did enough damage.

Sorry, you are full of the same BS as Stevie (Wonder Boy) Pederson. Yes, we should honor Frank Solich. He gave a lot of his life to this state and to Nebraska Football. Anyone who does not recognize that is just plain ignorant of the facts. Steve Pederson is the one who ruined Nebraska Football. Again, your ignorance is epic.

Read here!

He was a part of Bob Devaney’s first recruiting class at Nebraska, and became a standout for the Huskers in the mid-1960s, where he earned the nickname "Fearless Frankie". An All-Big Eight fullback and co-captain of the Huskers’ 1965 team, his playing career earned him induction into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 1992. In NU's 27–17 win over Air Force in 1965, he ran for 204 yards on 17 carries, becoming the first Husker to run for 200 yards in a game, and subsequently the first Husker to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Solich returned to college football at his alma mater in 1979, spending 19 seasons at Nebraska as an assistant coach under Tom Osborne, four as the freshman team coach, and 15 seasons as running backs coach. In Solich’s 19 years as an assistant, the Huskers captured three national championships, and 11 conference titles. He was the position coach for many of Nebraska's standout running backs of the 1980s and 1990s, including Tom Rathman, Calvin Jones, Ahman Green, and Lawrence Phillips.

Osborne retired after the 1997 national championship season and named Solich as his successor. Solich directed the Huskers to six consecutive bowl games. Solich did win at least nine games in five of those six seasons, and finished among the top 10 teams in the nation three times. Solich compiled a 58–19 record (.753) at Nebraska.

Solich's 1999 Huskers defeated the Texas Longhorns for the Big 12 championship. Solich was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2001, and was one of seven finalists for the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award in 2001.

For the first five years as head coach, Solich served as his own offensive coordinator, as Osborne had for most of his tenure. His offenses centered on the option. He also utilized such plays as the Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass which became a highlight of Eric Crouch's Heisman Trophy-winning season in 2001.

The Huskers slumped to 7–7 in 2002, their worst record since 1961, and Solich shook up his staff.

Solich's 58 wins during his first six seasons as Nebraska's head coach exceeded those of his predecessors, Bob Devaney (53 wins) and Osborne (55 wins), both of whom are in the College Football Hall of Fame.[1]

How dense are you? This was already covered in past posts, but I'll try to make it easy for you so I'll say it again.

Who couldn't win with Tom's talent that he left him. It's the failure of recruiting that lead to the downfall of the program in 2002. And 2003 was a mirage that was going to show itself in 2004 no matter who was the coach. Bo's defense set an NCAA record of getting turnovers that couldn't be matched. And that defense covered up an offense lead by Frank and Barney that was statistically WORSE than the crappy offense that we hand in 2002. That's why SP failed in firing Frank so uneducated fans like yourself wouldn't have the mental capacity to understand that whoever took the job after him (and you wonder why nobody wanted this job? Look at the roster and you will find out) was set up to fail with the talent that was left and the expectations that are here at NU. That's why Frank should have been allowed to coach in 2004 and complete his failure.

The rest of that crap that you posted is irrelevant to the topic. Nobody gives a rat's @ss about him hanging around the program and riding Tom's coattails. As I stated before, by him being a Husker, it makes what he did to the program that much more of a travesty.

Dense? You are the one that is dense. Frank Solich gave most of his adult life to the cause of Nebraska Football. End of story. Whatever else you have for your negativity needs to take a long walk on a short pier. The stupidity of not allowing Frank Solich his place in the hierarchy of Nebraska Football is epically stupid.

No, what is stupid is putting your head in the sand and ignoring the truth. In which most of this ignorant fan base has done for a decade. So what if he gave most of his adult life to NU? He was still a failure and if you don't want to blame him, blame Tom for forcing him into that situation when he wasn't qualified for it and was over his head from day 1.

 

[AFhusker]

So your contention is that if/when FS gets recognized and receives a standing ovation, it will only be because we have "a very dumb fan base" ? Could it conceivably be that (even among the FS haters), an ovation might just be civility ?
For what it's worth, I agree with you that the "best fans in the country" moniker gets a little shopworn (especially if used as a form of self-aggrandizement by ourselves). However, when "outsiders" choose to apply that label we ought to be proud of it.

Every fan base has it's passionate supporters who tend to miss the blind spots in their program. But, I don't think it's arrogance and/or ignorance to recognize someone who spent most of his life invested in Husker football and reward him with some gratitude and respect.

