Mike Solari (born January 16, 1955) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former player. Solari has previously worked for five other

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) teams, including a stint as

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

of the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

from 2006 to 2007. He played collegiately as an

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...

Playing career

Solari got his start as playing both ways at El Camino High School in

South San Francisco, California South San Francisco is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The city is colloquially termed "South City". The population was 66,105 at the 2020 United States censu ...

(Class of 1973), where he was a standout, particularly on the offensive side of the ball (tackle). His next stop was as an offensive lineman at

College of San Mateo College of San Mateo (CSM) is a public community college in San Mateo, California. It is part of the San Mateo County Community College District. College of San Mateo is located at the northern corridor of Silicon Valley and situated on a 153-a ...

. He then moved onto

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system. SDSU is ...

, where his teammates included two other JC transfers, future NFL head coaches

Herman Edwards Herman Lee Edwards (born April 27, 1954) is an American football coach and former player. He played cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. Edwards was also a head coach in the NFL ...

and John Fox.

Coaching career

After SDSU, Solari coached at the high school level in Southern California, for the Mission Bay Pirates in the Pacific Beach sector of San Diego, and as a wrestling and assistant track coach at

Orange Glen High School Orange Glen High School (OGHS) is one of the five public high schools in the Escondido Union School District in Escondido, California. It was established in 1962. The school earned the California Distinguished School Award in 2007. In the 2 ...

in 1978–79. Next he began his college coaching career at nearby

MiraCosta College MiraCosta College is a public community college serving coastal Northern San Diego County in California with two campuses, one in eastern Oceanside and the other in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, and many satellite locations, including the Community Le ...

, a community college in Oceanside. He then went to

United States International University United States International University (USIU) was a nonprofit university based in San Diego, California, that was accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. At its peak, it had two additional American campuses and three inter ...

(USIU) as an assistant football coach on Tom Walsh's staff. Solari spent time at

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

as assistant football coach. He was with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

as assistant offensive line coach and special teams coach. Solari joined the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

as tight ends coach and assistant offensive line coach. There he won a

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

ring as a member of

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

49ers coaching staff. In

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, he joined the Kansas City Chiefs as their O-line coach. And for many years, tutored some of the best lineman in the NFL, including

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...

Will Shields Will Herthie Shields (born September 15, 1971) is an American former professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, earning consen ...

and

Willie Roaf William Layton Roaf (born April 18, 1970), nicknamed "Nasty", is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons. He played college football for Louisiana Tech B ...

. Upon the retirement of

Dick Vermeil Richard Albert Vermeil ( ; born October 30, 1936) is an American former football coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. He was the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles for seven seasons, the St. L ...

and the signing of incumbent OC

Al Saunders Alan Keith Saunders (born February 1, 1947) is an American football coach. Personal life Saunders was born in the north London suburb of Hendon as part of a sporting family; his great-uncle, Ron Saunders, played soccer for a number of teams in ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, Solari was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2006. After the conclusion of the 2007 season, Solari was fired by the Chiefs following a 4–12 season and was replaced by former

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

head coach and long-time NFL coach

Chan Gailey Thomas Chandler Gailey Jr. (born January 5, 1952) is a former American football coach. Most recently in 2020, he was the offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). Gailey has previously served as the hea ...

. Solari joined the Seahawks staff in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, he changed its offensive line scheme to more zone blocking. On January 21,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, Solari was named offensive line coach for the

. Solari joined the

Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. They are the third ...

staff as an offensive line assistant following the 2014 season. On January 21,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, Solari was hired by the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

as offensive line coach. On January 15,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, Solari was rehired by the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

as their offensive line coach. On February 5, 2023, Solari returned to the

, being hired as the team's offensive line coach.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solari, Mike 1955 births Living people American football offensive linemen Alabama Crimson Tide football coaches Boise State Broncos football coaches Cincinnati Bearcats football coaches Dallas Cowboys coaches Kansas City Chiefs coaches Kansas Jayhawks football coaches MiraCosta Spartans football coaches NFL offensive coordinators New York Giants coaches Phoenix Cardinals coaches Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches San Diego State Aztecs football players San Francisco 49ers coaches San Mateo Bulldogs football players Seattle Seahawks coaches United States International Gulls football coaches High school football coaches in California People from Daly City, California Players of American football from San Mateo County, California Sportspeople from South San Francisco, California Coaches of American football from California