Mike Solari (born January 16, 1955) is an

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

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

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) teams, including a stint as offensive coordinator 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 club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

from 2006 to 2007. He played collegiately as an offensive lineman at

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

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, located on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The city is colloquially known as "South City". The population was 66,105 at the 2020 census. ...

(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 ...

. He then moved onto

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

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

Herman Edwards Herman Edwards Jr. (born April 27, 1954) is an American football coach and former cornerback who was most recently the head football coach at Arizona State. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons, primarily with the Phi ...

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

MiraCosta College MiraCosta College is a public community college serving coastal North 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 Learnin ...

, 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,

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

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) 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 of the league's National ...

in 1992 as tight ends coach and assistant offensive line coach. There he won a Super Bowl ring as a member of

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49ers coaching staff. In

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, 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 American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...

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

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 Bul ...

. Upon the retirement of Dick Vermeil and the signing of incumbent OC

Al Saunders Alan Keith Saunders (born February 1, 1947) is an American football coach who most recently served as the senior offensive assistant for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). Personal life Saunders was born in the north Lo ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, 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 or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

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

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, he changed its offensive line scheme to more zone blocking. On January 21, 2010, 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 club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the thi ...

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

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, Solari was hired by the New York Giants as offensive line coach. On January 15,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

, Solari was rehired by the Seattle Seahawks as their offensive line coach.

Personal life

He is married to wife Patti and has three children; Tamara, Stephanie and Michael

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 High school football coaches in California Junior college football coaches in the United States Kansas City Chiefs coaches Kansas Jayhawks football coaches National Football League 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 Sportspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area United States International Gulls football coaches People from Daly City, California People from South San Francisco, California Coaches of American football from California Players of American football from California