Your second line is spot on. It's when NU fans call themselves "the best fans in the country" it makes me want to puke. All you have to do is look at how people acted during the Callhan era and the threating of thier children etc. It was disgusting and an embarrasment to the program, the university, and the state of Nebraska.

If it's for his playing time, assistant coach tenure, I have no problem with it. But I can think of many more who deserve it more than he does. But that aside, he doesn't deserve anything for his HC stint here. He's the one that failed the program and I don't know why he would get honored for that. The funny part is that most of what Callahan gets blamed for was Franks fault. But since he's a husker, he gets a pass. Which to me, makes it worse and I will never understand that line of thinking.

This was a major facepalm, then I laughed, for quite a while. Then I was when I realized THAT ALL HALF A MILLION FANS IN THIS STATE DID THIS.

Thank you for proving my point. This is too easy, since "half a million fans" did this, then that makes it ok? The best fans my @ss. Look in the mirror and you will see a fan that no better than a Colorado fan that throws snowballs covered in piss at people. Stay classy!

 

[AFhusker]

I’m a little perplexed by the sheer degree of vitriol displayed by the anti-Frank crowd.

You and me both pal. It's as if they feel he was purposely losing games, which if funny, because he didnt lose too many. "Well, he had Osborne's recruits bla bla bla" Talent or not you still need to get it to produce on the field. Talent doesnt mean gimme wins. just ask Callahan. The way I see it, the folks in the anti Frank crowd are probably if not all the ones that are already asking for Pelini to be ousted. They have no perspective on life and judge everything by simple wins and losses as if it's the SEC. I want Frank to come back and be honored for a day. He deserves it and it would be good for our University and fans as well to come full circle and mend this relationship. I think Osborne realizes that that is the real importance in this is to close this divisive chapter that we've had hanging over us for the last 10 years. Off the field issues or not, they never have been officially disclosed so it's in everyone's best interest to go about as if they did not happen and presume that he was released for the wrong reasons. As for him having no talent for 2004 and end up getting fired anyway, who's to say he wouldntve had an even better season that year. He had a new rejuvinated staff and the players on the team in '04 wouldve been running a system they were recruited to run and learned for multiple years instead of trying to learn spanish from a french teacher.

Nobody said he was "purposely losing games" he just didn't recruit good enough to have a competitive team with the better teams in the conference. Hell, he couldn't compete with the average teams like ISU, or Mizzou when he was fired. The off the field stuff happened, you can put your head in the sand if you want. Yea, having the worst QB in modern NU history trying to run any offense is a joke. Look at the roster and you can try to convince yourself that it would have had a better season with a different coach, but it had no talent other than LB's or CB's.

As for Urban Myer, he didn't come here because he wanted to have an out clause in his contract so he could go to Notre Dame and SP wouldn't give it to him.

 

[zoogs]

Let's try to keep it respectful, everybody...disagree with the post as much as you wish. Just do it in a civil way, a way that doesn't derail a thread.

^

appreciated!

My 2 cents, we aren't the best fans in America. Very passionate about the team, which is admirable. But, like many others, not very good at dealing with losing. The empty stadiums in 2007 shocked me. What can you do, though? Folks want to get home, and that's fair. Look at any gameday thread here and you can find some shocking vitriol spat out at players for a dropped pass, blown coverage, or being Taylor Martinez. Not critique - just anger.

I think our fanbase is terrific and commendable - and we hold ourselves to a high standard, which is good. There's just a bit of a put down somewhere when we proclaim ourselves as better than all the other fanbases, and I think that is what those who dislike the 'best fans' catchphrase are turned off by.

I also don't see the need to draw a line between the so-called "Frank bashers" and others here. Failings as a head coach or not, that can be debated, but the man gave decades of service to the university, many of them good. He was a player, an assistant coach, a head coach - guy loved this place and gave a lifetime's worth of work here. I think it would be appropriate to honor him.

 

[skersfan]

Urban said no on his way to Notre Dame to look at taking their job, but the talent was not good enough so he went to Florida where he found what he wanted. He was never offered as he said he had no interest in a program that fired a 9 win coach. Your garbage is getting old AF. At least try to get the story right.

 

[Count 'Bility]

So your contention is that if/when FS gets recognized and receives a standing ovation, it will only be because we have "a very dumb fan base" ? Could it conceivably be that (even among the FS haters), an ovation might just be civility ?
For what it's worth, I agree with you that the "best fans in the country" moniker gets a little shopworn (especially if used as a form of self-aggrandizement by ourselves). However, when "outsiders" choose to apply that label we ought to be proud of it.

