UC Bearcats

bob99 said:
I can understand Cincinnati going to the Big12 for financial reasons, but competition wise the AAC is a fun league to watch.
Click to expand...
Cincinnati, Houston and UCF all would have had a better chance to make the Playoff as American members in the future, with the CFP moving to 12. But they're going to make so much more in the Big 12.

A lot of people claim the Big 12 will take a backseat and basically fall from P5 status once Texas and Oklahoma leave, but I disagree with those sentiments. Last year the Big 12 Championship was between Baylor and Oklahoma State. This year it'll be between TCU and probably Kansas State. The new Big 12 will be fine and it'll be a fun conference as well.
 
Pathetic showing by the defense after the offense marches down the field to take the lead 24-20. You let them go 75 yards in 4 plays, 77 seconds. Prater didn't play bad, but the passing game was virtually non-existent today.

Should end up in a winnable bowl game to cap another 10-win season, but today's game definitely will leave a bad taste in their mouths.
 
Fickell to Wisconsin

Thanks Fickell for what you did for Cincinnati Football, Good Luck at Wisconsin

Comments on Badger board
"Let’s hope it’s not like frost to Nebraska"
"The "Wisconsin Way" is great, but I just hope Fickell keeps the tradition of the "Wisconsin Worry", where we constantly fret about how bad things could go and whether we are a stepping stone to better programs."
"I also fear that a tepid response from the fan base - again having nothing to do with Fickell’s quality as a coach - will make it easier for him to jump ship down the line. I certainly hope I’m wrong."
"Fickell is a shiny bright object for Mac and a bunch of people on this board.
He has zero connection to Wisconsin, probably couldn’t name three cities in the state after being given Madison and Milwaukee. He likely could not give you a single name of a state HS coach, and before you dismiss that as irrelevant, the UW is still, and always will be, a program that develops in-state players, particularly on the O line. He’ll have to restock a program with players after what will surely be a portal busting exodus by this year’s team.
I’m willing to bet the current players absolutely detest Chris McIntosh right now, He fired Chryst, the guy they came here to play for, and now just publicly boned Leonhard up the butt, the guy they clearly wanted to get the job."
"Not overly impressed with Macintosh at this point. Seems like a Gary Anderson part 2 hire"
"So…the AD has decided to throw overboard not one, but two “Wisconsin guys” for Luke Fickell. Two guys that were both super well-liked by those around them and were well-regarded professionally, if not now at some point in the past. This significantly raises the standards against which this hire will be measured.:
" Keep an unproven head coach to lead a Major D1 program? ...or hire a coach with a mildly proven resume?"
"What a ing joke. "
"Badgermaniac is tweeting that he might cancel his season tickets and that there is a 60% chance the program is in a worse place and only a 10% chance it's in a better place as a result of this move, so I'd say you are taking it better than him."
"How many had Luke Fickell pegged as your 'swing for the fences' hire. More likely would have been a punchline. "
 
Last edited:
Seems like a good fit. Wisconsin is always strong across the OL, and that's the type of program Fickell wants to run, strong across both lines, run the football and tough defense. Very surprising to see some of those comments. Fickell's got his work cut out for him though. The B1G is only going to get stronger and more competitive with Nebraska hiring Rhule, USC and UCLA coming aboard. Plus some people on here have mentioned how much Wisconsin has struggled recruiting the past couple of seasons.
 
adselder09 said:
Seems like a good fit. Wisconsin is always strong across the OL, and that's the type of program Fickell wants to run, strong across both lines, run the football and tough defense. Very surprising to see some of those comments. Fickell's got his work cut out for him though. The B1G is only going to get stronger and more competitive with Nebraska hiring Rhule, USC and UCLA coming aboard. Plus some people on here have mentioned how much Wisconsin has struggled recruiting the past couple of seasons.
Click to expand...


The biggest criticism is that he does not have Wisconsin connection
 
Termite2 said:
Fickell to Wisconsin


"How many had Luke Fickell pegged as your 'swing for the fences' hire. More likely would have been a punchline. "
Click to expand...
Marcus Freeman being hired as the HC at Notre Dame was a bigger gamble, yet haven't heard many complaints.
 
OldSoulon said:
Looks like Fickel wasn’t excited about joining the up and coming powerhouse that will be the Big12
Click to expand...
They were going to take their lumps going into next year. Him leaving now says he knew that was going to happen and he needed to capitalize on the gains he made while at UC. He had much better suitors last year, but chose to stick it out with the Bearcats in the Playoff.
 
