Frank Solich’s contract will expire on Jan. 3, per documents The Post obtained through a Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, request.
At his weekly press conference Friday, Solich, who is in his 15th year as coach of the Bobcats, said he had been in discussions about potentially renewing his contract.
“There have been discussions,“ Solich said. “(The details) will eventually come out, and you can obviously go from there.”
After the interview, Solich stepped back into the room to clarify that he was “feeling good” about the talks.
Solich, who turned 75 years old in September, is the oldest currently active coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The next oldest is San Diego State’s coach, Rocky Long, who is 69 years old.
In his tenure with the Bobcats, Solich has earned an overall record of 110-81 and a Mid-American Conference record of 73-45. He’s one win away from passing former Central Michigan coach Herb Deromedi for the most overall wins by a MAC coach.
Solich led Ohio to the MAC Championships in 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2016. While the Bobcats have not won a conference title under Solich, they have been to 10 bowl games in 14 years and won the program’s first bowl game in 2011 when it defeated Utah State 24-23 in the Idaho Potato Bowl.
The Bobcats most recent bowl victory was in 2018 when they shut out San Diego State 27-0 in the DXL Frisco Bowl.
Ohio has two games left this season and were eliminated Wednesday from a MAC Championship Game berth. The Bobcats must win their final two games against Bowling Green and Akron to receive bowl eligibility.
“We’re on a mission to win these last two games to get to .500,” Solich said. “That’s all we can do at this point is work at winning those two.”
Solich’s current salary is $524,928, which places him second behind men’s basketball coach Jeff Boals among the highest-paid university employees. Boals, who was hired in March, has a salary of $581,000.
Solich has received seven contract extensions since he received his original contract in 2005. His contract has been renewed in the following years: 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2018.
His most recent extension came on June 27, 2018, three days before his contract was set to expire.
Previous contract details for Solich are below:
