Despite rumors to the contrary, new football coach Frank Solich will not force accomplished two-sport athlete and Ohio University junior Scott Mayle to choose between football and track.
Two weeks ago, posts filled the BobcatAttack.com football message board with concerns and predictions following an initial post reporting that Solich was forcing Mayle to choose just one sport. But Mayle and his coaches anticipated this conflict and straightened it out quickly.
Actually
I thought he was going to make me choose Mayle said. So I went and talked to him. He said that he'd work out a schedule with spring ball so that I could run track in the spring. He scheduled spring ball around the track schedule so that I'd be able to make both.
Track and field coach Clay Calkins also spoke with Solich regarding Mayle's participation in both sports.
We didn't want him to have to choose and that's one of the reasons I went to coach Solich
Calkins said. I wanted to work this out to where Scott could do both. He came here to do both
and we're going to keep working towards that.
Mayle has an idea of how all the gossip started.
One of the freshmen asked if he could run track
and (Solich) told him that he didn't want him to do it because of spring ball this year
Mayle said. I think it started from the freshman that asked if he could play ... and then he just started telling everybody that coach told him no.
The reports about Solich having a one-sport policy contradict his record at Nebraska. While in Lincoln, several of Solich's football players also competed in other sports, including Wilson Thomas, who played basketball for two seasons, sprinter Willie Amos and Keyou Craver, who competed in the triple jump and is now a member of the New Orleans Saints.
With Solich's favorable dealings with two-sport athletes in the past, Calkins looks forward to a mutually beneficial relationship between the two programs.
They've worked it out
we've worked it out
Calkins said. We're going to work together
not only with Scott but with future recruits. It's just good politics here at an institution of this size.
