OT: Urban says Fickell will coach defense

Submitted by Moleskyn on

Per Rittenberg:

Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer said Luke Fickell will make the defensive calls in 2012 and have defensive coordinator in his title, although the final details are still being worked out.

Meyer, speaking Tuesday to WBNS radio in Columbus, said Fickell "will have the [coordinator] title. It might be 'co,' it might not, but at the end of the day, he'll be calling the defense."

LINK.

We all knew he'd be kept on the staff in some capacity, so it looks like he'll still have a pretty good gig. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised to see him become Meyer's successor down the road. From what I've heard, he's not that bad of a coach, just needs some experience. D-Coordinator is a good place to learn and grow. That said, it will be great to see our offense torch them again like we did this year.

Indiana Blue

December 13th, 2011 at 7:28 PM ^

an absolute failure by Urban to bring in ANYONE with a "marquee" name.  Sorry ... but this to be nothing short of a deflated balloon to all but the most notoriuos of tsio fans.

Go Blue!

BoFlex

December 13th, 2011 at 8:27 PM ^

Fickell was Tressel's co-defensive coordinator for the last 3-4 years as well as the lead recruiter (probably the most appealing aspect to Urban).  I would even wager that he had a greater impact on the defense than Heacock in those years (probably why Heacock isn't going to be retained).  Fickell knows his stuff on defense, he was just inexperienced at being the big man in charge.  Urban could very well still bring in another defensive coordinator to complement Fickell.

You can't judge Fickell's defensive knowledge solely on this past season, especially since they were pretty young across the board. Its also noteworthy that despite their record last year, Fickell still has the team's unwavering loyalty, which will definitely make this transition year go more smoothly.

aratman

December 13th, 2011 at 8:32 PM ^

But water boy didn't do a bad job considering the shit storm he got put in. They are going to a bowl game after losing there coach over the summer.  Half his team was in the sin bin, his best player was on Sunday clip board duty. He kept the recruiting class some what together and the team got better toward the end of the year, of course that was as his players got out of the penalty box and he did the best coaching job in nearly a decade Vs Michigan.    

M Vader

December 14th, 2011 at 2:23 AM ^

Did everyone forget that Tressel promised the Ohio faithful outside his house circa Memorial Day that Ohio would beat UM?

How did that work out, Tress?