What went wrong? Part 2

[Cash68847]

I knew coaches and players on those teams. I think Deangelo Evans said it best when asked to compare playing for Tom Osborne and Frank Solich. His answer was "Tom Osborne was playing Chess, and Frank Solich was playing Checkers". The coaches and players I knew would agree with that statement. Frank was a great RB Coach and solid recruiter but didn't even have Coordinator Experience let alone Head Coaching experience. At that point we were the Alabama of Football and could have had any coach replace Osborne. The most telling stat for me was a breakdown of Offensive Play Calling by Solich. Basically in games against ranked opponents he called the same 5 plays 84% of the time, and we had a much lower winning percentage. How hard would it be for Oklahoma or Texas to pick up on that and shut down our Offense? I don't remember that splits for games we won but they were far more balanced. T.O. was a gifted play caller, and Frank just didn't have that knack and by the time he made the switch it was too late. As a recruiting Beatnik I was worried how far our recruiting had slipped under Solich. WE had many coaches who weren't even out on the road recruiting. One head scratcher for me was I knew a Walk On player from Colorado and Frank flew out there to personally recruit him. Why waste that resource and time on a Walk On when our scholarship recruiting was suffering mightily.

And I will leave you with this thought, if Frank Solich was such a great head coach shouldn't he be dominating the lowly MAC Conference?

Solich’s biggest problem was his buddy Dave Gillespie who buried his recruiting. Solich’s recruiting classes dropped in a significant way from Osborne. I was at the 2002 Texas game and thinking Texas looks a lot better physically especially on the lines. That was never the case under Osborne.

 

[Ext. 55]

Many people say the juggernaut of husker football died November 23, 2001 in Boulder, Colorado.

The magic suddenly just doesn’t stop, I understand the hyperbole above, but taking a deeper dive into it, it was the drop-off of recruiting talent that finally caught up to Solich I believe, as we saw the following year Nebraska goes 7-7 and the wheels fell completely off. (Compared to the 30 year run Nebraska made, going .500 was the bottom. Today….it’s been our season goal the last 4 seasons)

After 2002 season Solich brings in a unknown name (NFL linebacker coach) Bo Pelini to lead the defense and they go 9-3 in 2003, and the staff is fired.

Now I was not in favor of Solich getting the job in the first place, but after going 9-3 (10-3 bowl game) and improving after making staff changes, the correct move should have been to give him another season at least to see what happens.

The question for Part 2 is, should Solich have been fired after 2003?

The Colorado loss was an ‘OH SHIT’ moment for me for sure. The shit show truly began after that for me. Honestly, Frank was over his head from the first moment. Good man, but not the right guy.