Coach Fickell

[WAITE HOYT 2]

IMO it's all about coaching (I consider recruiting part of coaching). We had one of the best programs in the country for a stretch of about 8 years. It started with Dantonio building the foundation and Kelly came in and raised the bar to the highest it's ever been. Butch Jones did a good job of not allowing the bar to fall much.

That all ended when we hired TT but there's no reason why we can't build it back up. I really do believe it's 95% coaching and 5% all the rest of the reasons people constantly harp on. Kelly didn't have a Top 25 program, a newly upgraded Nippert, or adequate facilities when he arrived at UC but he won anyways. He won and raised the bar to make it possible for the rest of those things to happen. We're in a better place today because of the job he did while he was here.

A great coach can have that effect. The unfortunate reality for UC being in the situation we're in is that there's always going to be a more attractive job for that great coach to hop to. I don't think that changes regardless of our P5 status. A lot of people forget how bad Alabama was for 2 decades before Saban got there. They were a joke in the SEC and went through a number of coaches until they found the right one. Now they're the undisputed GOAT in college football. They didn't do it because they're Alabama (that certainly didn't make it any harder though), it happened because they hired a great coach.

IMO the most dangerous coach is the mediocre coach. A guy who doesn't raise the bar but also doesn't do enough to get himself fired. We need a great coach who can raise the bar again, if he leaves he leaves but hopefully he leaves us in a better place than we're in today. That's why I'm not a huge Mick fan. The bar for our bball program has been lowered over the last decade and I really hope that doesn't happen to football. I don't want to go back to the Minter days where we're happy with just making a bowl game.

i agree with a bunch of your post but I have to acknowledge that the game has changed since BK was here. My fear is the disparity in funds will eventually catch up with us. The small programs are being squeezed out by the Networks. Streaming is going to have a huge impact on athletics in this country. I really believe that is by design. It has been in the works for awhile now I won't downplay the need for a good coach but I do temper my expectation because of the obstacles they are being forced to deal with.

 

[NKY Bearcat]

The implication was a recruit would pick OSU over UC because it's a better football program in a good conference.

If we apply that same logic to UC vs a lesser program some in here would point to playing time as potentially hurting our chances.

I am just asking the same logic be used in both cases.

This is exactly it. Have a consistent argument, and don't just use the argument that supports a negative viewpoint.

We don't know what motivates each recruit, and there are a lot of factors. Simply put don't just lump them as they won't come here because we are not P5, or say they will choose small school Y over UC for playing time.

 

[UCBearcats]

i agree with a bunch of your post but I have to acknowledge that the game has changed since BK was here. My fear is the disparity in funds will eventually catch up with us. The small programs are being squeezed out by the Networks. Streaming is going to have a huge impact on athletics in this country. I really believe that is by design. It has been in the works for awhile now I won't downplay the need for a good coach but I do temper my expectation because of the obstacles they are being forced to deal with.

There's always been a disparity in funds, and UC doesn't seem to be hurting for money right now as evidenced by all the salaries and investments we currently have tied up in the programs. Who knows what will happen down the road but I don't agree that things today are drastically different from when Kelly first arrived here as our head coach.

Not if but when the Playoff expands it opens the door even wider for the non P5 schools. As long as your school has a chance to play in a playoff and for a title it's still possible to compete at the highest level. I see things getting better going forward, not worse.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

Charlie Strong's deal will be less than 2 mil/year at USF. Major Applewhite making just over 1 mil/year at Houston.

How is it that Bohn managed to get negotiated into paying Luke Fickell 2.3 mil/year? Nothing against Coach Fickell here because good for him but why in the world are we paying a guy who was literally on no one else's list and was making just over 600k/year a salary of 2.3 mil/year??

How does this impact our ability to pay for top assistants on a staff that will most likely need them?

Mind boggling stuff here, Bohnhead really is a clown.

I thought the same thing. I scratched my head at the salary. Seemed very high to me. I was thinking the 1-1.5 mill range on a guy unless that person was already making that.

