Ohio State holds on to Luke Fickell, its good soldier

November 28, 2011   ·   0 Comments

Ohio State holds on to Luke Fickell, its good soldier

Luke Fickell isn’t going to find another head coaching job waiting at the end of the season. But he should find an appreciation across Buckeye nation for his role in steering Ohio State through the darkest storm in its history in one piece.

Urban Meyer is announced as Fickell’s replacement Monday, he’s expected to keep the young coach who has been admirable as a much-needed stopgap. It’s a token of gratitude for Fickell, who bore the brunt of Ohio State’s scandal and somehow steered the program into less choppy waters. Ohio State is in a much better position now than it was when Fickell took over at the end of May and it sets up Meyer to use his name and clout to put Ohio State back among the college football powerbrokers.

There’s no doubt that a 6-6 season doesn’t scream Ohio State. In fact, the last time the Buckeyes won just six games was in 1999. Since then, Ohio State has had just three seasons with fewer than 10 wins. This year’s bowl game will be the first time the Buckeyes aren’t playing in a BCS or national championship game since 2004 when they beat Oklahoma State in the Alamo Bowl.

But it’s important to remember the dire situation Fickell inherited.

Ohio State was at a low point. The school had spent the previous six months dealing with fallout over several players trading memorabilia for cash and tattoos and the coach who had made Ohio State the beacon of college football it had become had resigned.

Less than a month on the job, Fickell made the tough decision of cutting ties with starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who was the center of an NCAA investigation for making money off his autograph.

It wasn’t the way Fickell, who had been a loyal assistant coach under Tressel since 2002, envisioned being the head honcho at his alma mater, but he made it work. He plugged the holes vacated by Pryor and the other suspended players and he dealt with more suspensions and setbacks along the way. He toggled between quarterbacks Joe Bauserman and Braxton Miller before going with the true freshman Miller, even though the poor kid could barely hit the broad side of a barn. Ohio State found ways to win thanks to its tough defense and kept fans interested even though it was an atypical season.

To call this season — or Fickell for that matter — a bust would be shortsided. Fickell and Ohio State actually overachieved considering the hand the Buckeyes were dealt. No one would have blamed Fickell if the team had tanked, but the fact that it didn’t, that it played hard for Fickell and will play for a bowl and the program’s 23^rd non-losing season is something that deserves applause.

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Graham Watson is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow her @Yahoo_Graham.

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