Ohio State spotlight: Luke Fickell
Coach, Ohio State
By Tim May
The Columbus Dispatch Friday November 18, 2011
Depending on the rumor to which one subscribes, either the jury is still out on Luke Fickell being retained as Ohio State?s head coach after his interim reign in place of the deposed Jim Tressel or this will be Fickell?s last home game as head coach as the school presses on to find a successor.
That?s the burden Fickell, 38, and his coaching staff have been bearing for a while in what has amounted to a season-long audition to prove their worth. The questions became acute last weekend following the loss at underdog Purdue, which dropped the Buckeyes to 6-4 overall, 3-3 in the Big Ten and needing calamity to strike (a loss by Wisconsin at Illinois today) to stay in the Leaders Division race.
Thus Fickell goes into today?s game against Penn State, led by its interim coach Tom Bradley, with a last chance to put hit best foot forward for the home crowd and those judging his prowess.
?It's not easy, but the world isn't fair,? Fickell said. ?Some people try to say, ?Hey, are you going to ask the question is it fair for the situation (he?s been thrust into)?? You know, life isn't fair. ? Is it fair that we've got a coach and a great friend that's going through and battling cancer right now, (former OSU quarterbacks coach Joe) Daniels? Is it fair that he has to go through what he has to go through?
?So there are a lot of different situations. We understand that it's a part of life, so we're not going to sit here and make excuses and worry about those types of things. We've just got to continue moving forward and focus on what we can control. We said at the beginning of the year, it's truly about this group of young men. It's about this group of coaches. It's about this program. All of the other things will have to take care of themselves.?