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

Thu Dec 16 22:43:18 CST 2004

Rack him!!

"Would the boy I was yesterday, be proud of the man I am today?"
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Scott Titsworth" <titswort at ohio.edu>
Cc: <husker at romaine.tssi.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 16, 2004 2:01 PM
Subject: [Husker] If you did not see/hear the press conference...

>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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>
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