Why Fickell chose Wisconsin over other Big10 opportunities

[Laker]

Luke realized Ohio state wouldn’t be available anytime soon. Ditto for Notre Dame. His 2 dream jobs. Michigan State was hot for him and he turned them down. Tucker was their second choice. He was all but signed until his wife visited East Lansing and nixed the deal. She reportedly fell in love with Madison and that’s why he is there. I think he is an upgrade and would have been an upgrade for Minnesota. When I suggested that Minnesota back up a truckload of money to his door a couple of months everybody on here derided me for it. The next 3-4 years will tell whether the Gophers missed the boat or were super smart in not hiring him.

 

[HitMeAgainIAmStillMoving]

I can tell you two things: I did not deride you and Wisco will be kicking some *** with Fickell there. Oh, and a third, we can quit pretending it was his wife who turned down Michigan St, As they say in the song, one town looks much like another with your head down over your chess pieces brother.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Going to be very interesting to see what happens when Ohio State does come open, and that may not be that far off into the future if Day doesn't start beating Michigan soon.

Time will tell how it plays out but I kind of feel like they may have hired someone with one foot out the door already.

And on a side note....did we really need a second Fickell thread?

 

[GophersInIowa]

Luke realized Ohio state wouldn’t be available anytime soon. Ditto for Notre Dame. His 2 dream jobs. Michigan State was hot for him and he turned them down. Tucker was their second choice. He was all but signed until his wife visited East Lansing and nixed the deal. She reportedly fell in love with Madison and that’s why he is there. I think he is an upgrade and would have been an upgrade for Minnesota. When I suggested that Minnesota back up a truckload of money to his door a couple of months everybody on here derided me for it. The next 3-4 years will tell whether the Gophers missed the boat or were super smart in not hiring him.

So they fire Fleck in hopes Fickell picks them? Then if he doesn't they're screwed?

 

[fmlizard]

Grass is always greener I suppose, and the thing we haven't seen yet -- wisconsin running the Air Raid -- always works until you actually see it in action.

Not sure why a guy who somehow had a losing season at Ohio State and took over a historically very strong G5 school is considered an automatic upgrade on a guy who took Western Michigan to a BCS game and has averaged just shy of 10 wins per season the last 3 full seasons at Minnesota.

wisconsin is radically changing the formula that took them from the dumpster to the upper tier of the Big Ten and there's plenty of chance that could fail.

 

[btowngopher]

So they fire Fleck in hopes Fickell picks them? Then if he doesn't they're screwed?

Right, he assumes Fickell would’ve jumped at the offer.

 

[Gophers1992]

Fickell's best season was winning 13 games at a G5, something PJ Fleck accomplished 6 years earlier.

 

[MNfootballfan]

I'll go on record of saying I think Fickell was a great hire for Wisconsin. With that being said, there are plenty of examples of someone coming in and changing who/what a team is and it not working out. I am hoping Fickell/Wisconsin is another RichRod/Michigan scenario!!!

 

[Gophers1992]

Fickell is a damn good coach. So is PJ Fleck. I'm not sure why we need to be crapping our pants over facing him for the next 10 years.

 

[mngolf]

Like was said earlier, grass is always greener. The outside coach has to be better than ours, right? /s

There is as much chance of this blowing up in Wisky's face as it working out for them. And I personally would not consider it a good hire for the sole reason of him changing their identity. But hey, that's good for us.

 

[Some guy]

I don’t think Fickell had the resume to be named MN head coach in 2017

Fickell had been DC for Ohio state and absolutely flopped in his one year chance at Ohio state. Regardless of circumstances he produced ohio states first (and only) losing record since 1988.
Purdue coordinator had just failed miserably at a big ten west school (Purdue).

I would’ve been deeply disappointed in Fickell hire when we hired fleck. He may have done great here or may not. I contend it is much easier to win 10 games at Cincinnati than to win 9 at Minnesota.


Now, Fickell is to Wisconsin exactly what fleck was to Minnesota when he was hired. And that is, the best possible hire fans could’ve hoped for who is absolutely not a guarantee for success.


If Fickell has the following win totals the next 5 years is he a success or failure?
8, 11, 8, 7, 10

 

[Some guy]

Fickell is a damn good coach. So is PJ Fleck. I'm not sure why we need to be crapping our pants over facing him for the next 10 years.

