Coach's Q&A: Frank Solich

Ohio head coach talks MAC football and his time with Nebraska

Aug. 22, 2007

By Steve Brauntuch

Special To CSTV.com

	Steve Brauntuch Steve Brauntuch is a researcher for CSTV and contributor to CSTV.com. E-mail here!

        ---   Column Archive   --- COACHES Q&A 8/22: Frank Solich 8/15: Sean Miller 8/08: Jerry Moore 8/01: Jeff Capel 7/25: Tim Floyd 7/18: Sylvester Croom 7/11: Paul Johnson 7/3: Kelvin Sampson 6/27: Dave Wannstedt 6/20: Chris Lowery 6/13: Chris Petersen 6/6: Reggie Theus 5/28: Wayne Graham 5/23: Rich Brooks 5/16: A Volunteer Family 5/9: Rich Rodriguez 5/2: Tommy Amaker 4/25: Tim Corbin 4/18: John Beilein option value="javascript:void(0);"> SOCCER 8/23: Short Commute, Big Jump

They played an extra game in 1962 and again in 1968.  That was the extent of Ohio University's bowl history before Frank Solich arrived as head coach in 2005.  But Solich came to town with a winning pedigree, having won 58 games in six seasons as the head man at Nebraska before losing his job at the hands of a new athletic director.  And it didn't take long for him to rebuild the Bobcats.  After a 4-7 season, Ohio won nine games and the MAC East Division title.  That was enough to earn them a spot in a January bowl game for the first time in program history, and it was enough to earn Solich a lifetime of goodwill in Athens, Ohio.

But Solich's job is not done - Ohio is still looking for its first bowl game victory, and they haven't had a season with double-digit wins in almost 40 years.  Plus, this season the Bobcats will travel to Blacksburg to play Virginia Tech, one of their biggest challenges yet in Solich's tenure.  Before he embarks on the quest for 10 wins, Solich spoke about turning the program around, his time at Nebraska and his mentor, Tom Osborne.

SB: Before you got to Ohio, the Bobcats had won 11 total games in four seasons.  Last year, you won nine games.  Are you surprised at all by how quickly the turnaround has happened at Ohio?

FS: Not surprised.  You know, in showing up here, it was obvious that we had the support of the president and the support of the AD, and they wanted to move the program forward.  And we were able to put together a very good coaching staff, and so even though we got started late in the first recruiting year, we had a good recruiting year.  And then, the previous coaching staff had recruited some good players.  So we felt we had the makeup of a team that could come together and start believing in themselves to be able to win football games.  And nobody wanted to wait around for 4-5 years to start to see some progress.  So we just worked at it, and it fell together.

SB: What do you think has been the biggest reason for the quick turnaround for the program?  Can you point to anything in particular that has changed since you took over as head coach?

FS: Well, they bought into our entire program, the players did, and we got them to give tremendous worth ethic.  And obviously, one thing that did exist that they weren't having in the past is the fact that we were able to put together scholarships over the summer for players.  So we were able to keep them here on campus with guys moving forward in their degrees.  They were training together as a football team during the summer.  And I don't think you can win football games without your squad being ready and conditioned year round to make it work.  And so much chemistry gets developed over the summer when they're together.  So that was a big, big thing for us to get that done and move forward with that.  And then just the fact that the attitude seemed to be what we wanted in terms of them starting to believe in themselves, and once that happened, they started to believe in one another.  And this truly felt like a football team ready to win games.

SB: Do you think in some ways, you benefited last season from low expectations coming off five difficult years for the program?  Do you think you caught some teams by surprise last season?

FS: We very well could have.  You know, I don't know how other teams approach football games - I know how we do.  We don't take anybody for granted.  We line up ready to play our very best football regardless of who we're playing, and we're just going to see how it plays out.  If teams took us lightly, then that's the problem that they have.  We will never let that happen in our program, but it could very well have been that teams just felt that Ohio University was a win on their schedule.

SB: How does coaching in the MAC compare to coaching in the Big 12?

FS: Well, I think obviously in terms of money into the program and so forth, there's much more in Big 12 football than there is in the MAC.  But what I'm finding out is that we've got everything we need to have an excellent program.  So in some respects, it's very much the same in that you're just dealing with people.  You're dealing with players, and in our case, I really like the players that we're working with.  I really like their attitude.  I like the effort they give.  I like their talent - we're growing in that area more and more with each recruiting class.  You need to have a good working relationship with your president and your AD regardless of what conference you're in.  We have that here at Ohio.  And so I'm feeling comfortable with this program and the fact that we can continue to move it forward.  But nothing's automatic.  Just because we won a few games last year doesn't mean that's going to roll over into this year automatically.  I think we'll be a faster, maybe more talented football team in some respects, but that doesn't always just automatically mean more wins.

SB: How do you think Ohio would do if you played a Big Ten or a Big East schedule instead of a MAC schedule?  Do you think your team could win seven or eight games in a BCS conference?

