Franchione the repairman retools TCU into a winner

Sporting News, The, Oct 19, 1998 by Tom Dienhart, Mike Huguenin

Frank Solich, Nebraska. Solich isn't as stoic as his mentor, Tom Osborne. Heck, Solich even has been known to raise his voice in the locker room. As a result of youth and a rash of injuries, greatness figures to elude this edition of the Huskers.

RELATED ARTICLE: All-time most-improved teams

Dennis Franchione is in the midst of orchestrating one of the biggest turnarounds in college football history at TCU. Here is what he's shooting for.

School                                       Bad year

Stanford                                1-7-1 in 1939
Purdue                                    1-8 in 1942
Miami (Fla.)                            1-7-1 in 1944
Texas Tech                              3-7-1 in 1952
Indiana                                 1-8-1 in 1966
Houston                                   2-8 in 1975
Miami (Ohio)                              3-8 in 1976
Florida                                0-10-1 in 1979
San Jose State                          2-8-1 in 1985

                                                Games
School                         Good year     improved

Stanford                    10-0 in 1940            8
Purdue                       9-0 in 1943            8
Miami (Fla.)               9-1-1 in 1945            7
Texas Tech                  11-1 in 1953            7
Indiana                      9-2 in 1967            7
Houston                     10-2 in 1976            7
Miami (Ohio)                10-1 in 1977            7
Florida                      8-4 in 1980            7
San Jose State              10-2 in 1986            7

Associate editor Tom Dienhart covers college football for The Sporting News. Mike Huguenin is sports editor of the Gainesville (Fla.) Sun. E-mail them at colfb@sportingnews.com.