If I was Fickell, I'd be out of there
Luke Fickell may not be the next coming of Don Shula, but he would be a complete fool to stay on at Ohio and work under Urban Meyer. At this point, he has to consider that he has a full season in the record books as an Ohio HC under his belt. Though not a hugely successful one, they did have flashes at times and he kept his team together and on target amist a very toxic environment. According to reports, Fickell's own school appears to have had a deal in place with Meyer for the past week, which certainly had 0 positive effect on his preparations, having to be asked about Meyer constantly.
To remain at Ohio and be subserviant to Meyer, may be a decent gig for some. We all need our job security after all. This philosophy is great and noble for some people to settle for.
However, any true winner and leader, would be out of Ohio ASAP to take any decent job that is out there, wherever possible. Fickell's people should be out there actively looking for a HC job for him.
We will see if Fickell can at least be as cunning as a Schula-type off the field, taking advantage of what may be his highest point of name-recognition that he will ever maintain in his coaching career.
Team 132
November 27th, 2011 at 12:35 AM ^
Who would want his Tapout wearing douchebaggery at their program?
November 27th, 2011 at 12:37 AM ^
November 27th, 2011 at 12:37 AM ^
Fickell has acquitted himself well as the Ohio coach, IMO. He handled the off-field issues about as well as could be expected, and he's saying the right things now with this Urban Meyer "I'm not the coach" situation.. Fickell may have only won six games, but Ohio was competitive in every game except Miami and will get a chance at 7 wins in some bowl game. That should be enough to get him a HC job at a MAC-level school.
November 27th, 2011 at 12:44 AM ^
You can scratch the first games with Bauserman, and they had more success with a true freshman qb than expected. I was really surprised at how Ohio showed up for The Game, I put that mostly on Fickell. They weren't any whipped pig out there. They changed up the offense, played with intensity, and were waaaaay cleaner than lil brother even though we tussled with them a bit. When you saw a buckeye get a PF penalty pretty much the rest of the team got after him about it too. It was a good game to win. Go Blue.
November 27th, 2011 at 12:44 AM ^
I've heard a couple of rumors that Akron would be interested.
On the one hand it's an awful job; on the other hand there's nowhere to go but up and if he can just get them to MAC respectability it would probably launch his career. Sort of like EMU for English and the crew.
Surely anything would be better than the humiliation they're handing him where he is. Guy deserves better. I'm not saying they should necessarily keep him, but they could have shown him some respect.
November 27th, 2011 at 9:39 AM ^
why? imo, he and all of the current osu staff must go. you can't tell me that the entire staff didn't know about the shenanigans going on. i mean, you don't notice your players hopping into cars in the parking lot or displaying new tats and not question them on it.
that's why a guy like meyer makes perfect sense. he can dump everyone and the masses can trust him on the replacements.
the same thing has to happen at psu. that's why i think they hire a guy like schiano and replace the entire coaching staff.
November 27th, 2011 at 12:39 AM ^
I was more worried about Ohio keeping him than getting Meyer. Meyer is a quitter. Meyer can only win when he is winning.
November 27th, 2011 at 12:42 AM ^
Luke Fickell: Next head coach at Akron. Book it.
November 27th, 2011 at 12:48 AM ^
Zook to Akron!
November 27th, 2011 at 12:54 AM ^
Akron should hire Ron Zook and change their team nickname to the "Akron Zooks."
November 27th, 2011 at 1:00 AM ^
Maybe they can add the words "fighting Zooks" to the sides of their helmets.
November 27th, 2011 at 1:06 AM ^
Possibly. But an even better approach for Akron would be for them to embrace the whole "Zen of Ron Zook" philosophy, in which winning and losing are basically irrelevant and the priority is on making just sure the ball is kicked, man, often and at random intervals.
My personal vote would be for "The Flowering Zooks." Nice call about putting it on the helmet though.
November 27th, 2011 at 1:08 AM ^
They don't need Zook for that--winning and losing have been irrelevant at Akron for a while now.
I think they're ready to try something new.
November 27th, 2011 at 1:19 AM ^
I can see them complimenting each other's hair during the games, you know, instead of actually coaching.
