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- Thread starter sandgk
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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
Former Ohio State player and head coach Luke Fickell received a nice reward for his success leading the Cincinnati Bearcats program on Tuesday. It was announced that the University of Cincinnati Board of Trustees unanimously approved a contract extension for Fickell through the 2026 season. Fickell's previous deal was set to run through 2022.
This extension sees a pay raise from a reported $2.3 million per year to $3.4 million beginning this season. The money for the extension will come entirely from private donations and fundraising, according to Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham and the board. Fickell's base salary will be $250,000, plus additional compensation for the head coach's involvement in television, radio, personal appearances and private and public speaking engagements, according to Keith Jenkins of The Cincinnati Enquirer.
Just wonderin': Is this his reward for turning down the Sparty job?
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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
I'll say "no way" too; but keep in mind that his good friend (and best man at each other's his wedding) is currently a head coach in the NFL.
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I hope he stays in college, but still pretty cool to see him getting mentioned in nfl circles. He’s come a long way from Interim Coach Fickell in 2011.
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https://www.espn.com/college-footba...rned-humbling-stint-ohio-state-football-coach
What Cincinnati Bearcats' Luke Fickell learned from a humbling stint as Ohio State football coach
7:00 AM ET
Adam Rittenberg
WEST HARRISON, Ind. -- Luke Fickell sits at a corner table in the dining hall at Camp Higher Ground, Cincinnati's off-campus football training site in the hills just beyond the Indiana state line.
Behind him, the most anticipated team in Cincinnati history devours lunch before a rescheduled afternoon practice. Three days earlier, the Bearcats received their highest-ever preseason ranking (No. 8) in the AP poll. Cincinnati is 31-6 since 2018, nearly went undefeated last season and is led by Fickell, one of the fastest-rising coaches in the sport.
But 10 summers ago, Fickell found himself in a different spot, preparing to lead Ohio State into a season of uncertainty. Then 38, he had received his dream job under nightmarish conditions. Head coach Jim Tressel had resigned amid an NCAA investigation into the program, after being suspended for not reporting that he knew players had received improper benefits. Fickell, a Columbus native who had played defensive line for the Buckeyes and had become a full-time Ohio State assistant under Tressel in 2002, suddenly held an interim role that he wanted but wasn't ready to inherit.
"I didn't really know who I was as a leader," Fickell said. "Maybe I'd been around Coach Tressel, that's really it, or Coach [John] Cooper. I hadn't really spent that time to say, 'OK, what would you do? How would you do it?' I worked hard, I cared, I trusted, but nobody really knows. The first time being a head coach, it's like being a pilot. Or are you ready to be a father? Well, no. You can take all the classes you want, but until you actually do it, you don't know."
Cont'd ...
What Cincinnati Bearcats' Luke Fickell learned from a humbling stint as Ohio State football coach
7:00 AM ET
Adam Rittenberg
WEST HARRISON, Ind. -- Luke Fickell sits at a corner table in the dining hall at Camp Higher Ground, Cincinnati's off-campus football training site in the hills just beyond the Indiana state line.
Behind him, the most anticipated team in Cincinnati history devours lunch before a rescheduled afternoon practice. Three days earlier, the Bearcats received their highest-ever preseason ranking (No. 8) in the AP poll. Cincinnati is 31-6 since 2018, nearly went undefeated last season and is led by Fickell, one of the fastest-rising coaches in the sport.
But 10 summers ago, Fickell found himself in a different spot, preparing to lead Ohio State into a season of uncertainty. Then 38, he had received his dream job under nightmarish conditions. Head coach Jim Tressel had resigned amid an NCAA investigation into the program, after being suspended for not reporting that he knew players had received improper benefits. Fickell, a Columbus native who had played defensive line for the Buckeyes and had become a full-time Ohio State assistant under Tressel in 2002, suddenly held an interim role that he wanted but wasn't ready to inherit.
"I didn't really know who I was as a leader," Fickell said. "Maybe I'd been around Coach Tressel, that's really it, or Coach [John] Cooper. I hadn't really spent that time to say, 'OK, what would you do? How would you do it?' I worked hard, I cared, I trusted, but nobody really knows. The first time being a head coach, it's like being a pilot. Or are you ready to be a father? Well, no. You can take all the classes you want, but until you actually do it, you don't know."
Cont'd ...
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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
Just sayin': Luke's a great head coach and deserves all the success he can get; however, I really don't want to see the Juggalos in the CFPs.
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Just sayin': Luke's a great head coach and deserves all the success he can get; however, I really don't want to see the Juggalos in the CFPs.
You won't
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Hetuck
Assistant Coach
It’s funny that Luke is being talked about as a candidate for the USC job when I was getting into arguments with Buckeye fans who wanted him to be fired back in 2012 and 2013. Everett Withers was the problem but they blamed Luke. Everything changed the next year and when Urban embraced Luke at the end of the shutout of Wisconsin in the B1G CCG, that’s an image that will be forever etched in my memory. And Luke’s attitude was sort of like, ‘Don’t bother me, I’m still coaching.’
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