Spot on

 

[MNVCGUY]

Fickell is a damn good coach. So is PJ Fleck. I'm not sure why we need to be crapping our pants over facing him for the next 10 years.

Not sure there is much pants crapping from Gopher fans. Some Sconnie trolls are trying to psych themselves back up and believe they will soon be returning to contending for the Big Ten title.

They are becoming very Nebraska like in that regard

 

[UpAndUnder43]

Grass is always greener I suppose, and the thing we haven't seen yet -- wisconsin running the Air Raid -- always works until you actually see it in action.

Not sure why a guy who somehow had a losing season at Ohio State and took over a historically very strong G5 school is considered an automatic upgrade on a guy who took Western Michigan to a BCS game and has averaged just shy of 10 wins per season the last 3 full seasons at Minnesota.

wisconsin is radically changing the formula that took them from the dumpster to the upper tier of the Big Ten and there's plenty of chance that could fail.

Scott Frost a pretty good Fickle comparison. May turn out differently. But who knows

 

[Otis]

How many times have we seen air raid offenses succeed for a sustained time span in the B1G?

I’ll hang up and wait.

 

[dpodoll68]

I don’t think Fickell had the resume to be named MN head coach in 2017

He 100% had the resume, no question. That is a different question than if he would've been successful or if we as a fan base would've been happy with the hire, but he was more than qualified. He had 12 years' of coordinator experience at a top 5 school in the country and was DC for 3 national finalists, winning one title. Outside of a few at the level of Alabama/USC/Texas/Notre Dame, etc. he would've been a top candidate for any job in the country he chose to pursue. He most definitely could've done much better than Cincinnati, but he wanted to stay in Ohio and it's the 2nd-best job in the state.

He was equally if not more qualified in 2017 than Kirby Smart was in 2016 when hired at Georgia, and obviously Georgia was a vastly superior job to Minnesota.

 

[Some guy]

He 100% had the resume, no question. That is a different question than if he would've been successful or if we as a fan base would've been happy with the hire, but he was more than qualified. He had 12 years' of coordinator experience at a top 5 school in the country and was DC for 3 national finalists, winning one title. Outside of a few at the level of Alabama/USC/Texas/Notre Dame, etc. he would've been a top candidate for any job in the country he chose to pursue. He most definitely could've done much better than Cincinnati, but he wanted to stay in Ohio and it's the 2nd-best job in the state.

He was equally if not more qualified in 2017 than Kirby Smart was in 2016 when hired at Georgia, and obviously Georgia was a vastly superior job to Minnesota.

A DC of a scandal ridden team with a losing record at Ohio state

I suppose you’re right. Gerry Faust also qualified for the job


Me using the word qualified was the wrong word


Edit:
Upon further review I never used the word qualified. I said resume. I don’t think he resume was that impressive. One season of a losing record at Ohio state. DC for two great head coaches. Last Ohio state coordinator to leave major flop at Purdue. I don’t think he had the resume to get a power 5 job in 2016 and it’s why he ended up at cincinatti

 

[hello-world]

Luke realized Ohio state wouldn’t be available anytime soon. Ditto for Notre Dame. His 2 dream jobs. Michigan State was hot for him and he turned them down. Tucker was their second choice. He was all but signed until his wife visited East Lansing and nixed the deal. She reportedly fell in love with Madison and that’s why he is there. I think he is an upgrade and would have been an upgrade for Minnesota. When I suggested that Minnesota back up a truckload of money to his door a couple of months everybody on here derided me for it. The next 3-4 years will tell whether the Gophers missed the boat or were super smart in not hiring him.

You've been on the forum for two years which means that you were derided for suggesting the Gophers fire PJ Fleck so they could maybe, possibly, hire a guy that was seen as the coach of destiny for tOSU?

Yeah, still an all-time stupid take, and the derision was deserved. Even if he works out for UW, it was still a dumb take.

Good news though, you're definitely qualified for a job at the Star Tribune.

 

[Plato]

Scott Frost a pretty good Fickle comparison. May turn out differently. But who knows

Frost was a philandering drunk.
Fickell is neither.

 

[UpAndUnder43]

Frost was a philandering drunk.
Fickell is neither.

