Got Frank? Ohio may wish it didn't any longer

When Ohio University lured Frank Solich from the unemployment line in 2005 it seemed like a great hire. The former Nebraska coach was a winner, had Ohio connections and gave a down-in-the-dumps Bobcat program instant credibility.

In just his second season, Solich guided OU to a 9-5 record and its first bowl game since 1968. So what's wrong?

Well, it's Year 4 of the Solich Project and the Bobcats are playing more like the days when Cleve Bryant and Tom Lichtenberg coached Ohio.

Following Tuesday's 32-19 loss to Buffalo at Peden Stadium, the Bobcats fell to 2-7. Injuries have hit OU hard, but no football program uses that as a legitimate excuse. Solich wasn't after the game. In fact, he was very critical of his team.

“It was just a nightmare, an absolute nightmare,” Solich was quoted as saying in the Ohio student newspaper. “We found ourselves in the ball game, and we just fumbled it away."

The folks in Athens, Ohio, can't be happy. Solich is one of the highest paid employees at OU, making more than $250,000 a year. This past summer the university extended his contract to 2013. For the financially strapped Ohio U., the extension is like house speculation in Florida.

He'll be there until 2013 because Ohio can't buy him out and there isn't an alum who will step up and make the donation, like say a Nebraska would. Expectations are never real high at Ohio, but tensions are definitely rising. The faculty doesn't support Ohio's president, so you can only imagine how they feel about his hand-picked and expensive hire.