Ohio hires new co-Defensive Coordinator
They also snagged Penn State's assistant coach for new D-Line coach.
This seems like a pretty good pick up. Thoughts?
January 14th, 2014 at 12:51 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 12:53 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 12:56 PM ^
Ash I'm not totally sold on (Arkansas was so bad that it's hard to tell what the issue was), but Johnson is a fantastic hire. Instant recruiting boost in PA, MD, DC, DE, etc., and will probably end up flipping Holley (PSU's best recruit) to OSU. He's gonna have that DL be something fierce with all that raw talent they have.
January 14th, 2014 at 1:04 PM ^
Arkansas was pretty poor, but I think Mattison would have been able to do better than 89th in the country in points against with that talent considering the turn-around he had with the 2011 Defense. I am definitely not sold on Ash.
January 14th, 2014 at 1:16 PM ^
Based on what I've read, OSU soured on Holley and stopped recruiting him....so unless LJ is able to change their minds about him, Holley may remain with PSU.
January 14th, 2014 at 3:55 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 4:55 PM ^
Makes sense.
January 14th, 2014 at 1:00 PM ^
Good get by them to get Larry Johnson.
January 14th, 2014 at 1:00 PM ^
Urbz likes to one Up BB..
January 14th, 2014 at 5:12 PM ^
love the LSUfreek
January 14th, 2014 at 1:01 PM ^
OSU internet people have believed for a long time that Johnson negatively recruited by OSU and Michigan by saying that they didn't care about graduating black players. My OSU friend said, "Everyone's head exploded" when Johnson was hired.
January 14th, 2014 at 3:37 PM ^
There were also a lot of OSU fans who hated Meyer from things he said in old Florida-OSU recruiting battles and when he got hired, they jumped right on board. The principles are loose-fit down there.
January 14th, 2014 at 1:02 PM ^
My thoughts are that you don't know how to properly make a thread. You used no names in the title which makes it seem like a ploy to click through to your thread. Shoddy worksmanship.
January 14th, 2014 at 1:36 PM ^
Is there some sort of ad revenue for clicks that I'm unaware of?
Brian, could you just make the check out to "EpicHoke"? One word.
Thanks.
January 14th, 2014 at 2:38 PM ^
Who pissed in your cornflakes this morning?
January 14th, 2014 at 3:55 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 8:20 PM ^
"Quisque pissum cornflakium mane."
January 14th, 2014 at 1:04 PM ^
The more important question is whether or not they will have a press conference to introduce him.
January 14th, 2014 at 1:06 PM ^
How many freaking coaches does OSU have anyway? Did they get a special coaching exception or something cause it seems like everytime I pay attention they are hiring somebody new for something.
January 14th, 2014 at 1:13 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 1:59 PM ^
Might be the reason for no ceremony. He took the JMU head coaching position.
January 14th, 2014 at 2:50 PM ^
...for half the salary.
January 14th, 2014 at 1:12 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 1:15 PM ^
Fickle and Withers were co-DC's for the past 2 years, but yeah, kind of says a lot to me if I'm Fickle that Urban doesn't have much faith in me now that he's hired another co-DC.
January 14th, 2014 at 1:17 PM ^
He's maybe their best recruiter - save perhaps Meyer himself - and he may well be a guy who's more interested in being at OSU than he is climbing the ladder as much as possible.
January 14th, 2014 at 6:48 PM ^
but he is quickly descending the ladder
January 14th, 2014 at 1:44 PM ^
I've always wondered.. [warning: baseless, homer speculation]... does he know something about that program that keeps him on the payroll? I mean, if you're hiring a "co-DC" it isn't a strong bid of confidence. The better explanation is that he's a strong recruiter/position coach, they want him on the staff for that, but can't really demote him (or he'll leave), but it still seems like a very odd situation.
January 14th, 2014 at 2:11 PM ^
at OSU since 2005 (except 2011).
January 14th, 2014 at 4:11 PM ^
In name only. Heacock ran the defense, Fickell coached linebackers.
January 14th, 2014 at 2:12 PM ^
It seems understandable that it was co-DC's when Urban was first hired since he didn't know Fickell, other than what he saw on TV, and I'm guessing there was a lot of pressure from the Ath Dept to retain Fickell. But to hire another co-DC after Withers leaves seems to say that Urban doesn't have a lot of faith in him, but is pressured to not fire him. Fickell probably has a lot of fans in the Ath Dept after falling on the sword when Tressel left.
January 14th, 2014 at 4:07 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 4:09 PM ^
OSU fans hate Fickell like Michigan fans hated Borges. There was no way he would be named sole coordinator, especially after Sparty racked up 438 yards in the B1G championship game with the Bollrus in the booth.
January 15th, 2014 at 8:47 AM ^
By all means I'm glad he still on the staff, "why" is the question.
- Because he's an Alumni? You'd think this means he would want the D to do well.
- They can't fire him because he's blackmailing the school for knowing where more bodies are buried from TatGate/CarU and would squeal?
- He's still being groomed for command? I thought if Tressel was still there he would be "MACing" it by now.
As far as Ash and Johnson, If OSU was cool getting Johnson from the tainted PSU staff why not get Tom Bradley also?
January 15th, 2014 at 2:50 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 5:18 PM ^
wages with 2 DCs. This keeps Johnson well paid and out of the hands of other B10 schools. Better transition when they dump Fickle next year. A Win for Ohio (!Bobcats).
January 14th, 2014 at 8:28 PM ^
Salary does seem like a big part of it; it allows schools to pay a much higher salary than they would a position coach without raising eyebrows. If a position coach is making over $300,000 or so a year, some within the university would get pissy. Name the person a co-coordinator and suddenly $500,000 or even more seems acceptable in today's market.
January 14th, 2014 at 8:28 PM ^
Salary does seem like a big part of it; it allows schools to pay a much higher salary than they would a position coach without raising eyebrows. If a position coach is making over $300,000 or so a year, some within the university would get pissy. Name the person a co-coordinator and suddenly $500,000 or even more seems acceptable in today's market.
January 14th, 2014 at 1:17 PM ^
January 14th, 2014 at 1:25 PM ^
+1 for your avatar
January 14th, 2014 at 4:52 PM ^
Just in case you posted from your phone.
January 14th, 2014 at 1:39 PM ^
Johnson is a good hire, though.
January 14th, 2014 at 2:39 PM ^
...but I was hoping he wouldn't land in the B1G or ND. As Brain would quote, "Aw, hamburgers."
January 14th, 2014 at 3:54 PM ^
East Coast recruiting. Not sure how the Buckeye staff divides recruiting work and coaching duties, but given the dual DC roles, maybe Fickell is charge of overall recruiting, the same as Hecklinski is at Michigan. Just thinking out loud.
January 14th, 2014 at 4:56 PM ^
Love it! OSU is a perfect fit for GrandMama : great recruiter and nut job - win at all costs!
January 14th, 2014 at 8:21 PM ^
He's going to sprain his tongue and half-drown himself at the same time.