LINCOLN, Nebraska -- After five years as the head coach of the formerly prominent football squad, Frank Solich and a vocal minority of boosters have moved closer to their dream of re-establishing the program as an all-white service academy.

But this dream has a long way to go before it becomes reality.

"The fact of the matter is that their University does not have a direct affiliation with any branch of the military." Chet Gladchuck, Director of Athletics at the Naval Academy, said. "It's not a matter of race.  It's a matter of the simple fact that they are a public institution and not tied in any way with the Army, Navy or Air Force.  Besides, we already have schools for those branches."  But what about the Marines?  "I don't think they need or are interested in fielding a football team - in Nebraska or otherwise."

But Solich remains hopeful and confident.

"Over the past five years, certainly there has been progress made on that end of it.  We have developed just a tremendous tie to our local kids and have even branched out into other areas of the country."  Solich said.  "Certainly in the past we have had a sizeable number of African-American kids, and they have moved around well on that end of it, but we have seen the tremendous strain that has put on the team.  We feel that those kids just aren't worth the risk anymore and that we can get things done and build a tremendous squad from all the talent in our own state."

Indeed, recently the Husker's recruiting has focused on Caucasian-rich states such as South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Wyoming, Utah and Montana.  This, along with the ability to hand-pick the best white talent in the state has quickly moved them in the direction towards their end of a total of being the fourth service academy.

"Certainly, on that end of it we have done a tremendous job of building up that end of it." says Solich.  But what about the primary issue at play - that the University of Nebraska is not affiliated with any branch of the military?  "Well, when you look at it you'll see that we have a tremendous ROTC and Reserves program here.  The support for these programs is enough for us to consider ourselves a service academy." 

	Frank Solich is confident that his goal will soon be reached, despite the protests.

"Well certainly we had a lot to consider on that end of it," Solich said. "But fortunately for us 'National Guard' starts with an 'N', so the helmet will probably stay the same.  We'll add a third color - blue, obviously - but we'll still be moving around well enough regardless of what color our uniforms are."

Aside from the logistical and ethical questions involved with this attempt at change, other questions arise.  Namely the problem of narrowing the pool of prospective players and handicapping the ability to field a competitive squad.

"What they're thinking of doing would be the dumbest thing that's ever happened in the history of college football" says former NFL and college rival coach (at Oklahoma) Barry Switzer, "I still remember the last time they tried playing with a bunch of white kids back in the mid-70s, and we kicked the (censored) out of them.  The only time they started really winning and giving us problems is when they picked up guys like Jarvis Redwine and I.M. Hipp and then the 'Triplets'."  Did it really make that much of a difference? "I'm still pissed about losing Turner Gill to them.  Once they got that really good black quarterback the people in that state realized that they had been shooting themselves in the foot by not picking up those kids and playing kids from Western Nebraska instead.  The rest of the time Tom (Osborne) was there they always had enough blacks to be competitive and still keep their slow in-state kids."

Slow in-state kids?  What about recent speed demons like All-Pro Ahman Green, Heisman-winner Eric Crouch and former QB Scott Frost? Do they not have enough skills to win in the Big XII?  "Look - those kids are flukes.  They can sit up there and fool themselves into thinking those types of players are available to them every year, but for every one of those kids there are hundreds that are slower and whiter than me right now.  They won't just be mediocre in the Big XII, they'll get embarrassed and destroyed."

Luckily for Solich, there is already another aspect of the plan that is gaining momentum: "We have begun negotiations with the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), and in the long-term part of our plan we would certainly look into joining that tremendous conference.  We feel that getting involved on this end of it out there will put us right in the recruiting hotbeds of Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Nevada so that we can maintain that lack of balance we are looking for."  And that lack of balance has come a long way, Solich says. "If you look at what Brigham Young had last year, they were pretty successful and now we have more white starters than they did.  We think they're on to something and we're being proactive to stay tremendously successful and ahead of the curve."   

A quick check of the BYU starting roster confirms that sure enough, the Cougars fielded more minorities in starting position than did the Cornhuskers this last fall, and that trend looks to continue after losing a group of seniors in 2003 that will include minority starters in Jammal Lord, Junior T'agoai, Dan Vili Waldrop, Patrick Kabongo, Demorrio Williams and TJ Hollowell.  The Huskers appear well-stocked with non-minority players throughout the depth chart, so once these starters leave their goal could be much closer at hand.  "We've come along way on that end of it", says Solich.

So with this push by Solich and the boosters to become affiliated with the military, has Solich thought about joining himself?

"I walked into the recruitment office downtown, but they told me I was too short to join," said Solich, "but I could still do more sit-ups or push-ups than any of them."

Ivan Maisel is a senior writer at ESPN.com. He can be reached at ivan.maisel@espn3.com.