 

[M64W]

Can you say Big East?

IMO it's all about coaching (I consider recruiting part of coaching). We had one of the best programs in the country for a stretch of about 8 years. It started with Dantonio building the foundation and Kelly came in and raised the bar to the highest it's ever been. Butch Jones did a good job of not allowing the bar to fall much.

That all ended when we hired TT but there's no reason why we can't build it back up. I really do believe it's 95% coaching and 5% all the rest of the reasons people constantly harp on. Kelly didn't have a Top 25 program, a newly upgraded Nippert, or adequate facilities when he arrived at UC but he won anyways. He won and raised the bar to make it possible for the rest of those things to happen. We're in a better place today because of the job he did while he was here.

A great coach can have that effect. The unfortunate reality for UC being in the situation we're in is that there's always going to be a more attractive job for that great coach to hop to. I don't think that changes regardless of our P5 status. A lot of people forget how bad Alabama was for 2 decades before Saban got there. They were a joke in the SEC and went through a number of coaches until they found the right one. Now they're the undisputed GOAT in college football. They didn't do it because they're Alabama (that certainly didn't make it any harder though), it happened because they hired a great coach.

IMO the most dangerous coach is the mediocre coach. A guy who doesn't raise the bar but also doesn't do enough to get himself fired. We need a great coach who can raise the bar again, if he leaves he leaves but hopefully he leaves us in a better place than we're in today. That's why I'm not a huge Mick fan. The bar for our bball program has been lowered over the last decade and I really hope that doesn't happen to football. I don't want to go back to the Minter days where we're happy with just making a bowl game.

I have said this numerous times. Things changed when the Big East blew up, and we were no longer in a Power Conference. That makes a huge difference to recruits. With that said, I hope the program can back on its feet with a new look, attitude, and inroads in recruiting,

 

[Patrick Bateman]

I thought the same thing. I scratched my head at the salary. Seemed very high to me. I was thinking the 1-1.5 mill range on a guy unless that person was already making that.

UCB's numbers are a little misleading. Strong is getting 1 Mil the first two years, UT is responsible for the rest the first two years, then it escalates higher

Joey Knight
‏@TBTimes_Bulls
BREAKING: Charlie Strong's #USF salary -- 5 years, $9.8 million. First 2 years is $1 million annually (500K base + other compensation)


Fickell's numbers by year below as well, not paying much more than UH is paying apple first year

yr 1 -1.8
yr 2 -2.0
yr 3 -2.2
yr 4 -2.4
yr 5 -2.6
yr 6 -2.8

 

[ZCat]

UCB's numbers are a little misleading. Strong is getting 1 Mil the first two years, UT is responsible for the rest the first two years, then it escalates higher

Joey Knight
‏@TBTimes_Bulls
BREAKING: Charlie Strong's #USF salary -- 5 years, $9.8 million. First 2 years is $1 million annually (500K base + other compensation)


Fickell's numbers by year below as well, not paying much more than UH is paying apple first year

yr 1 -1.8
yr 2 -2.0
yr 3 -2.2
yr 4 -2.4
yr 5 -2.6
yr 6 -2.8

Obviously money doesn't grow on trees, but I would like us to be known for paying the head coach highest salary for non-P5. I also hope we pony up for the assistants. We should be known for paying assistants that perform well, very top $ for Non- P5 jobs and even higher than some P5 schools.

 

[XgradforUC]

I thought I read that the buyout Strong was receiving would be cut by an amount equal to 1/2 of his salary from any new school he might sign with?

So, if his salary from USF is 2 million, his buyout would be cut by 1 million.....still a huge hunk of change left though.

I also thought I understood that TT's buyout was 1.2 million and not the 1.7 million that we thought it was going to be. If true, that saved the U 500,000, which it seems they used on the new coaches salary.

In truth, these numbers place any of these people far above my pay grade and I'm just going to trust the administration knows what they are doing.

