Twenty years have passed since Tom Osborne’s controversial firing from Nebraska, and he hasn’t publicly appeared at Memorial Stadium since. That’s about to change.
The 78-year-old remains a beloved figure among much of the fan base, having been an all-conference fullback for the Cornhuskers in the 1960s, an assistant to Tom Osborne for two decades and the head coach who won 75% of his games over six seasons before his unceremonious dismissal.
With the prodding of athletic director Trev Alberts, the urging of Osborne and the invitation of first-year coach Matt Rhule, Solich figured now is the time to return to Lincoln.
He and his family will be honored during the Huskers’ spring game April 22 in what he hopes will be the start of a renewed relationship with the program.
“I’ve always appreciated the fans of Nebraska and always felt good about them, and the same way about basically most of the coaches I worked with there,” Solich said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press.
“With the people of Nebraska and the real friends I have there, it just made sense now to come back
Alberts, an All-America linebacker at Nebraska in the early 1990s when Solich was an assistant, said he has been trying to get Solich to return since he became athletic director two years ago.
“I’m really looking forward to Husker Nation honoring Frank and thanking him for everything he’s done as a player, as a coach and also honor him for what he did after he left here,” Alberts said.
Solich was 58-19 in six seasons as the successor to Osborne, the College Football Hall of Fame coach who won national championships in three of his last four years and retired with the program at its pinnacle.
Under Solich, the Huskers won the Big 12 championship and finished No. 2 in the polls in 1999, and they played in the 2001 Bowl Championship Series title game against Miami despite a jarring 62-36 loss to Colorado in the regular-season finale.
