The Ohio athletic department will soon conclude a year that has seen much success, with three MAC Championships in varsity sports since fall.
On top of the team success, Ohio experienced success off the field with the hiring of Frank Solich as the head football coach in December. Solich, who coached in the National Championship game three years ago, brings coaching experience to Athens.
The benefits of hiring Solich are already evident, as Peden Stadium will host its first ever ESPN telecast next season.
Perhaps the most thrilling success Ohio experienced recently was the basketball team's run through the MAC Tournament, and into the NCAA Tournament. Coach Tim O'Shea talked about the positives that can come from that kind of success.
It just raises your profile
he said. It really helps when you return a lot of those same players the following year in terms of the decisions TV makes. In terms of how much they're going to put you on TV who you play. I think it builds momentum for athletics in general because there's a lot of enthusiasm right now because of our success
not only for what happened last year but the hope that it can continue on through next season.
The Bobcats received national attention in March, playing the MAC title game on ESPN, and the first-round NCAA Tournament game on CBS.
It helps your recruiting
O'Shea said. It helps everything you try to do because you have a higher profile. The perception of your program is
'Hey you're a program on the rise
' and that's one that you want
as opposed to a program stuck in mediocrity or a program on decline.
Women's soccer and volleyball also experienced their share of success, with both terms winning regular season titles and volleyball adding a MAC Tournament title.
I think as each game went by that we won
or even the games that we had a shutout
our confidence and composure grew
Ohio soccer coach Stacy Strauss said. For a while we really felt invincible
