Sports
Former Ohio University Football Coach Frank Solich has been voted into the College Football Hall of Fame
By: Eric Olson | AP, WOUB News Team
Posted on:
ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Former Ohio University Head Football Coach Frank Solich is going into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Solich was among the 19 players and three coaches in the College Football Hall of Fame class announced Monday by the National Football Foundation, according to the Atlanta-based hall.
The former leader for the Bobcats arrived in Athens in 2005 after leading the Nebraska Cornhuskers from 1998 to 2003, where he won a Big 12 championship and played for a National Championship.
It took Solich only two seasons to guide OU to it’s third winning record since 1983, going 9-5 in 2006 with a MAC East Championship.
He went on to become the winningest coach in MAC history with a record of 115-82 to go along with 11 bowl games and four MAC East titles in 16 seasons. He finished with an overall record of 173-101.
Solich retired before the 2021 season, citing health concerns.
Randy Moss and Larry Fitzgerald were among 19 players announced in the new class.
Moss, inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018, was one of college football’s most electric performers in his two seasons at Marshall. He was an All-American as both a receiver and return man. He caught 174 passes for 3,529 yards and 54 touchdowns in his career and was the 1997 Biletnikoff Award winner. His 26 touchdown receptions that season were a Bowl Subdivision record. He played for five teams over 14 NFL seasons and was the league’s leading receiver five times.
Fitzgerald was the 2003 Heisman Trophy runner-up and Biletnikoff Award winner while playing for Pittsburgh, where he totaled 161 catches for 2,677 yards and a school-record 34 touchdowns over his two seasons. He caught a touchdown in 18 consecutive games to set an NCAA record. He was the third overall pick in the 2004 NFL draft and an 11-time Pro Bowl selection in 17 years with the Arizona Cardinals.
The rest of the 2024 class includes Warrick Dunn of Florida State, Toby Gerhart of Stanford, Julius Peppers of North Carolina, Danny Woodhead of Chadron State, Justin Blackmon of Oklahoma State, Paul Cameron of UCLA, Tim Couch of Kentucky, Armanti Edwards of Appalachian State, Deon Figures of Colorado, Dan Hampton of Arkansas, Steve Hutchinson of Michigan, Antonio Langham of Alabama, Paul Posluszny of Penn State, Dewey Selmon of Oklahoma, Alex Smith of Utah, Kevin Smith of Texas A&M and Chris Ward of Ohio State.
The class will be inducted during the NFF’s awards dinner in Las Vegas in December.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football