Lame Duck Interim Coach: Good or Bad?
Pros & cons regarding the lame duck staff at Ohio State. They are recruiting for the next staff amid pending sanctions. Maybe other candidates get to unofficially audition for the job, but that can't outweigh the impending uncertainty.
Ohio State essentially doesn't have a coach for the next 6 months. Can they possibly hire a new coach before then?
from a coaching search perspective, this is probably the best timing they could hope for. if meyer or pelini or anyone else is interested they have plenty of time for it to play out
from a recruiting perspective its probably the worst
There's nothing else OSU can do. There isn't an elite coach out there who is going to jump on a totally unknown situation with the NCAA and the only way to salvage this season (which may be a title contender if there aren't more suspensions.
All I can say to this, is $TEWPID $UCKEYES
I still maintain that JAM TRECKBALLZ is a good coach, the way he's touched kids, and helped them out finanically is a blessing.
He helped kids from Ohio get laid, and if I know anything, its kids from Ohio dont lose their virginity until they're in their early 30's.
I just wish that he could have helped me get a car, My 1982 yugo is on its last legs.
are already annointing themselves the top of the conference now on their blogs.
I was just imagining the hilarity if Ohio State, backed into a corner on a coaching search, ended up hiring Rich Rodriguez. The first few hours of this board would be pure gold. Assuming it didn't crash, anyway.
Lame Duck? I know he is an interim coach, and is not a big name guy, but we do not know how good of a coach he will or will not be. He has been with the Buckeye program since the mid-90s. Yes, he was a player then, and became an assistant, but he understands the program more than those other candidates. Im not starting a fight, just being a football coach myself, I have a different opinion on this. Lets not be so quick to call this guy lame. I know what youre saying though, but still, lets see how it plays out. If they get USC like penalties or worse, do you think a big name like Pelini, Meyer, or Patterson would want to leave to take over? Especially, since they are very successful at their current places of employment.
Fickell is a very good coach and an amazing recruiter. They could do worse and honestly they could not do a whole lot better (depending on the level of violations). He would be the best outcome for the rivalry. I think OSU should truly give him a chance.
Hoke can beat them this year. After all this nonsense we will be their biggest game of the year, since it's unlikely they will play in a bowl game. They will still be able to crow if they beat us, since beating us is more important to them than a Bowl game. Unfortunately I don't see much to stop them at this point since the talent gap is still large.
That's an interesting question: Win the Rose Bowl or beat OSU?
If you can only have one, it means a MNC is out of the question, so with just those two factors I honestly think I'd rather beat OSU.
100% agree.
If he doesn't stop pointing at stuff in pictures, I'm going to have to kick his ass.
was an interim coach, then again Moe only got drunk, he didn't taint the univeristy with a culture of corruption.
an "interim" coach his first season? He seemed to work out all right.
How Luke Fickell handles the return of the Tat-Gate Five will determine whether he has a chance at becoming the permanent head coach.
If tOSU plays reasonably well (highly likely given that they will play against baby seals) without the Tat-Gate Five and Fickell keeps them on the bench after their suspension is over, he can claim the moral high ground and has a reasonably good chance of being the permanent coach.
If Fickell plays the Tat-Gate Five, as soon as their suspensions are over, then he sends a signal to the NCAA that it's business as usual and he is probably a goner.
I don't think sitting the Tate Five after the suspension is even on the table.
They will play in Game #6. It is not their fault that Tressel made the situation worse for OSU.
If OSU gets tagged with violations beyond Tress, there's no way any of his coaches, including Fickell, stay. It will be incumbent upon OSU to start clean.
if Fickell does well ( and who will stop them with that kind of talent ), they will give him a "second chance" ( like they did their misbehaving athletes ). As long as he's not directly involved in any Tressel shenanigans, he is coach with any kind of winning record.
This is a good bordering on great idea by them. They have no chance of getting a decent coach until the NCAA stuff all is finalized. By 2012 everything should be out and finalized and coaches will know what they're walking into.
I live in Seattle, where the Washington Huskies are still tryimg to climb back to respectability after making the mistake of "removing the interim label" from the guy who took over the mess Neuheisal left. The Buckeyes should be careful about keeping Fickell if he happens to do well with Tressel's talent (though I hope they won't be).
Interim coaches are frequently a bad thing. They're often popular with the players because, as assistants, they've played the "good cop" role to the head coach's "bad cop." But they often have trouble transitioning to the "bad cop" role. What frequently happens is that the players rally around the new guy (resulting in him getting the job), but overall team discipline declines, and with it, the program's performance.
We saw this with Steve Fisher and Brian Ellerbe. Fisher was (and is) a good basketball mind, and a nice guy. Players liked him. Unfortunately, he didn't have the stomach to tell Ed Martin to take a hike, and we eventually paid the price. Ellerbe, too, was initially liked by his players, but after he landed the job on a permanent basis, was revealed to be in completely over his head.
OTOH, Lloyd Carr worked out, so you never know.
Buckeye fans, meet Lane Kiffin - you all should get along juuuust fine . . . .