Matt Rhule 'so excited' for Frank Solich to return to Nebraska
New Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule is excited to have an old coach return as Frank Solich is going to be honored at Nebraska’s spring game.
Frank Solich played fullback at Nebraska under Bob Devaney. In 1979, Solich returned to coach the freshman team before being promoted to running backs coach. Finally, in 1998, he replaced the legendary Tom Osborne as Nebraska’s head coach. Under him, the team was still good but it was no longer elite and he was forced out of the job in 2003.
Since then, the Nebraska program has struggled while Solich went to Ohio and reinvented his career. There, he coached the Bobcats to a 115-82 record between 2005 and 2020 before stepping down to focus on his health.
Matt Rhule bringing back Frank Solich goes to show that he knows the history of the program and he wants to honor it.
“I’m so excited,” Matt Rhule said. “I’m so excited. You know, Coach Solich, when I was the offensive coordinator way back when at Temple University, he was the head coach at Ohio, and he’s quick to remind me when we went out there and played for a championship, he beat us. He beat us every time.”
Matt Rhule isn’t quite giving himself enough credit there. In 2008, Rhule’s first season as the Owls’ offensive coordinator, Temple did get a win. However, he’s probably caught up on the loss that preceded it, when Rhule was the quarterbacks coach, and the string of three losses in a row to Ohio that followed.
“I really loved, you know everyone knows him here, he was running this offense, the Nebraska offense, at Ohio and then he morphed into like a spread, but it still was the same principles. You know what I mean? So, where he wasn’t using the fullback anymore. He was still the same series offense and all the great things that they did here. So, I always have a lot of respect for coaches who are able to extend their success by adapting to different times and so I’ve had some great conversations with Coach. I think it’s really important for me to figure out how to win here,” Rhule said.
“And so, the best way you can do that is talk to Tom Osborne, talk to Frank Solich, talk to Coach [Bo] Pelini, you talk to the guys who have won here. And so, Coach knows my affinity for the fullback. He texted me during the Michigan–TCU game, I think Michigan hit and play and all of a second I get a text from Coach Solich, ‘See, I told you there’s still a place for the fullback.'”
Matt Rhule emphasized that he wants to unite Nebraska as a community and that begins with things like this.
“And, so, I think it’s awesome that he’s coming back. I mean, again, that’s what I think this time is all about for Nebraska. It’s not about the eras that we played in or it’s just about Nebraksa. Know what I mean? So, for the former players my message has been, and I humbly say this, but whether you played for Coach Devaney, whether you played for Osborne, whether you played for Coach [Bill] Callahan, whether you played for Coach Pelini, whether you played for Coach [Mike] Riley, played for Coach [Scott] Frost, or now played for Matt Rhule, you played for Nebraska too,” Rhule said.
“So, I think the power of this job is if the state unites and everyone’s for Nebraska, so Coach coming back is just such a pivotal moment in that. Coach speaking last night is such a pivotal moment in that and I’m unbelievably grateful to him for doing it.”
Matt Rhule said Tom Osborne’s speech was humbling
Matt Rhule clearly has tons of respect for Nebraska’s history. That includes, obviously, Tom Osborne who gave a speech at Nebraska’s coaching clinic.
“Coach was bragging, it was the first time he had ever made a PowerPoint. He got up there and just crushed it. Absolutely crushed it,” Rhule said.
“I’ll just say this. Coach Osborne speaking last night was humbling. A, that he would do it. B, how detailed and meticulous he was. At 86 years old, it was gold. It was absolute gold. I took notes, wrote it down and really, a lot of things that challenged me. I think most of the coaches felt that way. … Just really grateful to him, and really grateful to the coaches.”