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Topic: RE: The Solich Question

Topic: RE: The Solich Question

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Campus Flow
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/11/2015 1:25:03 AM

OhioCatFan wrote:

bobcatsquared wrote:

Doesn't this lead to yet other questions? If Ohio retains Solich as coach, which it will, but does not extend his contract, what does this lame-duck scenario do to recruiting? Won't opposing coaches use this against Ohio when going after the same recruit?

I predict that if we win these next two home games and get to a bowl, his contract will be extended. Some on here won't like that. But, I think it's the reality. I also believe that Frank will right the ship and that we'll get back to the MACC within the next year or two. Frank didn't just suddenly become a bad coach. He's not senile, as some here have implied.

No. One of the main drivers of a contract extension is a salary increase. The average MAC/CUSA/SBC coach makes 547k and Frank makes more than that. The last 4 years Ohio's played .500 ball in the MAC. If next year Frank wins the MAC East or very close (not out of it with 3 MAC games to play) and wants a 2 year extension then maybe. With Vick graduating this year and his #2/#3 QB guys in 2016 performance for the next couple of years is questionable. The last extension was right before Tyler's junior year. Frank had 2 years remaining 2012/2013 and was extended out 3 more. If an extension was an automatic decision for the AD it would have already happened by now.

Last Edited: 11/11/2015 1:25:54 AM by Campus Flow

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Campus Flow
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/11/2015 1:30:48 AM

OhioCatFan wrote:

Uncle Wes wrote:

. . . Going 4 years without beating a MAC team with a winning record is tough to ignore though.

That'll end in two weeks against NIU. Frank is 2-0 when playing on my birthday, and I know he'll not want to disappoint me this year. Us 1944 guys stick together! ;-)

I suppose since Frank played NIU competitive last year in Athens. That and a win against Ball State would get him to an even 80 wins.

Most Memorable Bobcat Events Attended
2010 97-83 win over Georgetown in NCAA 1st round
2012 45-13 victory over ULM in the Independence Bowl
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doubledribble
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/11/2015 8:50:23 AM

Great job by our kids, and by our coaching staff last night against Kent. When things go terribly wrong in the middle of a season as they have the last 3 games it is a very difficult task at times to circle the wagons and get everyone rowing in the same direction to turn things around. When things are not going well it is easy to focus on the negative things that we see as fans, and it seems that the easy way out is to "abandon ship!". In fact, in my opinion, it is much easier to do that than it is to right the ship, and return to playing winning football, or basketball, or name your sport. Our kids and coaches certainly have not thrown in the towel as things got tough the past couple of weeks.
Proud of the focus and effort we saw last night in green and white.
What a difference QP seems to make for Ohio.
Beat Ball State !

Last Edited: 11/11/2015 10:21:43 AM by doubledribble

BobcatSports
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/11/2015 10:45:02 AM

The ESPNU announcers were woefully unprepared in their commentary last nite as it was obvious they did no pre-telecast research on BobcatAttack. They were embarrassingly unaware that the natives have moved from GOT Frank to NOT Frank!

They remarked gushingly about how successful Frank has been for OHIO and the stability that he has brought to the program. My goodness they even gave credit to Frank retaining Albin and Burrows and that that stability has probably been a huge factor in OHIO having multiple winning years, being bowl eligible and obtaining bowl wins multiple times, etc., etc....

Someone may want to clue next weeks broadcast duo that the real skinny on the state of the program comes from the greatest minds pontificating on "THE" Attack.

bobcatsquared
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/11/2015 10:48:53 AM

It does get tiring hearing the talking heads touting Ohio being bowl eligible the past 6 years. While a big deal 20 or 30 years ago, not so much these days with 70 bowl games and Ohio's schedule including several easy, some would say automatic, wins.

OU_Country
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/11/2015 11:31:21 AM

bobcatsquared wrote:

I agree - when Bowl Eligible = 7 wins, I'll talk about it meaning something. When it's a .500 season, it's not. Seven wins would also make smaller bowl games a little more compelling because of the caliber of teams in them. Of course, it's not happening, but in my pipe dream world, it should.

TheBobcatBandit
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/11/2015 11:50:24 AM

bobcatsquared wrote:

If it is so easy then give me a list of how many MAC teams or better yet any team that has done it 7 straight years. It wouldn't be a very big list. The announcers are right and I think almost all people not connected with the school would look at what Frank has done and be very impressed. But for whatever reason our fanbase is being laughably ignorant.

Old Zone
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/11/2015 11:56:55 AM

Casper71 wrote:

OhioBobcat I have sween the crappy years too. But, seriously you are happy being one of 80/123 going to a bowl game. This ain't 1970 when one MAC team went bowling. Other than the New Years bowls, most BOWLS ARE A JOKE NOW!