 

[UCBearcats]

I have said this numerous times. Things changed when the Big East blew up, and we were no longer in a Power Conference. That makes a huge difference to recruits. With that said, I hope the program can back on its feet with a new look, attitude, and inroads in recruiting,

Obviously there's some factors with us no longer being in the Big East that hurt a little bit but teams like Boise State have consistently been successful and teams in our own conference as recently as this season have been ranked in the Top 25 and competed against some of the biggest P5 schools. If Houston, USF and Temple can do it I'm certain that UC can as well with the right coach in place.

 

[Red_N_Black_Attack]

Obviously there's some factors with us no longer being in the Big East that hurt a little bit but teams like Boise State have consistently been successful and teams in our own conference as recently as this season have been ranked in the Top 25 and competed against some of the biggest P5 schools. If Houston, USF and Temple can do it I'm certain that UC can as well with the right coach in place.

Coach Fickell will be welcomed with open arms in Clifton for as long as he wants to stay. He is a likable guy who also performs. His "stint" as head coach could more easily be described as "thrown to the wolves". We have several things going well for the program, starting with a young talented roster. When these guys were "unleashed" from the coaches, we saw some really good football skills and a few mistakes that were mostly play calling or complete lack of faith in the coaching (i.e. the players were uninspired). Luke will have the current roster to fairly quickly build Bearcat Pride. His reputation and time with O$U will get his foot in the door with local coaches/players and his personality/approach will help keep a few recruit in their hometown. I'm not saying or predicting we will get 5 star recruits (those guys will want to play at the NFL football factories), but we will get a share of other guys to stay locally, including some 4 stars and underrated 3 stars.

Welcome Luke!! We can be a consistent top echelon G-5 program and better than more than half of the P5 programs.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Coach Fickell will be welcomed with open arms in Clifton for as long as he wants to stay. He is a likable guy who also performs. His "stint" as head coach could more easily be described as "thrown to the wolves". We have several things going well for the program, starting with a young talented roster. When these guys were "unleashed" from the coaches, we saw some really good football skills and a few mistakes that were mostly play calling or complete lack of faith in the coaching (i.e. the players were uninspired). Luke will have the current roster to fairly quickly build Bearcat Pride. His reputation and time with O$U will get his foot in the door with local coaches/players and his personality/approach will help keep a few recruit in their hometown. I'm not saying or predicting we will get 5 star recruits (those guys will want to play at the NFL football factories), but we will get a share of other guys to stay locally, including some 4 stars and underrated 3 stars.

Welcome Luke!! We can be a consistent top echelon G-5 program and better than more than half of the P5 programs.

Little premature for that, no? I like the enthusiasm but that's a dangerous statement.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

https://youtu.be/WAFWeh9HuhU

Coach Fickell

 

[UCBearcats]

https://youtu.be/WAFWeh9HuhU

Coach Fickell

Thanks for posting this.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

https://youtu.be/_ZAWRB7Mg1A

Dan Hoard with Coach Fickell

 

[Z-Fly]

NM

 

[UCBearcats]

I don't know where to post this but we just got Torrance Gibson!!!!!!

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I don't know where to post this but we just got Torrance Gibson!!!!!!

Just saw this!!!! I'll make him a thread!!! Right away! Ahhh!!!!!

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

Just saw this!!!! I'll make him a thread!!! Right away! Ahhh!!!!!

Wow! Just saw his recruiting profile: http://www.espn.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/_/id/177244/torrance-gibson

 

[juckerrules]

Gotta be curious as to why he was kicked out of school for a year. Hope he has matured past whatever problems he had.

 

[UCBearcats]

Gotta be curious as to why he was kicked out of school for a year. Hope he has matured past whatever problems he had.

He was suspended for a violation of the student code of conduct. Basically it means he was probably doing what every other kid on the team was doing and got caught doing it. FWIW, Urban Meyer was PISSED about that decision and was very vocal in public that he disagreed with the decision.