Frank Solich, who coached at both schools, refuses to choose sides for Ohio-Nebraska season opener

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Frank Solich has a big decision to make before he leaves the house to go to Memorial Stadium for Nebraska's opener against Ohio on Saturday.

“I've been thinking about what to wear,” he said with a laugh Thursday.

He's already ruled out red or green, the school colors for Nebraska and Ohio, respectively.

“I'll wear white,” he said. “But wait. Ohio will be in white jerseys. OK, I'll wear black. Well, then you're representing the Nebraska Blackshirts (defense).”

What's a guy to do?

“I’m going to wear something neutral,” he said. “I appreciate both schools. I'm not going to favor one school by the attire I wear.”

Solich's conundrum is the result of his spending all or part of five decades as a player, assistant and head coach at Nebraska before he went on to become the Mid-American Conference's all-time wins leader over 16 years at Ohio.

Solich was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2024. Nebraska's locker room is named after him. The Bobcats play on Frank Solich Field at Peden Stadium in Oxford, Ohio.

Solich, who turns 82 next week, moved back to Lincoln last year from Idaho so he and his wife, Pam, could be closer to family. He'll be guest of honor at the game, participating in the coin toss and receiving the Legends Award from the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame.

“Emotionally, it has not gripped me like you might think,” he said. “I certainly was involved with both schools for quite a long time. Great universities, both of them. Really enjoyed it. I knew when it was time for me to get out of coaching. I can look back on it and feel good about what was accomplished and I’ve got no regrets about anything in the business.”

Solich played fullback for the Cornhuskers in the 1960s, was a longtime assistant to Tom Osborne and had a six-year record of 58-19 when he was fired in 2003 in a controversial move by then-athletic director Steve Pederson. At Ohio, he turned around the Bobcats and went 115-82 with 11 bowl appearances.

“Coach is just a wonderful man and a tremendous example to all us young coaches of always attacking what's next — being a great player, being a great position coach, being a great head coach and taking Nebraska to a national championship game," Huskers coach Matt Rhule said. "And then when adversity hits, as it sometimes does, always knowing there's another chapter and making your next chapter your best chapter.”

John Hauser, who begins his first full season as Ohio's coach, said Solich built the foundation for the Bobcats and remains connected to the program.

“I call him, he picks up,” Hauser said. “I can ask him anything. He's been through all of this, so having him as a resource and going back to his place for this first game is pretty neat.”

Same as with his gameday wardrobe, Solich maintained neutrality when asked which team he would be pulling for Saturday.

“I'd like to see it end in a tie, but that doesn't happen anymore,” he said. “I'm just hoping for, and am expecting, a competitive, hard-fought, tough football game.”

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FILE - Ohio head coach Frank Solich runs out onto the field with his team before the Mid-American Conference championship NCAA college football game against Western Michigan, in Detroit, Dec. 2, 2016. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

FILE - Nebraska head coach Frank Solich glances at the scoreboard in the final moments of a loss to Penn State on Sept. 14, 2002, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Volkswagen shares rose 6% on Friday after its board of directors approved sweeping cost cuts aimed at confronting challenges including ferocious Chinese competition and US tariffs.

Investors were cheered by CEO Oliver Blume's success Thursday in pushing the streamlining effort through the board, where employees are strongly represented.

The plan envisions reducing Volkswagen's work force by 50,000, phasing out four factories in Germany to eliminate expensive excess production capacity, and slimming the company's roughly 150 different models to half that.

Perhaps the biggest challenge the company is facing is China, formerly a major source of profits. The overall Chinese market has slumped by more than 20% this year as local competitors launch hundreds of new models amid fierce price competition.

VW has also been hit by higher U.S. tariffs on cars imported from Europe. Volkswagen’s profits fell by 31% in the first half of the year to 3.1 billion euros ($3.6 billion), even though outside of China it sold more cars worldwide than the same period last year.

Volkswagen's worker-friendly structure, with employee representatives holding half the board seats and the local government of Lower Saxony two, had raised doubts about whether Blume could push through his plan, which was rejected at a board meeting in July.

The board decision was a “much better than feared outcome,” wrote Deutsche Bank analysts. While it doesn't solve VW's challenges overnight, “it removes one of the biggest investor concerns: whether the company is still capable of making the difficult decisions required to address them.”

They said it could have a “halo effect” on other German manufacturers and encourage them to make similar difficult adjustments.

Volkswagen said that “currently” it plans to phase out production over 2031-34 at four plants, in Emden, Zwickau, Hannover und Neckarsulm, although it held out the possibility of finding other uses for the plants. Slimming the number of models would mean higher volumes per model, lowering fixed costs.

The job cuts would include management personnel as well as assembly line workers and would be accompanied by streamlining of management structures to speed decision-making.

Volkswagen, which has some 650,000 employees, is already in the process of reducing headcount under an earlier restructuring. In an online Q&A on the company's website from Aug. 21, Blume said that the company had already signed 37,000 contracts to reduce headcount under that set of cost cuts, mainly through early retirement.

In addition to the core Volkswagen brand, its other nameplates include Audi, Skoda, Porsche and SEAT.

A view of a pedestrian traffic sign near to the Volkswagen brand skyscraper, in Wolfsburg, Germany, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (Moritz Frankenberg/dpa via AP)

A view of the Volkswagen plant in Zwickau, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (Hendrik Schmidt/dpa via AP)

The VW logo in front of the Volkswagen plant in Osnabrueck, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (David Ebener/dpa via AP)