FS: I would like to think that we would be able to do that.  You know, whether we could do that right now or whether that would be two years down the road for us or what-have-you is uncertain.  I do know that in playing last year's schedule against Missouri, against Rutgers, both of whom were very good football teams, rated very highly for a good share of the year, and the University of Illinois - who in playing Ohio State after we played them took that game down to the wire - so we were on the football field with Rutgers.  I made a bad call at the end of the half and gave them some points, but we were in that football game.  Missouri, we were a few plays away from being able to be in the game.  And we beat Illinois.  So certainly we're capable of lining up against those kinds of teams and making a run at it.  Our non-conference schedule is what it is.  This year, we play Virginia Tech, which will be a Top 10 football team.  The following year, we play Ohio State, which obviously is always a Top 10 football team.  So we continue to put on our schedule those types of games, and when you go through a 14-game schedule in the MAC, it's challenging.  Obviously, there's great challenges in the Big 12 whenever you try to line up week after week to play.

SB: What did you learn from Tom Osborne in your time working for him that has helped you in your coaching career?

FS: I thought he was a great coach and was really a coach that I thought players could relate to, and really a coach that his coaching staff related to.  It's obvious that he had a great work ethic, and that's what I want to continue to be about in my coaching is to have a good work ethic.  And that work ethic was in recruiting, in coaching on the field, in preparation.  And so no one in my mind outworked coach Osborne, and I'd like to think that I got a little bit of that from him and have a good work ethic in that regard.  You know, to try to be somewhat even keel in our approach - it's obvious we want teachers as coaches.  We don't just want screamers and yellers, and he was never that way.  He was just a great, great teacher.  If your head coach is a yeller and a screamer out on the field, pretty soon your assistant coaches become that, and soon your players become that.  And if you're not careful, things get out of hand.  You know, he always was composed.  I think our teams at Nebraska were able to pull things out at the end in the 4th quarter when they needed to, and that comes down to that never did you see coach Osborne rattled.  Never did you see him out of control on the sideline, and that's the way his teams were.  They were always in control.  And they always gave their best shot coming down the stretch.

SB: You have such deep ties to Nebraska, having played there and coached there for so long.  Do you have any lingering regrets about how your tenure there ended?

FS: Well, yeah, there are regrets on how that ended there, of course.  But that's the business we're in.  And obviously, it can come down to an individual or two as to where you're at, and any time there's a change in athletic directors, I think coaches are vulnerable.  So that's what it was, and I feel good about what I was able to accomplish in six years there as a head coach.  The staff that I took over as head coach with was a very good staff, and we maintained that staff for a few years.  Unfortunately, it was an aging staff at one point, so we did make some changes.  I was pleased with the opportunity I had to make changes, that good changes were made and that we could continue to move the program forward.  So, you know, there's a time frame for new coaches where it's obvious you're extremely vulnerable, especially when you follow a coach like Coach Osborne.  You know, he faced the same thing when he followed Coach [Bob] Devaney for a period of time.

SB: What do you think are the biggest changes you've seen in the sport of college football since the time you played in the 1960s?

FS: Athletes are bigger and stronger.  They're better conditioned.  They're faster.  It's a different game along that level, and so consequently, the game has changed in terms of speed and size.  And there's been some rule changes along the way that they continue to make that make some changes in the game.  But it still comes back to being able to block and tackle and being able to put tough football kids on the field.  If you're able to do that, you're going to give yourself a good chance to win.

SB: Have you made a timeline for yourself on how many more years you see yourself coaching in college football?

FS: You know, I have not given that any thought.  I've got a lot of energy right now.  I'm anxious to get this season underway.  I like our staff.  I like the kids in our program.  I like the support I'm getting from the president and the AD.  Right now, I'm enjoying this immensely, and so there will come a time when I'll look at it and decide to call it a career.  But it's obvious I'd like to get this program at a very, very high level.  If we can get it going at a high level to the point where I feel that it's reached the level that I want it to reach, then at some point, I'll be satisfied with my career and be ready to step down and hopefully turn it over to somebody well qualified within the program.  That will be my gameplan.  How many years - you know, there's nobody in the program now that would have to worry about me hanging it up here in a few years.

SB: So do you think Ohio is the last stop for you in your coaching career?

FS: It could be.  You know, in saying what I said about getting this thing operating at a very high level, turning it around in a manner we want to turn it around, I could feel very, very satisfied with my career if I got that done.  But in this game, you know, all bets are off.  You never know from year to year where you might be, whether you're still in the game, whether you're at the same university or another university.  There's just too many factors that come into play to be able to indicate that you'll be at a place for any longer than a year.  But I expect that I could be here for a long time yet and win many ballgames.

SB: Two very famous TV actors have attended Ohio University - Richard Dean Anderson, star of MacGyver, and Ed O'Neill, star of Married with Children.  In your opinion, which show was better - MacGyver or Married with Children?

FS: Well, you know, to be honest with you, I've watched very little of those shows.  But I'll go with MacGyver.  He could get himself out of jams pretty well, so I guess I'll go with that not having watched either show much.