Mike Solari is the current offensive coordinator for the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs.18th Year NFL Coach • 10th with Chiefs Entering his 18th season as an NFL coach, Mike Solari embarks on his initial season as Kansas City’s offensive coordinator after being promoted to that post by head coach Herm Edwards. The 2006 campaign marks Solari’s 10th season on the Chiefs sidelines, making him one of just six assistant coaches in team history to boast over a decade of service with the franchise. Prior to assuming his present role, he spent the past nine years as the Chiefs offensive line coach after originally joining the club in ‘97. He came to Kansas City after serving a five-year stint (’92-96) as the tight ends/assistant offensive line coach for the San Francisco 49ers.
One of the NFL’s most respected teachers of the game, Solari boasts a diverse NFL coaching pedigree and is well-versed in a variety of different offensive philosophies, owning a solid background in instructing both the passing and running game. Recognized across the league for designing and implementing some of the NFL’s most innovative and well-conceived blocking schemes during his stint as Kansas City’s offensive line coach, his approach to playing fundamentally-sound football will be rooted upon continuing the Chiefs tradition of solid play in the trenches.
Solari takes over a Kansas City offense that has ranked among the league leaders in virtually every major category over the past five seasons. Solari was an integral part of that offensive success and played a key role in developing Kansas City’s game plans over that timeframe, particularly as it related to the running game and protection packages.
Thanks in large part to the efforts of Solari and Kansas City’s offensive linemen, the Chiefs averaged a league-high 380.9 yards per game from 2001-05, while ranking second in the NFL by averaging 27.0 points per game over that span. Kansas City also averaged 137.3 rushing yards per game and allowed just 30.0 sacks per season, both totals that ranked fourth in the league over the past five campaigns.
Solari owns the distinction of working for some of the most successful and innovative coaches in pro football history. During his five-year tenure in San Francisco, he became well versed in the famed West Coast passing attack developed by Hall of Fame enshrinee Bill Walsh, whose visionary offensive philosophy continues to have a lasting impact on the game. Working under head coach George Seifert in San Francisco, Solari was a part of the 49ers run to a victory in Super Bowl XXIX and was largely responsible for the development of TE Brent Jones who made four Pro Bowl appearances and set a franchise record for receptions by a tight end with 68 catches in ‘93.
The Daly City, California native launched his NFL coaching career with a two-year stint with the Dallas Cowboys (’87-88), where he worked for Hall of Fame head coach Tom Landry, whose many contributions to the game included the utilization of the shotgun formation and the spread offense. During his tenure with the Cowboys, Solari served as an assistant offensive line coach, in addition to mentoring the Dallas special teams units.
While Solari will integrate new concepts and nuances from a variety of sources into the Chiefs offense, he and his staff will continue to employ the same fundamental offensive philosophy that has made Kansas City one of the league’s most prolific and productive offensive units in recent years. Much of the Chiefs offensive proficiency can be traced back to Kansas City’s high level of play on the offensive front. The Chiefs have produced a trio of Pro Bowl offensive linemen each of the past two seasons — G Will Shields, T Willie Roaf and G Brian Waters — becoming the first club to accomplish that feat since Dallas did it from ‘93-96. Shields and Roaf each earned their 11th Pro Bowl berth while working under Solari’s tutelage a year ago, while Waters continued his emergence as one of the finest performers at his position, earning his second straight Pro Bowl invitation.
That vaunted blocking unit helped pave the way for the NFL’s top-rated offense for the second consecutive year as Kansas City led the league in total offense by averaging 387.0 yards per game during the 2005 campaign. Solari’s protection schemes have also been a key reason that two-time Pro Bowl QB Trent Green has flourished since coming to Kansas City in 2001. Over the past five seasons, only Indianapolis QB Peyton Manning (20,902) has thrown for more yards than Green (20,117), who has started 80 consecutive games under center for the Chiefs. Having a talented and experienced field general like Green at his disposal should only aid in Solari’s transition to the offensive coordinator post in 2006.
Perhaps Solari’s biggest contribution since his arrival in Kansas City has been his ability to help the club to consistently churn out yards on the ground. Remarkably, the Chiefs have ranked in the NFL’s top five teams in terms of rushing offense on five different occasions during Solari’s time with the Chiefs (’97, ‘99, 2002, 2004 and 2005), an even more impressive feat when you consider the club accomplished that feat under three different head coaching regimes and had five different running backs lead the team in rushing during that nine-season span.