Termite2 said:
Fickell to Wisconsin

Thanks Fickell for what you did for Cincinnati Football, Good Luck at Wisconsin

Comments on Badger board
"Let’s hope it’s not like frost to Nebraska"
"The "Wisconsin Way" is great, but I just hope Fickell keeps the tradition of the "Wisconsin Worry", where we constantly fret about how bad things could go and whether we are a stepping stone to better programs."
"I also fear that a tepid response from the fan base - again having nothing to do with Fickell’s quality as a coach - will make it easier for him to jump ship down the line. I certainly hope I’m wrong."
"Fickell is a shiny bright object for Mac and a bunch of people on this board.
He has zero connection to Wisconsin, probably couldn’t name three cities in the state after being given Madison and Milwaukee. He likely could not give you a single name of a state HS coach, and before you dismiss that as irrelevant, the UW is still, and always will be, a program that develops in-state players, particularly on the O line. He’ll have to restock a program with players after what will surely be a portal busting exodus by this year’s team.
I’m willing to bet the current players absolutely detest Chris McIntosh right now, He fired Chryst, the guy they came here to play for, and now just publicly boned Leonhard up the butt, the guy they clearly wanted to get the job."
"Not overly impressed with Macintosh at this point. Seems like a Gary Anderson part 2 hire"
"So…the AD has decided to throw overboard not one, but two “Wisconsin guys” for Luke Fickell. Two guys that were both super well-liked by those around them and were well-regarded professionally, if not now at some point in the past. This significantly raises the standards against which this hire will be measured.:
" Keep an unproven head coach to lead a Major D1 program? ...or hire a coach with a mildly proven resume?"
"What a ing joke. "
"Badgermaniac is tweeting that he might cancel his season tickets and that there is a 60% chance the program is in a worse place and only a 10% chance it's in a better place as a result of this move, so I'd say you are taking it better than him."
"How many had Luke Fickell pegged as your 'swing for the fences' hire. More likely would have been a punchline. "
Click to expand...
You ever heard of separating things into paragraphs? I ain’t reading that wall of text.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
 
adselder09 said:
They were going to take their lumps going into next year. Him leaving now says he knew that was going to happen and he needed to capitalize on the gains he made while at UC. He had much better suitors last year, but chose to stick it out with the Bearcats in the Playoff.
Click to expand...
UC fans should be thankful to Fickell for what he brought them and that he chose to coach UC in a playoff game by passing up a shot at one of the best jobs in sports (ND football HC).
 
He saw his stock plummetimg and would get worse moving fwd to a new league so he had to go now or he may never get a chance.
Gotta strike when the iron is hot and he got lucky as he shoulda left last year.
 
cjb5656 said:
UC fans should be thankful to Fickell for what he brought them and that he chose to coach UC in a playoff game by passing up a shot at one of the best jobs in sports (ND football HC).
Click to expand...
UC fans are thankful..... Luke was a great guy, family man, and role model. His teams always played with max effort, and his players loved playing for him. The football program as a whole is in much better shape now than when he first arrived. That being said, the next guy he out coaches will be the first guy he out coaches. His schemes and game managements have at times been more than a little bit suspect....Tom Herman's name seems to be hot on the Bearcat forums to take over. He's won, is an offensive wiz, can recruit, and he ain't afraid to beat teams that are more talented than his squad once in awhile.
 
OldSoulon said:
Looks like Fickel wasn’t excited about joining the up and coming powerhouse that will be the Big12
Click to expand...
I think he realized there’s some major holes on this team going forward losing 0-3 games in the big 12 was unlikely without significant portal help thus damaging his stock. Instead he can rebuild Wisconsin. Hope he required a commitment from the school to fund a recruiting department as it’s my understanding they essentially abandoned that department.

Best coach in program history, hope he does well in Wisconsin. Hope they find a great replacement.
 
Still feeling mixed emotions about the whole ordeal one day later.

Fickell got a job that's a good fit for him in many regards and one that he certainly deserves based on his success at UC.

Yet, I'm still bitter that he presumably was not "all-in" this season.

I would've taken another AAC championship and a beatdown in a NY6 bowl to an underwhelming regular season finish and a meaningless postseason appearance.
 
I agree about him not being all-in. One of the Madison papers reported that he interviewed on Saturday, November 12 at 7:30 a.m. This was the morning after UC played East Carolina on a Friday night. This was obviously set up so he could secretly interview. Reporters and fans would still be in bed after that late night game. I thought the last few weeks the Bearcats were poorly prepared and this may explain that. Fickell may have known for a few weeks he was moving on.
 
I wonder if seeing Matt Campbell’s stock drop pretty drastically the past few years made Fickell reassess his status at UC. Campbell was being talked about for NFL jobs just 2 years ago and his name wasn’t mentioned at all during with any of these open jobs.
 
Omar said:
I wonder if seeing Matt Campbell’s stock drop pretty drastically the past few years made Fickell reassess his status at UC. Campbell was being talked about for NFL jobs just 2 years ago and his name wasn’t mentioned at all during with any of these open jobs.
Click to expand...
I agree. Campbell was a dummy for not moving on from Iowa State two years ago.

It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
 
Wildcat97 said:
Hartline is interviewing, and as an OSU alum, I feel sick. What a week
Click to expand...
Why? What an awesome opportunity for Hartline.
If a school like Ohio State can’t get good coaches hired it is a problem with the school.
How many assistants has Saban ’lost’? Just like with players, next man up.

Just Saban former Alabama assistants who are now head coaches.

Kirby Smart - Georgia
Charles Huff - Marshall
Mario Cristobal - Miami
Billy Napier - Florida
Mel Tucker - Michigan State
Steve Sarkisian - Texas
Mike Locksley - Maryland
Lane Kifdin - Ole Miss
Butch Jones - Arkansas State
Dan Lanning - Oregon
Jim McElwain - Central Michigan
Curt Cignetti - James Madison
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top