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DT Luke Fickell (HC Wisconsin Badgers)

It takes more than talent. Check out the tape from 2011--there was more talent on that OSU team than Fickell will ever have at UC...and 6-7 is what happened.
People are merely a compilation of their experiences and their ability to comprehend their ramifications. What Luke has learned working under the urban staff will almost certainly elevate his performance and coaching ability
 
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Fickell will always be a DeSales and Ohio State legend; one of the greatest athletes ever to be driven down Karl Road to school. He is a warrior. The way that the HC job was put on his shoulders with the Tressel departure
left him little time to truly assume the unexpected responsibilities.

People say you learn from mistakes. What you learn is what not to do, not what to do.

He will have learned a great deal working under Urban Meyer and, in time, Cincinnati will be a better team and he will find it much easier to hold onto talent living nearby. Becoming a national powerhouse, however, will take a lot more than that.

I would not want to bet against him doing well, but I don't see any way that he or anyone else could develop that University's football team into a national powerhouse.

A more likely level of success would be the level that was enjoyed by Rich Rod at West Virginia. Good enough to get into some good bowl games but lacking the talent to win the really big ones. One thing is for sure, they are going to be LOT better on defense.

I wish you a lot of success and I hope that one day we see him back at Ohio State.
 
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After watching the beginnings of the Dantonio,Body Kount Kelly and Butchie T. Clown eras I would say Fickell's start surpasses them all in recruiting and football acumen. He is above Dantonio in terms of public relations. Below Body Kount in that department and don't even get me started on the Clown.

UC football has a buzz it hasn't had since coach Dantonio lead UC to a win over #6 Rutgers in 2006 (and then left with class to take over Sparty).

How in game decisions happen and are made won't be as relevant this season as much as effort and attitude compared to Tubberfraud.

I will say that in 2011 Fickell was hand tied with two coordinators that wanted to be the head coach and it was a very uneasy situation for him. He is ready now to lead a program and I do believe when Meyer retires the next scUM tormentor at OSU.
 
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As much as I'd like to see it (for Luke's sake, sure as [censored] not for UC's), I'll believe it when I see it.
It all has to do with perception and expectations. "Doing Well" has two different meanings. A two loss season for UC would be doing well. Something that has not been done in quite some time. That might get him a lifetime contract or a promotion to a bigger school. It all depends on what Luke Fickell wants.
 
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It all has to do with perception and expectations. "Doing Well" has two different meanings. A two loss season for UC would be doing well. Something that has not been done in quite some time. That might get him a lifetime contract or a promotion to a bigger school. It all depends on what Luke Fickell wants.

I agree a 2-loss season at UC would be doing well...and I'll believe that will happen when I see it.
 
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Here is the agreement I have come to in my own mind to reconcile my admiration for Fickell and my distaste for the Juggalos:

Fickell goes on a 7-10 year tear, has them dreaming of P5 status and legitimately belonging at the big boy table then leaves to come coach at OSU when Urban calls it quits.

OSU machine continues and UC goes back to 7-5ville and knows once and for all they are nothing but a mid major, stepping stone job.
 
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https://theathletic.com/91183/2017/08/31/matt-luke-and-the-challenge-of-being-an-interim-coach/

Matt Luke and the challenge of being an interim coach
Chris Vannini
August 31 2017

When Jim Tressel resigned on Memorial Day 2011 amid an NCAA investigation, Luke Fickell was suddenly handed the keys of an Ohio State program five months removed from a Sugar Bowl win.

How would Fickell handle himself as a head coach? Tressel had built the Buckeyes back into a national powerhouse, so Fickell decided to just keep things running the same. That was a mistake, he conceded, and Ohio State posted its first losing season since 1988.

“I tried to take over in a short amount of time and keep it as similar as I can, and that was probably the worst thing I could have done,” Fickell told The All-American. “Because I couldn’t be consistent as a leader every single day trying to be like Jim Tressel.”

... (snip) ...

Fickell took over a team coming off a 12-1 season, but it was one that had seen quarterback Terrell Pryor depart in the wake of the investigation. The Buckeyes started 6-3 under Fickell but lost their final three games and then their bowl, after Urban Meyer had been hired. Fickell knew the emotional toll of everything would weigh on his team during the year, and it would eventually catch up to them.

“You have to have a plan for that,” he said. “I thought we did, and I knew we had to be good early in the year, because at that time, I knew it was going to hit our guys late in the year. They’d be drained emotionally, because of the stuff flying around us. I was right. We didn’t handle it great, but I was right.”

...
 
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