Frank Solich
Frank Solich went 173–101 as a head coach, 1998–2020, at Nebraska and Ohio. Share
- Record
- 173–101 career
- Seasons
- 22
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 3 seasons
- Born
- Sep 8, 1944
- Alma mater
- Nebraska 1966
- Hall of Fame
- 2024 inducted
- Best season
- 1999 12–1, No. 3
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Nebraska | 9–4 | T–2nd (North) | Holiday Bowl L | 19 | |
| 1999 | Nebraska | 12–1 | 1st (North) | Big 12 Championship Game W; Fiesta Bowl W | 3 | |
| 2000 | Nebraska | 10–2 | T–1st (North) | Alamo Bowl W | 8 | |
| 2001 | Nebraska | 11–2 | T–1st (North) | Rose Bowl L | 8 | |
| 2002 | Nebraska | 7–7 | 4th (North) | Independence Bowl L | ||
| 2003 | Nebraska | 9–3 | 2nd (North) | Alamo (not coached) | ||
| 2004: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2005 | Ohio | 4–7 | 4th (East) | |||
| 2006 | Ohio | 9–5 | 1st (East) | GMAC Bowl L | ||
| 2007 | Ohio | 6–6 | T–4th (East) | |||
| 2008 | Ohio | 4–8 | T–4th (East) | |||
| 2009 | Ohio | 9–5 | 1st (East) | Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl L | ||
| 2010 | Ohio | 8–5 | 2nd (East) | New Orleans Bowl L | ||
| 2011 | Ohio | 10–4 | 1st (East) | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl W | ||
| 2012 | Ohio | 9–4 | 3rd (East) | Independence Bowl W | ||
| 2013 | Ohio | 7–6 | T–3rd (East) | Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl St. Petersburg L | ||
| 2014 | Ohio | 6–6 | 2nd (East) | |||
| 2015 | Ohio | 8–5 | T–2nd (East) | Camellia Bowl L | ||
| 2016 | Ohio | 8–6 | T–1st (East) | Dollar General Bowl L | ||
| 2017 | Ohio | 9–4 | 2nd (East) | Bahamas Bowl W | ||
| 2018 | Ohio | 9–4 | T–2nd (East) | Frisco Bowl W | ||
| 2019 | Ohio | 7–6 | T–2nd (East) | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl W | ||
| 2020 | Ohio | 2–1 | T–3rd (East) | |||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Eric Crouch2001 Heisman- Toniu FonotiConsensus All‑American, 2001
- Ralph BrownConsensus All‑American, 1999
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 31 | 10–21 | 32% |
| Against top-10 teams | 13 | 4–9 | 31% |
| Against rivals | 73 | 49–24 | 67% |
| Conference games | 171 | 110–61 | 64% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 17 | 8–9 | 47% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 95 | 52–43 | 55% |
| At home | 130 | 101–29 | 78% |
| On the road | 120 | 61–59 | 51% |
| At neutral sites | 24 | 11–13 | 46% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 201 | 152–49 | 76% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 73 | 21–52 | 29% |
His own 274 games on file, 1998–2020, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dan McCarney 1998–2013 | 6–1 | Iowa State, North Texas | 7 | |
| Terry Bowden 2012–2018 | 6–1 | Akron | 7 | |
| Doc Holliday 2010–2019 | 4–3 | Marshall | 7 | |
| Chuck Martin 2014–2019 | 4–2 | Miami (OH) | 6 | |
| Doug Martin 2005–2010 | 3–3 | Kent State | 6 | |
| Bill Snyder 1998–2003 | 2–4 | Kansas State | 6 | |
| Paul Haynes 2013–2017 | 4–1 | Kent State | 5 | |
| Gary Barnett 1999–2003 | 3–2 | Colorado | 5 | |
| J.D. Brookhart 2005–2009 | 3–2 | Akron | 5 | |
| Dave Clawson 2009–2013 | 3–2 | Bowling Green | 5 |
Frank Solich’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Akronseries | 16 | 13–3 |
| Bowling Greenseries | 16 | 9–7 |
| Miami (OH)series | 15 | 11–4 |
| Kent Stateseries | 15 | 10–5 |
| Buffaloseries | 15 | 9–6 |
| Central Michiganseries | 10 | 1–9 |
| Kansasseries | 8 | 8–0 |
| Marshallseries | 8 | 4–4 |
National title staffs
Every title staff- Won a national title on Nebraska’s 1994 staff (assistant head coach, running backs) · the staff · source
- Won a national title on Nebraska’s 1995 staff (assistant head coach, running backs) · the staff · source
- Won a national title on Nebraska’s 1997 staff (assistant head coach, running backs) · the staff · source
The champions’ staffs from 1990 on, as the schools listed them that season: Staff lists: Drew Hoover’s how-many-rings (MIT), from the schools’ media guides and staff pages. Roles as the source words them.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1966–67 | Omaha Holy Name HS (NE) high school | Head coach | |
| 1968–78 | Lincoln Southeast HS (NE) high school | Head coach | |
| 1979–82 | Nebraska | Freshman coach | |
| 1983–97 | Nebraska | Running backs coach | |
| 1998–2003 | Nebraska | Head coach | |
| 2005–20 | Ohio | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Tom OsborneNebraska
Assistants who became head coaches
- Craig BohlWyoming, North Dakota State
- Turner GillBuffalo, Kansas, Liberty
