Dan Patrick had Pat Forde on his radio show. Forde questioned whether Fickell would want to work for Bohn again. Implied they didn’t have a great relationship. And DP said he was told Fickell doesn’t want to leave the Midwest.
Fickell unlikely?
- Thread starter JD27
- Start date
Our Ohio St. expert who played for Fickell also doesn’t believe he’d take the USC gig.
But added “You never know for sure until they start talking compensation.”
I'll pass on Fickell. He is not a Home Run hire. He's a safe hire....and I would not want to pay him what it would take to get him to LA.
And once he’s here, you’d have to pay to keep him. His heart doesn’t belong on the west coast…
Fickell is all Ohio. An OSU alum and ex coach. He is waiting in the wings for Ryan Day to screw up.
The real question is if Fickell's wife wants to come or not....
If that’s the case, then Bohn has been aware of it for months. So it’s not a surprise to him. Also, I still think he has his sights set on one person, whether that is Meyer, Rhule or Franklin or someone else. Then it’s a matter of negotiations. Salary, not just for the coach but the assistants. The latter very important to attract the best. Perks. Support staff. Recruiting budget. I would also imagine part of this would include keeping it quiet. Which is why there are probably 3-4 people within Heritage Hall who know what’s happening.
fickell would be my first choice, but i wouldn't bet on him coming here.
Not sure that anyone qualifies as a “safe” hire right now in this process. USC has to get this one right, and there are no guarantees, even with an Urban Meyer.
Even if he isn't actively waiting on that he'd likely bolt the West Coast if Ohio State or ND opened up. I like Fickell a lot, but if his family's not committed to LA we'd be better off elsewhere.
I think I consider him "safe" because he's the name that USC fans have clamored for over the past two seasons. He's had great success at Cincy, even though it's not Power 5 yet. "Safe" as in he checks the blocks and he would appease most of Trojan faithful.
If you want to win NCs within the next few years, Urban Meyer is the guy (outside of Nick Satan or Dabo).
We could do worse than one James Freaking Franklin. The man would coach and RECRUIT like a dazzling Hollywood Jedi if he ever took root in South Central and dear old Troy. Urban's still my first choice, but I'd rather have Franklin than Fickle, Stoops or especially Dion Sanders. Dion's just too glitzy already. But what I REALLY cannot believe is this talk of Kiffin returning. YIKES! Such madness as I've never imagined that would be! Kiffin has the charisma of a bed sore.
I can’t believe Deion’s name connected with the USC Head Coach position is actually a thing.
Well it is a frenzied circus of names popping out of nowhere right now. But Kiffin!!??? I mean that's what STARTED and SET THE TONE for this whole 12 years of humiliation and grief.
we certainly can do worse and we have. No matter what he would be a major upgrade over Helton.
but would he make us serious contenders against the likes of Bama and UGA? No
would he make us competitive against Oregon? Yes. Dominant in the conference like the PC days? Doubtful.
"Appeasing the Trojan faithful" is a job qualification that would last all of about 30 seconds. It's all about actual performance. If the flavor of the month does as well as Chip Kelly across town the faithful will turn on him in a hot second. If the hire the Trojan faithful hated works out like Pete Carroll all the fans will post here that they knew this was the right guy even if everybody else questioned the hire.
Memo to Mike Bohn - get the right guy, without regard to what the fans think.
I'm not at all advocating for Bohn to hire Fickell. I don't want the "safe" lazy pick...which is what Fickell is. Everyone wanted Chip Kelly...I said absolutely not. Thank God we didn't hire him. Trojan faithful will turn on anyone who doesn't win...doesn't matter who the coach is.
Spot the f on. The Trojan faithful don't know what they actually want and never really did. Before the PCG against Stanford a lot of Trojan fans were on Hugs bandwagon. It's all about "what have you done for us lately" and once that's dried up, it's back to calling for heads.
Fickell is no way the safe or lazy hire. That's stupid.
The lazy hire would be making Del Rio the HC or some other adjunct coach. A name I've heard on this board for 3 to 4 years now.
Last edited:
I don’t know where you guys get this stuff from. Franklin has 2 one point losses to some of the best teams in Ohio state teams in recent history. In his first year they lost by 7 with a reduced roster. He managed that with 3 star Trace McSorley as his QB. He had Vandy as high as 26th in recruiting. Has had Penn state as high as 5th and currently sits 1st now. If you give him the resources of USC we absolutely compete with UGA, Bama and we take back the west immediately.
His PSU teams have also struggled against less talented teams.
Sorry but I don’t see his teams dominating anyone.
S
Who are these lesser talented teams? Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, USC? On top of that he doesn’t get anywhere near the talent there that he will here...
I honestly don't think it really is. My guess is some of his buddies from the NFL or the media are floating his name because it helps his profile at Jackson State.
