Six nights ago, Raekwon McMillan got a phone call he never wanted to receive.
Luke Fickell, the beloved Ohio State linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator had taken the heading coaching job at the University of Cincinnati. Fickell's days in Columbus—as part of the program that molded him—were officially numbered.
“I was probably one of the first to know,” McMillan said Thursday at Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Media Day. “It’s bittersweet, man. My guy is leaving. Just proud of him and everything he has done so far. He’s been able to guide me through all my blessings I’ve been given here at Ohio State and put me in the position I’m in today. Through the ups and downs, he stayed on my side and even the guys beside me nurtured us and have us become men.”
The Bearcats announced Fickell as their 42nd head coach a day later. He then sped down Interstate 71, shook hands with donors, fielded questions from the media and even met a few of his future players. But he still planned to remain on Ohio State's staff throughout the College Football Playoff, which starts on New Year's Eve against the Clemson Tigers at University of Phoenix Stadium.
Like Tom Herman and Chris Ash before him, Fickell is wearing two hats—one of his alma mater and the place he spent more than 20 years of his coaching career. The other? His new job, another opportunity to prove himself as a head coach, something he wanted for a while now.
“Whether it was the Pitt thing or we had a bad year in 2013 or whatever it was with this that and the other,” Fickell said on Thursday, “you had some options, you had some things that were possibilities but deep down in my heart, I could never feel like I left something that wasn't finished.”
“If it was nice and easy and smooth all the time, I probably would not have been forced, well not forced, to take myself out of that comfort zone and be comfortable with being uncomfortable. I will owe him always for that.”– Luke Fickell on Urban Meyer
Fickell interviewed and was a finalist for the Pittsburgh head coaching job in 2011 but instead got thrust into the spotlight at Ohio State following the messy exit of Jim Tressel following the tattoo scandal that rocked the program. Admittedly, he failed, miserably, to keep the Buckeye ship floating at the speed Tressel had it that year. Ohio State went 6-7, its first losing season since 1988.
“Whenever anybody asks me about 2011, I give them one explanation and it is poor leadership. That's straight to the top,” Fickell said. “To me, that's the most important thing I learned. It's not X's and O's, it's not the other things, you've gotta be a leader, you've gotta set the tone and you've gotta do it every single day.”
Fickell's current boss at Ohio State said on Thursday he wasn't keen on the idea of keeping the former around for the 2012 season. Urban Meyer wanted to bring in his own blood, even though Fickell spent essentially his entire life in Columbus.
“I did not want to keep him when I first got here,” Meyer said. “Met him a few times, very good gentleman, nice guy. And our meeting went over the top. Lot of respect for him and his beautiful family.
“Then we weren’t very good on defense a couple years and that stressed things around here. But one of the greatest things I’ve ever done is keep Luke Fickell.”
Tensions rose in 2013 when the unit that Fickell coordinated represented the reason the Buckeyes failed to win the Big Ten Championship and get a shot at a national title that year. Ohio State also allowed 40 points—the most in the Meyer era—to Sammy Watkins, Tajh Boyd and Clemson in the Orange Bowl to cap the season.
Questions about Fickell's job security swirled, before players he recruited like Darron Lee, McMillan and others meshed with Chris Ash's new press scheme on the back end to help Ohio State to the national title a year later.
In 2015 and 2016, the Buckeyes boasted one of the nation's top defenses both in points and total yards allowed. Meyer pushed him. Fickell pushed back. Then he rose up.
“Sometimes discomfort breeds growth. To push somebody deep down inside, you gotta know it's for a reason,” Fickell said. “That's the thing I can say, at times, we've had these discussions before we've had tough times. That's a part of the game and what you really do is step back and able to realize how much you respect him because of it. Because they don't allow you to just coast and increase your expectation in everything that you do. That's not the easiest thing in the world.
“I think that's probably one of the things that I can say is going to benefit me the most in everything I do. If it was nice and easy and smooth all the time, I probably would not have been forced, well not forced, to take myself out of that comfort zone and be comfortable with being uncomfortable. I will owe him always for that.”
Now Fickell is stretched thin once again. With six children at home and a wife, Amy, preparing everyone for the move to Cincinnati when her husband takes over the Bearcats whenever Ohio State's season ends—"hopefully on Jan. 10," he says—the man with two high-profile job titles isn't sleeping much. He sees himself as an Ohio State defensive coordinator all day, then Cincinnati's head coach from 8 p.m. to midnight when he recruits and organizes everything else he possibly can.
“Look those guys in the face every day when it does it tough, when you might only get 2 hours of sleep because you have too many things to do, for the right reasons,” Fickell said. “I hope they understand that. I know that.”
Based on what they said Thursday, it seems like they do.
“Coach Fickell, you will never see him under pressure or see him worried,” Jerome Baker said. “He’s just focused on winning the next game. I wish him the best of luck and I’m excited for him.”
“I'm pretty sure it's been hard on him. He seems the same. I don't think he's letting it get to him,” Chris Worley added. “He's still here with us and still helping us get better. At least I can't see the strain on him.
“Coach Fick, he's really been there for me,” he continued. “I'm excited and happy for him to have that opportunity to run that own program but it's kind of hard to see him leave.”
So while Fickell made telephone calls to his current players as well as those near and dear to his heart about his new job—Tressel and his former coach John Cooper, to name a few—he is aware of what currently remains in the forefront. That is getting the linebackers and the Ohio State defense ready to take on a high-powered Clemson offense led by Heisman Trophy runner-up Deshaun Watson.
“The most important thing to me right now is these kids. I told them that,” Fickell said. “I told them even when I was introduced down at Cincinnati, I wanted to look at every kid and make them realize why I'm doing what I'm doing. I'm doing what I'm doing because we started something and I would never start something without finishing it.”
Meyer went through a time in his life where he wore two hats, one as an assistant at Notre Dame and the other after he accepted the head coaching job at Bowling Green more than 15 years ago. But he knows Fickell has what it takes to handle it.
“We put together a calendar, this much time is committed to the most important thing and that’s the players that got us to the Playoff,” Meyer said. “And Luke's a pro.”
That is why Fickell had chances in the past to leave whether it be to Pittsburgh or the constant rumors at Florida Atlantic. And now that he has finally taken the plunge and signed a contract to leave the place he will always love, taking care of business with one and possibly two more games left in 2016 pops back to the top of his list of priorities.
“My No. 1 thing with Coach was I do not ever want to leave on a bad note or something that's not better than when I got here,” Fickell said. “If I would have taken off at that time for whatever reason, I would have felt like I left when the times were bad or when things were down. That's when it's the hardest to look at those kids. The greatest thing that could happen to me is be able to walk away from these kids knowing that they've reached them and given them everything and walked away from a better position than when you got it.”
