Frank Solich Instrumental in Husker Success
Frank Solich’s wildly successful football life in Nebraska spanned five decades. While his final seasons were far less prosperous than those that preceded it, for most of his time in Nebraska Solich had the Midas touch. Most everything he took on turned out well. While the reviews of his head coaching days and termination are mixed, no one can question his role as a major contributor to the greatness of Nebraska football.
Frank Solich arrived as part of Bob Devaney’s first recruiting class in 1962. Devaney said he recruited Solich to entice a classmate of Frank’s to come to Nebraska. The Husker program had been bad for most of the preceding two decades including six straight losing seasons prior to the arrival of Solich and Devaney. Despite being the smallest member of the team, Solich played fullback for the Huskers, a position he excelled at due to his toughness.
The fortunes of Nebraska immediately changed as the Huskers went 9-2 in Devaney’s first season, finishing 3rd in the Big 8 and winning their first bowl game ever by beating Miami in the Gotham Bowl. In 1963, the first of three seasons in which Solich lettered, the Huskers finished 10-1, with a narrow loss at home to Air Force the only blemish.
The Huskers won the first of three straight Big 8 titles and were Orange Bowl champions, beating Auburn. The following season, the Huskers won 9 straight games, losing the final two at Oklahoma and in the Cotton Bowl to Arkansas. Solich rushed for 444 yards that year.
In Solich’s senior campaign, he was named a team captain and rushed for 580 yards including a Nebraska fullback record (to this day) 204 at Air Force (earning him a spot on the cover of Sports Illustrated). The Huskers went a perfect 10-0 in the regular season and Solich was named an All-Big Eight fullback. He capped his senior year by setting an Orange Bowl record for kick return yards that stood for more than 35 years, in the disappointing loss to Alabama in the national championship game.
By the time he graduated, Solich had become a favorite “adopted son� of Nebraska and elected to stay in the state becoming a high school head football coach at Holy Name in Omaha and later Lincoln Southeast. At Southeast, he won back-to-back Class A state titles in 1976 and 1977 and was named Prep Coach of the Year in 1978 by the Lincoln Journal-Star.
In 1979, Solich joined the Nebraska staff as head coach of the freshman football team. Between 1979 and 1982 the freshman went 19-1 under Solich, no doubt garnering the confidence of Osborne in Solich’s ability as a head man. Solich also had success as a recruiter as he is credited with landing talents like Irving Fryar and Mike Rozier.
Beginning in 1983, Solich’s duties switched from coaching the freshman team to coaching the varsity running backs. In Frank's first season Rozier (who had already been an All-American) rushed for over 2,000 yards and took home the Heisman. Solich coached 23 all-conference players, including at least one in 13 of his 15 seasons as running backs’ coach. In nine of those fifteen seasons, the Huskers lead the nation in rushing. Prior to the 1993 season, Solich was named Assistant Coach of the Year by Athlon magazine. It’s not hard to imagine that some of the drop-off that occurred in the running game, following Solich’s ascendancy to head coach was somewhat due to the Huskers losing perhaps the most successful college running backs coach in history.
Prior to 1998 and in the afterglow of the best five year run in college football history, it’s not hard to see why Solich earned Osborne’s confidence to succeed him as head coach at Nebraska. Solich had excelled at every endeavor since coming to Nebraska. Fans will debate his performance in the years that followed, though unquestionably he had been a major contributor to Nebraska football. Had he retired along with Osborne (or headed for the pro ranks), he’d have been remembered only as a success at Nebraska.
Whether or not you consider his head coaching days successful, there is no debating that the majority of his time at Nebraska was phenomenally successful. In no way can Solich be considered a failure in the final analysis, there are too many positives outweighing a few disappointing final seasons (otherwise Joe Paterno might be considered a failure for some of his more recent coaching performances). While Husker football may well have been “gravitating to mediocrity� under Solich, he played a large role in its unparalleled success. His Husker legacy is one to be proud of.
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