How many teams/schools are out there “dominating“ everyone?
If we go back 5 years, there’s Bama, Clemson, Ohio St, and Oklahoma. That’s it.
Almost every team has struggles vs. “less talented” teams at some point.
.
isn’t that the goal? To dominate? USC belongs in that group of school you mentioned. It belongs at the top.
Yes that’s the goal but he isn’t coaching at a program the level of the programs he cited. Again what lesser teams is he not dominating?
Sure….but my point was there’s few COACHES who have “dominated” and not struggled at some point. You seem to dismiss Franklin for that.
Who do you have, after Saban, Urban, and MAYBE Dabo and Riley? Although he gets a pass, Dabo is struggling against lesser teams right now. One could say, without an All-American QB like Deshaun Watson or Trevor Lawrence, Dabo is what?
.
Scott. 100% agree. He’s said over and over he likes the Midwest. His family likes it too. He gets annoyed anytime anyone asks him about the chances of leaving? I’ve seen zero signs that this man is interested in leaving. He’s turned down jobs for more money before. So that’s not a huge factor
I won’t say zero chance but 99.5 % NO is what common sense suggests.
Last edited:
Since I have zero say in the matter and my paycheck isn’t dependent on my selection I’ll support whomever is chosen until he proves himself incapable of producing a consistent, top flight team.
With that said, it would seem recruiting on a national basis is a must. Clearly, that starts with the proverbial “fence” around CA. To accomplish that task a reputation of success is needed to even get started. Parents need to know their son is in a good place to reach his best.
Having access to top asst coaches would also seem mandatory. Every top flight, winning coach has that Rolodex. No HC wins consistently without it…even PC.
Names like Franklin, Fickell, and Campbell seem to fit those needs but if the selection is someone else I’ll get behind it even if he doesn’t bring everything on the list. But, I’ll be cautiously optimistic and watching with a critical eye.
Either way SC is moving forward after years mired in mediocrity. Hopefully that forward move isn’t into another pit.
With that said, it would seem recruiting on a national basis is a must. Clearly, that starts with the proverbial “fence” around CA. To accomplish that task a reputation of success is needed to even get started. Parents need to know their son is in a good place to reach his best.
Having access to top asst coaches would also seem mandatory. Every top flight, winning coach has that Rolodex. No HC wins consistently without it…even PC.
Names like Franklin, Fickell, and Campbell seem to fit those needs but if the selection is someone else I’ll get behind it even if he doesn’t bring everything on the list. But, I’ll be cautiously optimistic and watching with a critical eye.
Either way SC is moving forward after years mired in mediocrity. Hopefully that forward move isn’t into another pit.
Do you blame him? You think he wants to be in a situation where his wife has to step over homeless people to shop in Los Angeles? When his kids go to the park they have to worry about needles in the sandbox? Or stepping in human urine and feces and if they break his car window and steal his stuff California calls it a misdemeanor and let’s the criminals walk. You get all this and much more for paying the highest taxes I the Nation.
Last edited:
More like 85%
Are you talking about New York?Do you blame him? You think he wants to be in his situation where his wife has to step over homeless people to shop in Los Angeles? When his kids go to a park he has to worry about needles in the sandbox? Or stepping in human urine and feces and if they break his car window and steal his stuff California calls it a misdemeanor and let’s the criminals walk. You get all this and much more for paying the highest taxes I the Nation.
As many have pontificated, we need a "home run" hire. But we may not know if a coach is a home run until year 2 or 3. We'll probably know if a hire is NOT a home run fairly quickly, however. I mean, Pete's first team was 6-6. John McKay was 4-6 in year one. Saban was 2-6 in his first year at Bama. One could argue Dabo didn't come to national prominence until year 5 at Clemson.
It's a question of whether Bohn will have the stones to make a properly aggressive hire, if not a no-brainer, although the vast majority of no-brainers are probably out of reach (e.g, Saban, Urban, Dabo). Think risky but smart and a good LA fit. Franklin might be that. Fickell is not.
Here's a name that I haven't heard that might work...what about Pat Fitzgerald?
It's a question of whether Bohn will have the stones to make a properly aggressive hire, if not a no-brainer, although the vast majority of no-brainers are probably out of reach (e.g, Saban, Urban, Dabo). Think risky but smart and a good LA fit. Franklin might be that. Fickell is not.
Here's a name that I haven't heard that might work...what about Pat Fitzgerald?
Haha. Just 3 blocks form the USC campus you can find all of the above.
Last edited:
Shhish it was the NCAA that set the tone for the last 12 years. Pat Hayden and Lynn Swann just just threw gasoline on the fire.
A few days ago, I estimated we would hear 25 different names tied to the SC coaching job. Little by little, we’re getting there.
