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DT Luke Fickell (HC Wisconsin Badgers)

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As we wrote when thinking about Fickell as a candidate for the Bowling Green job, where his name in the end never seemed to gain a lot of traction, he would be interested in the right head coaching job. Cincinnati and Pittsburgh in recent years drew his interest, but he reportedly wasn't interested in the Florida Atlantic job. His family roots are strong in Ohio, so any area opportunity makes more sense. While he loves Columbus and has been a loyal Buckeye since his playings days, at some point he'll have to leave.


He's going to need to make a move to take the next step in his coaching career and try to get another shot at leading a program without being an interim guy, as he was for the Buckeyes during the 6-7 2011 season.
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http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2013/12/ed_warinner_stan_drayton_luke.html
 
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sparcboxbuck said:
Was it Fick who UFM was talking about when he said something to the effect of 'nobody is interviewing until the season is over..'
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Yes, though I suspect UFM's stern statement may actually have been covering Fickell's behind. FAU's AD Pat Chun is an Ohio native that worked in the OSU AD for 15 years. It was pretty well known, and not disputed, across the twitterverse that Chun flew to C-Bus in early November to have either lunch or dinner with Coach Fickell, a close friend, and they most assuredly, absolutely, 100% never discussed the vacant head coaching position at FAU, since doing so in-season would be a violation of LF's contract. *nudge nudge, wink wink*
 
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I love Fickell but in all Honesty his stint at head coach was a disaster (not his fault but it was). That team had the talent to win more than 6 games. The defense in 2012 was supbar and it was an absolute disaster this year. I don't think he is a hot commodity right now.
 
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Tlangs said:
I love Fickell but in all Honesty his stint at head coach was a disaster (not his fault but it was). That team had the talent to win more than 6 games. The defense in 2012 was supbar and it was an absolute disaster this year. I don't think he is a hot commodity right now.
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There's fault to go around for the year he was head coach, for sure, but AFAIAC Fick was way down on the list when it comes to where I go looking to place blame.
 
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Tlangs said:
I'm not saying he is to blame, but I think it did affect the demand for him as a head coach.
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Fair enough... He may have, but I don't think that anyone really took the results of that season as a reflection of the players or the staff at the time. I think that the defensive performance this year was a bigger hit on his demand than that season... and I'm not exactly clear how much of that was really on him either. Either way, we'll never really know.
 
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I will be honest and say that I would not be hurt in the least if Fickell took a position at another school but I am not sure if he is really in that big of a demand or perhaps he just does not interview that well. His name has come up for a couple positions over the past 2 years And I have never seen a report that he is a finalist for A HC job. I do not know if he wants to live in Columbus for the rest of his life and if he does I am fine with that but maybe other people outside of Columbus do not view him as well as Ohio State fans.
 
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Luke is a very good recruiter. He has an impressive resume in that department. He has done a good/very good job in the past developing LB talent. If he was calling the plays this year I am not overly impressed. Having said that I think he was trying to hide some big personnel deficiencies (LB and Safety) so I think that play calling is given a little bit of a break there. The D this year was also sorely lacking in leadership. Again, can't blame all that on Fick. I personally don't like the bend but don't break model all the time, although it is sometimes a good strategy of course.

The problem is there isn't enough data for me to judge Luke. Hard to judge him on the one year as HC....it was a cluster-pumpkin situation. Hard to judge him totally on the last 2 defenses as it's hard to know who to blame, him or Withers and either way the D was seriously lacking in leadership and talent at many spots.

Obviously we know where Urb stands on the matter with Withers leaving. The next 2 years will be far more important on Luke's resume than the last 2 in my opinion. Sink or swim it will be a little easier to assess his impact now. The best judge of how Urb gauges his potential is in watching who is hired and what job/title Luke takes on. Change is coming even if it seems minor. Sometimes that's all it takes. (Oh, and the 2013 and 2014 recruting classes will help too.)
 
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Tlangs said:
I love Fickell but in all Honesty his stint at head coach was a disaster (not his fault but it was). That team had the talent to win more than 6 games. The defense in 2012 was supbar and it was an absolute disaster this year. I don't think he is a hot commodity right now.
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The "disaster" was totally expected and typical over a coaching changeover. Fickell had his hands tied. Throw that season out. Now, after 2 seasons we have to look at everything that has gone right and wrong. I have no doubts Urban will figure it out. That's the "bottom line".
 
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