Fickell GONE!

[drudy23]

PrimeTime!!!

[paulxu]

Except now Danny Hurley and UConn replace Villanova as a potential flagship.

It was hard to dislike Jay Wright as they have essentially owned us since we joined.

It will NOT be hard to dislike Danny Hurley.

[joe titan]

Quote Originally Posted by D-West & PO-Z View Post
Not throwing stones here, I just find it hilarious he bailed on them for Wisconsin right before they are going to the Big 12.

"There is NO WAY anyone at or a fan of UC saw that coming. That has to sting like hell.

Regardless of conference affiliation UC is just at a massive disadvantage competing at the top of college football. That isn't a bad thing as long the school and fans realize it and realize that seasons like the one last year are almost once in a lifetime for a football program like UC. They have a really solid program who will should always go to some decent bowl games which is a long way from where they came.

And I am the never say never guy when it comes to coaches leaving. I have fully expected every XU coach to leave at some point and they all did. However this is why I was so ecstatic to hire Miller. A great coach, who had an incredibly difficult time leaving the 1st time, saw the other side of things, made tons of money, and came back. I actually will be shocked if Miller leaves again. I do fully expect him to retire from XU, unless he isn't successful and they X fires him or they mutually part ways. But I don't see that happening.

I agree with you word for word."

Well not really; astute UC fans have been well aware of Fickell's interest to varying degrees in other jobs and realize at some point the grass would look green enough to jump. Heading to Big 12 and recent contract extension(s) with commensurate budget increases may have alleviated some concerns, but the bigger picture never changed that Big 10 was his primary objective.

IMO, a realistic assessment from the coach and a fan sees that last 2 seasons are not likely to be duplicated @ UC notwithstanding Big 12 affiliation; further the current roster even with a heralded incoming recruiting class is not on par with better Big 12 teams like Baylor, TCU, Kansas St, Ok St.

Finally Wisconsin appears to be low risk job as they recognize need to re-build their once-proud program. 7-4 looks pretty good to those guys at this point so expectations are not CFP for the foreseeable future. UC is not unfamiliar with the scenario, and even AD Cunningham has shown he can handle the search process. Not to be surprised when the program re-collects itself, but overall will find its way to compete in Big 12.

[xudash]

Quote Originally Posted by D-West & PO-Z View Post
Not throwing stones here, I just find it hilarious he bailed on them for Wisconsin right before they are going to the Big 12.

"There is NO WAY anyone at or a fan of UC saw that coming. That has to sting like hell.

Regardless of conference affiliation UC is just at a massive disadvantage competing at the top of college football. That isn't a bad thing as long the school and fans realize it and realize that seasons like the one last year are almost once in a lifetime for a football program like UC. They have a really solid program who will should always go to some decent bowl games which is a long way from where they came.

And I am the never say never guy when it comes to coaches leaving. I have fully expected every XU coach to leave at some point and they all did. However this is why I was so ecstatic to hire Miller. A great coach, who had an incredibly difficult time leaving the 1st time, saw the other side of things, made tons of money, and came back. I actually will be shocked if Miller leaves again. I do fully expect him to retire from XU, unless he isn't successful and they X fires him or they mutually part ways. But I don't see that happening.

I agree with you word for word."

Well not really; astute UC fans have been well aware of Fickell's interest to varying degrees in other jobs and realize at some point the grass would look green enough to jump. Heading to Big 12 and recent contract extension(s) with commensurate budget increases may have alleviated some concerns, but the bigger picture never changed that Big 10 was his primary objective.

IMO, a realistic assessment from the coach and a fan sees that last 2 seasons are not likely to be duplicated @ UC notwithstanding Big 12 affiliation; further the current roster even with a heralded incoming recruiting class is not on par with better Big 12 teams like Baylor, TCU, Kansas St, Ok St.

Finally Wisconsin appears to be low risk job as they recognize need to re-build their once-proud program. 7-4 looks pretty good to those guys at this point so expectations are not CFP for the foreseeable future. UC is not unfamiliar with the scenario, and even AD Cunningham has shown he can handle the search process. Not to be surprised when the program re-collects itself, but overall will find its way to compete in Big 12.

Jason Williams published a brutally honest look at UC's position in college football in an article dated yesterday. Here is a key excerpt:

Fickell, a Columbus native, and his large, Catholic family love Cincinnati. The Ohio State alum spurned Michigan State and Notre Dame. The latter happened last year. Finally, a coach who didn't just take the first (or second) one-way ticket out of town. It sent a message that UC was no longer a stepping stone.

College football today isn’t what it was a year ago. That undoubtedly contributed to Fickell leaving Sunday to become head coach at Wisconsin.

He goes on in the article to point out two very huge things:

1. College football moving forward is going to be about the B1G and the SEC, then everyone else; and

2. Closely related to that, NIL is going to hurt any program outside of those conferences.

He literally warned UC fans to understand that there is no more "P5" once USC and UCLA join the B1G and once Texas and OU move over to the SEC.

I mentioned a little while ago that UC was clearly improving its position by moving to the Big 12 from the AAC, and doing so as a result of its program investments and success on the field. However, you can't win a race if you are driving a torqued up 6-cylinder going 70 MPH while 32 other schools are in advanced V8's cruising along at 100 MPH.

