| 14 June 2011
To say that Luke Fickell has a difficult road ahead is a bit of an understatement. There wasn’t a vacancy at Head Coach, Jim Tressel resigned and Luke became the HC by default. He didn’t get to interview. He didn’t get to prepare and propose a plan for his vision of the program. He’s simply being thrust into action and will be evaluated along the way for a scenario that is less than ideal, all the while surrounded by turmoil and the loss of the University figurehead. He doesn’t get to bring in a staff of his choosing that compliments his strategic vision for the football program. He gets to use the loyal assistants of Jim Tressel. While they have an existing working relationship, we know nothing of the dynamic between them now that Fickell is officially their boss. Are they disgruntled against the program or the NCAA over the events that have transpired? Are they now working on their resumes in anticipation towards moving on to other programs? Are some of them in the twilight of their careers and potentially preparing for life after football now that their loyal employer is no longer present? And if that isn’t difficult enough, Luke has lost the veteran QB who is statistically one of the best offensive weapons to ever put on a Buckeye jersey. Let’s also not forget that he will be without his starting Left Tackle, starting WR (where we are terribly thin and inexperienced) and starting RB for the first five games. To add insult to injury, Darrell Hazell, who was instrumental in our offense the last few seasons, has moved on to his own HC job. And of course Jim Tressel was considered almost universally as the overall brains behind our offense, leaving only Jim Bollman who has slowly been systematically phased out.
Oh yeah… More penalties are potentially on the way along with further investigations fueled by media grenades.
No, to say Luke Fickell is in a “less than ideal” situation is a dramatic understatement. I struggle to find any other situation to compare it to. So I ask Buckeye Nation and the OSU Athletic Department for leniency. Evaluate Luke Fickell and more long term factors. We as fans keep attempting to place a raw number in the mix. As if there is a universally accepted metric that Fickell must meet. But no human being can amount to that. Buckeye Nation must admit that anything short of a National Championship for every season is a disappointment. So what number is the minimum standard for Fickell? Basing personnel evaluations on this particular metric isn’t valuable in the long term. When we hired Tressel, we didn’t hire him primarily based on his Youngstown State record. If anything, we hired him based on his vision for tOSU football team. He brought with him the Block “O”. He brought a vision of giving back to the community. And he resurrected the commitment to academic excellence. Our team was going to be winners on the field AND OFF. Say what you will about Tressel’s transgressions. But when you break it all down, Tressel was a success. The community support for him, the player support and the APR rankings say so much more than the NCAA violations. Violations, I might add, which are considered trivial in nature and violate no state or federal laws. The point though, was that when we hired one of the greatest coaches in OSU history, we did it for far more reasons than immediate football success. In fact, “immediate” football success wasn’t entirely on anyone’s mind. We just so happened to be fortunate with a National Championship in his second season.
We should evaluate Fickell in much the same way. Initially, let’s throw out football success. Let’s consider “OSU” success. Let’s consider “player” success. What does Fickell bring off the field? How is Fickell going to make us proud when the TV cameras aren’t on? Once we have evaluated those aspects, then we should determine the factors which make a coach successful. I’ll go ahead and answer that for you. Number one, and just about any coach will tell you, is recruiting. Strong recruiting is the foundation of your team. If you have better players than the other team, you have a better chance at winning. So recruiting is vastly important. It is the MOST important as it pertains to “winning”. Next, I’m going to say staff. Speak with any self-starter or self-employed businessman. Ask guys like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs or Warren Buffett. All supported by a brilliant cast. Your staff supporting you is monumentally important. So who does Luke Want to hire? Who does he have contacts with? Who wants to work with him? What are his policies for career path-ing? Will he create his own “cradle of coaches”?
The point is hiring the next head coach is about hiring the man you believe in. We want to win. But a winning formula isn’t entirely on the field. And so we should evaluate Luke accordingly. Who is Luke Fickell going to be?
Well, immediately, as far as pedigree is concerned (and Duane has already pointed this out) Luke has it all. You could not be more Buckeye than Luke. In fact, short of playing for Woody Hayes instead of Cooper, you could argue Luke is the ultimate Buckeye. He’s from Columbus, OSU grad, OSU player and has coached under Jim Tressel. So when asking the question “Does Luke Fickell LOVE Ohio State”, the answer is an easy and quite loud YES. He knows our traditions and he bleeds them to his very core. So we know he is unquestionably a Buckeye.
As far as the culture around the program, I suspect he would instill much of what he has learned under Jim Tressel. While the National Media may apply palm to head over that, even now I think we can all admit that Tressel was a good man. A good man that made a terrible mistake. One that I’m certain Luke Fickell has learned from. In fact, I get the impression that Luke will be even more strict. I suspect he has very literal tolerance for behavior that can damage the program or the team. Having been a player himself, I doubt he is so sympathetic to those who violate the rules. And given the circumstances, nobody is going to be too fond of a player that hurts the program.
As far as what we see on the field, I think we can continue to expect solid defense. He is a defensive player and he has been a defensive coach, if not THE defensive coach, for most of the last ten years. In which we have enjoyed significant defensive success. So there is no reason to believe that will cease. But the offense will be a mystery. Having coached with Tressel and witnessing an offense whose primary motivation was to “not put the defense in a tough position” and one that believed the punt was the most important play in football, you would think he would be conservative. But, Fickell also played with some of the finest offenses in OSU history. He has squared up against the likes of Orlando Pace and Eddie George in practice. He watched Terry Glenn make amazing grabs. And I’m sure he really appreciated the easy position those guys put the defense in. So Luke may not subscribe 100% to a Tressel offense, but maybe a hybrid between the two. Which could be the secret we’ve been missing.
And the most important question, recruiting. Luke Fickell has long been recognized as the best recruiter on the staff. And thus far he has demonstrated that he’ll continue to bring in the top athletes.
So when we watch Luke throughout this interim period, let’s not target some arbitrary number that he must meet and ask that he exceed it. Let’s evaluate what we are truly looking for. Let’s not be afraid to ask for him to be exceptional. But let’s not be so blind that we miss what is truly exceptional along the way.
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