- Tim AlbinOhio, Charlotte, Northwestern Oklahoma State
- Lance LeipoldBuffalo, Kansas, Wisconsin Whitewater
- Barney CottonNebraska, Hastings
- Bo PeliniNebraska, Youngstown State
- Carl PeliniFlorida Atlantic, Bowling Green
- Scott DowningSterling, Northern Colorado
- Derek MasonVanderbilt, Middle Tennessee
- Ross ElsHastings
- Steve StanardNebraska Wesleyan
Worked under (1)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Osborne | Nebraska | 1979–97 | 1979–82: freshman coach; 1983–97: running backs coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (11)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Craig Bohl | Nebraska, 1998–99: linebackers coach; 2000–02: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Wyoming, North Dakota State | |
| Turner Gill | Nebraska, 1998–2002: quarterbacks coach; 2003: assistant head coach | Buffalo, Kansas, Liberty | |
| Tim Albin | Nebraska, 2000–02: graduate assistant; 2003: passing game coordinator and running backs coach; Ohio, 2005–18: offensive coordinator and running backs coach; 2019–20: assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and running backs coach | Ohio, Charlotte, Northwestern Oklahoma State | |
| Lance Leipold | Nebraska, 2001–03: assistant coach | Buffalo, Kansas, Wisconsin Whitewater | |
| Barney Cotton | Nebraska, 2003: offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | Nebraska, Hastings | |
| Bo Pelini | Nebraska, 2003: defensive coordinator | Nebraska, Youngstown State | |
| Carl Pelini | Nebraska, 2003: graduate assistant; Ohio, 2005–07: defensive line coach | Florida Atlantic, Bowling Green | |
| Scott Downing | Nebraska, 2003: recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach | Sterling, Northern Colorado | |
| Derek Mason | Ohio, 2005–06: wide receivers coach | Vanderbilt, Middle Tennessee | |
| Ross Els | Ohio, 2005–10: linebackers coach | Hastings | |
| Steve Stanard | Ohio, 2008: defensive line coach | Nebraska Wesleyan |
Other assistants under him (10)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Charlie McBride | Nebraska, 1998–99: defensive coordinator | |
| Jim Burrow | Nebraska, 2001–02: graduate assistant; Ohio, 2005–16: defensive coordinator; 2017–18: assistant head coach and defensive coordinator | |
| Marvin Sanders | Nebraska, 2003: defensive backs coach | |
| Bryan Nardo | Ohio, 2005–08: student assistant; 2008–10: graduate assistant | |
| Gerry Gdowski | Ohio, 2005–07: quarterbacks coach; 2009: co-offensive coordinator; 2010–13: assistant head coach, co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Jamar Cain | Ohio, 2005: graduate assistant | |
| Scott Isphording | Ohio, 2009: tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator; 2014–20: quarterbacks coach | |
| Ron Collins | Ohio, 2017–20: co-defensive coordinator | |
| Allen Rudolph | Ohio, 2019–20: offensive line coach | |
| Pete Germano | Ohio, 2019–20: co-defensive coordinator |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Ohio | head coachbonuses up to $331,930; $35,386 in bonuses paid; buyout $296,167 | $522,715 USA Today | |
| 2016 | Ohio | head coachbonuses up to $331,930; $10,000 in bonuses paid | $572,715 USA Today | |
| 2015 | Ohio | head coachbonuses up to $329,440 | $564,260 USA Today | |
| 2014 | Ohio | head coachbonuses up to $327,000 | $554,500 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Solich’s teams went for it on 14% of fourth downs and on 25% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 44% of plays and took 26.1 seconds a play, 2005–2020.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 11 g | 5 of 98 5% | 11% | 42% | 29.9 | −0.20 | |
| 2006 14 g | 15 of 111 14% | 29% | 41% | 29.7 | −0.22 | |
| 2007 8 g | 5 of 59 8% | 23% | 41% | 25.7 | −0.01 | |
| 2008 11 g | 19 of 76 25% | 36% | 52% | 28.3 | −0.07 | |
| 2009 12 g | 12 of 91 13% | 27% | 50% | 24.7 | −0.13 | |
| 2010 12 g | 19 of 76 25% | 39% | 39% | 28.3 | −0.09 | |
| 2011 14 g | 12 of 94 13% | 23% | 44% | 21.8 | +0.01 | |
| 2012 11 g | 14 of 88 16% | 20% | 44% | 22.6 | +0.02 | |
| 2013 13 g | 12 of 99 12% | 12% | 49% | 22.0 | −0.02 | |
| 2014 12 g | 13 of 98 13% | 25% | 47% | 24.5 | −0.07 | |
| 2015 13 g | 20 of 110 18% | 32% | 46% | 25.7 | 0.00 | |
| 2016 14 g | 17 of 121 14% | 33% | 47% | 25.3 | −0.04 | |
| 2017 12 g | 10 of 78 13% | 17% | 38% | 27.3 | +0.10 | |
| 2018 13 g | 13 of 73 18% | 44% | 38% | 28.8 | +0.21 | |
| 2019 13 g | 9 of 78 12% | 17% | 42% | 26.3 | +0.18 | |
| 2020 3 g | 1 of 19 5% | 0% | 37% | 29.6 | +0.06 | |
| All 186 g | 196 of 1369 14% | 25% | 44% | 26.1 | −0.02 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.