SURPRISE - FICKELL TO WISCONSIN
- Thread starter Patrirish
- Start date
He's a really good coach and could've easily landed @ much bigger school than Wisconsin. Surprised to see him make a lateral move.
So the question is, WHY Wisconsin this year and not ND last year
I don’t see Wisconsin as a lateral move
I don’t see Wisconsin as a lateral move
He clearly was NOT pursued by ND..and agree, Wisconsin is a much better job than UC..not even close
YOU ARE DEAD WRONG.
FICKELL BOWED OUT PRIOR TO ND MAKING ITS DECISION
ND NEVER CHOSE FREEMAN OVER FICKELL BECAUSE FICKELL DECLARED THAT HE WASN’T INTERESTED BECAUSE HE WAS STAYING AT UC.
ECHOWAKER TOLD YOU THAT HE PERSONALLY SPOKE TO FICKELL AND THAT ND NEVER TALKED TO FICKELL AND THAT FICKELL’S AGENT TOLD ND THAT FICKELL WAS NOT A CANDIDATE.
SO IF FICKELL WAS NEVER A CANDIDATE, ND COULD NEVER CHOOSE FREEMAN OVER FICKELL.
I KNOW THAT’S A DIFFICULT CONCEPT FOR SOMEONE OF YOUR LIMITED INTELLIGENCE TO GRASP, SO HAVE SOMEONE WITH A BRAIN EXPLAIN IT TO YOU ! 😜
ALTERNATIVELY, JUST ADMIT THAT YOU’RE WRONG ………. AGAIN !
He wasn’t entertaining ND until after the bowl game last year…and ND didn’t wait
This does not seem like a good fit to me....and I can't actually pinpoint why that is. In time...I will.
Luke and his team wanted ND. Jack Swarbick chose MF over over Luke Fickell
I agree with their decision. LF is a good coach but he's a meat and potatoes lunchpail type guy. He's not dynamic in recruiting and that's the main reason I believe Jack chose MF over him
I agree with their decision. LF is a good coach but he's a meat and potatoes lunchpail type guy. He's not dynamic in recruiting and that's the main reason I believe Jack chose MF over him
Then how did he beat ND if he’s not a dynamic recruiter ?
Cite where Jack stated that he CHOSE MF over Fickell.
You’re fabricating events to suit your flawed narrative.
False in one, false in many !
As a Wisconsin Grad, the general consensus among the fanbase is while a shocking hire, it's a homerun in terms of elevating the Badgers back the post Alvarez and Chryst early years. Program has gotten stale over the past couple of years combined with a number of staff changes and declining recruiting. While Jim Leonhard was the odds on favorite among the players and media, to be able to pull Fickell from Cincy was a great move and one I'm completely in favor of. The program will need to rebuild though for some people to equate Wisconsin as a lateral move is simply wrong and naïve. Further, as some have posted, why the move now, especially with Cincy's move to the B12, and despite Chryst's overall winning %, he was one of the lowest paid B10 coaches so clearly the new AD is taking an updated, aggressive approach. As for the whole Fickell to ND blah blah blah, I'll defer to those who seem to know what in essence they actually don't, but as die hard fan of ND, since 6 yrs old and now 59(!), along with my love for the Badger program, time to look forward and On Wisconsin and GO IRISH!
No it's not. At least not the way you have described it.
Fickell was the only other interview. Both parties were interested but fickell wanted to bring his entire staff, where ND wanted to retain both Freeman and Rees (some speculate Rees was already signed). Although there was mutual interest there was no path forward for both parties.
If you want to spin that as "choosing" freeman so be it, but Fickell was never really a possibility due to that impass.
Fickell was the only other interview. Both parties were interested but fickell wanted to bring his entire staff, where ND wanted to retain both Freeman and Rees (some speculate Rees was already signed). Although there was mutual interest there was no path forward for both parties.
If you want to spin that as "choosing" freeman so be it, but Fickell was never really a possibility due to that impass.
A little thing you aren't saying...
Luke was in the midst of a playoff.
Freeman was the flavor of the week amid the players...ND succumbed to that.
Good for Wisconsin and Luke
This is true. Ultimately ND was going to lose their recruits of jack didn't move fast and secure MF and Tommy Rees. The fact fickell wasn't going to budge made this a simple move.
Driskell said Fickell's team was pushing very hard to get the ND job. Jack just wasn't interested. Jack wanted Freeman.
This isn't true. First of all, there is zero chance Freeman would be the DC to Fickell after interviewing for the job.
Fickell wanted the job. So did Freeman.
Also there is no way Fickell would have said no to having MF as his DC is that's what Freeman wanted. But that was unrealistic
You're wrong
Yes. If we really wanted Fickell, Jack could have waited and locked him up after the bowl game
But he chose to go with MF
After it was clear that he didn't want to commit to keeping the oc and possibly the dc.
This has been discussed on multiple boards. Fickell wanted the job. ND was interested. There was an impass b/c Fickell wasn't immediately available and didn't want to commit to a existing coordinators. He wanted control over his staff. Jack knew he had to move fast to save the class and momentum.
This was well orchestrated by Kelly's agent. Kelly hoped to bring most of his staff with him to LSU...same as Riley to USC (same agent). The timing of Kelly's move forced Notre Dame to move at a pace that Kelly did not anticipate they would to secure assistant coaches. If Rees and Elston had announced they were going to LSU, I expect that the coaching search would have pushed passed the bowl game. Give Jack credit, he moved with urgency to keep the core together, and avoid a full rebuild.
No I'm not. I was a premium member on multiple sites
Freeman was not staying here as a DC after not getting the head job.
Freeman wanted the job. Fickell wanted the job. If we wanted to wait for him, hed be here. Also, even if your story was accurate, if they really wanted LF, they would have made concessions to get their guy.
We were interested but we chose MF over him. If you hear different, you need to check your sources
Now you are saying possibly the DC
Now you are making shit up
MF wasnt staying to be his DC after not getting the head job
Check your sources
The line from Shakespeare's Hamlet comes to mind......"The lady doth protest too much, methinks"......
I firmly believe that if Fickell got the ND job, Freeman would be the current HC at Cinci.
A lot of those kids were recruited by MF, Mason, Mickens, and our current recruiting guru, forget his name.
Also, LF is a really good football coach.
And we were garbage early in the year last season
And BK does not win many top 10 matchups. So us losing was not a big surprise
Could be a few different reasons:
1) The ND opening was at the wrong time. He was in the middle of playing for the National Championship
2) ND isn't for everybody
3) He prefers the B1G
4) He didn't want to step in front of MF. There was a lot of buzz already that he was a top candidate as well.
5) At Bucky, he has a fairly easy path to the B1G Championship game.
6) We may never know, but he did
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