Every fan base has it's passionate supporters who tend to miss the blind spots in their program. But, I don't think it's arrogance and/or ignorance to recognize someone who spent most of his life invested in Husker football and reward him with some gratitude and respect.

Your second line is spot on. It's when NU fans call themselves "the best fans in the country" it makes me want to puke. All you have to do is look at how people acted during the Callhan era and the threating of thier children etc. It was disgusting and an embarrasment to the program, the university, and the state of Nebraska.

If it's for his playing time, assistant coach tenure, I have no problem with it. But I can think of many more who deserve it more than he does. But that aside, he doesn't deserve anything for his HC stint here. He's the one that failed the program and I don't know why he would get honored for that. The funny part is that most of what Callahan gets blamed for was Franks fault. But since he's a husker, he gets a pass. Which to me, makes it worse and I will never understand that line of thinking.

This was a major facepalm, then I laughed, for quite a while. Then I was when I realized THAT ALL HALF A MILLION FANS IN THIS STATE DID THIS.

Thank you for proving my point. This is too easy, since "half a million fans" did this, then that makes it ok? The best fans my @ss. Look in the mirror and you will see a fan that no better than a Colorado fan that throws snowballs covered in piss at people. Stay classy!

:blink:

What the hell are you talking about? Do you smoke a bowl before you get on this message board? You obviously do not understand my point, that a couple nut jobs, whom probably have never even been inside memorial stadium threatening our coaches kid(s) once should not label our whole fanbase as you have done so in order to push your point. You were probably one of em to begin with. You seem angry enough, and have enough hatred for a coach that loses a game or two. Or are you the nutjob that sat a couple row behind us in the middle of 1993 wanting Osborne fired. Heck I think we were winning the game by 30 points. No, it's fans like you that give us a bad name. You come on here and preach and preach about not being classy bla bla bla and then proceed to spew anger towards Solich cuz he had 1 bad year. Boo fricking hoo.

 

[bshirt]

Yes, thank you for putting our program in the gutter. Just stay away Frank, you did enough damage.

Yeah, the damage he did as HC was endless.

1, BigXII championship

2. Play in NC game (should have in 1999 too)

3. Beat Texas

4. "twice" BigXII COY

5. coached three NU Top 10 teams

6. coached five NU Top 20 teams

You're so right. Thank God we fired him & Bo for only winning ten games in 2003 as that then ushered in the glorious Callahan era. A great step forward for NU cfb.

 

[JJ Husker]

I don't have much to add that hasn't been debated on these boards in excess already. Frank deserves the appreciation of all Husker fans. Sure recruiting talent may have dropped off a bit on his watch but I am convinced it was not because he didn't give it everything he had and was also due to following a legend. It was bound to tail off no matter who filled TO's shoes. The difference as I see it is Pederson and Callahan willfully dismantled and modified a functioning machine. Frank just neglected to oil it a couple times. Nevertheless Frank has earned the right and deserves the chance to be honored in Memorial stadium.

 

[NUance]

I don't have much to add that hasn't been debated on these boards in excess already. Frank deserves the appreciation of all Husker fans. Sure recruiting talent may have dropped off a bit on his watch but I am convinced it was not because he didn't give it everything he had and was also due to following a legend. It was bound to tail off no matter who filled TO's shoes. The difference as I see it is Pederson and Callahan willfully dismantled and modified a functioning machine. Frank just neglected to oil it a couple times. Nevertheless Frank has earned the right and deserves the chance to be honored in Memorial stadium.

Wow! That sums up how I feel better than I could have said it myself. +1 to you.

As for Frank, the guy was a loyal soldier. Sure, maybe not the greatest coach in the world. But there's no harm in recognizing his loyal service to NU.

 

[husker_99]

So now that we are honoring Frank, so in about 10 years are we also gonna honor Bill Calllahan for the terrific job he did?

 

[NUance]

So now that we are honoring Frank, so in about 10 years are we also gonna honor Bill Calllahan for the terrific job he did?

It just takes longer to appreciate the service of some coaches. It took a decade for Frank. They’ve been considering the merits of Bill Jennings for 50 years now. I’d say it will take longer for Callahan. Much longer.

 

[Joe_5700]

Yes, thank you for putting our program in the gutter. Just stay away Frank, you did enough damage.

