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Nebraska to honor Solich 20 years after controversial firing

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Nebraska to honor Solich 20 years after controversial firing


Twenty years have handed since Frank Solich’s controversial firing from Nebraska, and he hasn’t publicly appeared at Memorial Stadium since. That’s about to alter.

The 78-year-old stays a beloved determine amongst a lot of the fan base, having been an all-conference fullback for the Cornhuskers within the Nineteen Sixties, an assistant to Tom Osborne for twenty years and the top coach who received 75% of his video games over six seasons earlier than his unceremonious dismissal.

With the prodding of athletic director Trev Alberts, the urging of Osborne and the invitation of first-year coach Matt Rhule, Solich figured now’s the time to return to Lincoln. He and his household might be honored during the Huskers’ spring game April 22 in what he hopes would be the begin of a renewed relationship with this system.

“I’ve at all times appreciated the followers of Nebraska and at all times felt good about them, and the identical method about mainly a lot of the coaches I labored with there,” Solich mentioned Thursday in an interview with The Related Press. “With the folks of Nebraska and the true associates I’ve there, it simply made sense now to come back again.”

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Alberts, an All-America linebacker at Nebraska within the early Nineteen Nineties when Solich was an assistant, mentioned he has been attempting to get Solich to return since he turned athletic director two years in the past.

“I’m actually wanting ahead to Husker Nation honoring Frank and thanking him for every little thing he’s accomplished as a participant, as a coach and in addition honor him for what he did after he left right here,” Alberts mentioned.

Solich was 58-19 in six seasons because the successor to Osborne, the School Soccer Corridor of Fame coach who received nationwide championships in three of his final 4 years and retired with this system at its pinnacle.

Below Solich, the Huskers received the Huge 12 championship and completed No. 2 within the polls in 1999, they usually performed within the 2001 Bowl Championship Collection title sport in opposition to Miami regardless of a jarring 62-36 loss to Colorado within the regular-season finale.

The Huskers misplaced three straight to finish 2002 and completed 7-7, the primary time since 1968 they hadn’t received at the least 9 video games. Solich fired three assistant coaches and gave up offensive play-calling duties, and the Huskers received 9 video games the next common season.

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However dangerous losses to Missouri, Texas and Kansas State and a 16-12 report over his final 28 video games prompted first-year athletic director Steve Pederson to fireside him. In explaining his determination, Pederson famously mentioned, “I refuse to let this system gravitate into mediocrity.”

The choice was divisive. Some followers agreed this system was displaying indicators of slippage; some argued Solich deserved extra time along with his restructured employees.

Solich took the excessive highway via the years when requested about how issues ended.

“It’s not my model to publicly come out and speak about or complain about issues,” he mentioned. “I do know I’m a very good coach. I knew that via my time at Nebraska, via my time on the excessive faculties I used to be at and thru my time at Ohio. I can put collectively a very good employees, I do know I can relate to gamers, I do know I can win soccer video games.

“I didn’t attempt to look again and beat myself up or beat anyone else about it,” he added “There have been issues that occurred that had been powerful to take, however that occurs in life and I moved on.”

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Solich was out of teaching for one yr earlier than he was employed at Ohio. He spent 16 seasons with the Bobcats and have become the Mid-American Convention’s all-time wins chief. He retired in the summertime of 2021 to deal with a coronary heart challenge, and he now lives in Idaho.

Invoice Callahan, Bo Pelini, Mike Riley, Scott Frost and Rhule have adopted Solich at Nebraska. There was no convention championship for the reason that ’99 title beneath Solich, no bowl since 2016 beneath Riley and 6 straight shedding seasons.

Solich supporters have lengthy contended that his firing 20 years in the past put a curse on the soccer program and that it solely will be damaged by Nebraska making issues proper with him.

Solich acknowledged he’s heard concerning the “Solich Curse.”

“I’ll say this: if I had the power to placed on curses, there can be a number of extra folks in hassle,” he mentioned.

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Requested if Pederson was a kind of folks, Solich laughed.

“No,” he mentioned, “I’m not going there.”

___

AP faculty soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25 Join the AP Prime 25 e-newsletter right here: https://hyperlink.apnews.com/be part of/6nr/morning-wire-newsletter-footer-internal-ads





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Nebraska

Nebraska lands Kentucky wide receiver

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Nebraska lands Kentucky wide receiver


Nebraska football landed a commitment from former Kentucky Wildcats receiver Dane Key on Tuesday afternoon. He is the tenth overall player to join Nebraska from the transfer portal.

He recorded 47 catches for 715 yards and two touchdowns last season. He had two games of at least 100 receiving yards in 2024. The first game was against Ohio on September 21. He caught seven passes for 145 yards in a contest. He followed that up with an eight-catch, 105-yard performance against the Ole Miss Rebels the following week.

Key gives the Huskers a veteran body in the wide receiver room. There is young talent to be had at the position. He will be able to provide production right now, as well as help bridge the gap between the freshman and upperclassmen wide receivers.

It will be interesting to see Key’s role in this offense moving into 2025. This was a solid get for a wide receiver room that continues loading up. The program landed another solid weapon for quarterback Dylan Raiola.

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Nebraska WR Malachi Coleman to transfer to Minnesota

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Nebraska WR Malachi Coleman to transfer to Minnesota


Joining Miami (Ohio)’s Javon Tracy and UCLA’s Logan Loya, Nebraska transfer wide receiver Malachi Coleman has committed to play for the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

He has three years of eligibility remaining.

Coleman was a high school All-American, a four-star prospect, and a Top 100 recruit according to 247 Sports. He saw the field as a true freshman with the Huskers, catching eight passes for 139 receiving yards and one touchdown, before redshirting this season as a sophomore. Coleman brings size and speed to the Gophers’ wide receiver room.

Coleman, Tracy, and Loya will all have the opportunity to stake their claim atop the depth chart at wide receiver, as Le’Meke Brockington and Cristian Driver are Minnesota’s only returning wide receivers with game experience.

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The Nebraska Football Show: Pinstripe Bowl Preview

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The Nebraska Football Show: Pinstripe Bowl Preview


Nebraska closes out the 2024 season on Saturday, Dec. 28 in the Pinstripe Bowl against Boston College.

Inside Nebraska’s Tim Verghese and Steve Marik break down the new-look Huskers, with slight changes at nearly every position due to transfer portal departures, injuries and opt outs. The two discuss a handful of underclassmen that could be in line for bigger roles on Saturday and a few other players they’re intrigued to see in action.

To close, the two share their keys to victory for Nebraska, what to expect out of Boston College and what a win would ultimately mean for the program



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