November 27th, 2011 at 1:23 AM ^
That would be the Powerstation supergroup of coaching talent. They could run a hair salon on Sunday-through-Friday, and coach the game on Saturday. Maybe they can get DiNardo to do nails.
November 27th, 2011 at 1:26 AM ^
...mascot might make more sense:
November 27th, 2011 at 9:43 AM ^
i mean, the cleveland "browns" were named after their coach. this became even more ridiculous when paul brown coached the bengals late in his career and had to go against the browns. ohio is weird.
November 27th, 2011 at 12:47 AM ^
Does anyone think Fickell might take the road Hoke traveled coach a MAC/CUSA type school, get his own coordinators and staff, build a program, then work his way up the coaching food chain. I don't feel bad for him being being sucker punched by tsiO, because let's face it they don't care about loyalty to the program, they only care about the wins. He was there long enough as an assistant to realize if you're not winning, you not welcome there. But he did better than most people expected. Let's face it, that last drive before the Avery interception we were all nervous as shit. I'd actually lose some respect for Fickell if he stuck around to play backup to Meyer.
November 27th, 2011 at 12:51 AM ^
Well, they call the MAC the "Cradle of Coaching" for a reason. There are a lot of big-time coaches who started in the MAC.
November 27th, 2011 at 9:46 AM ^
what coaches has he developed? just curious.
this is my biggest concern for the future of UM. i pray a guy like mallory can take over for mattison and keep up the quality level.
November 27th, 2011 at 12:48 AM ^
the more the mods control this website the more it sucks. jeez, can't even have a topic on trash talking without getting some statement/lecture about how to act and what to do. give me a break guys. this is turning into more of a cult than a blog. please post your own topics and comments, except if you're going to say something we might disagree with, then we'll insert our own statement in place of yours or just delete it all and lock the topic. what a great community.
November 27th, 2011 at 12:52 AM ^
They're trying to keep it from turning into elevenwarriors or similar, which is a good thing.
Although they need to ease off on deleting OT threads IMO.
November 27th, 2011 at 1:11 AM ^
when locking that thread was weak sauce. That's stretching the powers of the mods further then they should be extended over the board. If you need to lock a thread, just lock the thread, and say "No smack talk on the board." Boom. Done. No reason or justification for superimposing your own personal viewpoints and submarining the developing conversation.
November 27th, 2011 at 12:51 AM ^
did for Ohio this year what Tram did for the Tigers a few years ago basically. Good organization guy, just a terrible organization.
November 27th, 2011 at 12:55 AM ^
Well I suppose he did what he could considering the situation. He seemed genuinely emotional after the game. He was in a bad spot w/starters suspended and the choice of a horribly inaccurate 5th year and a true FR at QB, all thanks to Head Liar Tressel.
That said, I'm not going to shed a tear for the guy anytime soon.
November 27th, 2011 at 9:52 AM ^
and fickell didn't know anything. just tressel, right?
November 27th, 2011 at 12:56 AM ^
I like Fickell. The passion he showed all week leading up to the game as well as the press conference afterwards shows just how much he cared about winning this game to send his guys out on a high note. You need people like him on both sides of the rivalry to make it as special as it is.
He seems like a decent enough guy who got stuck in a tough situation before he was ready to handle it.
I wish him all the best and if he stays on as DC, look forward to another showdown next year (maybe even two?).
November 27th, 2011 at 1:02 AM ^
I was surprised on the Ohio websites this past week how much sympathy there was for Fickell. There seems to be a pretty clean split between people who want him gone yesterday and people who think he's getting a raw deal.
Does that split extend inside the program? Maybe the EMU/English/Hart/Anderson parallel I drew above has more to it than I realized.
November 27th, 2011 at 1:14 AM ^
like The Waterboy, seriously. He has to make over a million a year, upgrade from your mom using a bowl and then dropping gel like a BP oil spill. Don't get too close to the fireworks Michael Jackson.
November 27th, 2011 at 1:14 AM ^
I might regret this, but I see a parallel here.
Many ohio fans seems to feel he's genuinely a good guy, who is getting a raw deal, and is unlikely to win enough in the future to stay on as HC...
November 27th, 2011 at 1:21 AM ^
stay on. I almost love him as much as Cooper.