The best testament to Kansas City’s productivity on the ground has been the Chiefs track record of scoring rushing touchdowns. Dating back to the 2001 campaign, the Chiefs own a league-high 131 rushing TDs, 36 more than their next-closest competitor, Seattle (95). Running behind Kansas City’s offensive line, three-time Pro Bowl RB Priest Holmes produced 62 rushing TDs from 2002-04, the highest total of any player in NFL history over a three-year span. Since his arrival in Kansas City, Holmes has also set franchise career records for rushing yards (5,933), rushing TDs (76) and 100-yard rushing games (24), in addition to winning the NFL’s rushing crown with 1,555 yards in 2001.
The Chiefs ranked fourth in the NFL in rushing offense a year ago, pounding out 148.9 yards per game. With Kansas City’s offensive line led by Solari paving the way, RB Larry Johnson was named to his initial Pro Bowl after setting a franchise record with 1,750 rushing yards, breaking the previous mark of 1,615 yards established by Holmes in 2002. Johnson topped the 100-yard rushing plateau a club-record 10 times in 2005, averaging a punishing 150.1 yards per game during his nine starts, a pace that would have shattered RB Eric Dickerson’s single-season NFL rushing record of 2,105 yards over a 16-game schedule.
Thanks in large part to Kansas City’s highly-respected blocking unit, the Chiefs led the NFL in total offense for the first time in team history in 2004, averaging 418.4 yards per game, while also ranking in the NFL’s top five in scoring offense and passing offense. Under Solari’s guidance that season, G Brian Waters became the NFL’s first undrafted guard to earn a Pro Bowl berth since Dallas G Nate Newton in ‘98. Anchored by the Chiefs vaunted offensive front, Kansas City’s offense also led the NFL in scoring in both 2003 and 2002.
Maintaining consistency despite frequent changes in personnel and offensive philosophy has been one of Solari’s trademarks since coming to Kansas City. In 2001, the Chiefs averaged 354.6 yards of total offense to rank fifth in the NFL with a new center in Casey Wiegmann and a pair of other starters who finished the season at positions other than the ones where they started the year. Although often overshadowed by the other talented performers on the Chiefs offensive line, Wiegmann has thrived under Solari’s guidance. The University of Iowa product has started 79 consecutive games for Kansas City and has been named to USA Today’s All-Joe Team each of the past four seasons for his hard-working, blue-collar style of play.
Kansas City’s offensive trenchmen have allowed an average of just 30.9 sacks per season since Solari joined the club in ‘97, the sixth-lowest mark in the league over that span. In addition to coaching Pro Bowlers such as Shields, Roaf and Waters, Solari has also been responsible for tutoring other highly-decorated offensive linemen. In ‘99, veteran C Tim Grunhard became the first Chiefs center to earn a Pro Bowl nod since Jack Rudnay in ‘77, while G Dave Szott received All-Pro recognition following the ‘97 campaign. In ‘98, Solari’s offensive line captured all of the club’s top individual honors. Shields was the team’s only Pro Bowl pick, while Glenn Parker started at three different offensive line positions to merit team MVP honors and T Victor Riley earned the club’s Mack Lee Hill Award.
After initially entering the NFL coaching ranks with Dallas, Solari served as the offensive line coach for head coach Gene Stallings and the Phoenix Cardinals in ‘89 before following Stallings to the University of Alabama for two seasons (’90-91) in the same capacity. He began his coaching career at Mission Bay (Cal.) High School in ‘76, followed by stints at Mira Costa Junior College (’78) and U.S. International (’79). In ‘80, he helped lead Boise State to the NCAA Division I-AA championship. After stints at the University of Cincinnati (’81-82) and Kansas (’83-85), Solari spent one season as the offensive coordinator at the University of Pittsburgh (’86). A former collegiate offensive lineman, Solari played at San Diego State, where he was a teammate of both Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards and current Carolina Panthers head coach John Fox.
He has Dallas ties and he played with Herm Edwards and John Fox so he can't be that old.
