[Husker] If you did not see/hear the press conference...

[Scott Titsworth]

I won't be able to provide a detailed account because I did not take 
notes, but here are some high points:
1.  The President and AD were very excited about Frank, mentioning both 
his track record as a football person as well as a person of integrity.  
The AD indicated that he had his eye on Solich from the beginning and 
that the two of them had mutual acquaintances from the BXII.  The 
President made it sound like Solich was the AD's choice from the start.
2.  Frank mentioned that he liked OU because of his Ohio roots and the 
unlimited potential of the MAC as a conference.  When asked an oddly 
worded question about why he decided to not just quit coaching, Frank 
said that it took only a couple of days  of trying to "read a good book 
and walk to the kitchen" to know that he was not ready to hang it up.  
FYI, he did not mention the phrase "moving around well" in reference to 
himself.
3.  Frank was very thankful of the other coaching staffs that he visited 
over the last year:  Vermiel/Saunders, Oklahoma, Mac Brown & Texas, Indy 
Colts, Vikings, Miami (FL), Barry Alvarez--I cant remember if ISU was on 
the list.  He also mentioned that he kept in close contact with TO and 
Sokol from Omaha and that they were people he talked with when making 
the decision.  Mentioned that one of the things that he was excited 
about was the opportunity to build a program. 
4.  When asked about influences and something that got at his 
philosophy, he mentioned (obviously) Bob and TO.  He said that although 
they were different personalities, the common quality was a genuine 
caring for the players both on and off the field.  His best line was 
something to the effect that if you only care about the players during a 
game or in meetings and forget about the rest of the time, they won't be 
willing to truly lay it on the line.  He said that he would never pass a 
player or coach in the hall without an acknowledgement/hello.  [It was 
during this point that I remembered what made Nebraska so special--the 
sense of affiliation and community people had for each other.  I hope 
that Callahan and company continue progressing on this point.]  He 
definitely emphasized the point that he cares for his players.
5.  He wants to have playmakers at the skill positions on offense.  He 
wants a QB that can pass and be mobile.  Said that he he committed to a 
strong running game because the top programs are balanced.  He said that 
he will continue to use the option because there "are times when the 
numbers [on defense] and an audible can make it very effective." 
6.  No comments on assistants.  He did say that he wants people who will 
communicate well and be good teachers.  He did say that there were 
people who he would bring with him, but obviously did not name names.  
He is talking with the former assistants this afternoon and said that he 
was open to looking at some of them.  [One of my friends is the RB coach 
and is sharp, so everyone think a good thought for Coach Everett Sands 
so that he can stay here or get the job he wants!]
7. He sees the recruiting strengths here as (a) the commitment to the 
program, (b) the academics, (c) the community.  [The academics here are 
outstanding, but then I guess I might be a little biased :)  ]
8.  After the press conference ended he came out and spoke to the 100 (a 
bunch more left right after the Press COnference -- it took Solich about 
20 minutes to get away from the reporters) or so people who showed up at 
the convocation center (basketball arena) to watch the conference on the 
big screens.  He spoke only briefly because of his other appts. with the 
coaches and the like.  He was mostly very humble and thankful for people 
hanging around and that he promised to get a quality staff and work hard 
to raise the level of the program.

Ok, sorry for the very imperfect summary.  I should have taken notes, 
but my wife and colleagues were already giving me a hard time about 
dragging them to the thing; if they knew I was taking notes to summarize 
it on the list I would catch hell for months :)
Scott

Mike Nolan wrote:

>>Having already read the news of Frank's hiring at least 3 posts ago, and with 
>>the passage of almost 10 minutes, I read Mr. Nolan's pronouncement as "fired" 
>>and not "hired".
>>    
>>
>
>Yeah, well I glanced at a newspaper on the dining room table this morning 
>and saw the big front page headline 'Peterson gets death penalty'.
>It took me a second to realize that the paper was a couple of days old 
>and it wasn't referring to Steve Pederson, anyway.  :-)
>--
>Mike Nolan
>
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