[Husker] Re: Yo Young Ted! (fwd)

[Douglas W. Martin]

2002 offensive line woes also due to early draft decision of two all American offensive linemen; alas, a break in the "pipeline"
 
Doug Martin, MD 

________________________________

From: husker-bounces at tssi.com on behalf of Theodore Heise
Sent: Sat 12/4/2004 12:31 PM
To: Husker List
Subject: [Husker] Re: Yo Young Ted! (fwd)




A friend here in Bloomoington asked about Solich.  Here's my
response.  I'm donning my flame retardant suit now.

--
Theodore (Ted) Heise     <theo at heise.nu>     Bloomington, IN, USA


---------- Forwarded message ----------

> What's the low down on Frank Solich? The rumor mill has him tagged
> as a leading candidate for the IU job.

IU could do much worse.  Frank was a fullback for NU back in the
60s, coached at a Nebraska high school, and then was an asistant
under Osborne.  When the reverend Dr. Tom retired (~1997?), it was
on condition that Frank get the head coaching job and the rest of
the staff be retained.  In retrospect, the latter requirement may
have tied Frank's hands a bit.

The Cornhuskers did very well under Solich for several years, but
had a very off year (going 7-7) in 2002.  Notably, defensive
coordinator Charlie McBride had retired a year or two prior (I think
at the end of the 2000 season), and many think this contributed to
the decline of the team.  The Huskers also seemed to have an
unusually large number of injuries to offensive linemen in 2002.

At the end of the 2002 season, Frank fired much of the coaching
staff (especially the defense), and brought in Barney Cotton as
offensive coordinator (a new position) and Bo Pelini as defensive
coordinator.  The Huskers went 9-3 in the regular season, but were
basically blown out by a couple of hated rivals.  Frank was fired by
the new AD (Steve Pederson), and Pelini coached the team to an
emotional bowl victory.  Cotton is now OC at Iowa State and Pelini
is co-DC at Oklahoma--ironically, both teams beat NU this year.

Many fans feel that firing Solich was premature, that he had turned
things around and should have been given another year or two with
the new coaching staff.  Pederson maintained that NU had not been in
the running for the B12 Conference, and was in a slide to
mediocrity.  Before being AD at Pitt, Pederson had been involved in
recruiting at NU, and this was an area he felt was particularly
deficient under Solich.  Some think there was some bad blood between
Pederson and Solich from their earlier time together.  There also
seemed to be personnel problems in the strength training program.
Some think this may have been tied in with the line injuries.
Finally, funding for facilities had not kept up with other major
programs.

Frank basically continued the power running option-oriented offense
that Tom Osborne developed over the years.  This type of offense
doesn't have the flash of a passing offense, but it has a beauty of
its own--sort of like the solid, down-to-earth nature of the plains
and the people that live there.  I think Frank Solich is a highly
principled individual, and would love to see him come here.  In
fact, I was thinking of writing the athletic department that I
would buy season tickets if they hire him.

More than you probably wanted to know, but what do you expect from a
fan (derived from fanatic).  :)  I think I'll also post this to the
Huskers list--if I get any corrections I'll share them.  I'm sure
there will be differences of opinion there, I won't share them.

Ted H


------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/VzSolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->


Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ARAA_Refugees/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    ARAA_Refugees-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/



_______________________________________________
husker site list
husker at tssi.com
http://romaine.tssi.com/mailman/listinfo/husker


         ********************************************

This message and accompanying documents are covered by the 
Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2521, 
and contain information intended for the specified individual(s) only. 
This information is confidential. If you are not the intended recipient 
or an agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you 
are hereby notified that you have received this document in error and 
that any review, dissemination, copying, or the taking of any action 
based on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. If you 
have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately 
by e-mail, and delete the original message.

        *********************************************