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.”

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.

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.”

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.

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

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

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