DT Luke Fickell (HC Wisconsin Badgers)

[Jaxbuck]

I'm going to attempt to shoot this one down every time it's brought up until the end of time...

Tressel gave his offense the opportunity to continue attacking in the second half of the Sugar Bowl. Tressel only went conservative when the O-line puckered up and Pryor started making poor decisions and throwing ducks all over the place.

Looking back at the play-by-play, it looks like Pryor was 1 for 6 passing in the second half. It seems too many people focus on the six attempts and not enough on the 1fer that Pryor put up. There were a ton of rush attempts by Pryor - some of them were designed runs, sure. More still though were "pass attempts" where they couldn't even get a throw off because he wasn't being protected or didn't make a decision in time.

In general terms I think the Tressel ball thing gets thrown around way too much without ever being defined.

Intentionally taking the air out of the ball with a late lead is Tressel ball in my mind, or using field position and defense to overcome an ineffective offense late with the lead (like what you describe here). This is a strategy I was always and will always be supportive of.

The term Tressel ball should not have been used as a catch all to act like everything was alright when the offense was just sucking hind tit from word go. The Illinois game last year is the example I'll use of this. The urban legend says Tressel got off the bus, saw it was windy at packed in the offense. The game log shows a guy calling more passes than runs well into the third quarter even when the backup QB was in. Bottom line was it wasn't intentional ineffectiveness, that's just all they could do for whatever reason. Calling shitty offense Tresselball is what used to get me wound up tighter than a nuns.....habit.

Anyway, it feels odd knowing this might be one of the last times I ever have a Tresselball discussion. I need LJB or Jwins to argue with me to make it better.

 

[DaddyBigBucks]

I would like to hear from those that have coached for longer than I did whether they think it's true that teams take on the personality of the coach. I have a definite impression that they do; but that comes more from my experiences following the college game for 5 decades.

Another impression I have, but it is nothing more than an impression, is that the Buckeyes have been "nastiness challenged" for the past few years. Yeah, we've had nasty players hear and there; but the overall personality of the team was not what it was during the early 70s (and I do not mean play-calling).

If it is true that teams take on the personality of their coach; perhaps the Buckeyes are about to get a double-shot of nasty. If true, that's not a bad thing.

Just pointing out that the post that started this tangent was NOT about play-calling.

The brand of nastiness I talked about is the kind that some of the players said they learned from LSU in the '07 (Jan 2008) NC game. Whether any individual players took that lesson to heart or not is moot. There doesn't seem to be any evidence that the team as a whole acquired a mean streak at that point.

The mean streak that we need to start dominating the trenches the way Ohio State should dominate is what I was talking about.

I, for one, think that Coach Nose Guard just might bring it.

FWIW: Yes, This is just me finding a reason to be optimistic.

 

[BrowardBuck]

Could not disagree more. I like Fickell and what he brings to the table, but this is one of the top 5 jobs in college football. LF has the opportunity of a lifetime with the chance to do things his way. But he is also a young coach with no HC experience.

Don't get me wrong, I want him to do well and be the next coach, but in my opinion, he needs to earn the removal of the interim tag by how his team performs on teh field this season. And by season I mean after The Game. None of this BS give Weis a 10 year extension part way through his first season kind of stuff.

As for the recruits it's plain an simple, if LF does his job and we win, recruits will still line up to be buckeyes. That will never change.

Winning solves everything.

Go Bucks!

Yes Winning solves everything, but in the short term, there is nothing for a recruit or a parent to make a judgement on. There are no wins and losses for Fickell. The only thing they have is the word "interim". That doesn't create a strong sense of stability. With the interim tag, no matter how many games are won this year, it is going to kill recruiting and put us in jeopardy of losing out on kids that should have been slam dunks. By the time December/January comes along, most recruits have already made decisions or know where they want to go. Making a decision on Fickell at the end of the year, probably December/January, will make it very difficult with trying to sell a kid and his parents on OSU.

Given his current contract, it isn't unreasonable to go ahead and given him a 3-year deal and have to buy it out if he doesn't perform or someone else is available that is better suited for the position. Again, a short-term action that would help with the long-term health of the program by giving the program a sense of stability and knowing who the coach is, versus not knowing he has the endorsement of the powers that be.

