What if Nebraska Had Never Fired Frank Solich? -

By TJ Birkel of the Common Fan Podcast

Man, we had it good for a long time, didn’t we? For those Husker fans whose minds consistently wander back to Nebraska football while driving along I-80, or watching the kids chase fireflies on a summer evening, this has likely crossed the mind a few times. We were spoiled beyond belief by the success of Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne. Five national championships between the two of them. 21 conference titles. Never once a losing season. You know the story.

We launched The Reckoning series on the Common Fan Podcast this week, the first episode of which is a deep dive into Frank Solich’s tenure as Nebraska’s Head Coach. The intent of this series is to explore, analyze, and critique the coaching decisions, the hires and fires, and the plentiful missteps of the post-Osborne era of Nebraska football. Our contention is that these are conversations fans have often, sitting on back porches and at neighborhood potlucks across the windswept plains. Part of our motivation here is to dive deep into the history of what transpired, and to provide a place for fans to better understand what happened and why. And, let’s face it–we also wanted to indulge our grievances about the slow (but only temporary!) decline of Nebraska football. Perhaps, in doing so, we can play some small part in helping to exorcize whatever demons have possessed the program, and allowing Nebraska football to move forward into a new era of broad, sunlit uplands.

Special guest Brandon Vogel from the Counter Read joined us for all of The Reckoning episodes. For each episode, we also had a featured guest: someone from the Nebraska sports media who covered the era being examined. Episodes will be released every Monday for six weeks, starting June 17. This was a thoroughly enjoyable, and educational, project to undertake. We hope you enjoy it, Common Fans.

Now, onto Mr. Solich.

The Solich Era

Frank Solich was a 25-year veteran of the NU coaching staff. He played fullback for Nebraska from 1963-65, and was an assistant to Osborne for 19 years beginning in 1979, before taking over as Head Coach in 1998. As the head man, he compiled a 58-19 record, won a conference championship and played for a national title.

Furthermore, he was Tom Osborne’s hand-picked successor. As documented by Henry Cordes’ fantastic book, Unbeatable: Tom Osborne and the Greatest Era of Nebraska Football, Osborne informed then athletic director Bill Byrne early during the 1997 season that he would be retiring at season’s end, and he lobbied hard for Solich to be his replacement. Hiring Solich was not a foregone conclusion. Byrne had his own list of up-and-coming coaches he wanted to consider, but Osborne convinced him to seriously consider Solich.

After the downright horror of the last near-decade of Nebraska football, Husker fans would be overjoyed to have a coach come in and replicate Solich’s results. Matt Rhule has a challenge on his hands, but he also has the benefit of taking over after the worst run of Nebraska football at least since the 1950s, and maybe ever. Frank Solich faced the opposite problem: he succeeded not one, but two Hall of Fame coaches.

Was following Tom Osborne always a losing proposition?

During our recent episode, “What if Nebraska Had Never Fired Frank Solich,” special guest Brandon Vogel made a remark that caught my attention. Considering how good we were for such a long period of time, he said, Nebraska “was probably not getting out of this thing without firing a 9-win coach.” He referred to it as a tax on our past success.

His point? Following four decades of excellence, at some point a coach would come along and be good-but-not-great, and that wouldn’t be good enough for Husker fans.

I want to make clear: we should never lose our expectations of greatness for this program. We should not apologize for them. Nebraska is a college football blue blood, and all Common Fans should do everything possible to hold the powers that be to that standard.

But did Solich deserve the benefit of the doubt? After all he had given to Nebraska football, and after bouncing back from his 7-7 season in 2002 with a 9-3 record in 2003, should he have been given more time? With the benefit of hindsight, and with all the program has been through, Husker fans will probably debate this question until the end of time.

Did Nebraska Fans Support Pederson’s Decision to Fire Solich?

I would argue the majority of Husker fans sided with Athletic Director Steve Pederson when Solich was fired in 2003. The sky was falling after the 7-7 season in 2002. It was the first time Nebraska hadn’t won at least 9 games since 1968, and first time without a winning record since 1961. I remember a friend saying, “You know, Frank could go 8-4 for the next ten years.” How terrible that sounded! Pederson’s line at the press conference announcing the firing of Solich – “I refuse to let the program gravitate into mediocrity” – resounded like Patrick Henry’s “give me liberty or give me death” speech from Scottsbluff to Omaha.

Frank Solich personified what it meant to be a Husker. He had toughness, grit, work ethic–traits that defined Nebraska football for decades, and things Nebraskans pride themselves on. He had given most of his adult life as a player, assistant coach, and head coach.

And yet, many fans felt the Huskers needed to evolve, needed to stop running the option, needed to get with the times. Perhaps that was true. Fans certainly didn’t expect something like a 7-7 season–or even losing seasons–to become anywhere close to the norm for Nebraska. And perhaps, someone different than Bill Callahan could have come in, righted the ship, and taken us right back to national championship contention. But what if Nebraska had stuck with Solich?

Playing the What-If Game

What if Nebraska had never fired Frank Solich? How different would the last 25 years of Nebraska football have been? Could Solich have gotten back to winning conference championships? National championships? What would have been good enough for Husker fans?

We examined these questions and more for over an hour in our latest episode, and I hope you’ll give it a watch or listen. I’m not convinced he could have gotten the program back to a place that would have satisfied Husker fans, which would have needed to involve winning conference championships and at least being in the national championship conversation. Recruiting had slipped, Nebraska was losing regularly (and badly) to ranked opponents, and it felt like the trajectory of the program had shifted. But I have always believed he deserved more of a chance after the bounce-back season in 2003. He had shown a willingness to shake up his coaching staff and make significant changes going into that season, and those changes had yielded results. Perhaps he would have continued to evolve for the better. Perhaps not.

What say you, fellow Common Fan? We’d love to hear your contribution to this discussion. Send us an email at commonfangbr@gmail.com, or message us on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

And stay tuned for Episode 2 of The Reckoning: Would Bill Callahan Have Worked with More Time?