Solich unquestioned leader of Ohio Bobcats

ATHENS, Ohio - When Frank Solich pulls open the blinds in his office, he gazes down on a stadium less than half the size of the place where he used to coach. Green, not red, is the dominant color, and winning football rarely has been seen there.

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There are many other differences between his old job at Nebraska and new one at Ohio University including this: The coach starting his first season, not his players, is clearly the star.

Souvenirs now feature the slogan "Got Frank!" and Solich's face is plastered on billboards around town.

After spending part of five decades as a player, assistant and head coach at Nebraska, Solich was hired by Ohio in hopes that he will bring wins and attention to the perennially struggling Bobcats.

"Having a football coach of Frank Solich's stature creates instant credibility within the program, on campus, with alumni, and from prospective student-athletes that was not present before," OU president Roderick McDavis said.

Solich will coach his first game for the Bobcats on Sept. 3 at Northwestern.

"Right now my players are as excited as anybody's team in the country. Our coaches are excited. Now, whether we can create that kind of excitement to fill the stadium and be able to be successful year after year, I don't know," he said. "We're going to have to change the culture of things here a little bit."

Solich, who grew up in Cleveland and used to make recruiting trips to Ohio for Nebraska, inherits a program that has lost its only two bowl games (1962, 1968) and counts only two winning seasons since 1982.

The fact the Bobcats couldn't match the Cornhuskers' track record, fan support or recruiting base didn't matter to the 60-year-old who began his coaching career trying to resurrect struggling Nebraska high school teams.

"It's not the crowds, it's not the size of the stadium that keeps me in the profession," Solich said. "Really it's being around young people and establishing relationships with the coaches on your staff, the players in your program. That to me is what it's all about."

Solich was an assistant on Tom Osborne's staff at Nebraska from 1979-97, helping the Cornhuskers win two outright national titles and share a third. Promoted to head coach when the Hall of Famer retired, the Cornhuskers were strong under Solich but never as dominant.

Solich was 58-19 in six seasons and guided the Cornhuskers to the 2002 Rose Bowl, where they lost their national championship bid 37-14 to Miami. The team slumped over the next two years and athletic director Steve Pederson fired Solich, who arrived in Lincoln in 1962 as a small but tough fullback.

Solich passed on the head coaching job at Army after the 2003 season, then spent last year visiting college and pro teams, learning as much as he could about his profession in case the right opportunity came along.

This is it, he says.

"If you have the proper backing, you're going to have the chance to succeed. If you don't have it, those chances are going to be diminished some. It was obvious to me that this president wants the football program to work," Solich said.

He took over about a month after the firing of Brian Knorr, whose teams went 11-35 in four seasons.

The university president is promising to be patient as Solich works to win over potential recruits.

"We clearly understand that it will take coach Solich and his staff some time to get the job done," McDavis said.

Osborne said Solich, his hand-picked successor at Nebraska whom he later recommended for the job at Ohio, could turn around the Bobcats because he's a good recruiter who's organized.

"Some people are PR guys with not a lot of substance in terms of their knowledge of the game, but Frank is totally committed to coaching. He knows the game and he studies the game," said Osborne, now a congressman.

Solich's resume has fans psyched about football again on the southeast Ohio campus where sellouts are rare in 24,000-seat Peden Stadium. But he won over his players by focusing on the present.

"One of the best things that he's done is just not harp on things of the past and he hasn't even talked about other places and stuff," quarterback Austen Everson said. "He knows he's here ow and he's really focused on that and getting us to where we need to be."

Solich is looking ahead and not back, declining to delve into the reasons why it didn't work out for him at Nebraska.

"There are things that I struggle with, but I do not struggle with me being here at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio," he said. "I'm here and I like it here."