OUTLAND TROPHY AWARD DINNER
Tom Osborne Legacy Award Recepient
Frank Solich
1st recipient-Milt Tenopir
2nd recipient - Jim Ridlon
6th Recipient - Fisher DeBerry
9th Recipient - Barry Alvarez
10th and 11th Recipients - Dan Young and Reese Morgan
Frank Solich
Head Coach at Ohio University
The Tom Osborne Legacy Award was presented — by Osborne to Frank Solich— at the Outland Trophy Award Dinner at the downtown Doubletree in Omaha.
If you’re a Nebraska football fan, or even a sports fan in general, it was a remarkable scene: Tom Osborne and Frank Solich standing side by side at the Award Dinner, smiling and reflecting on good times and even not-so-good times.
Solich received the Tom Osborne Award for his contributions to college football. The Night was a Special Night for Nebraska Fans as they gave overwelming standing ovations welcoming Frank back.
Head Coach Frank Solich has turned the Ohio football program from one of the least successful in the NCAA to the benchmark of consistency among the Mid-American Conference. Now in his 13th season (19th overall), the Bobcats have been bowl-eligible in nine of the last 10 years, having won 76 games since 2006 – the most among any team in the Mid-American Conference East Division – and have had student-athletes selected in the NFL Draft in seven of the past 10 seasons.
Solich arrived in Athens after six seasons as the head coach at the University of Nebraska. Solich spent nearly 30 years as part of the Nebraska program as a player, assistant coach and head coach. A Big 12 Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2001, Solich produced nine-win seasons in five of his six years as head coach of the Huskers. In 1999, 2000 and 2001, he generated 12, 10 and 11 win seasons, respectively. He also generated six-consecutive bowl appearances including a 2001 run at the national championship against Miami in the Rose Bowl.
Under Solich’s leadership
Nebraska spent 54 consecutive weeks in the Associated Press Top 10. In his first five seasons as Husker head coach, Solich won 49 games, more than both his storied predecessors, Bob Devaney and Dr. Tom Osborne, in their first five years at Nebraska.
Moving on from Nebraska following a 2003 season in which his Huskers went 10-3, Solich was nevertheless determined to stay as close as possible to the college game until just the right opportunity came along. In a unique professional development opportunity all too often ignored by colleagues, Solich chose to travel the college and professional ranks to update his knowledge of the game, broaden his perspectives on its nuances and challenges and ready himself for the next great challenge.
Stepping back from the sideline included wide-ranging visits to some of Division I-A’s top programs as well and the schedule included much more than a courtesy call. His ambitious fact-finding odyssey included stops at Oklahoma, Texas, Wisconsin, Miami and Southern California.
Coming from his native Cleveland to Lincoln back in 1962, he was recruited to play fullback for the Cornhuskers as a part of Bob Devaney’s first class of freshmen. During his time in the Husker program, Nebraska went 9-2, 10-1, 9-2 and 10-1. He earned All-Big Eight honors in 1965 and was the first Husker to rush for 200 yards in a game. His place in the Nebraska tradition was formalized with his induction into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 1992.
While his accomplishments as a player were impressive, his work as a gifted teacher and assistant coach perhaps had as much to do with his arrival in the shrine as anything. Nine of the 15 seasons he served as running backs coach, Nebraska led the nation in rushing. He recruited and coached 1983 Heisman winner Mike Rozier and produced at least one all-conference running back in thirteen of the fifteen years he mentored that position. As a head coach, Solich mentored Eric Crouch to the 2001 Heisman Trophy.
Copyright 2017 Greater Omaha Sports Committee
Bob Mancuso, Jr. – Chairman
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