And before Frank we'd be consistently among the remaining 43. I get it that we are not an elite team, even in the MAC right now and that the number of bowls is absurd. But it is the system, they provide exposure, a couple extra weeks of practices and a recruiting tool. And since there are degrees of happy, I guess I'm happier to be among the chosen rather than among the ones that stay home.

L.C.
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/11/2015 12:16:31 PM

bobcatsquared wrote:

If 80 of 128 teams are bowl eligible in any year, then if it were just random chance, the odds of being bowl eligible 7 years in a row is (80/128)^7=.037, or 3.7%. If you just look at the MAC, the odds of being bowl eligible in any given year are much lower. On average 6.3 teams have been bowl eligible per year from 2009-2014, so the odds of being bowl eligible in the MAC for 7 consecutive years is about .6%.

It may not be "much" of an achievement, but it is also not that common.

�We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.� ― Epictetus

bshot44
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/11/2015 12:41:58 PM

TheBobcatBandit wrote:

bobcatsquared wrote:

Call me "laughably ignorant" or whatever. But a win over Kent State isn't going to make me stop in my tracks and say "WOW FRANK HAS THIS PROGRAM SOARING...WE ARE CERTAINLY ON THE RISE. EVERYTHING IS GREAT"

I'm sorry. But that was far from an impressive showing last night. We scored on a long TD pass because a defender fell down....scored after Kent ran the most absurd "trick play" I've seen since the Colts fake punt disaster and it backfired in their face....and we scored a TD vs. their back-up defense. (And went 2-4 in FGs missing two very makeable ones)

Yes...I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the effort. It was great to see this team DID NOT throw the towel in on the season (as they have in the past)

But c'mon...you could not have watched that game and thought we looked good. It was hard to watch. Our offense was inept most of the night. Bad, bad play-calling on 3rd and short.....

I know they piled up a bunch of yards against a pretty good defense...but that was far from impressive.

I again....absolutely LOVE Frank what has done for this program....but I just don't get the sense watching Ohio play that they are an upper-level MAC team.....AND THAT'S WHAT WE SHOULD ASPIRE TO BE!

We were four years ago....but since we have slowly dropped back to the middle-of-the-pack or lower level.....and there are no signs that it's going to change. This has been four straight years of not reaching expectations.....and it's been 10+ years in the Solich system.

Either we just accept mediocrity and say "We're going to be 7-5 (4-4) to 8-4 (5-3) every year with wins over Akron, Kent, Miami, EMU and maybe one other vs. a fill-in-the-black middle of the pack team in the MAC and blowout losses to BG and two of either NIU, Toledo, WMU, CMU....and two lackluster non-conference wins over an FCS and some baaaaad FBS school....and a 'we played them close' loss to a P5 school"......and we accept that.

Or we ask for something more. A roll of the dice...a change that might bring us closer to being an upper level team in the MAC

Sorry...but I'll strive for excellence over settling for mediocrity. I know this program has it in them to be great....and not just settle for average.

We're average these last four years. This isn't a blip on the radar....this is becoming a disturbing trend.

You can accept it....but don't mock me for wanting more

Last Edited: 11/11/2015 1:10:30 PM by bshot44

GoCats105
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/11/2015 1:02:14 PM

I thought that TD pass by Vick was going to be intercepted. It seemed like it was in the air for days. Luckily the defender fell and Smith was able to basically just stop running and catch it.

OU_Country
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/11/2015 2:08:09 PM

bshot44 wrote:

Yes...I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the effort. It was great to see this team DID NOT throw the towel in on the season (as they have in the past)

But c'mon...you could not have watched that game and thought we looked good. It was hard to watch. Our offense was inept most of the night. Bad, bad play-calling on 3rd and short.....

Agree, and agree. The more I watch, the more I actually have questions about schemes and play calling than I do the talent (or lack of that is sometimes discussed).

bshot44 wrote:

I again....absolutely LOVE Frank what has done for this program....but I just don't get the sense watching Ohio play that they are an upper-level MAC team.....AND THAT'S WHAT WE SHOULD ASPIRE TO BE!

We were four years ago....but since we have slowly dropped back to the middle-of-the-pack or lower level.....and there are no signs that it's going to change. This has been four straight years of not reaching expectations.....and it's been 10+ years in the Solich system.

Either we just accept mediocrity and say "We're going to be 7-5 (4-4) to 8-4 (5-3) every year with wins over Akron, Kent, Miami, EMU and maybe one other vs. a fill-in-the-black middle of the pack team in the MAC and blowout losses to BG and two of either NIU, Toledo, WMU, CMU....and two lackluster non-conference wins over an FCS and some baaaaad FBS school....and a 'we played them close' loss to a P5 school"......and we accept that.