UC fans can and should enjoy from where it came, but they'll do much better managing their sanity if they understand the new pecking order of things. It's the "P2" and everyone else. It's the P2 soaking up most of the 12 playoff bids with the Big 12 probably only getting its champion in every year.

[GoMuskies]

With a 12 team playoff, it's going to be fine to be outside the Big Ten and SEC. It may well be easier to make the playoffs as Cincinnati in the Big XII compared to Wisconsin in the Big 10. Sure, the Big 10 is going to get at least three bids every year, but those are going to be Ohio State, Michigan and USC. Maybe there's a fourth bid, but everyone else is scrambling for that one. Ditto the SEC where LSU, Alabama and Georgia are going to continue to dominate things until Oklahoma decides to get good again. The real winners if they stay put are Notre Dame, They get to laugh through 5 or 6 ACC games, play Navy, Stanford and a couple of other stinkers, maybe lose to USC and end up #8. Ho hum, another playoff berth achieved.

[Xville]

Jason Williams published a brutally honest look at UC's position in college football in an article dated yesterday. Here is a key excerpt:

Fickell, a Columbus native, and his large, Catholic family love Cincinnati. The Ohio State alum spurned Michigan State and Notre Dame. The latter happened last year. Finally, a coach who didn't just take the first (or second) one-way ticket out of town. It sent a message that UC was no longer a stepping stone.

College football today isn’t what it was a year ago. That undoubtedly contributed to Fickell leaving Sunday to become head coach at Wisconsin.

He goes on in the article to point out two very huge things:

1. College football moving forward is going to be about the B1G and the SEC, then everyone else; and

2. Closely related to that, NIL is going to hurt any program outside of those conferences.

He literally warned UC fans to understand that there is no more "P5" once USC and UCLA join the B1G and once Texas and OU move over to the SEC.

I mentioned a little while ago that UC was clearly improving its position by moving to the Big 12 from the AAC, and doing so as a result of its program investments and success on the field. However, you can't win a race if you are driving a torqued up 6-cylinder going 70 MPH while 32 other schools are in advanced V8's cruising along at 100 MPH.

UC fans can and should enjoy from where it came, but they'll do much better managing their sanity if they understand the new pecking order of things. It's the "P2" and everyone else. It's the P2 soaking up most of the 12 playoff bids with the Big 12 probably only getting its champion in every year.

There’s a whole lot of wtf in that article. For one, I’d really like to know where he got that Fickell spurned notre dame. I find that extremely hard to believe, and I don’t like notre dame at all. Yeah he was linked to it because journalists love to speculate, but never saw where he was ann anctual candidate or turned it down. Also, it makes zero sense that nil would hurt any program outside of the big two conferences. Only thing that affects nil is rich alumni and businesses around the school.

With all that said uc is always going to be a middling player. I really don’t think the events of the last two couple of years has changed that. Heck, as go pointed out above, it’s going to be much easier for them to make the playoff.

[Strange Brew]

With a 12 team playoff, it's going to be fine to be outside the Big Ten and SEC. It may well be easier to make the playoffs as Cincinnati in the Big XII compared to Wisconsin in the Big 10. Sure, the Big 10 is going to get at least three bids every year, but those are going to be Ohio State, Michigan and USC. Maybe there's a fourth bid, but everyone else is scrambling for that one. Ditto the SEC where LSU, Alabama and Georgia are going to continue to dominate things until Oklahoma decides to get good again. The real winners if they stay put are Notre Dame, They get to laugh through 5 or 6 ACC games, play Navy, Stanford and a couple of other stinkers, maybe lose to USC and end up #8. Ho hum, another playoff berth achieved.

Sneaky smart those Domers..:)

[D-West & PO-Z]

There’s a whole lot of wtf in that article. For one, I’d really like to know where he got that Fickell spurned notre dame. I find that extremely hard to believe, and I don’t like notre dame at all. Yeah he was linked to it because journalists love to speculate, but never saw where he was ann anctual candidate or turned it down. Also, it makes zero sense that nil would hurt any program outside of the big two conferences. Only thing that affects nil is rich alumni and businesses around the school.

With all that said uc is always going to be a middling player. I really don’t think the events of the last two couple of years has changed that. Heck, as go pointed out above, it’s going to be much easier for them to make the playoff.

That guy insists Fickell said no to ND.

What more than likely happened is they expressed some interest and he didn't want to leave until after UC's playoff appearance. If that even happened. But I could see that scenario.

[GoMuskies]

All that said, Wisconsin's chances of winning a national title are about the same as UC's: zero. There will be 12 playoff spots, and we can debate whether UC or Wisconsin is likely to appear next, but the national champions are still going to come from a group about about 5 or six teams every year. Texas may have a chance to join that group occassionally. Perhaps UCLA now and then. But pretty doubtful Wisconsin or Cincinnati are going to have a chance to join that conversation more than once per blue moon.

[drudy23]

In the day of going back to the well to resurrect very good coaches, I could honestly see UC hiring Urban Meyer. It's in the same vein as the Sean Miller and Thad Matta hires - guys who have been through some stuff that just want another shot, and in places where they like and are familiar.

If I was a betting man, I'd put my cash down here. It would be a huge hire for UC, assuming Urban doesn't do anything blatantly stupid and is willing to work to improve his image. His prowess as a college football coach is unquestioned.