Frank Solich couldn’t have received much higher praise from his coaching opponent this week at Pitt.
Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi, who’s been a college football coach since 1990 and has coached the Panthers since 2013, showed his respect for Solich in his press conference Monday. He admires what Solich, who is the oldest coach in NCAA Division I football at 74 years old, has done to transform Ohio into one of the most consistent football programs in the nation.
“Frank Solich is a legend,” Narduzzi said. “He’s a legend from his years back at Nebraska. The guy has a great football team — even when he got let go at Nebraska. The guy never should have gotten let go there. Probably one of the biggest mistakes in Nebraska history is letting Frank Solich go.”
Prior to becoming Ohio’s head coach in 2005, Solich spent six seasons as head coach at Nebraska, where he led the Cornhuskers to six straight bowl games and compiled a 58-19 record.
Solich has built the Bobcats into one of the top teams in the Mid-American Conference — Ohio has won at least seven games in nine of the last 10 seasons — and Narduzzi is eager to see if the Panthers can rebound against the Bobcats after they lost 30-14 to Virginia on Saturday.
Solich smiled at his press conference Monday when he heard about Narduzzi’s comments.
"Any kind of comment from Pat like that is extremely meaningful to me,” Solich said. “We feel the same about him and what he's accomplished. He's a great recruiter and a great organizer, so his style of coaching will take them a long ways. I'm sure of that."
Narduzzi also delivered high praise for quarterback Nathan Rourke, who opened the season with three touchdowns in Ohio’s win over Rhode Island.
The senior quarterback faces a much taller test against Pitt, a Power 5 school, but Narduzzi believes Pitt’s defense will have its hands full in preparation for the dual-threat quarterback.
“Their offense starts with Nathan Rourke. Phenomenal football player,” Narduzzi said. “He’s accurate. He’s smart. He makes good decisions. I like what I see out of him, and he can run it, too. He’s nifty and can run.”
Pitt will look to avoid its first 0-2 start to a season since 2012. Ohio is hoping to remain undefeated through two games for the first time since 2015.
Narduzzi is excited, and he expects the Bobcats to be a tough win Saturday at Heinz Field.
“It’ll be a challenge at 11 a.m. on Saturday,” Narduzzi said. “Ohio U., if you put the tape on, is good enough to whoop your tail.”