Or we ask for something more. A roll of the dice...a change that might bring us closer to being an upper level team in the MAC

Sorry...but I'll strive for excellence over settling for mediocrity. I know this program has it in them to be great....and not just settle for average.

We're average these last four years. This isn't a blip on the radar....this is becoming a disturbing trend.

You can accept it....but don't mock me for wanting more

I agree - I can't see how it's "okay" to continue to see results like the prior three games and then say, but "oh well, we went 7-5 and made a bowl game" after beating Kent and hopefully BSU.

Based on everything I've either read from Frank, or heard in press interviews, that's not his goal either. Which is why I've got to hope that he and Schaus can work together after the season is over to come up with some things to change to take strides toward getting better. The first place I'd be looking for coming seasons is the quarterback position, both for a QB coach, and adding more talent at the position for competition. I just can't deal with the "we've got to execute better" stuff again and again. Maybe it's time to change what they're trying to execute instead.

bshot44
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/11/2015 2:33:08 PM

OU_Country wrote:

Totally agree. My point is...SOMETHING has to change. And if it's not Frank, then it has to be this coaching staff. The results have grown tiresome and underwhelming. Using the "execute better" mantra like you said is also growing tiresome. The time of "staying the course" has come and gone

OhioCatFan
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/11/2015 2:35:26 PM

OU_Country wrote:

[QUOTE=bshot44]
. . . . I just can't deal with the "we've got to execute better" stuff again and again. Maybe it's time to change what they're trying to execute instead.

I think that Frank agrees with you. I've notice that since the end of the BG game Frank hasn't used the mantra of better execution in any public statement that I've seen or heard. He seems now to be emphasizing the need to "play better football" and to "become a good football team." This, I think, is coachspeak for, "Boy, we've played horrible football in the last few games, and something major needs to be changed." I'm not enough of an Xs and Os guy to tell what it was, but the offensive line play last night appeared to me to be much better against a defensive line that was higher ranked in most statistical categories than any we've faced in the last three weeks. They were opening up bigger holes on running plays. Perhaps someone can tell me if they were using different blocking schemes or were just playing with more desire.

The only BLSS Certified Hypocrite on BA

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bshot44
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/11/2015 2:41:24 PM

Sadly, I'm not sure we'll find out. Ball State is a below-average team. NIU is solid, so that'll be a great test...but our bowl game will probably be vs some middle-of-the-road Sun Belt team.

NIU I think will be the only somewhat true test of whether this team (kind of) righted the ship.

A win vs NIU & Ball and a commanding bowl win would go a long way in restoring some faith that Frank can turn it around. I'm still not sure he can...but 9-4 with four straight wins to finish can take little off those three embarrassing games vs BG, WMU & UB.

TheBobcatBandit
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/11/2015 3:16:10 PM

bshot44 wrote:

What????? Since when has 9-4 been not good enough for Ohio football? These exspectations are ridiculous.

bshot44
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/11/2015 3:33:39 PM

TheBobcatBandit wrote:

bshot44 wrote:

What????? Since when has 9-4 been not good enough for Ohio football? These exspectations are ridiculous.

Sorry. You're right. I shouldn't expect us to be any better than losing 152-55 (50-18 avg) to BG, WMU & UB. And win more than one game every four years vs a winning MAC program (assuming we beat NIU...that would be our one.)

Those seem unrealistic.

giacomo
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/11/2015 3:48:31 PM

But where are the clowns?
Send in the clowns
Don't bother, they're here
On Bobcatattack

Mark Lembright '85
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/11/2015 6:21:14 PM

giacomo wrote:

But where are the clowns?
Send in the clowns
Don't bother, they're here
On Bobcatattack

GREAT tune by Judy Collins!!! Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

BillyTheCat
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/11/2015 7:22:24 PM

D.A. wrote:

MonroeClassmate wrote:

OHIO makes everything seem so damn hard. There are rarely any easy plays other than the slants. BG on the other hand made some things look pretty simple.

I have tried to remain as constructive as possible over the last couple of years, and I have to say on your point above, I would be in violent agreement. However I have a nuanced difference of opinion with our resident pet goods entrepreneur. He wants us to run hurry up as the solution to our offensive woes, whereas I want us to be decisive, not necessarily fast.

Point of emphasis: look at both BG and the New England Patriots. BG just runs fast regardless of the scenario. The Patriots can run either fast or deliberate.

However, they both contrast from OHIO's O in that they are both decisive, allowing the QB to make play calls and not always relying on the call to come in from the tower. Additionally, they are making their play calls very quickly, regardless of how much clock they are using prior to the snap, and seem to know exactly what they want to do in advance of getting to the line.

We always seem to be waiting for the call to come from the booth to the signal crew to the QB, and it gets in the way of the flow of the O. And in that delay, we are allowing the D to react, which limits our effectiveness.