November 27th, 2011 at 1:27 AM ^
November 27th, 2011 at 1:29 AM ^
convinced that Fickell is innocent in all of the Tatgate nonsense. How do you spend as much time around all of those players everyday and not at least be suspicious when the players drive nicer cars and have badass tats . As far as I am concerned they are all a bunch of rats and should go down with the sinking ship........just my epinion
November 27th, 2011 at 6:21 AM ^
Dave Bliss has a coaching job.
The guy who turned him in has been blacklisted.
Remember that when you judge assistants who might have been aware of their head coach's irregularities.
November 27th, 2011 at 9:55 AM ^
...see penn state.
November 27th, 2011 at 2:00 AM ^
If Fickell was in charge of the Ohio D today then I hope he stays for many years to come.
November 27th, 2011 at 2:26 AM ^
Fickell needs to leave dodge and head to Akron. Frankly, his superiors absolutely screwed him and treated him like dirt. Sad, really. But I hope he does find a job and works up to a high level HC job somewhere. He has passion and defensive creativity. He will be fine if he gets the hell out of Columbus.
November 27th, 2011 at 6:24 AM ^
I personally believe the Fickell era ended yesterday, but really, I think he did exactly what he was supposed to do anyway - at least keep the ship together until someone else can repair it.
There has never been much doubt in my mind that he was the placeholder for whomever OSU could in fact get to come there, violations aside for a moment. Some of the fanbase treated him with a contempt he really didn't deserve as he was the one who stepped forward to take the position under just about the shittiest circumstances possible, probably even knowning it was a short term assignment.
I'd leave, if I were him.
November 27th, 2011 at 7:34 AM ^
Definitely agree he should leave, but maybe he wants to stick around a bit because there is a chance Meyer struggles or leaves relatively soon for health or family conditions.
November 27th, 2011 at 7:38 AM ^
If I were Meyer, I wouldn't want Fickell around anyway. He recruited most of the current players and was their head coach. Talk about a recipe for split loyalties. And just imagine when things don't run smoothly. Fickell is kind of screwed, though. Who goes from head coach of one of the top football programs in the nation to a struggling MAC school?
November 27th, 2011 at 9:37 AM ^
Gerry Faust...Notre Dame to Akron. Earl Bruce...ohio to colorado state (not quite MAC but still)
November 27th, 2011 at 8:55 AM ^
If there is a job offer and he has any self respect he's got to go. It would be demeaning to stay with the team you've given your heart to after they've picked an outsider. I say outsider because he only had a cup of coffee wth them as a grad asst in the 80's. Fickell would be looked at as some cuckoled husband sitting in the corner. He's got to say "I'll show you" and walk.
November 27th, 2011 at 9:32 AM ^
When all of the excuses are gone, the bottom line is that if Ohio had played as hard all year as they did against Michigan, they would have won eight or nine games. The second-half collapse against Nebraska and the loss to Purdue were purely from lack of effort, and the loss to a weakened PSU was questionable at best.
Ohio proved yesterday that they have enough talent to win nine games in a down year for the Big Ten. They also proved that they haven't been playing hard enough this year. Lack of talent happens from time to time, but lack of effort lies squarely upon the shoulders of the head coach.
Losses to Miami and Sparty can be attributed to not having enough talent or experience at QB, but the later losses could have been avoided with more effort.
November 27th, 2011 at 10:43 AM ^
Ohio's play yesterday was indicative of what they can do when their heads and hearts are in the game. And Posey, too, of course.
But the point is that psychology plays a tremendous (I said it) role in the game. Gotta say that''s a role often overlooked on this board, probably because it's difficult to chart. On the other hand, I would not be surprised to see the awesome folks here come up with some semi-quantified psych chart.
When Ohio wanted to - when the magnitude of the game waxed large enough to eclipse their off-field tire fire - Ohio was good this season.
November 27th, 2011 at 9:39 AM ^
Is anybody else out there concerned that based on yesterday's game Case Keenam and Houston are praying to play us? Yikes!!!!!!!!!!
November 27th, 2011 at 9:43 AM ^
Houston's best opponent to date has been UCLA. They beat them by 4.
Did you watch the late games last night?