I can't see any way that the interim tag doesn't have a direct impact on our recruiting this year and if they decide to go another direction and DON'T get the big splash coach, recruiting next year will suffer as well. Sorry, I don't know if I could sit by and watch as my team is turned into Purdue or Iowa for 3 - 5 years. Either give the guy a contract and let him do his thing or go hire someone else and get it over with. The so-so support Fickell is being given will come back to haunt us later.

BB

 

[808 Buck]

Either give the guy a contract and let him do his thing or go hire someone else and get it over with.

I hear ya, but my guess is that nothing definitive gets done until the exact nature of the NCAA sanctions are known. If the hammer comes down, I have a hard time seeing a big name wanting to take on this challenge. Think about it, who is going to be willing to (1) replace a legend who absolutely owned the rival, (2) at a school that expects to play for a championship every year, (3) with one of the most (if not most) rabid fan bases in the country? Oh yeah, you better come in at, or near the top, of the "recruiting championship" while making sure that there are no off the field issues. You'll be doing this with the eyes of the NCAA and every media member watching for any misstep. By the way, you'll be doing this with less scholarships than your competitors. Tough to envision one of the top guns willing to put their reputation on the line under those circumstances. Under that scenario, I see the interim tag being removed and Coach Fickell gets that 3 year deal.

If the penalties aren't that significant, then it's open season. I would expect to see a bunch of high profile guys throw their names in.

So, until we find out what the exact sanctions are, we are going to have to live with uncertainty. Throw in a possible AD change, and you've got even more questions.

The unfortunate thing in this is that the program can't move forward (and that means recruiting, which is the lifeblood of a program) until this mess gets settled.

 

[bukIpower]

no beanie wells. Beanie was the leader of that team not TP.

Beanie was good but he was banged up all year and didn't have the type of offensive line the current backs will have. Sure none of our backs are Beanie but It's not like our offense is going to go be awful. May not lead the nation in scoring but I can see them being dangerous is ways that suits our strengths.

 

[OSUK]

I'm going to attempt to shoot this one down every time it's brought up until the end of time...

Tressel gave his offense the opportunity to continue attacking in the second half of the Sugar Bowl. Tressel only went conservative when the O-line puckered up and Pryor started making poor decisions and throwing ducks all over the place.

Looking back at the play-by-play, it looks like Pryor was 1 for 6 passing in the second half. It seems too many people focus on the six attempts and not enough on the 1fer that Pryor put up. There were a ton of rush attempts by Pryor - some of them were designed runs, sure. More still though were "pass attempts" where they couldn't even get a throw off because he wasn't being protected or didn't make a decision in time.

I hear you, and there is truth in what you point out.

It is also true that Tressel was famous for saying that the punt is the most important play in football. Some people think scoring is pretty important too!

Ohio State's defense has generally been able to pull them out of hot water when the offense went limp - and the fact that they went limp on occasion in the second half of games where they had any kind of a lead, isn't really arguable. The question is why that happened. It's either the offensive goals changed or the players didn't execute. TP's 1 for 6 shows he didn't perform well with the chances he was given. It also shows he wasn't given that many chances. Offense has a rythym and momentum feature to it. How aggressive or timid the play calling is affects those things. If that's not true, then I need to watch more football than the up to 12 hours I've put in every Saturday for a few decades!

 

[Sportsbuck28]

All I'm going to say, is that I really hope Coach Fickell gets a fair shake at being the permanent head coach after the season.

 

[Tlangs]

We have two very talented young guys with Berry and Hall, and Herron comes back after the MSU game, so we're doing well in the HB spot.

I'm just saying that I was more comfortable with a Freshman QB and Beanie Wells than a Freshman QB and "several backs that may be good" (until Herron comes back in game 6)

 

[zincfinger]

Beanie was good but he was banged up all year and didn't have the type of offensive line the current backs will have.

It doesn't seem obvious that the 2011 offensive line projects to be substantially superior to the 2008 offensive line, especially for the first five games of 2011.

 

[BrowardBuck]

This was the whole point of the post. There is little chance of getting a "big name" hire until late in the year. We are losing recruits now as a result of the uncertainty around the program. Having an "interim" guy isn't going to change that uncertainty in any way, shape of form. Taking the interim tag off of Fickell, even it if means having to buy out the contract later, may well be worth the price if we continue to lose recruits. We've now lost 3, two of which would have likely ended up in S&G. There are others that were as close to locks as you can get without the kid out and out saying it that may now be wavering. It is NOT a good situation. Lose this class, it will be a big setback that will take a couple of years to recover from. That couple of years will translate to potentially 3 - 4 years on the field. Until recruits know who their coach is going to be, they are going to be put off by OSU and only those that would choose OSU no matter the circumstance are going to commit. Recruiting is going to continue to suffer until a permanent coach is named, whether it is Fickell or someone else.