Sorry, you are full of the same BS as Stevie (Wonder Boy) Pederson. Yes, we should honor Frank Solich. He gave a lot of his life to this state and to Nebraska Football. Anyone who does not recognize that is just plain ignorant of the facts. Steve Pederson is the one who ruined Nebraska Football. Again, your ignorance is epic.

Read here!

He was a part of Bob Devaney’s first recruiting class at Nebraska, and became a standout for the Huskers in the mid-1960s, where he earned the nickname "Fearless Frankie". An All-Big Eight fullback and co-captain of the Huskers’ 1965 team, his playing career earned him induction into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 1992. In NU's 27–17 win over Air Force in 1965, he ran for 204 yards on 17 carries, becoming the first Husker to run for 200 yards in a game, and subsequently the first Husker to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Solich returned to college football at his alma mater in 1979, spending 19 seasons at Nebraska as an assistant coach under Tom Osborne, four as the freshman team coach, and 15 seasons as running backs coach. In Solich’s 19 years as an assistant, the Huskers captured three national championships, and 11 conference titles. He was the position coach for many of Nebraska's standout running backs of the 1980s and 1990s, including Tom Rathman, Calvin Jones, Ahman Green, and Lawrence Phillips.

Osborne retired after the 1997 national championship season and named Solich as his successor. Solich directed the Huskers to six consecutive bowl games. Solich did win at least nine games in five of those six seasons, and finished among the top 10 teams in the nation three times. Solich compiled a 58–19 record (.753) at Nebraska.

Solich's 1999 Huskers defeated the Texas Longhorns for the Big 12 championship. Solich was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2001, and was one of seven finalists for the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award in 2001.

For the first five years as head coach, Solich served as his own offensive coordinator, as Osborne had for most of his tenure. His offenses centered on the option. He also utilized such plays as the Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass which became a highlight of Eric Crouch's Heisman Trophy-winning season in 2001.

The Huskers slumped to 7–7 in 2002, their worst record since 1961, and Solich shook up his staff.

Solich's 58 wins during his first six seasons as Nebraska's head coach exceeded those of his predecessors, Bob Devaney (53 wins) and Osborne (55 wins), both of whom are in the College Football Hall of Fame.[1]

How dense are you? This was already covered in past posts, but I'll try to make it easy for you so I'll say it again.

Who couldn't win with Tom's talent that he left him. It's the failure of recruiting that lead to the downfall of the program in 2002. And 2003 was a mirage that was going to show itself in 2004 no matter who was the coach. Bo's defense set an NCAA record of getting turnovers that couldn't be matched. And that defense covered up an offense lead by Frank and Barney that was statistically WORSE than the crappy offense that we hand in 2002. That's why SP failed in firing Frank so uneducated fans like yourself wouldn't have the mental capacity to understand that whoever took the job after him (and you wonder why nobody wanted this job? Look at the roster and you will find out) was set up to fail with the talent that was left and the expectations that are here at NU. That's why Frank should have been allowed to coach in 2004 and complete his failure.

The rest of that crap that you posted is irrelevant to the topic. Nobody gives a rat's @ss about him hanging around the program and riding Tom's coattails. As I stated before, by him being a Husker, it makes what he did to the program that much more of a travesty.

Dense? You are the one that is dense. Frank Solich gave most of his adult life to the cause of Nebraska Football. End of story. Whatever else you have for your negativity needs to take a long walk on a short pier. The stupidity of not allowing Frank Solich his place in the hierarchy of Nebraska Football is epically stupid.

No, what is stupid is putting your head in the sand and ignoring the truth. In which most of this ignorant fan base has done for a decade. So what if he gave most of his adult life to NU? He was still a failure and if you don't want to blame him, blame Tom for forcing him into that situation when he wasn't qualified for it and was over his head from day 1.

How was he a failure? One bad season? I think the better question for you is who should Tom have given the team to instead in 1998? I think this has to do with the source of your venom towards Solich.

 

[Count 'Bility]

So now that we are honoring Frank, so in about 10 years are we also gonna honor Bill Calllahan for the terrific job he did?

No. And comparing Callahan's work here to Solich's is like comparing apples to, well, onions I guess. The situations are so far apart they should not even be in the same conversation. So many are lacking the perspective to understand the big picture. Solich just didnt spend 6 years here, he spent the majority of his adult life in Lincoln, as a player, asst. coach and head coach. He was part of this program in way or another in 5 different decades and for a stretch of 25 consecutive years. Outside of Devany and Osborne, how many have that much time invested in our program.

 

[hskrfan4life]

Solich is just as big of a part of Husker football history a Callahan is. Even though I like Solich more.

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