Ok. i meant from a football standpoint. Sorry to offend you sir.

 

[LesBolstad]

Luke realized Ohio state wouldn’t be available anytime soon. Ditto for Notre Dame. His 2 dream jobs. Michigan State was hot for him and he turned them down. Tucker was their second choice. He was all but signed until his wife visited East Lansing and nixed the deal. She reportedly fell in love with Madison and that’s why he is there. I think he is an upgrade and would have been an upgrade for Minnesota. When I suggested that Minnesota back up a truckload of money to his door a couple of months everybody on here derided me for it. The next 3-4 years will tell whether the Gophers missed the boat or were super smart in not hiring him.

One of the sneakiest worst post of all time; if there is a category for that. Just mind-numbingly dumb

 

[Panthadad2]

WTF is up with all these Whiskey trolls posting stuff about Fickle constantly? These people must need constant validation for their fragile egos. Weirdest thing I've ever seen. The Fickle fella fled Cinci because he feared losing to Big 12 teams after the transition. It's pretty simple.

 

[Crosby]

You've been on the forum for two years which means that you were derided for suggesting the Gophers fire PJ Fleck so they could maybe, possibly, hire a guy that was seen as the coach of destiny for tOSU?

Yeah, still an all-time stupid take, and the derision was deserved. Even if he works out for UW, it was still a dumb take.

Good news though, you're definitely qualified for a job at the Star Tribune.

This is correct. And I'll add a slight variation to this. Even if Fickell had guaranteed he'd accept the job, you don't make that move. What kind of d-bag athletic director says "Coach Fleck, you are doing great. You are our guy" and then fires him because he thinks he can upgrade? You don't fire people who are doing very well for you, have demonstrated loyalty, and have done everything you asked. I don't care if Nick Saban says he'd take the job... you do not make that move.

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

He 100% had the resume, no question. That is a different question than if he would've been successful or if we as a fan base would've been happy with the hire, but he was more than qualified. He had 12 years' of coordinator experience at a top 5 school in the country and was DC for 3 national finalists, winning one title. Outside of a few at the level of Alabama/USC/Texas/Notre Dame, etc. he would've been a top candidate for any job in the country he chose to pursue. He most definitely could've done much better than Cincinnati, but he wanted to stay in Ohio and it's the 2nd-best job in the state.

He was equally if not more qualified in 2017 than Kirby Smart was in 2016 when hired at Georgia, and obviously Georgia was a vastly superior job to Minnesota.

The major difference is that Fickell was given a shot to be Ohio St's head coach for a year, and then they had their worst season in 23 years, and then brought in Meyer instead. They could have hired him again in 2019, but went with Ryan Day instead.

If Saban would have left or retired when Smart was still at Alabama, he would have been hired immediately to replace him.

 

[corcorangopher]

Nick Saban to MN, Fleck out?

 

[RememberMurray]

How many times have we seen air raid offenses succeed for a sustained time span in the B1G?

I’ll hang up and wait.

Great post.

 

[GopherGod]

The major difference is that Fickell was given a shot to be Ohio St's head coach for a year, and then they had their worst season in 23 years, and then brought in Meyer instead. They could have hired him again in 2019, but went with Ryan Day instead.

If Saban would have left or retired when Smart was still at Alabama, he would have been hired immediately to replace him.

doubtful. At that time they would have more likely hired Dabo Swinney from Clemson with his ties to Alabama and who had proven himself as a successful HC by the time Kirby left for Georgia.

 

[RememberMurray]

You've been on the forum for two years which means that you were derided for suggesting the Gophers fire PJ Fleck so they could maybe, possibly, hire a guy that was seen as the coach of destiny for tOSU?

Yeah, still an all-time stupid take, and the derision was deserved. Even if he works out for UW, it was still a dumb take.

Good news though, you're definitely qualified for a job at the Star Tribune.

Yes! In fact, he'll have the Strib and KFAN trying to out-bid each other for his services.

 

[gopherdudepart2]

Scott Frost a pretty good Fickle comparison. May turn out differently. But who knows

I simply do not believe Fickle is a giant dumb ass like Scott Frost was.

 

[DCinOK]

Already sick and tired of hearing about "Fickell, " who is apparently God's Gift to Football. Just one more reason to despise Wiscy.