Now we may not have the skill set in our QB's to rapid fire play calls and/or they cannot make their own reads, but in TT's heyday, he seemed to have been empowered to audible without the replacement call coming from the tower.

Not sure why it is the way it is now, but it drives me effing crazy, and we need a solution to our delay in decisiveness.

Are you suggesting that what the Pats system is successful because it's the Pats system, or does it have anything to do with one of the best QB's to ever play the game? Horrid comparison!

cbus cat fan
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/11/2015 8:25:17 PM

If Coach Solich does intend to hang it up this year. a bowl invite and a subsequent win would be the way to ride into the sunset. He would forever be remembered in glowing terms. In addition, there are a plethora of experienced, proven coaches looking for work, a job in Athens following someone of Coach Solich's caliber would be a win-win. I would prefer that to a young gun who would stay in Athens for a couple of years before being hired by a Power 5 conference team.

DelBobcat
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/12/2015 12:15:01 PM

I get so tired of this "we only beat bad teams, so we're not good" stuff. That is the definition of a good team. They beat bad teams. Occasionally, you also beat a good team. You consider yourself lucky when that happens. If you look at other teams' schedules you'll see the same thing.

Take the NFL: NE, Denver, and Cincy have combined for 23 wins this year. Of those wins, 18 have been against teams with records of .500 or worse. Only five of those wins have been against winning teams. Winning teams don't lose, by definition. So of course MOST of your wins are going to come against teams with losing records.

BA OHIO 2010, BS OHIO 2010, MA Delaware 2012

D.A.
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/12/2015 1:26:59 PM

BillyTheCat wrote:

D.A. wrote:

MonroeClassmate wrote:

OHIO makes everything seem so damn hard. There are rarely any easy plays other than the slants. BG on the other hand made some things look pretty simple.

Are you suggesting that what the Pats system is successful because it's the Pats system, or does it have anything to do with one of the best QB's to ever play the game? Horrid comparison!

I'm not suggesting anything. I specifically stated that I believe we are not as successful as we could be because we are slow to make play calls and/or are incapable of empowering our QB to make audible calls at the line. I also specifically state we may not have the skills at QB to permit them to make their own audible calls. I think I very clearly stated exactly the opposite of your interpretation.

The Few, The Proud, The Bobcats!

And for the record, I hate tOSU, and Ricordati and Torgerson are DB's.

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bshot44
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/12/2015 1:37:24 PM

DelBobcat wrote:

Thank you Mr. Obvious.

Of course, you are going to get a lot of wins vs. bad teams.

But to have ZERO win vs. good teams (in the MAC) the last four years is "not good"

Sorry. We don't even have a "consider yourself lucky" moment in this league the last four years.

If we had just a couple, I don't think a lot of these discussions would be happening.

A couple "consider yourself lucky" moments might mean 1 or 2 MAC titles or a couple more trips to Detroit to play for a MAC title in the Solich era.

Bottom line is....we don't have those moments....and have had none of them in the MAC the last four years.

That's not something I'm going to just say "Oh well, we're Ohio...so that's totally okay"

We should be better than that....so pardon me for setting my expectations a little higher.

Old Man
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RE: The Solich Question

Posted: 11/12/2015 9:04:27 PM

bshot44 wrote:

I figured this would happen. Many others predicted it; few believed it. But here it is, right in front of y'all. A bunch of spoiled brats where anything less than GREAT just isn't good enough for you.

Let me take you back in time to 1962 when an unknown Bob Devany came to Lincoln from Wyoming and coached Nebraska to a 9-2 record, following decades of mediocre football. And for the next 10 years it was more of the same and the fans were riding high. Then came disaster: back-to-back seasons of 6-4 football ('67 and '68)... and the fans and the deep-pocketed alumni wanted Bob Devany's head on a platter: "This is a disgrace!" But the administration stayed with him, and 3 years later Devany coached the Huskers to back-to-back MNC's.

After one more year (trying for his 3rd MNC) he turned to Tom Osborne to be his successor. Ten years later, number one-ranked NU lost in the Orange Bowl and the fans and the alumni wanted his head on a platter: "Osborne simply can't win "the big one" and we need to find a coach who can!" And the chant continued for another 11 years until Osborne won the first of his 3 MNC's (just missing out on 4 in a row).

Do I have to remind you of the Solich story? You should all have that memorized by now. After a 9-3 season that included yet another bowl win, an A.D. who had a hard-on for Solich single-handedly brought the Husker football program to its knees, and it has yet to recover.

This is what happens when fans and alumni ... and administrations - forget to appreciate what they have.

But to many of you here on this board, it's simply not enough, is it?

You should take a long hard look at yourselves and where the program is today compared to where it was when Frank arrived.

You should all be very ashamed of yourselves. Spoiled brats.

"Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views." ~ William F. Buckley

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