Tramel's ScissorTales . . .
Berry Tramel
Oklahoman
April 1, 2023
. . .
Frank Solich finally relents
Frank Solich occasionally has returned to Nebraska over the years.
The now-retired football coach routinely made it back to Lincoln to see his daughter and her family. He would have breakfast or lunch with Tom Osborne, his old boss who a quarter century ago set up Solich as the Cornhusker head coach.
One year in Omaha, Solich even accepted the Tom Osborne Legacy Award at the Outland Trophy Dinner.
Solich even dropped by Memorial Stadium one time, he told the Omaha World-Herald's Tom Shatel, for some unofficial reason.
But in the 20 years since Nebraska fired Solich, no official connection between Solich and the Huskers has occurred.
He was a Bob Devaney fullback in the 1960s, an Osborne assistant coach in the glory days of 1979-97, then the NU head coach with a robust .753 winning percentage. That sounds like the résumé of an all-time Husker.
But Solich is a proud man, and he was a busy man, coaching the Ohio Bobcats for 16 seasons, 2005-20.
And Solich rebuffed every Nebraska olive branch.
Until now. Solich has agreed to attend the Nebraska spring game on April 22, when his alma mater will honor him.
Husker athletic director Trev Alberts said he’s been recruiting Solich’s return for years, and it’s finally going to happen.
Solich said he isn’t bitter about being fired 20 years ago, a dubious decision that sent Nebraska spiraling into two decades of mostly-mediocre football.
But that’s not likely the truth. Solich likely was angry, then bitter.
And that needed to pass. Tradition-rich football cultures love to embrace their history. Nebraskans long have needed to hail Solich, much more than Solich needed to hear their cheers.
I don’t know if then-Nebraska AD Steve Pederson made a mistake in firing Solich. The rear-view mirror suggests yes. Major mistake. It wasn’t so apparent in 2003. Nebraska had slipped, to records of 7-7 and 9-3, in the two years after playing for the 2001 national championship.
Of course, firing Solich only expedited the slide. You know the rest of Nebraska history. Bill Callahan went 27-22, Bo Pelini a more-than-respectable 67-27, Mike Riley 19-19 and favorite son Scott Frost a disastrous 16-31.
Now Matt Rhule is the new Nebraska boss, and he’s a heck of a coach. If Rhule fails, maybe the Cornhuskers never will come back.
But that’s what we said of Frost. There’s always hope.
And there’s always longing to remember the good days. The Nebraska hatchet-burying is medicinal for places like OU, which has its share of disconnect.
Josh Heupel is an all-time Sooner hero, and he’s found favor as the coach at Tennessee. But he’s been estranged since Bob Stoops fired Heupel as offensive coordinator after the 2014 season.
If Solich can come back to Memorial Stadium, Heupel can come back to Owen Field, for something more than a Sooner-Volunteer football game.
OU and Nebraska long have been bosom competitors. For decades, they pushed each other. Complemented each other. Taught each other.
They’re teaching still. . . .