BB

I hear ya, but my guess is that nothing definitive gets done until the exact nature of the NCAA sanctions are known. If the hammer comes down, I have a hard time seeing a big name wanting to take on this challenge. Think about it, who is going to be willing to (1) replace a legend who absolutely owned the rival, (2) at a school that expects to play for a championship every year, (3) with one of the most (if not most) rabid fan bases in the country? Oh yeah, you better come in at, or near the top, of the "recruiting championship" while making sure that there are no off the field issues. You'll be doing this with the eyes of the NCAA and every media member watching for any misstep. By the way, you'll be doing this with less scholarships than your competitors. Tough to envision one of the top guns willing to put their reputation on the line under those circumstances. Under that scenario, I see the interim tag being removed and Coach Fickell gets that 3 year deal.

If the penalties aren't that significant, then it's open season. I would expect to see a bunch of high profile guys throw their names in.

So, until we find out what the exact sanctions are, we are going to have to live with uncertainty. Throw in a possible AD change, and you've got even more questions.

The unfortunate thing in this is that the program can't move forward (and that means recruiting, which is the lifeblood of a program) until this mess gets settled.

 

[korchiki]

This was the whole point of the post. There is little chance of getting a "big name" hire until late in the year. We are losing recruits now as a result of the uncertainty around the program. Having an "interim" guy isn't going to change that uncertainty in any way, shape of form. Taking the interim tag off of Fickell, even it if means having to buy out the contract later, may well be worth the price if we continue to lose recruits. We've now lost 3, two of which would have likely ended up in S&G. There are others that were as close to locks as you can get without the kid out and out saying it that may now be wavering. It is NOT a good situation. Lose this class, it will be a big setback that will take a couple of years to recover from. That couple of years will translate to potentially 3 - 4 years on the field. Until recruits know who their coach is going to be, they are going to be put off by OSU and only those that would choose OSU no matter the circumstance are going to commit. Recruiting is going to continue to suffer until a permanent coach is named, whether it is Fickell or someone else.

BB

Hey Duane Long get off the ledge. I'd rather lose out on guys now than right before signing day if we have a new coach named. This way we at least get a chance to backfill that scholarship with a worthy candidate

Once the season starts and we start winning again things will be fine.

 

[scarletngray]

All I'm going to say, is that I really hope Coach Fickell gets a fair shake at being the permanent head coach after the season.

Agreed...

:osu:

 

[Buckeyefrankmp]

The mean streak that we need to start dominating the trenches the way Ohio State should dominate is what I was talking about.

Is Coach Fickell start coaching the offensive line? Is Bollman going to change his coaching philosophy with regards to offensive line technique? If Bollman is still in charge of the O-line, nothing is going to change on the offensive side of the trench.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

If the penalties aren't that significant, then it's open season. I would expect to see a bunch of high profile guys throw their names in.

So, until we find out what the exact sanctions are, we are going to have to live with uncertainty. Throw in a possible AD change, and you've got even more questions.

The unfortunate thing in this is that the program can't move forward (and that means recruiting, which is the lifeblood of a program) until this mess gets settled.

Even if penalties aren't that bad and we're able to attract "big name" targets, should Fickell lead us to an 11-2 better record, with his familiarity and knowledge of the program, his tie-in to the school due to his being a former player, his ability to recruit, and his established relationships with hig schools coaches throughout the state, he should get the permanent gig.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

Two words: Gene Smith.

This ship is and has been rudderless, probably going back to before Pryor ever heard of Eddie Rife, so we shouldn't suddenly expect firm and decisive leadership from the AD now that it's taking on water and Tressel's been tossed overboard.

This. Gene Smith is a simple careerist with no attachment or loyalty to Ohio State. He's always come off as viewing this position as a checklist on his ride to.....Notre Dame?, running the ncaa?

Smith (should he be around to make the decision) is the one thing that Fickell can't control and Fickell could very well be collateral damage in Smith's attempt to save his reputation or salvage his job. For the reasons that many have stated, I dearly hope that he's not around to make the decision.