Hall of Fame
Position: Coach
Years: Nebraska (1998-2003), Ohio (2005-2020)
Place of Birth: Johnstown, PA
Date of Birth: September 8, 1944
Career Record: 173-101-0 (63.1%)
Ranking fourth for most victories among active FBS head coaches at the time of his retirement in 2021, Frank Solich built a legacy of winning at both Ohio and Nebraska that has earned him a spot in the College Football Hall of Fame. The Cleveland, Ohio, product now becomes the first inductee ever from Ohio and the seventh coach from Nebraska to enter the Hall.
Solich notched an overall record of 173-101 for a 63.1 winning percentage during his 22 years as a head coach, including 115-82 (58.4%) during his 16 years at Ohio and 58-19 (75.3%) during his six-year run with the Cornhuskers.
The winningest coach in Mid-American Conference history with 115 overall wins, Solich led the Bobcats to four MAC East titles (2006, 2009, 2011, 2016), and his 77 conference wins rank second only behind College Football Hall of Fame coach Herb Deromedi, who posted 90 victories during his career at Central Michigan. He and Deromedi are tied at 16 years for longest tenured coach in MAC history. His 115 wins also rank second in Bobcat program history, only behind Don Peden who had 121 victories from 1924-46.
Prior to Solich's arrival in Athens, the Bobcats had enjoyed only two winning seasons in the previous 22 years, and they had not appeared in a bowl game since 1968 and only two postseason appearances in program history. Solich quickly filled the void during his second season with a berth in the 2006 GMAC Bowl, and Solich's teams would go on to appear in 11 bowl games during his tenure. Solich's teams can also claim the first five bowl victories in Bobcat history, with back-to-back wins in the 2011 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl and 2012 Independence Bowl and three consecutive victories in the 2017 Bahamas Bowl, 2018 DXL Frisco Bowl and 2020 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
He guided Ohio to 12-straight non-losing seasons, with six years of at least nine wins, including a 10-win campaign in 2011. He won the Battle of the Bricks, the rivalry game between Ohio and Miami (OH), 11 out of 15 seasons, and he coached the Bobcats to a major upset, beating Penn State, 24-14, in Happy Valley during the season opener in 2012.
Solich coached Nebraska to a Big 12 title (1999) and three Big 12 North Division titles (1999, 2000, 2001). The Cornhuskers posted at least nine wins in 5 of his 6 seasons as head coach, including a 12-1 record and No. 3 final ranking in 1999. He later led the Huskers to an 11-2 record and an appearance against Miami (FL) in the BCS National Championship Game at the 2002 Rose Bowl. He coached Nebraska to three top 10 finishes (No. 3 in 1999, No. 8 in 2000, No. 8 in 2001) and victories over Tennessee in the 2000 Fiesta Bowl and Northwestern in the 2000 Alamo Bowl.
He coached 13 total First Team All-Americans, including College Football Hall of Fame inductee Eric Crouch at Nebraska, who won the Heisman Trophy, the Walter Camp National Player of the Year award and Davey O'Brien Award, and he coached seven Academic All-Americans, including 2000 NFF Campbell Trophy recipient Kyle Vanden Bosch. He coached 28 First Team All-Conference players at Nebraska and 31 at Ohio.
He was named Home Depot Coach of the Year in 1999 and a finalist for the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award in 2001. He was also the Big 12 Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2001 and MAC Coach of the Year in 2006.
Solich served as an assistant at Nebraska from 1979-97, coaching the running backs, before becoming the head coach. As an assistant to Hall of Fame coach Tom Osborne, Solich was part of the coaching staff on three national championship teams (1994, 1995, 1997), and he recruited and coached Heisman Trophy winner and College Football Hall of Famer Mike Rozier.
Solich was also a three-year letterman at Nebraska (1963-65), playing fullback and serving as team captain for the 1965 season. He delivered the first 200-yard rushing game in Nebraska history in 1965. He played on three Big Eight Championship teams (1963, 1964, 1965), and he was inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame inductee as a player in 1992 and as a coach in 2012. He began his coaching career as a high school head coach in Nebraska for more than a decade.
Solich participated yearly with the Ohio football team in Turn It Gold, a nonprofit focused on fighting against childhood cancer. He was named the president of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) in 2019 and received the Tom Osborne Legacy Award the same year. He currently serves as Special Assistant to the Athletics Director at Ohio.
