Fickell is right man for the job, say colleagues

Photo by: Terry Gilliam

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photo

Ohio State assistant head coach Luke Fickell watches from the sideline during an NCAA college football Spring Game, Saturday, April 23, 2011, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Terry Gilliam)

By Tim May

The Columbus Dispatch

COLUMBUS

For most of the past decade, Luke Fickell was not unlike most young assistant coaches in college football in that he aspired to someday be a head coach.

But when the opportunity dropped in his lap on Monday morning to take over as coach at Ohio State — his alma mater, no less — Fickell hardly felt like celebrating, in part because the title came with strings attached.

For one thing, there is the interim tag through the 2011 season, stipulated by athletic director Gene Smith. For another, there is the matter of the vacancy he filled, which was caused by the ouster of one his mentors, 10-year Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, who resigned Monday under pressure.

Now the pressure is on Fickell, a 37-year-old who was co-defensive coordinator last season, to prove himself worthy in the next six months, to show he is capable of steering one of the country’s elite programs during one of the most trying times in its history.

If allegiance means anything in getting the job done, Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Heacock said his young prot g is up to the task.

“Luke is very passionate about his alma mater,” Heacock said. “Luke has always been a team player, too, and he knows what’s in front of us is going to take a team effort.”

In the news release announcing Tressel’s resignation and Fickell’s ascension, Ohio State noted that “recruitment for a new head coach — which is expected to include external and internal candidates — will not commence until the conclusion of the 2011-2012 season.”

John Cooper, who coached Ohio State for 13 seasons before Tressel, said the university ought to rethink that position in regards to Fickell.

“I don’t want Luke to be known as the ‘interim coach,’ because Luke has the chance to be the next head football coach at Ohio State for a long time,” Cooper said. “Luke will do a good job. He will stress the fundamentals, he will be thorough.”

But the challenges will be stiff. Five of the team’s top players have been suspended by the NCAA for the first five games of the 2011 season for receiving improper benefits from a tattoo parlor owner. Quarterback Terrelle Pryor, one of those five, is under investigation again by the school and NCAA.

On top of that, the NCAA reportedly had an investigator in town Monday to speak with several other players named in a Sports Illustrated story for allegedly taking improper benefits from another tattoo parlor owner. The players named included defensive stalwarts Nathan Williams, John Simon and C.J. Barnett.

For those who think Ohio State players could use a swift kick, Fickell might just be the man, said Dane Sanzenbacher, a senior captain as a receiver last year.

“It is a little bit ironic that he happens to be that type of a coach stepping into that kind of a situation where there have been problems with guys not taking care of business the way they should have,” Sanzenbacher said. “To put a real disciplinarian in there could be a good move.”

But can he get enough done to lose that interim tag? ESPN analyst Chris Spielman, an All-America linebacker for the Buckeyes, indicated the scrutiny is going to be intense, especially with the suspensions.

“It’s a huge obstacle, but also a huge opportunity for Luke,” Spielman said. “He needs to embrace this. It’s his team now.”